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 Atlantic slave trade, transatlantic slave trade, or Euro-American slave trade involved the transportation by slave traders of enslaved African people, mainly to the Americas. The slave trade regularly used the triangular trade route and i ...
, the movement extends beyond continental Africans with a substantial support base among the
African diaspora in the Americas
The African diaspora in the Americas refers to the people born in the Americas with partial, predominantly, or completely African ancestry. Many are descendants of persons enslaved in Africa and transferred to the Americas by Europeans, then fo ...
and
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
.
Pan-Africanism can be said to have its origins in the struggles of the African people against enslavement and colonization and this struggle may be traced back to the first resistance on slave ships—rebellions and suicides—through the constant plantation and colonial uprisings and the
"Back to Africa" movements of the 19th century. Based on the belief that unity is vital to economic, social, and political progress and aims to "unify and uplift" people of African ancestry.
At its core, pan-Africanism is a belief that "African people, both on the continent and in the
diaspora
A diaspora ( ) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of origin. Historically, the word was used first in reference to the dispersion of Greeks in the Hellenic world, and later Jews after ...
, share not merely a common history, but a common destiny." Pan-Africanist intellectual, cultural, and political movements tend to view all Africans and descendants of Africans as belonging to a single "
race
Race, RACE or "The Race" may refer to:
* Race (biology), an informal taxonomic classification within a species, generally within a sub-species
* Race (human categorization), classification of humans into groups based on physical traits, and/or s ...
" or otherwise sharing cultural unity. Pan-Africanism posits a sense of a shared historical fate for Africans in America, West Indies, and on the continent, itself centered on the Atlantic trade in slaves,
African slavery
Slavery has historically been widespread in Africa. Systems of servitude and slavery were common in parts of Africa in ancient times, as they were in much of the rest of the Ancient history, ancient world. When the trans-Saharan slave trade ...
, and European
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 ...
.
Pan-African thought influenced the establishment of the
Organisation of African Unity
The Organisation of African Unity (OAU; french: Organisation de l'unité africaine, OUA) was an intergovernmental organization established on 25 May 1963 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with 32 signatory governments. One of the main heads for OAU's ...
(since succeeded by the
African Union
The African Union (AU) is a continental union consisting of 55 member states located on the continent of Africa. The AU was announced in the Sirte Declaration in Sirte, Libya, on 9 September 1999, calling for the establishment of the Africa ...
) in 1963. The
African Union Commission
The Commission of the African Union acts as the executive/administrative branch or secretariat of the African Union (and is somewhat analogous to the European Commission). It consists of a number of Commissioners dealing with different areas of ...
has its seat in
Addis Ababa
Addis Ababa (; am, አዲስ አበባ, , new flower ; also known as , lit. "natural spring" in Oromo), is the capital and largest city of Ethiopia. It is also served as major administrative center of the Oromia Region. In the 2007 census, t ...
and the
Pan-African Parliament
The Pan-African Parliament (PAP), also known as the African Parliament, is the legislative body of the African Union. It held its inaugural session in March 2004. The Parliament exercises oversight, and has advisory and consultative powers, ha ...
has its seat in
Midrand
Midrand is a former municipality in central Gauteng, South Africa. It is situated in-between Centurion and Sandton and now forms part of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality.
History
Midrand was established as a municipality in 198 ...
,
Johannesburg
Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...
.
Overview
Pan-Africanism stresses the need for "collective self-reliance". Pan-Africanism exists as a governmental and
grassroots
A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or economic movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from the local level to effect change at t ...
objective. Pan-African advocates include leaders such as
Toussaint Louverture
François-Dominique Toussaint Louverture (; also known as Toussaint L'Ouverture or Toussaint Bréda; 20 May 1743 – 7 April 1803) was a Haitian general and the most prominent leader of the Haitian Revolution. During his life, Louverture ...
,
Jean-Jacques Dessalines
Jean-Jacques Dessalines (Haitian Creole: ''Jan-Jak Desalin''; ; 20 September 1758 – 17 October 1806) was a leader of the Haitian Revolution and the first ruler of an independent First Empire of Haiti, Haiti under the Constitution of Haiti, 1 ...
,
Haile Selassie
Haile Selassie I ( gez, ቀዳማዊ ኀይለ ሥላሴ, Qädamawi Häylä Səllasé, ; born Tafari Makonnen; 23 July 189227 August 1975) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. He rose to power as Regent Plenipotentiary of Ethiopia (' ...
,
Julius Nyerere
Julius Kambarage Nyerere (; 13 April 1922 – 14 October 1999) was a Tanzanian anti-colonial activist, politician, and political theorist. He governed Tanganyika as prime minister from 1961 to 1962 and then as president from 1962 to 1964, aft ...
,
Robert Sobukwe
Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe (5 December 1924 – 27 February 1978) was a prominent South African anti-apartheid revolutionary and founding member of the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), serving as the first president of the organization.
Sobukwe w ...
,
Ahmed Sékou Touré
Ahmed Sékou Touré (var. Sheku Turay or Ture; N'Ko: ; January 9, 1922 – March 26, 1984) was a Guinean political leader and African statesman who became the first president of Guinea, serving from 1958 until his death in 1984. Touré was am ...
,
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 ...
,
King Sobhuza II
Sobhuza II, (; also known as Nkhotfotjeni, Mona; 22 July 1899 – 21 August 1982) was the Paramount Chief and later Ngwenyama of Swaziland for 82 years and 254 days, the longest verifiable reign of any monarch in recorded history. Sobhuza was ...
,
Robert Mugabe
Robert Gabriel Mugabe (; ; 21 February 1924 – 6 September 2019) was a Zimbabwean revolutionary and politician who served as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe from 1980 to 1987 and then as President from 1987 to 2017. He served as Leader of the ...
,
Thomas Sankara
Thomas Isidore Noël Sankara (; 21 December 1949 – 15 October 1987) was a Burkinabé military officer, Marxist–Leninist revolutionary, and Pan-Africanist, who served as President of Burkina Faso from his coup in 1983 to his deposition and ...
,
Kwame Ture
Kwame Ture (; born Stokely Standiford Churchill Carmichael; June 29, 1941November 15, 1998) was a prominent organizer in the civil rights movement in the United States and the global pan-African movement. Born in Trinidad, he grew up in the Unite ...
,
Dr. John Pombe Magufuli,
Muammar Gaddafi
Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi, . Due to the lack of standardization of transcribing written and regionally pronounced Arabic, Gaddafi's name has been romanized in various ways. A 1986 column by ''The Straight Dope'' lists 32 spellin ...
,
Yoweri Kaguta Museveni
Yoweri Kaguta Museveni Tibuhaburwa (born 15 September 1944) is a Ugandan politician and retired senior military officer who has been the 9th and current President of Uganda since 26 January 1986. Museveni spearheaded rebellions with aid of then ...
, grassroots organizers such as
Joseph Robert Love,
Marcus Garvey
Marcus Mosiah Garvey Sr. (17 August 188710 June 1940) was a Jamaican political activist, publisher, journalist, entrepreneur, and orator. He was the founder and first President-General of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African ...
, and
Malcolm X
Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little, later Malik el-Shabazz; May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965) was an American Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a prominent figure during the civil rights movement. A spokesman for the Nation of Is ...
, academics such as
W. E. B. Du Bois
William Edward Burghardt Du Bois ( ; February 23, 1868 – August 27, 1963) was an American-Ghanaian sociologist, socialist, historian, and Pan-Africanist civil rights activist. Born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, Du Bois grew up in ...
,
Anténor Firmin
Joseph Auguste Anténor Firmin (18 October 1850 – 19 September 1911), better known as Anténor Firmin, was a Haitian barrister and philosopher, pioneering anthropologist, journalist, and politician. Firmin is best known for his book ''De l'ég ...
and others in the
diaspora
A diaspora ( ) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of origin. Historically, the word was used first in reference to the dispersion of Greeks in the Hellenic world, and later Jews after ...
.
Pan-Africanists believe that solidarity will enable the continent to fulfill its potential to independently provide for all its people. Crucially, an all-African alliance would empower African people globally.
The realization of the pan-African objective would lead to "power consolidation in Africa", which "would compel a reallocation of global resources, as well as unleashing a fiercer psychological energy and political assertion ... that would unsettle social and political (power) structures...in the Americas".
[nMawere">Agyeman, O., ''Pan-Africanism and Its Detractors: A Response to Harvard's Race Effacing Universalists'', Harvard University Press (1998), cited in Mawere, Munyaradzi; Tapuwa R. Mubaya]
''African Philosophy and Thought Systems: A Search for a Culture and Philosophy of Belonging''
Langaa RPCIG (2016), p. 89. . Retrieved August 23, 2018.
