The All-African People's Revolutionary Party (A-APRP) is a
socialist
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...
political party
A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...
founded by
Kwame Nkrumah
Kwame Nkrumah (born 21 September 190927 April 1972) was a Ghanaian politician, political theorist, and revolutionary. He was the first Prime Minister and President of Ghana, having led the Gold Coast to independence from Britain in 1957. An in ...
and organized in
Conakry
Conakry (; ; sus, Kɔnakiri; N’ko: ߞߐߣߊߞߙߌ߫, Fula: ''Konaakiri'' 𞤑𞤮𞤲𞤢𞥄𞤳𞤭𞤪𞤭) is the capital and largest city of Guinea. A port city, it serves as the economic, financial and cultural centre of Guinea. Its p ...
,
Guinea
Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...
in 1968. The party expanded to the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
in 1972 and claims to have recruited members from 33 countries.
[ Asante, Molefi Kete; Mazama, Ama; Cérol, Marie-José; ''Encyclopedia of Black Studies'', ]SAGE
Sage or SAGE may refer to:
Plants
* ''Salvia officinalis'', common sage, a small evergreen subshrub used as a culinary herb
** Lamiaceae, a family of flowering plants commonly known as the mint or deadnettle or sage family
** ''Salvia'', a large ...
(2005), pp. 77-8,
(Retrieved 19 July 2019) According to the party, global membership in the party is "in the hundreds".
Nkrumah's goal in founding the party was to create and manage the political economic conditions necessary for the emergence of an All-African People's Revolutionary Army that would lead the military struggle against "
settler colonialism
Settler colonialism is a structure that perpetuates the elimination of Indigenous people and cultures to replace them with a settler society. Some, but not all, scholars argue that settler colonialism is inherently genocidal. It may be enacted ...
,
Zionism
Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a Nationalism, nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is ...
,
neo-colonialism
Neocolonialism is the continuation or reimposition of imperialist rule by a state (usually, a former colonial power) over another nominally independent state (usually, a former colony). Neocolonialism takes the form of economic imperialism, gl ...
,
imperialism
Imperialism is the state policy, practice, or advocacy of extending power and dominion, especially by direct territorial acquisition or by gaining political and economic control of other areas, often through employing hard power (economic and ...
and all other forms of
capitalist
Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, priva ...
oppression and exploitation."
Concept and philosophy
As described by Dave Blevins and other scholars like
Carole Boyce Davies, "the ideology of the A-APRP is
Nkrumahism
Nkrumaism (sometimes Consciencism) is an African socialist political ideology based on the thinking and writing of Kwame Nkrumah. Nkrumah, a pan-Africanist and socialist, served as Prime Minister of the Gold Coast (later Ghana) from 1952 until ...
—
Toureism, which takes its name from the founder, and his primary colleague in arms, President
Ahmed Sekou Toure
Ahmad ( ar, أحمد, ʾAḥmad) is an Arabic male given name common in most parts of the Muslim world. Other spellings of the name include Ahmed and Ahmet.
Etymology
The word derives from the root (ḥ-m-d), from the Arabic (), from the ve ...
."
[Blevins, Dave, ''American Political Parties in the 21st Century''. ]McFarland McFarland may refer to:
People
*McFarland (surname)
Places in the United States
*McFarland, California, a city
*McFarland, Kansas, a city
*McFarland, Missouri, a ghost town
*McFarland, Wisconsin, a village
Other uses
* USS ''McFarland'' (DD-237) ...
(2006), pp. 8-9,
(Retrieved 19 July 2019)
Kwame Nkrumah
Kwame Nkrumah (born 21 September 190927 April 1972) was a Ghanaian politician, political theorist, and revolutionary. He was the first Prime Minister and President of Ghana, having led the Gold Coast to independence from Britain in 1957. An in ...
, the founder, introduced the party's concept and philosophy in his book, ''Handbook of Revolutionary Warfare'' - released in 1968 by
Panaf Books,
Some of the key concepts include:
# promotion of
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
n unity
# embracing the need and characteristics of
African civilization and ideology
# working for economical and technological advancement
The party supports:
#
Pan-Africanism
Pan-Africanism is a worldwide movement that aims to encourage and strengthen bonds of solidarity between all Indigenous and diaspora peoples of African ancestry. Based on a common goal dating back to the Atlantic slave trade, the movement exte ...
— "a total liberation and unification of Africa under Scientific Socialism"
#
Black Power — "the belief that real black freedom will only come when Africa is politically united"
#
Scientific Socialism
Scientific socialism is a term coined in 1840 by Pierre-Joseph Proudhon in his book ''What is Property?'' to mean a society ruled by a scientific government, i.e., one whose sovereignty rests upon reason, rather than sheer will: Thus, in a given ...
