The All-African People's Revolutionary Party (A-APRP) is a
socialist
Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...
political party
A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...
founded by
Kwame Nkrumah
Francis Kwame Nkrumah (, 21 September 1909 – 27 April 1972) was a Ghanaian politician, political theorist, and revolutionary. He served as Prime Minister of the Gold Coast (British colony), Gold Coast from 1952 until 1957, when it gained ...
and organized in
Conakry
Conakry ( , ; ; ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guinea. A port city, it serves as the economic, financial and cultural centre of Guinea. Its population as of the 2014 Guinea census was 1,660,973.
The current population of C ...
,
Guinea
Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sier ...
in 1968. The party expanded to the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
in 1972 and claims to have recruited members from 33 countries.
[ Asante, Molefi Kete; Mazama, Ama; Cérol, Marie-José; ''Encyclopedia of Black Studies'', SAGE (2005), pp. 77-8,]
(Retrieved 19 July 2019) According to the party, global membership in the party is "in the hundreds".
Nkrumah's goal in founding the party was to create and manage the political economic conditions necessary for the emergence of an All-African People's Revolutionary Army that would lead the military struggle against "
settler colonialism
Settler colonialism is a logic and structure of displacement by Settler, settlers, using colonial rule, over an environment for replacing it and its indigenous peoples with settlements and the society of the settlers.
Settler colonialism is ...
,
Zionism
Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...
,
neo-colonialism
Neocolonialism is the control by a state (usually, a former colonial power) over another nominally independent state (usually, a former colony) through indirect means. The term ''neocolonialism'' was first used after World War II to refer to ...
,
imperialism
Imperialism is the maintaining and extending of Power (international relations), power over foreign nations, particularly through expansionism, employing both hard power (military and economic power) and soft power (diplomatic power and cultura ...
and all other forms of
capitalist
Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit. This socioeconomic system has developed historically through several stages and is defined by ...
oppression and exploitation."
Concept and philosophy
As described by Dave Blevins and other scholars like
Carole Boyce Davies, "the ideology of the A-APRP is
Nkrumahism—
Toureism, which takes its name from the founder, and his primary colleague in arms, President
Ahmed Sekou Toure."
[Blevins, Dave, ''American Political Parties in the 21st Century''. McFarland (2006), pp. 8-9,]
(Retrieved 19 July 2019) Since then, the party has changed its official ideology to Nkrumahism-Touréism-Cabralism.
Kwame Nkrumah
Francis Kwame Nkrumah (, 21 September 1909 – 27 April 1972) was a Ghanaian politician, political theorist, and revolutionary. He served as Prime Minister of the Gold Coast (British colony), Gold Coast from 1952 until 1957, when it gained ...
, the founder, introduced the party's concept and philosophy in his book, ''Handbook of Revolutionary Warfare'' - released in 1968 by
Panaf Books,
Some of the key concepts include:
# promotion of
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...
n unity
# embracing the need and characteristics of
African civilization and ideology
# working for economical and technological advancement
The party supports:
#
Pan-Africanism
Pan-Africanism is a nationalist movement that aims to encourage and strengthen bonds of solidarity between all Indigenous peoples of Africa, indigenous peoples and diasporas of African ancestry. Based on a common goal dating back to the Atla ...
— "a total liberation and unification of Africa under Scientific Socialism"
#
Black Power
Black power is a list of political slogans, political slogan and a name which is given to various associated ideologies which aim to achieve self-determination for black people. It is primarily, but not exclusively, used in the United States b ...
— "the belief that real black freedom will only come when Africa is politically united"
#
Scientific Socialism
Scientific socialism in Marxism is the application of historical materialism to the development of socialism, as not just a practical and achievable outcome of historical processes, but the only possible outcome. It contrasts with utopian social ...