Advocates of pan-Africanism—i.e. "pan-Africans" or "pan-Africanists"—often champion socialist principles and tend to be opposed to external political and economic involvement on the continent. Critics accuse the ideology of homogenizing the experience of people of African ancestry. They also point to the difficulties of reconciling current divisions within countries on the continent and within communities in the diaspora.
[nMawere"/>
]
History
As a philosophy, pan-Africanism represents the aggregation of the historical, cultural, spiritual, artistic, scientific, and philosophical legacies of Africans from past times to the present. Pan-Africanism as an ethical system traces its origins from ancient times, and promotes values that are the product of the African civilisations and the struggles against slavery
Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
, 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 ...
, colonialism
Colonialism is a practice or policy of control by one people or power over other people or areas, often by establishing colonies and generally with the aim of economic dominance. In the process of colonisation, colonisers may impose their relig ...
, and neocolonialism
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 ...
.
Coinciding with numerous New World slave insurrections (hallmarked by the Haitian Revolution
The Haitian Revolution (french: révolution haïtienne ; ht, revolisyon ayisyen) was a successful insurrection by slave revolt, self-liberated slaves against French colonial rule in Saint-Domingue, now the sovereign state of Haiti. The revolt ...
), the end of the 19th century birthed an intercontinental pro-African political movement that sought to unify disparate campaigns in the goal to end oppression. Another important political form of a religious pan-Africanist worldview appeared in the form of Ethiopianism Ethiopianism may refer to:
* Ethiopian studies, the western academic study of Ethiopian history and culture
* The Ethiopian movement, a social movement the began in Southern Africa in the late 19th and 20th centuries
* The Ethiopian nationalism
...
. In London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, the Sons of Africa
The Sons of Africa were a late 18th-century group in Britain that campaigned to end African chattel slavery. The "corresponding society" has been called the Britain's first black political organisation. Its members were educated Africans in Lond ...
was a political group addressed by Quobna Ottobah Cugoano in the 1791 edition of his book ''Thoughts and Sentiments on the Evil of Slavery''. The group addressed meetings and organised letter-writing campaigns, published campaigning material and visited parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
. They wrote to figures such as Granville Sharp
Granville Sharp (10 November 1735 – 6 July 1813) was one of the first British campaigners for the abolition of the slave trade. He also involved himself in trying to correct other social injustices. Sharp formulated the plan to settle black ...
, William Pitt and other members of the white
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
abolition
Abolition refers to the act of putting an end to something by law, and may refer to:
* Abolitionism, abolition of slavery
* Abolition of the death penalty, also called capital punishment
* Abolition of monarchy
*Abolition of nuclear weapons
*Abol ...
movement, as well as King
King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king.
*In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
George III
George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...
and the Prince of Wales
Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...
, the future George IV
George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from the death of his father, King George III, on 29 January 1820, until his own death ten y ...
.
Modern pan-Africanism began around the start of the 20th century. The African Association
The Association for Promoting the Discovery of the Interior Parts of Africa (commonly known as the African Association), founded in London on 9 June 1788, was a British club dedicated to the exploration of West Africa, with the mission of discove ...
, later renamed the Pan-African Association, was established around 1897 by Henry Sylvester Williams
Henry Sylvester-Williams (24 March 1867 or 15 February 186926 March 1911) was a Trinidadian lawyer, activist, councillor and writer who was among the founders of the Pan-African movement.
As a young man, Williams travelled to the United States ...
, who organized the First Pan-African Conference
The First Pan-African Conference was held in London from 23 to 25 July 1900 (just prior to the Paris Exhibition of 1900 "in order to allow tourists of African descent to attend both events").Ramla Bandele"Pan-African Conference in 1900", Article ...
in London in 1900.[The History of Pan Africanism](_blank)
PADEAP (Pan African Development Education and Advocacy Programme).
The Pan-African Congress
The Pan-African Congress was a series of eight meetings, held in 1919 in Paris (1st Pan-African Congress), 1921 in London, Brussels and Paris (2nd Pan-African Congress), 1923 in London (3rd Pan-African Congress), 1927 in New York City (4th Pan-Afr ...
series of meetings followed the first Pan-African Conference in 1900 in London. A meeting of the Congress in 1919 in Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
(1st Pan-African Congress), 1921 in London (2nd Pan-African Congress), 1923 in London (3rd Pan-African Congress), 1927 in New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
(4th Pan-African Congress), and 1945 in Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
(5th Pan-African Congress) advanced the issue of decolonisation in Africa.
The Fifth Pan-African Congress
The Pan-African Congress was a series of eight meetings, held in 1919 in Paris (1st Pan-African Congress), 1921 in London, Brussels and Paris (2nd Pan-African Congress), 1923 in London (3rd Pan-African Congress), 1927 in New York City (4th Pan-Afr ...
was a significant gathering, which brought together anti-colonial activists from the African continent and the Diaspora
A diaspora ( ) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of origin. Historically, the word was used first in reference to the dispersion of Greeks in the Hellenic world, and later Jews after ...
. Women such as Amy Ashwood Garvey
Amy Ashwood Garvey (''née'' Ashwood; 10 January 1897 – 3 May 1969) was a Jamaican Pan-Africanist activist. She was a director of the Black Star Line Steamship Corporation, and along with her former husband Marcus Garvey she founded the ''Neg ...
and Amy Jacques Garvey
Amy Euphemia Jacques Garvey (31 December 1895 – 25 July 1973) was a Jamaican-born journalist and activist. She was the second wife of Marcus Garvey. She was one of the pioneering female Black journalists and publishers of the 20th century.< ...
helped to organise the Congress meeting and played a crucial role in the conferences.
With the independence of Ghana
Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...
in March 1957, Kwame Nkrumah was elected as the first Prime Minister and President of the State. Nkrumah emerged as a major advocate for the unity of Independent Africa. The Ghanaian President embodied a political activist approach to pan-Africanism as he championed the "quest for regional integration of the whole of the African continent".[Mkandawire, P. (2005)]
''African Intellectuals: Rethinking Politics, Language, Gender and Development''
Dakar: Codesria/London: Zed Books, p. 58. Retrieved March 23, 2017. This period represented a "golden age of high pan-African ambitions"; the continent had experienced revolution and decolonization from Western powers and the narrative of rebirth and solidarity had gained momentum within the pan-African movement.
Nkrumah's pan-African principles intended for a union between the Independent African states upon a recognition of their commonality (i.e. suppression under imperialism). Pan-Africanism under Nkrumah evolved past the assumptions of a racially exclusive movement associated with black Africa, and adopted a political discourse of regional unity[Legum, C. (1965). ''Pan-Africanism: a short political guide'', New York, etc.: Frederick A. Praeger, p. 41.]
In April 1958, Nkrumah hosted the first All-African Peoples' Conference
The All-African Peoples Conference (AAPC) was partly a corollary and partly a different perspective to the modern Africa states represented by the Conference of Heads of independent Africa States. The All-Africa Peoples Conference was conceived to ...
(AAPC) in Accra
Accra (; tw, Nkran; dag, Ankara; gaa, Ga or ''Gaga'') is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , ...
, Ghana. This Conference invited delegates of political movements and major political leaders. With the exception of South Africa, all Independent States of the Continent attended: Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Liberia, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia, and Sudan. This conference signified a monumental event in the pan-African movement, as it revealed a political and social union between those considered Arabic states and the black African regions. Further, the Conference espoused a common African Nationalist identity, among the States, of unity and anti-Imperialism. Frantz Fanon
Frantz Omar Fanon (, ; ; 20 July 1925 – 6 December 1961), also known as Ibrahim Frantz Fanon, was a French West Indian psychiatrist, and political philosopher from the French colony of Martinique (today a French department). His works have be ...
, journalist, freedom fighter and a member of the Algerian FLN party attended the conference as a delegate for Algeria.
Considering the armed struggle of the FLN against French colonial rule, the Conference attendees agreed to support the struggle of those States under colonial oppression. This encouraged the commitment of direct involvement in the "emancipation of the Continent; thus, a fight against colonial pressures on South Africa was declared and the full support of the FLN struggle in Algeria, against French colonial rule".[Legum (1965). ''Pan-Africanism'', p. 42.] Tom Mboya
Thomas Joseph Odhiambo Mboya (15August 19305July 1969) was a Kenyan trade unionist, educator, Pan-Africanist, author, independence activist, and statesman. He was one of the founding fathers of the Republic of Kenya.Kenya Human Rights Commissio ...
