Kwame Nkrumah and Sekou Ture in Conakry-Guinea in the late 60s. Ture insisted Nkrumah become president of Guinea after Nkrumah's government was illegally overthrown in Ghana. Nkrumah balked since the people of Guinea had elected Ture to be their president so Ture declared Nkrumah to be co-president of Guinea. The first and only instance of a country having co-presidents and making Nkrumah the only person in history to be president of two different countries.
Surely, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), or Criminals in Action - their more appropriate title - and their masters, the U.S. capitalist/imperialist network, were convinced they had achieved something once they illegally overthrew Kwame Nkrumah's government in Ghana in 1966. Then, when Sekou Ture's Guinea became the new base for Pan-African organizing in Africa after Nkrumah was overthrown, certainly, the imperialists had huge smiles on their faces when Ture died in 1984 and they were able to help engineer an immediate coup to overthrow Ture's Democratic Party of Guinea with a brutal regime subservient to imperialist interests. And, yet again, when imperialism conspired (under the leadership of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton) to illegally overthrow the Libyan Socialist Jamihiriya in 2011 - while killing Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi - we have absolutely no doubt that imperialism's arrogance was at an all time high. In their warped and dysfunctional vision of world events, they had destroyed militant resistance to imperialism in Africa with violence, terror, and a rollback of the organizing gains we made towards Pan-Africanism - correctly defined as one unified socialist Africa.
On a surface level, we cannot even be mad at imperialism for celebrating. From their perspective, they have beat back every effort we've mounted against them. They seemingly have the masses of Africans focused on integrating into the micro imperialist states they live in, while manipulating us into identifying completely with imperialism while having no apparent vision or desire to see Africa united and free. The imperialists have great cause to revel in our lack of unity because they know that African unity is the single most dangerous element to their necessary and continued subjugation and control of Africa, a required component and key ingredient for them to maintain their economic stability and power over the entire planet.
The imperialists shouldn't pop their corks too early though. Despite the fact they have murdered and destabilized our leaders and Pan-African political parties and organizations, there are clear signs that the masses of African people are grasping, and demanding, that Nkrumah and Ture's Pan-African vision be fulfilled in 2016 and beyond. The people are demanding that these corrupt regimes in Africa give ground in the name of justice. And, they are doing that despite the absence of a clear leader figure such as Nkrumah, Lumumba, Ture, Sobokwe, or Qaddafi. For example, there is a growing movement throughout Africa to reject accepting European colonially imposed languages like English and French as "official" languages. Countries like Ghana, Zimbabwe, and Tanzania, have announced intentions to move forward with discontinuing the teaching of English as a primary language in schools. Instead, these countries are choosing to adopt the national African languages like Twi in Ghana, Shona in Zimbabwe, and Swahili in Tanzania. They are requiring that commerce be carried out in the national African languages. Since the world economy is based in the European colonial languages, or in other words, the money languages are English, French, German, etc., this development in Africa is astounding because these governments are choosing to risk further economic isolation in the interests of maintaining African dignity. And in many of these areas, like Tanzania and Ghana, the emphasis on English (both those countries are former British colonies) is becoming less and less to the point where you need to learn the national African languages to communicate effectively with people on the streets in those countries. Unlike days of the past, you cannot rely on your connection to the colonial languages to carry you. And, although the current neo-colonial governments are the entities proposing these changes right now, no one should be confused into thinking these imperialist supporting neo-colonial regimes in Africa are the architects behind these developments. They are pushing for these language measures because the masses of people are demanding that they do so. We do not count Zimbabwe as one of these neo-colonial regimes. There is plenty of analysis of Zimbabwe and Robert Mugabe throughout this blog and in other Pan-African sources. Our point here is that the neo-colonial system is built on the African leader having cart blanche to carry out imperialist policies in exchange for personal wealth. So, under this structure, there is no incentive for neo-colonialism to support this path of African self-determination. In other words, a neo-colonial African leader like John Mahama in Ghana would not on his own support language measures like this because these measures don't play into the hands of the primarily British and U.S. multi-national corporate interests in Ghana (his puppet masters) who have exploited that country hand over foot for hundreds of years. The reason these African leaders are supporting these language measures is so they can hope to maintain any level of credibility with the African masses who clearly want an end now to neo-colonialist control of Africa.