— "the idea that modern technology can be reconciled with human values, in which an advanced technological society is realized without the social upheaval and deep schisms that occur in
capitalist
Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit. This socioeconomic system has developed historically through several stages and is defined by ...
industrial societies"
In an attempt to articulate effectively the issues facing
African people
The population of Africa has grown rapidly over the past century and consequently shows a large youth bulge, further reinforced by increasing life expectancy in most African countries. Total population as of 2024 is about 1.5 billion, with ...
and the
African woman, the A-APRP also infused gender politics into its ideology and organisational structure. This resulted in the formation of the All-African Women's Revolutionary Union in 1980. This women's wing of the party emerged specifically to address issues surrounding
gender oppression with
racism
Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...
and
classism
Class discrimination, also known as classism, is prejudice or discrimination on the basis of social class. It includes individual attitudes, behaviors, systems of policies and practices that are set up to benefit the upper class at the expense of ...
.
Chapters
The building of the A-APRP began to take form in 1968 with the creation of "the first A-APRP Work-Study Circle in
Guinea
Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sier ...
under the leadership of Kwame -Ture", and later in the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
, the
Caribbean
The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...
,
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
,
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
, and numerous countries in
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...
. Since 1968, the A-APRP "has recruited Africans born in more than 33 countries."
[ Boyce Davies, Carole, ''Encyclopedia of the African Diaspora: Origins, Experiences, and Culture, Volume 2'', ABC-CLIO (2008), pp. 78-9,]
(Retrieved 19 July 2019)
References
Bibliography
*
Asante, Molefi Kete; Mazama, Ama; Cérol, Marie-José; ''Encyclopedia of Black Studies'',
SAGE (2005), pp. 77–8,
(Retrieved 19 July 2019)
*Blevins, Dave, ''American Political Parties in the 21st Century''.
McFarland (2006), pp. 8–9,
(Retrieved 19 July 2019)
*
Boyce Davies, Carole, ''Encyclopedia of the African Diaspora: Origins, Experiences, and Culture, Volume 2'',
ABC-CLIO (2008), pp. 78–9,
(Retrieved 19 July 2019)
*
Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Gates, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., ''African American Lives'' (editors: Henry Louis Gates, W E B DuBois Professor of Humanities Chair of Afro-American Studies and Director of the W E B DuBois Institute for Afro-American Research Henry Louis Gates, Jr, Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, Victor S Thomas Professor of History and of African and African American Studies Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham; contributors: W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for Afro-American Research, American Council of Learned Societies),
Oxford University Press, USA
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...
(2004), p. 142
(Retrieved 21 July 2019)
*Springer, Kimberly, ''Still Lifting, Still Climbing: African American Women's Contemporary Activism'',
New York University Press, NYU Press (1999), p. 174,
(Retrieved 19 July 2019)
Further reading
*
Kwame Nkrumah, Nkrumah, Kwame, ''Handbook of Revolutionary Warfare'' - released in 1968 by
Panaf Books,
*Nkrumah, Francis Nwia Kofie / Nkrumah, Kwame, ''Handbook of Revolutionary Warfare: A Guide to the Armed Phase of the African Revolution'',
International Publishers
International Publishers is a book publishing company based in New York City, specializing in Marxism, Marxist works of economics, political science, and history.
Company history
Establishment
International Publishers Company, Inc., was founde ...
(1969)
*Harris, Robert L Jr.;
Terborg-Penn, Rosalyn; ''The Columbia Guide to African American History Since 1939'',
Columbia University Press
Columbia University Press is a university press based in New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's la ...
(2006), p. 109,
*''Upping the Anti, Issue 6'' (journal), UTA Publications (May 2008), pp. 35–42,
*Thomas, Greg, ''The Sexual Demon of Colonial Power: Pan-African Embodiment and Erotic Schemes of Empire'',
Indiana University Press
Indiana University Press, also known as IU Press, is an academic publisher founded in 1950 at Indiana University that specializes in the humanities and social sciences. Its headquarters are located in Bloomington, Indiana. IU Press publishes ...
(2007), pp. ix, 69,
{{Communist parties in the United States
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African socialist political parties
Anti-imperialist organizations
Anti-Zionism in Africa
Anti-Zionist political parties
Black political parties in the United States
Nkrumaist political parties
Pan-African organizations
Pan-Africanism in Ghana
Pan-Africanist political parties in Africa
Political parties established in 1968
Political parties in Africa
Socialist parties in Ghana
Transnational political parties
Communist parties in the United States
Political parties of minorities in the United States
Political parties in Guinea
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Political parties of minorities in the United Kingdom