— "the idea that modern technology can be reconciled with human values, in which an advanced technological society is realized without the social upheaval and deep schisms that occur in
capitalist
Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, priva ...
industrial societies"
In an attempt to articulate effectively the issues facing
African people
The population of Africa has grown rapidly over the past century and consequently shows a large youth bulge, further reinforced by a low life expectancy of below 50 years in some African countries. Total population as of 2020 is estimated at ...
and the
African woman, the A-APRP also infused gender politics into its ideology and organisational structure. This resulted in the formation of the All-African Women's Revolutionary Union in 1980. This women's wing of the party emerged specifically to address issues surrounding
gender oppression with
racism
Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...
and
classism
Class discrimination, also known as classism, is prejudice or discrimination on the basis of social class. It includes individual attitudes, behaviors, systems of policies and practices that are set up to benefit the upper class at the expense of ...
.
Chapters
The building of the A-APRP began to take form in 1968 with the creation of "the first A-APRP Work-Study Circle in
Guinea
Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...
under the leadership of Kwame -Ture", and later in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, the
Caribbean
The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, and numerous countries in
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
. Since 1968, the A-APRP "has recruited Africans born in more than 33 countries."
[ Boyce Davies, Carole, ''Encyclopedia of the African Diaspora: Origins, Experiences, and Culture, Volume 2'', ABC-CLIO (2008), pp. 78-9,]
(Retrieved 19 July 2019)
References
Bibliography
*
Asante, Molefi Kete; Mazama, Ama; Cérol, Marie-José; ''Encyclopedia of Black Studies'',
SAGE
Sage or SAGE may refer to:
Plants
* ''Salvia officinalis'', common sage, a small evergreen subshrub used as a culinary herb
** Lamiaceae, a family of flowering plants commonly known as the mint or deadnettle or sage family
** ''Salvia'', a large ...
(2005), pp. 77–8,
(Retrieved 19 July 2019)
*Blevins, Dave, ''American Political Parties in the 21st Century''.
McFarland McFarland may refer to:
People
*McFarland (surname)
Places in the United States
*McFarland, California, a city
*McFarland, Kansas, a city
*McFarland, Missouri, a ghost town
*McFarland, Wisconsin, a village
Other uses
* USS ''McFarland'' (DD-237) ...
(2006), pp. 8–9,
(Retrieved 19 July 2019)
*
Boyce Davies, Carole, ''Encyclopedia of the African Diaspora: Origins, Experiences, and Culture, Volume 2'',
ABC-CLIO (2008), pp. 78–9,
(Retrieved 19 July 2019)
*
Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Gates, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., ''African American Lives'' (editors: Henry Louis Gates, W E B DuBois Professor of Humanities Chair of Afro-American Studies and Director of the W E B DuBois Institute for Afro-American Research Henry Louis Gates, Jr, Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, Victor S Thomas Professor of History and of African and African American Studies Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham; contributors: W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for Afro-American Research, American Council of Learned Societies),
Oxford University Press, USA
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...
(2004), p. 142
(Retrieved 21 July 2019)
*Springer, Kimberly, ''Still Lifting, Still Climbing: African American Women's Contemporary Activism'',
New York University Press, NYU Press (1999), p. 174,
(Retrieved 19 July 2019)
Further reading
*
Kwame Nkrumah, Nkrumah, Kwame, ''Handbook of Revolutionary Warfare'' - released in 1968 by
Panaf Books,
*Nkrumah, Francis Nwia Kofie / Nkrumah, Kwame, ''Handbook of Revolutionary Warfare: A Guide to the Armed Phase of the African Revolution'',
International Publishers
International Publishers is a book publishing company based in New York City, specializing in Marxism, Marxist works of economics, political science, and history.
Company history
Establishment
International Publishers Company, Inc., was founded ...
(1969)
*Harris, Robert L Jr.;
Terborg-Penn, Rosalyn; ''The Columbia Guide to African American History Since 1939'',
Columbia University Press
Columbia University Press is a university press based in New York City, and affiliated with Columbia University. It is currently directed by Jennifer Crewe (2014–present) and publishes titles in the humanities and sciences, including the fiel ...
(2006), p. 109,
*''Upping the Anti, Issue 6'' (journal), UTA Publications (May 2008), pp. 35–42,
*Thomas, Greg, ''The Sexual Demon of Colonial Power: Pan-African Embodiment and Erotic Schemes of Empire'',
Indiana University Press
Indiana University Press, also known as IU Press, is an academic publisher founded in 1950 at Indiana University that specializes in the humanities and social sciences. Its headquarters are located in Bloomington, Indiana. IU Press publishes 140 ...
(2007), pp. ix, 69,
{{Communist parties in the United States
1968 establishments in Guinea
African socialist political parties
Anti-imperialist organizations
Anti-Zionism in Africa
Anti-Zionist political parties
Black political parties in the United States
Nkrumaist political parties
Pan-African organizations
Pan-Africanism in Ghana
Pan-Africanist political parties in Africa
Political parties established in 1968
Political parties in Africa
Socialist parties in Ghana
Transnational political parties