Pan-Africanism is a worldwide movement that
aims to encourage and strengthen bonds of
solidarity between all people of African descent.
Based on a common fate going back to the Atlantic
slave trade, the movement extends beyond continental
Africans, with a substantial support base
among the African diaspora in the Caribbean,
Latin America, and the United States. It is
based on the belief that unity is vital to
economic, social, and political progress and
aims to "unify and uplift" people of African
descent. The ideology asserts that the fate
of all African peoples and countries are intertwined.
At its core Pan-Africanism is "a belief that
African peoples, both on the continent and
in the diaspora, share not merely a common
history, but a common destiny".The Organization
of African Unity (now the African Union) was
established in 1963 to safeguard the sovereignty
and territorial integrity of its Member States
and to promote global relations within the
framework of the United Nations. The African
Union Commission has its seat in Addis Ababa
and the Pan-African Parliament has its seat
in Johannesburg and Midrand.
== Overview ==
Pan-Africanism stresses the need for "collective
self-reliance". Pan-Africanism exists as a
governmental and grassroots objective. Pan-African
advocates include leaders such as Haile Selassie,
Julius Nyerere, Ahmed Sékou Touré, Kwame
Nkrumah, Thomas Sankara and Muammar Gaddafi,
grassroots organizers such as Marcus Garvey
and Malcolm X, academics such as W. E. B.
Du Bois, and others in the diaspora. 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".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 descent. They also point
to the difficulties of reconciling current
divisions within countries on the continent
and within communities in the diaspora.
== 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, racism, colonialism, and neo-colonialism.Alongside
a large number of slaves insurrections, by
the end of the 18th century a political movement
developed across the Americas, Europe and
Africa that sought to weld disparate movements
into a network of solidarity, putting an end
to oppression. Another important political
form of a religious Pan-Africanist worldview
appeared in the form of Ethiopianism. In London,
the Sons of Africa 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.
They wrote to figures such as Granville Sharp,
William Pitt and other members of the white
abolition movement, as well as King George
III and the Prince of Wales, the future George
IV.
Modern Pan-Africanism began around the start
of the 20th century. The African Association,
later renamed the Pan-African Association,
was established around 1897 by Henry Sylvester-Williams,
who organized the First Pan-African Conference
in London in 1900.With the independence of
Ghana 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”. 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 In April 1958,
Nkrumah hosted the first All-African People’s
Conference (AAPC) in Accra, Ghana. The 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.
The 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, 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 attendees
of the Conference 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"”. In the years following
1958, Accra Conference also marked the establishment
of a new foreign policy of non-alignment as
between the US and USSR, and the will to found
an "African Identity" in global affairs by
advocating a unity between the African States
on international relations. "This would be
based on the Bandung Declaration, the Charter
of the UN and on loyalty to UN decisions."In
1959, Nkrumah, President Sékou Touré of
Guinea and President William Tubman of Liberia
met at Sanniquellie 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 People’s
Conference was held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The membership of the All-African People’s
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 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.
In search of a united voice, in 1963 at an
African Summit conference in Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia, 32 African states met and established
the Organization of African Unity (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
10 days. The festival attracted thousands
from African states and the African Diaspora,
including the Black Panthers. It symbolised
the new pan-African identity, of regions with
a shared experience of colonisation. 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 Qaddafi assumed the mantle
of leader of the Pan-Africanist movement and
became the most outspoken advocate of African
Unity, consistently calling – like Nkrumah
before him – for the advent of a "United
States of Africa".In the United States, the
term is closely associated with Afrocentrism,
an ideology of African-American identity politics
that emerged during the civil rights movement
of the 1960s to 1970s.
== Concept ==
As originally conceived by Henry Sylvester-Williams
(although some historians credit the idea
to Edward Wilmot Blyden), Pan-Africanism referred
to the unity of all continental Africa.During
apartheid South Africa there was a Pan Africanist
Congress that dealt with the oppression of
Africans in South Africa under Apartheid rule.
Other pan-Africanist organisations include:
Garvey's Universal Negro Improvement Association-African
Communities League, TransAfrica and the International
People's Democratic Uhuru Movement.