Along with the African language movement is the proliferation of emerging policies within several countries to grant easier African citizenship to Africans born outside of Africa. Right to abode programs are currently being developed in Ghana, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, and other countries are looking at developing the same. Yes, these programs are currently disorganized and not many people have been able to benefit from them yet, but the fact such proposals are even being discussed across Africa is proof to the millions of Africans at home in Africa and in the diaspora (outside of Africa) that we are one people. This is a way for us to acknowledge that the fact we are scattered in over 113 countries worldwide is not our doing, but the result of colonialism and slavery. It is a way for us to acknowledge our need and necessity to connect with our mother - Africa - and to reconstruct our cultural, and ultimately our political and economic connection to our national homeland. All of these things are true and this reality cannot be the least bit diminished by the fact the imperialists and neo-colonial regimes are only supporting the development of these measures as a means of enticing petti-bourgeois Africans to bring financial resources and investments to Africa to bolster the small, yet existent, privileged classes there. Their efforts to compromise (the recent xenophobic outbreak in Azania, South Africa for example) and re-frame the militant Pan-African spirit behind these citizen and language measures in bourgeois terms will only work temporarily. In time, the people will see right through their tricks and people everywhere will continue to organize effectively to build these symbolic elements into substantive Pan-African policies once we overthrow neo-colonialism and build one unified socialist Africa.
Nkrumah/Ture and all the other Pan-African leaders like Lumumba, Cabral, Sankara, Nasser, Qaddafi, Peirera, Sobukwe, etc., all understood that there is one African people, no matter where we are born or wherever we live. Sekou Ture wrote over 50 years ago about the fact that no matter how long Africans have been living in the U.S. (and other areas outside of Africa), we are still Africans and that we exhibit many more elements of being of Africa than we will ever produce from being in Europe and the Americas. This is true because the forces and conditions that ripped us from Africa created the reality where our African culture became the chief component that has sustained us for 500+ years of resistance while being in an oppressive state (and this is of course also true for those still living in Africa under neo-colonialism). Since imperialism is based on exploiting Africa, in order to justify its existence, it must systemically deny our humanity. By stressing our African identity, we spit in the face of these dehumanizing efforts, thus our African identity, our African culture, is our best weapon against our oppression. Ture understood that it is this cultural vibrancy that makes our African culture so attractive to non-Africans who break their necks to imitate us. What the imitators are looking for is the dignity we display (either consciously or unconsciously) in the face of our enemies who would deny us. Unlike the forced, a-historical, and fake pride expressed by white supremacists and nationalists - who have no historical basis for their claims of oppression based on being European - we correctly wear our genuine African identity as a badge of honor in spite of imperialism's greatest efforts to enforce white supremacy against us. This is the fuel that powers our cultural artists and entertainers. It is the energy that advances our struggle and it is the juice that pushes us past the forces who would have us falsely believe we are some type of burden on society. Ture understood this and the examples given in this article reflect the masses of people's understanding of the concepts Ture wrote about 50 years ago. That Nkrumah wrote about 50 years ago. And, that so many people have been working to implement.
One clear example of one of those people is the life and work of Kwame Ture. Forty-nine years ago, a young Stokely Carmichael, a leading Black Power organizer/activist in the U.S.,left the U.S. and went to Guinea, West Africa, to become a student of Kwame Nkrumah and Sekou Ture. As was previously stated, at that time, Guinea was the base of the African revolution. As a result, besides having daily interaction with Nkrumah and Ture, Carmichael regularly engaged with Amilcar Cabral, who was building the African Party for the Independence of Guinea-Bissau (PAIGC) in Guinea at the time to launch a liberation war against Portugal's colonial presence in neighboring Guinea-Bissau (Guinea and Guinea-Bissau are two separate countries). Carmichael was also able to engage people like Thomas Sankara and other Pan-Africanist leaders. After we lost Nkrumah and Ture, Carmichael - who changed his name to Kwame Ture (KT) in 1977 to honor both of those Pan-Africanist leaders, continued to advance their revolutionary Pan-African message in the form of organizing the All African People's Revolutionary Party (A-APRP) as requested by both of them. KT lived another fifteen years after the death of Sekou Ture in 1984. KT spent that time traveling to dozens of countries, establishing and developing Pan-African contacts. Using his notoriety from his courageous struggle during the 60s, KT laid the groundwork for advancing Nkrumah and Ture's vision. In the best conditions, he was able to develop A-APRP chapters and/or integrated A-APRP cadre into existing Pan-African formations throughout the African world. In the worse conditions, he helped spread the revolutionary ideas and message of Nkrumah/Ture and all the other Pan-African giants who came before us. Today, revolutionary Pan-African cadre - many still within the A-APRP, some who have gone on to other Pan-African organizations and projects - still promote Nkrumahims/Tureism as the ideology that will bring salvation to the African masses. This phenomenon, along with other factors, are major aspects of the reasons that we are seeing the people promoting these Pan-African concepts today. These developments are simply the tip of the iceberg. For the first time since the independence movements of the 50s and 60s, we are seeing the African masses awaken with Pan-African consciousness. They are demanding - in the cases of Senegal and Boukina Faso for example - that democracy and the will of the people be implemented. Although the capitalist and mainstream media, even media sources that are supposedly being presented from a left and/or progressive and socialist perspective, still routinely present the world through the lenses of the U.S. and Europe, we remind you of Sekou Ture's prophetic words: "imperialism will find its grave in Africa." Saying that, we believe all of the struggles against imperialism are equally valuable. The Palestinian struggle. The Irish struggle. The struggle in the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and certainly the struggle by the Indigenous people's of the Western hemisphere against U.S. imperialism, but imperialism will continue to have lungs and legs until Africa is free, united, and socialist. Despite the fact people inside imperialist countries continue to ignore Africa, the actions of the masses of African people today are clear examples that Nkrumah and Ture were correct, the people are listening to them, and this reality means that victory is near.