, a Kenya
)
, national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"()
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Nairobi
, coordinates =
, largest_city = Nairobi
, ...
n trade unionist and anti-colonial activist, also attended this conference. This visit inspired him to increase the pace of political activity aimed at agitating for Kenya's independence.
In the years following 1958, Accra Conference also marked the establishment of a new foreign policy of non-alignment between the US and USSR, and the will to establish an "African Identity" in global affairs by advocating unity between the African States on international relations. "This would be based on the Bandung Declaration
The first large-scale Asian–African or Afro–Asian Conference ( id, Konferensi Asia–Afrika)—also known as the Bandung Conference—was a meeting of Asian and African states, most of which were newly independent, which took place on 18–2 ...
, the Charter of the UN
The Charter of the United Nations (UN) is the foundational treaty of the UN, an intergovernmental organization. It establishes the purposes, governing structure, and overall framework of the United Nations System, UN system, including its Organ ...
and on loyalty to UN decisions."
In 1959, Nkrumah, President Sékou Touré of Guinea and President William Tubman
William Vacanarat Shadrach Tubman (29 November 1895 – 23 July 1971) was a Liberian politician. He was the 19th president of Liberia and the longest-serving president in the country's history, serving from 1943 Liberian general election, his e ...
of Liberia met at Sanniquellie
Sanniquellie is a city and the capital of Nimba County and Sanniquellie-Mahn District, Liberia. It is located in the north-east of the country at coordinates 07°21'49" N 008°42'40" W. The average altitude of the city is 420 metres above the s ...
and signed the Sanniquellie Declaration outlining the principles for the achievement of the unity of Independent African States whilst maintaining a national identity and autonomous constitutional structure. The Declaration called for a revised understanding of Pan-Africanism and the uniting of the Independent States.
In 1960, the second All-African Peoples' Conference was held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The membership of the All-African Peoples' Organisation (AAPO) had increased with the inclusion of the "Algerian Provisional Government (as they had not yet won independence), Cameroun, Guinea, Nigeria, Somalia and the United Arab Republic". The Conference highlighted diverging ideologies within the movement, as Nkrumah's call for a political and economic union between the Independent African States gained little agreement. The disagreements following 1960 gave rise to two rival factions within the pan-African movement: the Casablanca Bloc and the Brazzaville Bloc.
In 1962, Algeria gained independence from French colonial rule and Ahmed Ben Bella
Ahmed Ben Bella ( ar, أحمد بن بلّة '; 25 December 1916 – 11 April 2012) was an Algerian politician, soldier and socialist revolutionary who served as the head of government of Algeria from 27 September 1962 to 15 September 1963 an ...
assumed Presidency. Ben Bella was a strong advocate for Pan-Africanism and an African Unity. Following the FLN's armed struggle for liberation, Ben Bella spoke at the UN and espoused for Independent Africa's role in providing military and financial support to the African liberation movements opposing apartheid and fighting Portuguese colonialism.[Adi & Sherwood (2003), ''Pan-African History'', p. 10.]
In search of a united voice, in 1963 at an African Summit conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 32 African states met and established the Organisation of African Unity
The Organisation of African Unity (OAU; french: Organisation de l'unité africaine, OUA) was an intergovernmental organization established on 25 May 1963 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with 32 signatory governments. One of the main heads for OAU's ...
(OAU). The creation of the OAU Charter took place at this Summit and defines a coordinated "effort to raise the standard of living of member States and defend their sovereignty" by supporting freedom fighters and decolonisation. Thus, was the formation of the African Liberation Committee (ALC), during the 1963 Summit. Championing the support of liberation movements, was Algeria's President Ben Bella, immediately "donated 100 million francs to its finances and was one of the first countries, of the Organisation to boycott Portuguese and South African goods".
In 1969, Algiers hosted the Pan-African Cultural Festival, on July 21 and it continued for eight days.[Evans, M., & J. Phillips (2008)]
''Algeria: Anger of the Dispossessed''
Yale University Press, pp. 97–98. At this moment in history, Algeria stood as a "beacon of African and Third-World militancy," and would come to inspire fights against colonialism around the world. The festival attracted thousands from African states and the African Diaspora, including the Black Panthers. It represented the application of the tenets of the Algerian revolution to the rest of Africa and symbolized the reshaping of the definition of pan-African identity under the common experience of colonialism. The Festival further strengthened Algeria's President, Boumediene's standing in Africa and the Third World.
After the death of Kwame Nkrumah in 1972, Muammar Gaddafi assumed the mantle of leader of the Pan-Africanist movement and became the most outspoken advocate of African Unity, like Nkrumah before him – for the advent of a "United States of Africa".
It was not until the Seventh Pan-African Congress in 1994, which was held in Uganda
}), is a landlocked country in East Africa
East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...
, that women's issues
Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male poi ...
were specifically addressed. For the first time, the Congress was asked to reflect upon the role and needs of women. In order to organise which women's issues would be raised at the Congress, a pre-Congress Women's Meeting was held two days before, to provide a framework that ensured women's voices and concerns were listened to. More than 300 people, 74 percent of whom were women, attended the pre-Congress meeting. This meeting was primarily attended by Uganda
}), is a landlocked country in East Africa
East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...
n women, who set their own agenda, which was focused on women's issues such as genital mutilation
The terms genital modification and genital mutilation can refer to permanent or temporary changes to human sex organs. Some forms of genital alteration are performed on adults with their informed consent at their own behest, usually for aesthetic ...
and the protection of young domestic workers from rape and other abuse. Women participants of the Seventh Pan-African Congress moved towards building an agenda for the Pan African Women's Liberation Organisation and met daily during the Congress to discuss the logistics of such a movement. The pre-existing Pan African Women's Organisation primarily consisted of the wives of heads of states, ministers, and other high-ranking women.
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 ...
, the term is closely associated with Afrocentrism
Afrocentrism is an approach to the study of world history that focuses on the history of people of recent African descent. It is in some respects a response to Eurocentric attitudes about African people and their historical contributions. It ...
, an ideology of African-American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...
identity politics
Identity politics is a political approach wherein people of a particular race, nationality, religion, gender, sexual orientation, social background, social class, or other identifying factors develop political agendas that are based upon these i ...
that emerged during the civil rights movement
The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional Racial segregation in the United States, racial segregation, Racial discrimination ...
of the 1960s to 1970s.
Although Pan-Africanism called for unity between all those of African ancestry, it missed out almost half of these people by overlooking women's contribution. In the book Pan-Africanism History: Political Figures from Africa and the Diaspora since 1787, it mentioned forty Pan-Africanists, of which only three were women. Due to the lack of representation paid to women in Pan- Africanism, Clenora Hudson-Weems
Clenora F. Hudson-Weems (born July 23, 1945) is an African-American author and academic who is currently a Professor of English at the University of Missouri. She coined the term "Africana womanism" in the late 1980s, contending that women of Af ...
coined the term Africana Womanism
"Africana womanism" is a term coined in the late 1980s by Clenora Hudson-Weems, intended as an ideology applicable to all women of African descent. It is grounded in African culture and Afrocentrism and focuses on the experiences, struggles, need ...
in the 1980s, which is an ideology that specifically focuses on black women's achievements and gains, similar to the ones mentioned below.
Important women in Pan-Africanism
Pan-Africanism has seen the contribution of numerous female African activists throughout its lifespan, despite the systemic lack of attention paid to them by scholars and male pan-Africanist alike.
Amy Jacques Garvey
Amy Euphemia Jacques Garvey (31 December 1895 – 25 July 1973) was a Jamaican-born journalist and activist. She was the second wife of Marcus Garvey. She was one of the pioneering female Black journalists and publishers of the 20th century.< ...
, who founded the international newspaper ''Negro World
''Negro World'' was the newspaper of the Marcus Garvey's Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA). Founded by Garvey and Amy Ashwood Garvey, the newspaper was published weekly in Harlem, New York, and distr ...
'', was heavily involved in other Pan-Africanism organisations, such as the anti-colonial and anti-imperialist International African Service Bureau The International African Service Bureau (IASB) was a pan-African organisation founded in London in 1937 by West Indians George Padmore, C. L. R. James, Amy Ashwood Garvey, T. Ras Makonnen and Kenyan nationalist Jomo Kenyatta and Sierra Leonean l ...
. She also helped organise the Fifth Pan-African Congress
The Pan-African Congress was a series of eight meetings, held in 1919 in Paris (1st Pan-African Congress), 1921 in London, Brussels and Paris (2nd Pan-African Congress), 1923 in London (3rd Pan-African Congress), 1927 in New York City (4th Pan-Afr ...
