Post 1966 series— Pan African Dilemma: Continental African Politicians Unplugged

The first Pan African Conference went into full swing in Manchester, London (1900) led by Henry Sylvester Williams a lawyer, graduate of the University of London, founder of the African Association, and credited with coining the term Pan African.

The young W.E.B Dubois attended Williams’ Pan African Conference after graduating from school, Fisk (*HBCU) in1888 and Harvard in 1895, and he would later go on to organize Pan African Congresses.

Marcus Garvey attended the University of London Birkbeck College, 1912; he studied law and philosophy. Garvey played a major role in Pan Africanism, guiding Black masses into understanding self-reliance and self-sufficiency. Garvey taught Economic empowerment via the Universal Negro Improvement Association (1914); and Black pride—teaching the African Diaspora to relearn and reclaim their African heritage with his ‘Back to Africa Movement’.

In 1945, returning to where it all started Manchester, the Fifth Pan African Congress, which was a major event, Dubois collaborated with such persons as Kwame Nkrumah, George Padmore, Jomo Kenyatta and other Black/African freedom fighters struggling for African nations’ independence from Europeans’ colonial rule.

The Pan African Movement beginnings are in the Western Hemisphere and led by African Diasporans who fought the war outside of Africa against the most brutal form of slavery in world history built on racism. The Pan African Movement spread towards ‘The Motherland’ from which millions of Africans were sold by wicked chieftaincies, and stolen away from Africa by white slave traders.

The Pan African Movement struggle is against those who not only dominated chattel slavery (European slave ships, slave castles, branding irons and shackle owners), but also proceeded to strengthen their system of white supremacy, colonize and further exploit the “cradle of civilization”. The same Pan African Movement is still fighting against white supremacy, genocidal acts against Black people, and the increase efforts of Eurocentrics to ‘white wash’ Black/African history.

Please note, the Pan African Movement is not just a revolution against racist white Europeans, white Americans, white Arabs, white Asians, BUT-- to counter self-hating Black people suffering from ‘Negropeanism’ (M. Ani), and those who have yet to heal from hundreds of years of trauma and needing to devise an African-centered system conducive for their upliftment.

A Pan African Movement is efforts to provide a foundation to deal with miseducation, under-education and the uneducated, in order to cease locking step with former chattel slave masters and colonialists.

One must ask, how can continental African politicians be dismissive towards Pan Africanism–when the ideology and movement was devised to unite Black people, inspire Black economic upliftment and gain independence from European colonialists? What confused African politicians fail to understand, if it were not for Pan Africanism continental African politicians today would not be writing their own constitutions, holding the position of president and serving as parliamentarians. Racist European colonialists would be sitting in those chairs, and many chiefs would still be servants-- liaisons and language translators for colonialists.

History tells, both ancient and contemporary, of African solidarity and the ushering out of European invaders, land grabbers, instigators of internal conflicts— in other words, evidence of continental Africa purging itself of Europeans’ chaos and regaining stolen lands. This is nothing new, which Paul Guthrie, Michael Bradley, Chancellor Williams and Kwame Nkrumah explain in their writings, which are “must-reads”.

Today, the 21^st century, the Pan African dilemma-- too many African nations are still without consistent electrical power, several African nations are a.k.a. HIPCs (Highly Indebted Poor Countries), listed on ‘Corruption Indexes’, suffering with unstable currencies, underhanded re-taxing (i.e. Ghana officials fighting for “MoMo” money), African politicians skipping after Europeans’ COVID-19 loan schemes and falling into Chinese ‘debt traps.

To add insult to injury, African nations today are suffering from not having highly well trained and well-equipped hospitals as their politicians fly not only beyond their country’s borders, but outside of the African continent seeking medical help.

Question is what would early Pan Africanist think of the state of Africa today? Pre 1966—such as President Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba, President Sekou Toure, President Julius Nyerere and other great revolutionaries.

Nevertheless, regardless of “white-capitalists-wannabe” politicians, and how their African nations are bleeding profusely, they still make great efforts to demonstrate loyalty to European neo-colonialists by unplugging from the Pan African Movement.

With great urgency, without fear or failure, African politicians need to take a sankofa approach and plug back into Pan Africanism. This Pan African dilemma must be turned around and with common goals— revisit lessons from Manchester and teachings of the UNIA, i.e. Black solidarity, African-centered education, Black economic empowerment and re-development of Mother Africa. “Forward ever…”.

*HBCU--Historically Black Colleges and Universities, built by Africans.

References:

Carter G. Woodson (1933) The Miseducation of the Negro.

Marimba Ani (1994) Yurugu: An African-Centered Critique of European Cultural Thought and Behavior

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Dr. K. Makeda Muhammad is a ‘Repatriate’ a returnee to Africa via Ghana in 2011. Dr. Makeda’s field of study is Black Studies--she is an educator, writer, Pan Africanist, community activist, and social media freedom fighter.

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