On a surface level, we cannot even be mad at imperialism for celebrating. From their perspective, they have beat back every effort we've mounted against them. They seemingly have the masses of Africans focused on integrating into the micro imperialist states they live in, while manipulating us into identifying completely with imperialism while having no apparent vision or desire to see Africa united and free. The imperialists have great cause to revel in our lack of unity because they know that African unity is the single most dangerous element to their necessary and continued subjugation and control of Africa, a required component and key ingredient for them to maintain their economic stability and power over the entire planet.
The imperialists shouldn't pop their corks too early though. Despite the fact they have murdered and destabilized our leaders and Pan-African political parties and organizations, there are clear signs that the masses of African people are grasping, and demanding, that Nkrumah and Ture's Pan-African vision be fulfilled in 2016 and beyond. The people are demanding that these corrupt regimes in Africa give ground in the name of justice. And, they are doing that despite the absence of a clear leader figure such as Nkrumah, Lumumba, Ture, Sobokwe, or Qaddafi. For example, there is a growing movement throughout Africa to reject accepting European colonially imposed languages like English and French as "official" languages. Countries like Ghana, Zimbabwe, and Tanzania, have announced intentions to move forward with discontinuing the teaching of English as a primary language in schools. Instead, these countries are choosing to adopt the national African languages like Twi in Ghana, Shona in Zimbabwe, and Swahili in Tanzania. They are requiring that commerce be carried out in the national African languages. Since the world economy is based in the European colonial languages, or in other words, the money languages are English, French, German, etc., this development in Africa is astounding because these governments are choosing to risk further economic isolation in the interests of maintaining African dignity. And in many of these areas, like Tanzania and Ghana, the emphasis on English (both those countries are former British colonies) is becoming less and less to the point where you need to learn the national African languages to communicate effectively with people on the streets in those countries. Unlike days of the past, you cannot rely on your connection to the colonial languages to carry you. And, although the current neo-colonial governments are the entities proposing these changes right now, no one should be confused into thinking these imperialist supporting neo-colonial regimes in Africa are the architects behind these developments. They are pushing for these language measures because the masses of people are demanding that they do so. We do not count Zimbabwe as one of these neo-colonial regimes. There is plenty of analysis of Zimbabwe and Robert Mugabe throughout this blog and in other Pan-African sources. Our point here is that the neo-colonial system is built on the African leader having cart blanche to carry out imperialist policies in exchange for personal wealth. So, under this structure, there is no incentive for neo-colonialism to support this path of African self-determination. In other words, a neo-colonial African leader like John Mahama in Ghana would not on his own support language measures like this because these measures don't play into the hands of the primarily British and U.S. multi-national corporate interests in Ghana (his puppet masters) who have exploited that country hand over foot for hundreds of years. The reason these African leaders are supporting these language measures is so they can hope to maintain any level of credibility with the African masses who clearly want an end now to neo-colonialist control of Africa.
Along with the African language movement is the proliferation of emerging policies within several countries to grant easier African citizenship to Africans born outside of Africa. Right to abode programs are currently being developed in Ghana, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, and other countries are looking at developing the same. Yes, these programs are currently disorganized and not many people have been able to benefit from them yet, but the fact such proposals are even being discussed across Africa is proof to the millions of Africans at home in Africa and in the diaspora (outside of Africa) that we are one people. This is a way for us to acknowledge that the fact we are scattered in over 113 countries worldwide is not our doing, but the result of colonialism and slavery. It is a way for us to acknowledge our need and necessity to connect with our mother - Africa - and to reconstruct our cultural, and ultimately our political and economic connection to our national homeland. All of these things are true and this reality cannot be the least bit diminished by the fact the imperialists and neo-colonial regimes are only supporting the development of these measures as a means of enticing petti-bourgeois Africans to bring financial resources and investments to Africa to bolster the small, yet existent, privileged classes there. Their efforts to compromise (the recent xenophobic outbreak in Azania, South Africa for example) and re-frame the militant Pan-African spirit behind these citizen and language measures in bourgeois terms will only work temporarily. In time, the people will see right through their tricks and people everywhere will continue to organize effectively to build these symbolic elements into substantive Pan-African policies once we overthrow neo-colonialism and build one unified socialist Africa.