. Amy Jacques Garvey used her platform to spread Pan-Africanism globally and used her position as editor for the ''Negro World'' to write a column called "Our Women and what they think", dedicated to black women.
Claudia Jones
Claudia Vera Jones (; 21 February 1915 – 24 December 1964) was a Trinidad and Tobago-born journalist and activist. As a child, she migrated with her family to the US, where she became a Communist political activist, feminist and black national ...
was another pan-Africanist. In order to fight against racism towards black people in Britain, Jones set up the ''West Indian Gazette
''West Indian Gazette'' (''WIG'') was a newspaper founded in Brixton, London, England, by Trinidadian communist & black nationalist activist Claudia Jones (1915–1964) in March 1958. The title as displayed on its masthead was subsequently expande ...
'', which sought to cover topics such as the realities of South African apartheid
Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...
and decolonisation
Decolonization or decolonisation is the undoing of colonialism, the latter being the process whereby imperial nations establish and dominate foreign territories, often overseas. Some scholars of decolonization focus especially on separatism, in ...
. Notable male Pan-Africanists, such as 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 ...
, were influenced by Jones as she incorporated Marxist- Leninist philosophy into Pan-Africanism.
In the United States, Audley Moore and Dara Abubakari played a vital role in developing Pan-African thought. These women significantly shaped the ideological and organizational contours of Pan-Africanism, developing a gender-conscious strand of Pan-Africanism that was focused on the realities faced by African-American women, separate from those of African-American men. Both Moore and Abubakari were prominent members of the Universal Association of Ethiopian Women in Louisiana, which engaged in anti-colonial activities, welfare rights, and Pan-Africanist activism. In 1972, Moore was a featured speaker at the All-Africa Women's Conference in Dar es Salaam
Dar es Salaam (; from ar, دَار السَّلَام, Dâr es-Selâm, lit=Abode of Peace) or commonly known as Dar, is the largest city and financial hub of Tanzania. It is also the capital of Dar es Salaam Region. With a population of over s ...
where she encouraged solidarity among women across the continent and demanded the inclusion of African American women into the conversation, emphasising that they too were committed to liberating Africa.
In the Caribbean, Peggy Antrobus
Peggy Antrobus (born 1935) is a feminist activist, author, and scholar from the Caribbean. She served as Advisor on Women's Affairs to the government of Jamaica, and as United Nations advisor to the Barbados Ministry of Social Transformation. Sh ...
lobbied policymakers to highlight that Caribbean women were the poorest in the Caribbean and that UNICEF
UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Devel ...
was the first international organization to draw attention to the negative impact of structural adjustment on the poor, particularly women.
Alice Victoria Alexander Kinloch was born in 1863 in Cape Town
Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...
, South Africa, before her family moved to Kimberley
Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to:
Places and historical events
Australia
* Kimberley (Western Australia)
** Roman Catholic Diocese of Kimberley
* Kimberley Warm Springs, Tasmania
* Kimberley, Tasmania a small town
* County of Kimberley, a ...
. The racist and segregated environment shaped her activism on systemic oppression in South Africa. In June 1885 she married Edmund Ndosa Kinloch, a diamond miner who worked at the De Beers mining compound in Kimberley. She witnessed the degrading working conditions of the compound premised upon the exploitation of black South Africans, such as the practice of making hundreds of black miners attend work naked to ensure diamonds were not being stolen. Kinloch wrote two articles in 1896, after moving to Britain in 1895, for the society named "The Recognition of the Brotherhood of Man", which was well received and earned her high praise from the editors. Her experiences and clear articulation of the South African political situation both through literature and speeches resonated with the British liberal intelligentsia. Kinloch frequently made efforts to engage in dialogue with activist groups in England. She spoke at Newcastle, York and Manchester for the which led to a resolution being passed that demanded the British government to end racial oppression in South Africa.
Kinloch's detailed accounts of the nature of black oppression in Africa was unprecedented for these organisations who rarely had the opportunity to hear first-hand accounts of the African political situation. Now fully engrossed in the British anti-colonial dialogue, she wrote a 19-page pamphlet on the diamond trade in South Africa was in 1897, her views were beginning to become distinctly Pan-African in their calls for an end to continental dehumanisation. Kinloch's main contribution to pan-Africanism however was in her co-founding of the African Association in 1897 with lawyers Henry Sylvester Williams
Henry Sylvester-Williams (24 March 1867 or 15 February 186926 March 1911) was a Trinidadian lawyer, activist, councillor and writer who was among the founders of the Pan-African movement.
As a young man, Williams travelled to the United States ...
and Thomas J. Thompson, where they and 11 or 12 others gathered at the Charing-Cross Mansions hotel in London. Kinloch served as treasurer but in 1898 returned to South Africa with her husband. Two years later, the African Association led the Pan-African Conference, which was widely regarded as the beginning of 20th-century Pan-Africanism. Dr Tshepo Mvulane Moloi calls Kinloch the "founding mother of Pan-Africanism".
Jeanne Martin Cissé was instrumental in the independence of 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 ...
and in bringing African women's rights to the forefront of the colonial debate, for example influencing Guinea's protection of women's rights enshrined in its constitution. Central to Cissé's work was the idea that the UN could provide an international framework that would protect African girls and women from issues such as forced marriage
Forced marriage is a marriage in which one or more of the parties is married without their consent or against their will. A marriage can also become a forced marriage even if both parties enter with full consent if one or both are later force ...
. In response to rapidly increasing birth rates, while in government, she stressed the importance of family planning and legislated sex education in Guinea's primary schools, despite strong opposition from the Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
majority population. In an article written in 1979, on the family dynamic in Africa, Cissé makes unprecedented criticisms of the forced role of mothers in brainwashing their daughters to follow prescriptive gender roles. She was also instrumental in the 1968 legislation in Guinea which outlawed polygamy
Crimes
Polygamy (from Late Greek (') "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, sociologists call this polygyny. When a woman is married ...
, believing it would effectively combat the widespread abandonment of families by fathers, thus relieving the physical burden mothers faced in Guinea. On the international level, Cissé was the first African president of the United Nations Security Council
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the Organs of the United Nations, six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international security, international peace and security, recommending the admi ...
in 1972 and succeeded in passing two resolutions, condemning Israel's aggression against Palestine, and Apartheid in South Africa. She also drafted and helped pass the UN Convention on Consent and Minimum Age for Marriage in 1964, which provided a wide framework for legislation across Africa.
Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti
Chief Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, MON ( /ˌfʊnmiˈlaɪjoʊ ˈrænsəm ˈkuːti/; born Frances Abigail Olufunmilayo Thomas; 25 October 190013 April 1978), also known as Funmilayo Anikulapo-Kuti, was a Nigerian educator, political campaigner, suf ...
(FRK) was born in 1900 and studied in England in 1922. She returned to her home town of Abeokuta
Abeokuta is the capital city of Ogun State in southwest Nigeria. It is situated on the east bank of the Ogun River, near a group of rocky outcrops in a wooded savanna; north of Lagos by railway, or by water. , Abeokuta and the surrounding are ...
, in the Ogun state region of Nigeria, where she began her extensive work in Nigerian and international activism. Her achievements were unprecedented: being the first woman with a top-ranking position in a leading political party (the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons), the first woman to drive a car in Nigeria, and the first African woman to travel to the Eastern Bloc, visiting China and Russia during the Cold War
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
. Her son, Fela Kuti
Fela Aníkúlápó Kuti (born Olufela Olusegun Oludotun Ransome-Kuti; 15 October 1938 – 2 August 1997), also known as Abami Eda, was a Nigerian musician, bandleader, composer, political activist, and Pan-Africanist. He is regarded as the p ...
, became a world-renowned musician and founder of the genre called Afrobeat
Afrobeat is a Nigerian music genre that involves the combination of West African musical styles (such as traditional Yoruba music and highlife) and American funk, jazz, and soul influences, with a focus on chanted vocals, complex intersecting ...
, a political musical movement that was intensely Pan-African. Scholars who study the life of FRK and her son conclusively agree that she was the main political influence on the Pan-African and political dimension to his music. In 1949, FRK founded and led the Nigerian Women's Union which in 1953 changed its name to the Federation of Nigerian Women's Societies, rallying for inter-regional unity among women's movements in Nigeria. Subsequently, she was courted by international movements for women's rights such as the Women's International Democratic Federation
Women's International Democratic Federation (WIDF) is an international organization with the stated goal of working for women's rights. It was established in 1945 and was most active during the Cold War. It initially focussed on anti-fascism, worl ...
(WIDF) and the Wom'n’s International League for Peace and Freedom. She also became embroiled in the politics of Ghana, where she became a friend of the leading African voice on Pan Africanism and president of Ghana, 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 ...