Additionally, Pan-Africanism is seen as an
endeavor to return to what are deemed by its
proponents as singular, traditional African
concepts about culture, society, and values.
Examples of this include Léopold Sédar Senghor's
Négritude movement, and Mobutu Sese Seko'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 globalisation and the problems
of environmental justice. For instance, at
the conference "Pan-Africanism for a New Generation"
held at the University of Oxford, 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, where that department was founded
in 1969 as a direct reaction to the civil
rights movement, 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.Syracuse University
also offers a master's degree in "Pan African
Studies".
== Pan-African colors ==
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, and
was inspired by the fact that Ethiopia 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 stratified colonial
Americas. The UNIA (Universal Negro Improvement
Association) flag, is a tri-color flag consisting
of three equal horizontal bands of (from top
down) red, black and green. The UNIA formally
adopted it on August 13, 1920, during its
month-long convention at Madison Square Garden
in New York.Variations of the flag have been
used in various countries and territories
in Africa and the Americas to represent Black
Nationalist ideologies. Among these are the
flags of Malawi, Kenya and Saint Kitts and
Nevis. Several Pan-African organizations and
movements have also often employed the emblematic
red, black and green tri-color scheme in variety
of contexts.
== Maafa studies ==
Maafa 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, imperialism,
colonialism, 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.
== Political parties and organizations ==
=== In Africa ===
Organisation of African Unity, succeeded by
the African Union
African Unification Front
Rassemblement Démocratique Africain
All-African People's Revolutionary Party
Convention People's Party (Ghana)
Pan-African Renaissance
Economic Freedom Fighters (South Africa)
Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (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.
African Society for Cultural Relations with
Independent Africa (Guyana)
Antigua Caribbean Liberation Movement (Antigua
and Barbuda)
Clement Payne Movement (Barbados)
Marcus Garvey People's Political Party (Jamaica)
Universal Negro Improvement Association and
African Communities League (Jamaica)
=== In the United Kingdom ===
Pan-African Federation
=== In the United States ===
The Council on African Affairs (CAA): founded
in 1937 by Max Yergan and Paul Robeson, 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, there would
be a move towards Third World independence
under the trusteeship of the United Nations.
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 cracked
down on its operations. In 1953 the CAA was
charged with subversion under the McCarran
Internal Security Act. Its principal leaders,
including Robeson, W. E. B. Du Bois, 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 was founded in 1965 by
Maulana Karenga, following the Watts riots.
It is based on the synthetic African philosophy
of kawaida, and is perhaps best known for
creating Kwanzaa 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".
== Pan-African concepts and philosophies ==
=== 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
is sometimes associated with this form of
pan-Africanism.
=== Kawaida ===
=== Hip Hop ===
During the past three decades 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 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. Hip hop authenticates a black identity,
and in doing so, creates a unifying uplifting
force among Africans as Pan-Africanism sets
out to achieve.
== Pan-African art ==
See FESPACO and PAFF for pan-African film
festivals
See African art
== See also ==
== Literature ==
Hakim Adi & Marika Sherwood, Pan-African History:
Political Figures from Africa and the Diaspora
Since 1787, London: Routledgem 2003.
Imanuel Geiss, Panafrikanismus. Zur Geschichte
der Dekolonisation. Habilitation, EVA, Frankfurt
am Main, 1968, English as: The Pan-African
Movement, London: Methuen, 1974, ISBN 0-416-16710-1,
and as: The Pan-African Movement. A history
of Pan-Africanism in America, Europe and Africa,
New York: Africana Publ., 1974, ISBN 0-8419-0161-9.
Colin Legum, 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.
== References ==
== External links ==
SNCC Digital Gateway: Pan-Africanism Digital
documentary website created by the SNCC Legacy
Project and Duke University, telling the story
of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
& grassroots organizing from the inside-out
African Union
African Code Unity Through Diversity
A-APRP Website
The Major Pan-African news and articles site
Professor David Murphy (November 15, 2015).
"The Performance of Pan-Africanism: performing
black identity at major pan-African festivals,
1966–2010". Soundcloud (Podcast). The University
of Edinburgh. Retrieved January 28, 2016.