Nkrumah/Ture and all the other Pan-African leaders like Lumumba, Cabral, Sankara, Nasser, Qaddafi, Peirera, Sobukwe, etc., all understood that there is one African people, no matter where we are born or wherever we live. Sekou Ture wrote over 50 years ago about the fact that no matter how long Africans have been living in the U.S. (and other areas outside of Africa), we are still Africans and that we exhibit many more elements of being of Africa than we will ever produce from being in Europe and the Americas. This is true because the forces and conditions that ripped us from Africa created the reality where our African culture became the chief component that has sustained us for 500+ years of resistance while being in an oppressive state (and this is of course also true for those still living in Africa under neo-colonialism). Since imperialism is based on exploiting Africa, in order to justify its existence, it must systemically deny our humanity. By stressing our African identity, we spit in the face of these dehumanizing efforts, thus our African identity, our African culture, is our best weapon against our oppression. Ture understood that it is this cultural vibrancy that makes our African culture so attractive to non-Africans who break their necks to imitate us. What the imitators are looking for is the dignity we display (either consciously or unconsciously) in the face of our enemies who would deny us. Unlike the forced, a-historical, and fake pride expressed by white supremacists and nationalists - who have no historical basis for their claims of oppression based on being European - we correctly wear our genuine African identity as a badge of honor in spite of imperialism's greatest efforts to enforce white supremacy against us. This is the fuel that powers our cultural artists and entertainers. It is the energy that advances our struggle and it is the juice that pushes us past the forces who would have us falsely believe we are some type of burden on society. Ture understood this and the examples given in this article reflect the masses of people's understanding of the concepts Ture wrote about 50 years ago. That Nkrumah wrote about 50 years ago. And, that so many people have been working to implement.
One clear example of one of those people is the life and work of Kwame Ture. Forty-nine years ago, a young Stokely Carmichael, a leading Black Power organizer/activist in the U.S.,left the U.S. and went to Guinea, West Africa, to become a student of Kwame Nkrumah and Sekou Ture. As was previously stated, at that time, Guinea was the base of the African revolution. As a result, besides having daily interaction with Nkrumah and Ture, Carmichael regularly engaged with Amilcar Cabral, who was building the African Party for the Independence of Guinea-Bissau (PAIGC) in Guinea at the time to launch a liberation war against Portugal's colonial presence in neighboring Guinea-Bissau (Guinea and Guinea-Bissau are two separate countries). Carmichael was also able to engage people like Thomas Sankara and other Pan-Africanist leaders. After we lost Nkrumah and Ture, Carmichael - who changed his name to Kwame Ture (KT) in 1977 to honor both of those Pan-Africanist leaders, continued to advance their revolutionary Pan-African message in the form of organizing the All African People's Revolutionary Party (A-APRP) as requested by both of them. KT lived another fifteen years after the death of Sekou Ture in 1984. KT spent that time traveling to dozens of countries, establishing and developing Pan-African contacts. Using his notoriety from his courageous struggle during the 60s, KT laid the groundwork for advancing Nkrumah and Ture's vision. In the best conditions, he was able to develop A-APRP chapters and/or integrated A-APRP cadre into existing Pan-African formations throughout the African world. In the worse conditions, he helped spread the revolutionary ideas and message of Nkrumah/Ture and all the other Pan-African giants who came before us. Today, revolutionary Pan-African cadre - many still within the A-APRP, some who have gone on to other Pan-African organizations and projects - still promote Nkrumahims/Tureism as the ideology that will bring salvation to the African masses. This phenomenon, along with other factors, are major aspects of the reasons that we are seeing the people promoting these Pan-African concepts today. These developments are simply the tip of the iceberg. For the first time since the independence movements of the 50s and 60s, we are seeing the African masses awaken with Pan-African consciousness. They are demanding - in the cases of Senegal and Boukina Faso for example - that democracy and the will of the people be implemented. Although the capitalist and mainstream media, even media sources that are supposedly being presented from a left and/or progressive and socialist perspective, still routinely present the world through the lenses of the U.S. and Europe, we remind you of Sekou Ture's prophetic words: "imperialism will find its grave in Africa." Saying that, we believe all of the struggles against imperialism are equally valuable. The Palestinian struggle. The Irish struggle. The struggle in the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and certainly the struggle by the Indigenous people's of the Western hemisphere against U.S. imperialism, but imperialism will continue to have lungs and legs until Africa is free, united, and socialist. Despite the fact people inside imperialist countries continue to ignore Africa, the actions of the masses of African people today are clear examples that Nkrumah and Ture were correct, the people are listening to them, and this reality means that victory is near.
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