, who credited her ‘with being an inspiration to the Ghana Women’s Association.’ One of her most notable contributions was the formation of the Abeokuta Ladies Club - this was a collective of Nigerian market women, whose powerful economic position in Abeokuta sought to influence the colonial policy which destroyed their ability to make money and remain independent. By the 1940s, more than 20,000 women had a membership. She changed the name to the Abeokuta Women's Union
The Abeokuta Women's Revolt (also called the Egba Women's Tax Riot) was a resistance movement led by the Abeokuta Women's Union (AWU) in the late 1940s against the imposition of unfair taxation by the Nigerian colonial government. The women of ...
, marking the movement towards direct activism. For example, in November 1947, she was responsible for organising demonstrations that as many as 10,000 women participated. She continued to organise for women's rights all her life until in 1977, when a government raid conducted in response to her son Fela Kuti's activism, led to her being thrown from a second storey window. She died from her injuries in 1978.
Although Pan-Africanism called for unity between all those of African ancestry, it missed out on almost half by overlooking women's contribution. In the book ''Pan-Africanism History: Political Figures from Africa and the Diaspora since 1787'' are mentioned forty Pan-Africanists, only three of which were women. Due to the lack of representation paid to women in Pan-Africanism, Clenora Hudson-Weems
Clenora F. Hudson-Weems (born July 23, 1945) is an African-American author and academic who is currently a Professor of English at the University of Missouri. She coined the term "Africana womanism" in the late 1980s, contending that women of Af ...
coined the term Africana Womanism
"Africana womanism" is a term coined in the late 1980s by Clenora Hudson-Weems, intended as an ideology applicable to all women of African descent. It is grounded in African culture and Afrocentrism and focuses on the experiences, struggles, need ...
in the 1980s, which is an ideology that specifically focuses on black women's achievements and gains, similar to the ones mentioned above.
Pan-Africanism in the 21st century
Social media and the internet
Since the onset of the digital revolution, the internet and other similar media have facilitated the growth of many core pan-African principles by strengthening and increasing connections between people across the diaspora. Although internet penetration rates remain below the world average, roughly 43 percent of the population of Africa uses the internet and social media with Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
, Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
and YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
being among the most popular social networking sites. The ability to connect with people thousands of miles away has allowed these platforms to become places where people across the continent and diaspora have attempted to manufacture a collective African identity. Twitter has been one of the biggest sites where this production is taking place. In July 2015, Botswananian satirical writer and speaker Siyanda Mohutsiwa
Siyanda Mohutsiwa (born 1993) is an internationally recognised satirical writer and speaker from Botswana. She created the satirical hashtag #IfAfricaWasABar that went viral in the summer of 2015. She describes herself as a pan-Africanist.
She del ...
posed a question on her Twitter account that led to the creation of the hashtag #IfAfricaWasABar. After one week, more than 60,000 tweets with the hashtag were created, which allowed users on the platform to grapple with a vision of widespread African interaction throughout the continent.
The intersection between the digital media revolution and pan-Africanism has also had implications for the education sector. Pan-African organizations have used the internet and digital media to produce educational content for both children and adults in an effort to improve learning outcomes across the continent. The most popular is Ubongo which is Africa's largest manufacturer of educational content for children and uses shows such as ''Akil and Me'' to help Africa's youth improve literacy outcomes. The results have been widespread with Ubongo claiming that 24 million children have displayed enhanced learning outcomes and a study in Tanzania
Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...
finding an association between improved mathematics skills and children consuming Ubongo's content.
African Union
Pan-African thought influenced the establishment of the Organisation of African Unity
The Organisation of African Unity (OAU; french: Organisation de l'unité africaine, OUA) was an intergovernmental organization established on 25 May 1963 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with 32 signatory governments. One of the main heads for OAU's ...
(now the African Union
The African Union (AU) is a continental union consisting of 55 member states located on the continent of Africa. The AU was announced in the Sirte Declaration in Sirte, Libya, on 9 September 1999, calling for the establishment of the Africa ...
) in 1963. One of the biggest goals that the African Union
The African Union (AU) is a continental union consisting of 55 member states located on the continent of Africa. The AU was announced in the Sirte Declaration in Sirte, Libya, on 9 September 1999, calling for the establishment of the Africa ...
has set for the continent in the 21st century is improving long-term economic growth. Major steps have been taken to address this issue particularly with the creation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is a free trade area encompassing most of Africa. It was established in 2018 by the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, which has 43 parties and another 11 signatories, making it the larg ...
(AfCFTA). The establishment of this free trade zone connects nations throughout the continent that together have a GDP of upwards of US$2.5 trillion. The emergence of COVID-19 has delayed its implementation but in the long term, the African Union hopes that the agreement will spur industrialization, substantially boost trade, and contribute to increasing economic integration throughout the continent.
The African Union has also sought to make changes on policies involving movement within the continent. Similar to the current agreement in the European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
, the African Union proposed a free movement policy that would allow residents of countries in the union to move throughout the continent freely and participate in economic endeavors in other countries. The majority of countries have not formally signed off on the agreement and others are critical of the prospects of success but the African Union continues to view this policy as a major step toward its goal of continent wide solidarity and integration.
Although in an era of globalization and increased connectivity, challenges continue to persist that undermine the African Union's goal of continent wide solidarity. Many of these challenges have persisted for decades with some including inconsistent treaty implementation, ineffective governance and continued involvement from foreign economic superpowers amongst others. Influence from the United States, Britain and France continues to remain while new countries such as China are increasingly became involved politically and economically on the continent with many referring to this era as a "new scramble for Africa".
Concept
As originally conceived by Henry Sylvester Williams
Henry Sylvester-Williams (24 March 1867 or 15 February 186926 March 1911) was a Trinidadian lawyer, activist, councillor and writer who was among the founders of the Pan-African movement.
As a young man, Williams travelled to the United States ...
(although some historians credit the idea to Edward Wilmot Blyden
Edward Wilmot Blyden (3 August 1832 – 7 February 1912) was a Liberian educator, writer, diplomat, and politician who was primarily active in West Africa. Born in the Danish West Indies, he joined the waves of black immigrants from the ...
), pan-Africanism referred to the unity of all continental Africa.
During apartheid
Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...
South Africa there was a Pan Africanist Congress
The Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (known as the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC)) is a South African national liberation Pan-Africanist movement that is now a political party. It was founded by an Africanist group, led by Robert Sobukwe, that ...
led by Robert Sobukwe
Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe (5 December 1924 – 27 February 1978) was a prominent South African anti-apartheid revolutionary and founding member of the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), serving as the first president of the organization.
Sobukwe w ...
that dealt with the oppression of Africans in South Africa under Apartheid rule. Other pan-Africanist organisations include: Garvey
Garvey and O'Garvey are Irish surnames, derived from the Gaelic ''Ó Gairbhith'', also spelt ''Ó Gairbheith'', meaning "descendant of Gairbhith". ''Gairbhith'' itself means "rough peace".
There are three distinct Ó Gairbhith septs in Ireland: ...
's , TransAfrica and the International People's Democratic Uhuru Movement.
Additionally, pan-Africanism is seen as an endeavour to return to what is deemed by its proponents as singular, traditional African concepts about culture, society, and values. Examples of this include Léopold Sédar Senghor
Léopold Sédar Senghor (; ; 9 October 1906 – 20 December 2001) was a Senegalese poet, politician and cultural theorist who was the first president of Senegal (1960–80).
Ideologically an African socialist, he was the major theoretician o ...
's ''Négritude
''Négritude'' (from French "Nègre" and "-itude" to denote a condition that can be translated as "Blackness") is a framework of critique and literary theory, developed mainly by francophone intellectuals, writers, and politicians of the African ...
'' movement, and Mobutu Sese Seko
Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu Wa Za Banga (; born Joseph-Désiré Mobutu; 14 October 1930 – 7 September 1997) was a Congolese politician and military officer who was the president of Zaire from 1965 to 1997 (known as the Democratic Republic o ...
's view of '' Authenticité''.
An important theme running through much pan-Africanist literature concerns the historical links between different countries on the continent and the benefits of cooperation as a way of resisting imperialism and colonialism.
In the 21st century, some pan-Africanists aim to address globalization
Globalization, or globalisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is the process of interaction and integration among people, companies, and governments worldwide. The term ''globalization'' first appeared in the early 20t ...
and the problems of environmental justice
Environmental justice is a social movement to address the unfair exposure of poor and marginalized communities to harms from hazardous waste, resource extraction, and other land uses.Schlosberg, David. (2007) ''Defining Environmental Justic ...
. For instance, at the conference "Pan-Africanism for a New Generation" held at the University of Oxford
, mottoeng = The Lord is my light
, established =
, endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019)
, budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20)
, chancellor ...
, June 2011, Ledum Mittee, the current president of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), argued that environmental justice movements across the African continent should create horizontal linkages in order to better protect the interests of threatened peoples and the ecological systems in which they are embedded, and upon which their survival depends.
Some universities went as far as creating "Departments of Pan-African Studies" in the late 1960s. This includes the California State University
The California State University (Cal State or CSU) is a public university system in California. With 23 campuses and eight off-campus centers enrolling 485,550 students with 55,909 faculty and staff, CSU is the largest four-year public univers ...
, where that department was founded in 1969 as a direct reaction to the civil rights movement
The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional Racial segregation in the United States, racial segregation, Racial discrimination ...
, and is today dedicated to "teaching students about the African World Experience", to "demonstrate to the campus and the community the richness, vibrance, diversity, and vitality of African, African American, and Caribbean cultures" and to "presenting students and the community with an Afrocentric analysis" of anti-Black 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 ...
.
Syracuse University
Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...
also offers a master's degree in Pan African Studies.
Pan-African colours
The flags of numerous states in Africa and of pan-African groups use green, yellow and red. This colour combination was originally adopted from the 1897 flag of Ethiopia
The flag of Ethiopia ( am, የኢትዮጵያ ሰንደቅ ዐላማ, Ye-Ītyōṗṗyā sändäq ʿälama) is the national flag of Ethiopia. It consists of a green, yellow, and red tricolour with the National Emblem, a golden pentagram on a blu ...
, and was inspired by the fact that Ethiopia
Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
is the continent's oldest independent nation, thus making the Ethiopian green, yellow, and red the closest visual representation of pan-Africanism. This is in comparison to the Black Nationalist flag, representing political theory centred around the eugenicist caste
Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultura ...
-stratified colonial Americas.
The UNIA
''Unia'' ( en, Dreams), released on 25 May 2007, is the fifth full-length studio album by the power metal band Sonata Arctica, following the album ''Reckoning Night''. The first single from the album was " Paid in Full", released on 27 April 2007 ...
(Universal Negro Improvement Association) flag, is a tri-color flag
A flag is a piece of fabric (most often rectangular or quadrilateral) with a distinctive design and colours. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design empl ...
consisting of three equal horizontal bands of (from top-down) red
Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...
, black
Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...
and green
Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 Nanometre, nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by ...
. The UNIA formally adopted it on August 13, 1920, during its month-long convention at Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...
in New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
.
Variations of the flag have been used in various countries and territories 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 ...
and the Americas
The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World.
Along with th ...
to represent Black Nationalist ideologies. Among these are the flags of Malawi
Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast ...
, Kenya
)
, national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"()
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Nairobi
, coordinates =
, largest_city = Nairobi
, ...
, South Sudan
South Sudan (; din, Paguot Thudän), officially the Republic of South Sudan ( din, Paankɔc Cuëny Thudän), is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia, Sudan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the C ...
and Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Kitts and Nevis (), officially the Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis, is an island country and microstate consisting of the two islands of Saint Kitts and Nevis, both located in the West Indies, in the Leeward Islands chain of ...
. Several pan-African organizations and movements have also often employed the emblematic red, black and green tri-color scheme in variety of contexts.
Criticism
Pan-Africanism has been accused of being a movement of the African educated bourgeoisie
The bourgeoisie ( , ) is a social class, equivalent to the middle or upper middle class. They are distinguished from, and traditionally contrasted with, the proletariat by their affluence, and their great cultural and financial capital. They ...
elite which doesn't concern the interests of ordinary Africans. Kenyan left-wing journalist Philip Ochieng wrote in 1971,
Kwame Nkrumah was viewed with suspicion by many of his contemporaries, who regarded him as a "megalomaniac whose only real ambition is to rule the entire African continent". Most newly independent African countries opposed Nkrumah's desires for a politically unified Africa because they viewed it as a threat to their national sovereignty. Ivorian president Félix Houphouët-Boigny
Félix Houphouët-Boigny (; 18 October 1905 – 7 December 1993), affectionately called Papa Houphouët or Le Vieux ("The Old One"), was the first president of Ivory Coast, serving from 1960 until his death in 1993. A tribal chief, he wo ...
was a staunch opponent of Nkrumah, and the two came into conflict with each other.
Pan-Africanist organisations such as the Organization of African Unity
The Organisation of African Unity (OAU; french: Organisation de l'unité africaine, OUA) was an intergovernmental organization established on 25 May 1963 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with 32 signatory governments. One of the main heads for OAU's ...
have been accused by people such as Tanzanian president Julius Nyerere
Julius Kambarage Nyerere (; 13 April 1922 – 14 October 1999) was a Tanzanian anti-colonial activist, politician, and political theorist. He governed Tanganyika as prime minister from 1961 to 1962 and then as president from 1962 to 1964, aft ...
of being a "committee of dictators" that doesn't protect the rights of Africans. African leaders who served as chairpersons of the Organization of African Unity and the African Union
The African Union (AU) is a continental union consisting of 55 member states located on the continent of Africa. The AU was announced in the Sirte Declaration in Sirte, Libya, on 9 September 1999, calling for the establishment of the Africa ...
such as Ugandan president Idi Amin
Idi Amin Dada Oumee (, ; 16 August 2003) was a Ugandan military officer and politician who served as the third president of Uganda from 1971 to 1979. He ruled as a military dictator and is considered one of the most brutal despots in modern w ...
, Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe
Robert Gabriel Mugabe (; ; 21 February 1924 – 6 September 2019) was a Zimbabwean revolutionary and politician who served as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe from 1980 to 1987 and then as President from 1987 to 2017. He served as Leader of the ...
, and Libyan president Muammar Gaddafi
Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi, . Due to the lack of standardization of transcribing written and regionally pronounced Arabic, Gaddafi's name has been romanized in various ways. A 1986 column by ''The Straight Dope'' lists 32 spellin ...
have been accused of severe human rights violations while using Pan-Africanist rhetoric to legitimize their authority. Malawian economist Thandika Mkandawire
Thandika Mkandawire (10 October 1940 – 27 March 2020) was a Malawian economist and public intellectual who was a Chair of African Development and professor of African Development at the London School of Economics.
He is a widely published schol ...
states,
Another criticism of Pan-Africanism is that it is irrelevant for contemporary issues affecting postcolonial Africa, and it is thus "stuck in the past". Pan-Africanism has been accused of placing too much focus on a superficial monolithic "African" or "black" identity while ignoring the complex ethno-religious differences and conflicts that exist among Africans (especially in Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
, where independence leaders abandoned national unity after independence in favour of promoting the interests of their own ethnic groups over others), and it has been noted that the ideology relies on constructing a "common foe" such as colonialism in order to maintain its relevance and legitimacy.
Political parties and organizations
In Africa
Formal political bodies
*Organisation of African Unity
The Organisation of African Unity (OAU; french: Organisation de l'unité africaine, OUA) was an intergovernmental organization established on 25 May 1963 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with 32 signatory governments. One of the main heads for OAU's ...
, succeeded by the African Union
The African Union (AU) is a continental union consisting of 55 member states located on the continent of Africa. The AU was announced in the Sirte Declaration in Sirte, Libya, on 9 September 1999, calling for the establishment of the Africa ...
*Pan-African Parliament
The Pan-African Parliament (PAP), also known as the African Parliament, is the legislative body of the African Union. It held its inaugural session in March 2004. The Parliament exercises oversight, and has advisory and consultative powers, ha ...
, African Union
The African Union (AU) is a continental union consisting of 55 member states located on the continent of Africa. The AU was announced in the Sirte Declaration in Sirte, Libya, on 9 September 1999, calling for the establishment of the Africa ...
Political groups and organizations
*African Unification Front
The African Unification Front (AUF) is an organisation aiming to promote the political, social and economic union of Africa.
History
AUF was formed in August 1996. The AUF advocates for transformation of Africa into a federation, with the Pan A ...
*'' Rassemblement Démocratique Africain'', defunct
*All-African People's Revolutionary Party
The All-African People's Revolutionary Party (A-APRP) is a socialist political party founded by Kwame Nkrumah and organized in Conakry, Guinea in 1968. The party expanded to the United States in 1972 and claims to have recruited members from 33 co ...
*Pan-African Women's Organization
*All-African Trade Union Federation
The All-African Trade Union Federation (AATUF) was a Pan-African trade union organisation, formed in November 1959 on the initiative of president Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana. The secretary of AATUF was Amadou N'diaye. The assistant secretary general ...
, defunct
*Convention People's Party
The Convention People's Party (CPP) is a Socialism, socialist political party in Ghana based on the ideas of the first President of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah. The CPP was formed in June 1949 after Nkrumah broke away from the United Gold Coast Conven ...
(Ghana)
*Economic Freedom Fighters
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) is a South African left-wing to far-left pan-Africanist and Marxist–Leninist political party. It was founded by expelled former African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) President Julius Malema, and hi ...
(South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
)
*Pan Africanist Congress of Azania
The Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (known as the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC)) is a South African national liberation Pan-Africanist movement that is now a political party. It was founded by an Africanist group, led by Robert Sobukwe, that ...
(South Africa)
In the Caribbean
*The Pan-African Affairs Commission for Pan-African Affairs, a unit within the Office of the Prime Minister of Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...
.
*African Society for Cultural Relations with Independent Africa African Society for Cultural Relations with Independent Africa (abbr. ASCRIA) was an Afro-Guyanese grassroots organization in Guyana, to emerge soon after the country's History of Guyana, independence from British rule. Dedicated to the revitalizati ...
, defunct (Guyana)
*Antigua Caribbean Liberation Movement
Antigua Caribbean Liberation Movement was a radical socialist and Pan-African political party in Antigua and Barbuda. ACLM was founded in 1968 by Tim Hector, the then chairman of the Progressive Labour Movement. The ideological inspiration for ...
(Antigua and Barbuda)
*Clement Payne Movement
The Clement Payne Movement (CPM) is a left-wing Barbados-based political party named in honour of a Trinidad-born man who led a 1937 uprising in Barbados. The Clement Payne Movement is generally seen by most Barbadians as more leftist in ideology ...
(Barbados)
*Marcus Garvey People's Political Party
The Marcus Garvey People's Political Party (formerly known as the Marcus Garvey People's Progressive Party) is a political party in Jamaica formed by the merger of two minor parties. The ideology associated with the party is socialist, republican ...
(Jamaica)
* (Jamaica)
In Europe
*Pan-African Federation
The Pan-African Federation was a multinational Pan-African organization founded in Manchester, United Kingdom, in 1944.
Participating groups
Participating groups included:
* Negro Association (Manchester)
* Coloured Workers Association (London ...
(United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
), defunct
*Pan-African Women's Association (Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
)
In the United States
The Council on African Affairs The Council on African Affairs (CAA), until 1941 called the International Committee on African Affairs (ICAA), was a volunteer organization founded in 1937 in the United States. It emerged as the leading voice of anti-colonialism and Pan-Africanism ...
(CAA): founded in 1937 by Max Yergan
Max Yergan (July 19, 1892 – April 11, 1975) was an African-American activist notable for being a Baptist missionary for the YMCA, then a Communist working with Paul Robeson, and finally a staunch anti-Communist who complimented the government ...
and Paul Robeson
Paul Leroy Robeson ( ; April 9, 1898 – January 23, 1976) was an American bass-baritone concert artist, stage and film actor, professional football player, and activist who became famous both for his cultural accomplishments and for his p ...
, the CAA was the first major U.S. organization whose focus was on providing pertinent and up-to-date information about pan-Africanism across the United States, particularly to African Americans. Probably the most successful campaign of the council was for South African famine relief in 1946. The CAA was hopeful that, following World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, there would be a move towards Third World
The term "Third World" arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either NATO or the Warsaw Pact. The United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Western European nations and their allies represented the " First ...
independence under the trusteeship of the United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
.Duberman, Martin
Martin Bauml Duberman (born August 6, 1930) is an American historian, biographer, playwright, and gay rights activist. Duberman is Professor of History Emeritus at Herbert Lehman College in the Bronx, New York City.
Early life
Duberman was born ...
. ''Paul Robeson'', 1989, pp. 296–97. To the CAA's dismay, the proposals introduced by the U.S. government to the conference in April/May 1945 set no clear limits on the duration of colonialism and no motions towards allowing territorial possessions to move towards self-government.
Liberal supporters abandoned the CAA, and the federal government
A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...
cracked down on its operations. In 1953 the CAA was charged with subversion under the McCarran Internal Security Act
The Internal Security Act of 1950, (Public Law 81-831), also known as the Subversive Activities Control Act of 1950, the McCarran Act after its principal sponsor Sen. Pat McCarran (D-Nevada), or the Concentration Camp Law, is a United States fede ...
. Its principal leaders, including Robeson, W. E. B. Du Bois
William Edward Burghardt Du Bois ( ; February 23, 1868 – August 27, 1963) was an American-Ghanaian sociologist, socialist, historian, and Pan-Africanist civil rights activist. Born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, Du Bois grew up in ...
, and Alphaeus Hunton (1903–70), were subjected to harassment, indictments, and in the case of Hunton, imprisonment. Under the weight of internal disputes, government repression, and financial hardships, the Council on African Affairs disbanded in 1955.
*The US Organization
US Organization, or Organization Us, is a Black nationalist group in the United States founded in 1965. It was established as a community organization by Hakim Jamal together with Maulana Karenga. It was a rival to the Black Panther Party in Cali ...
was founded in 1965 by Maulana Karenga
Maulana Ndabezitha Karenga (born Ronald McKinley Everett, July 14, 1941), previously known as Ron Karenga, is an American activist, author, and professor of Africana studies, best known as the creator of the pan-African and African-American holi ...
, following the Watts riots. It is based on the synthetic African philosophy
African philosophy is the philosophical discourse produced in Africa or by indigenous Africans. The term Africana philosophy covers the philosophy made by African descendants, including African Americans. African philosophers are found in the vari ...
of kawaii, and is perhaps best known for creating Kwanzaa
Kwanzaa () is an annual celebration of African-American culture from December 26 to January 1, culminating in a communal feast called ''Karamu'', usually on the sixth day. It was created by activist Maulana Karenga, based on African harvest ...
and the ''Nguzo Saba'' ("seven principles"). In the words of its founder and chair, Karenga, "the essential task of our organization Us has been and remains to provide a philosophy, a set of principles and a program which inspires a personal and social practice that not only satisfies human need but transforms people in the process, making them self-conscious agents of their own life and liberation".
*TransAfrica
TransAfrica (formerly ''TransAfrica Forum'') is an advocacy organization in Washington, D.C. that seeks to influence the foreign policy of the United States concerning African and Caribbean countries and all African diaspora groups. They are a res ...
is a non-profit organization founded in 1977 by Randall Robinson
Randall Robinson (born July 6, 1941) is an African-American lawyer, author and activist, noted as the founder of TransAfrica Forum, TransAfrica. He is known particularly for his impassioned opposition to apartheid, and for his advocacy on behal ...
that strives to provide political and economic aid to those of African diaspora
The African diaspora is the worldwide collection of communities descended from native Africans or people from Africa, predominantly in the Americas. The term most commonly refers to the descendants of the West and Central Africans who were e ...
groups. The social justice group raises awareness of diasporan happenings through legal action and educating Afro-descendants on the domestic and foreign policy of the United States
The officially stated goals of the foreign policy of the United States of America, including all the bureaus and offices in the United States Department of State, as mentioned in the ''Foreign Policy Agenda'' of the Department of State, are ...
that directly affect them. By creating more engagement between Africans and people of African ancestry to policymakers, TransAfrica seeks to create more sustainable, independent, and progressive development for these ethnic groups.
Pan-African concepts and philosophies
Maafa studies
Maafa
The ''Maafa'', the African Holocaust, the Holocaust of Enslavement, or the Black Holocaust are political neologisms which have been popularized since 1988Barndt, Joseph. ''Understanding and Dismantling Racism: The Twenty-First Century''. 2007 ...
is an aspect of pan-African studies. The term collectively refers to 500 years of suffering (including the present) of people of African heritage through slavery
Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
, 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 ...
, colonialism
Colonialism is a practice or policy of control by one people or power over other people or areas, often by establishing colonies and generally with the aim of economic dominance. In the process of colonisation, colonisers may impose their relig ...
, and other forms of oppression. In this area of study, both the actual history and the legacy of that history are studied as a single discourse. The emphasis in the historical narrative is on African agents, as opposed to non-African agents.
Afrocentric pan-Africanism
Afrocentric pan-Africanism is espoused by Kwabena Faheem Ashanti in his book ''The Psychotechnology of Brainwashing: Crucifying Willie Lynch''. Another newer movement that has evolved from the early Afrocentric school is the Afrisecal movement or Afrisecaism of Francis Ohanyido, a Nigerian philosopher-poet. Black nationalism
Black nationalism is a type of racial nationalism or pan-nationalism which espouses the belief that black people are a race, and which seeks to develop and maintain a black racial and national identity. Black nationalist activism revolves ar ...
is sometimes associated with this form of Pan-Africanism.
Kawaida
Kawaida, a Swahili word meaning "usually", is a pan-Africanist nationalist and academic movement that was created during the height of the Black Power movement by Africana professor, author, and activist Maulana Karenga
Maulana Ndabezitha Karenga (born Ronald McKinley Everett, July 14, 1941), previously known as Ron Karenga, is an American activist, author, and professor of Africana studies, best known as the creator of the pan-African and African-American holi ...
. The philosophy encourages the reclamation of traditional African thought with the belief it will empower Afro-descendants to sustain their fight against racism and other fundamental issues.
Hip-hop
Since the late 1970s, hip hop has emerged as a powerful force that has partly shaped black identity worldwide. In his 2005 article "Hip-hop Turns 30: Whatcha Celebratin' For?", Greg Tate
Gregory Stephen Tate (October 14, 1957December 7, 2021) was an American writer, musician, and producer. A long-time critic for ''The Village Voice'', Tate focused particularly on African-American music and culture, helping to establish hip-h ...
describes hip-hop culture as the product of a pan-African state of mind. It is an "ethnic enclave/empowerment zone that has served as a foothold for the poorest among us to get a grip on the land of the prosperous".
Hip-hop unifies those of African descent globally in its movement towards greater economic, social and political power. Andreana Clay in her article "Keepin' it Real: Black Youth, Hip-Hop Culture, and Black Identity" states that hip-hop provides the world with "vivid illustrations of Black lived experience", creating bonds of black identity across the globe. From a pan-African perspective, hip-hop culture can be a conduit to authenticate a black identity, and in doing so, creates a unifying and uplifting force among Africans that pan-Africanism sets out to achieve.
An expansion in the popularity of hip-hop culture in the 21st century has also increased the role hip-hop is playing for pan-African solidarity across the diaspora although the opportunity for a greater Pan-African involvement remains. At a conference at Howard University
Howard University (Howard) is a private, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity" and accredited by the Middle States Commissi ...
on March 4, 2016, Assistant Professor of African Studies Msia K. Clark spoke of the historical connection that has linked pan-Africanism and hip-hop since the genre's birth and how hip-hop culture has been at the forefront of various movements throughout the continent in the 21st century. One of these movements involved Y'en a Marre Y'en a Marre ("Fed Up") is a group of Senegalese rappers and journalists, created in January 2011, to protest ineffective government and register youth to vote. They are credited with helping to mobilize Senegal's youth vote and oust incumbent Presi ...
, which was a collection of mainly Senegalese rap artists that are attributed with helping to remove former President Abdoulaye Wade
Abdoulaye Wade (born 29 May 1926)
Encyclopedia of the Nations. Retrieved February 28, ...
from office in 2012
File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...
through the mass electoral mobilization of Senegal's youth.
Pan-African art and media
*''Les Afriques
''Les Afriques'' is a weekly economical and financial African newspaper. In 2007, it claims to be the first Pan-Africanism, Pan-African financial newspaper. It is published weekly and available in almost all La Francophonie, French-speaking countr ...
'', a weekly African financial newspaper. It claims to be the first pan-African financial newspaper.
*Pan African Writers' Association
The Pan African Writers' Association (PAWA), founded in November 1989, is a Ghana-based cultural institution "born in the larger crucible of Pan Africanism" that is an umbrella body of writers' associations on the African continent and the Diaspora ...
See also
*African diaspora
The African diaspora is the worldwide collection of communities descended from native Africans or people from Africa, predominantly in the Americas. The term most commonly refers to the descendants of the West and Central Africans who were e ...
*African nationalism
African nationalism is an umbrella term which refers to a group of political ideologies in sub-Saharan Africa, which are based on the idea of national self-determination and the creation of nation states.[Africana womanism
"Africana womanism" is a term coined in the late 1980s by Clenora Hudson-Weems, intended as an ideology applicable to all women of African descent. It is grounded in African culture and Afrocentrism and focuses on the experiences, struggles, need ...]
*Afro-pessimism
Afro-pessimism is a critical framework that describes the ongoing effects of racism, colonialism, and historical processes of enslavement in the United States, including the trans-Atlantic slave trade and their impact on structural conditions as w ...
*Black nationalism
Black nationalism is a type of racial nationalism or pan-nationalism which espouses the belief that black people are a race, and which seeks to develop and maintain a black racial and national identity. Black nationalist activism revolves ar ...
*''Négritude
''Négritude'' (from French "Nègre" and "-itude" to denote a condition that can be translated as "Blackness") is a framework of critique and literary theory, developed mainly by francophone intellectuals, writers, and politicians of the African ...
''
*Pan-Arabism
Pan-Arabism ( ar, الوحدة العربية or ) is an ideology that espouses the unification of the countries of North Africa and Western Asia from the Atlantic Ocean to the Arabian Sea, which is referred to as the Arab world. It is closely c ...
*United States of Africa
The United States of Africa is a hypothetical concept of a federation of some or all of the 54 sovereign states and two disputed states on the continent of Africa. The concept takes its origin from Marcus Garvey's 1924 poem " Hail, United Stat ...
*List of conflicts in Africa
This is a list of conflicts in Africa arranged by country, both on the continent and associated islands, including wars between African nations, civil wars, and wars involving non-African nations that took place within Africa. It encompasses coloni ...
*List of ethnic groups of Africa
The ethnic groups of Africa number in the thousands, with each population generally having its own language (or dialect of a language) and culture. The ethnolinguistic groups include various Afroasiatic, Khoisan, Niger-Congo, and Nilo-Saharan ...
*Languages of Africa
The languages of Africa are divided into several major language families:
* Niger–Congo or perhaps Atlantic–Congo languages (includes Bantu and non-Bantu, and possibly Mande and others) are spoken in West, Central, Southeast and Southern ...
*Religion in Africa
Religion in Africa is multifaceted and has been a major influence on art, culture and philosophy. Today, the continent's various populations and individuals are mostly adherents of Christianity, Islam, and to a lesser extent several traditional ...
General:
*Pan-nationalism
Pan-nationalism (from gr, πᾶν, "all", and french: nationalisme, "nationalism") is a specific term, used mainly in social sciences as a designation for those forms of nationalism that aim to transcend (overcome, expand) traditional boundari ...
* List of topics related to the African diaspora
References
Bibliography
* Hakim Adi
Hakim Adi is a British historian and scholar who specializes in African affairs. He is the first African-British historian to become a professor of history in the UK. He has written widely on Pan-Africanism and the modern political history of A ...
, ''Pan-Africanism: A History.'' London: Bloomsbury, 2018.
* Hakim Adi & Marika Sherwood
Marika Sherwood (born 1937) is a Hungarian-born historian, researcher, educator and author based in England. She is a co-founder of the Black and Asian Studies Association.
Biography
Sherwood was born in 1937 into a History of the Jews in Hungar ...
, ''Pan-African History: Political Figures from Africa and the Diaspora Since 1787'', London: Routledge, 2003.
* Imanuel Geiss
Imanuel Geiss (9 February 1931 – 20 February 2012) was a German historian.
Life
Imanuel Geiss was born in Frankfurt am Main, the youngest of the five children of a working-class family affected by the economic crisis. His unemployed fathe ...
, ''Panafrikanismus. Zur Geschichte der Dekolonisation.'' Habilitation, EVA, Frankfurt am Main, 1968, English as: ''The Pan-African Movement'', London: Methuen, 1974, , and as: ''The Pan-African Movement. A history of Pan-Africanism in America, Europe and Africa'', New York: Africana Publ., 1974, .
* Colin Legum
Colin Legum (3 January 1919 – 8 June 2003) was a South African journalist and writer on African politics. A popular author, he authored several popular books and worked for most of his career at ''The Observer'' in the United Kingdom. He was ...
''Pan-Africanism: A Short Political Guide''
revised edition, New York: Frederick A. Praeger, 1965.
* Tony Martin, ''Pan-African Connection: From Slavery to Garvey and Beyond'', Dover: The Majority Press, 1985.
* Blain N. Keisha, Leeds Asia, Taylor Y. Ula 'T', ''Women, Gender Politics and Pan-Africanism'', Vol.4 (2016), pp. 139–145.
External links
{{Authority control
African and Black nationalism
African diaspora
Identity politics
Africanism
Political ideologies
Political movements
Politics and race
Regionalism (international relations)