African Liberation Day Addresses Attacks against Pan-Africanism

This weekend, May 25th, commemorates 62 years of African Liberation Day (ALD).  This day was originated by Kwame Nkrumah in Ghana in 1958 to symbolize the necessity for Africa to be free.  Or, in the words of Nkrumah himself; "until Africa is free, no African anywhere will ever be free!"  

There are dishonest elements running around in African community circles around the world today.  In the U.S. some of those people call themselves ADOS or the so-called American Descendants of Slaves.  Capitalizing on imaginative social media skills and a severe desperation on the part of our people to be free, these ADOS people use the same xenophobic talking point over and over to attempt to divide our people and carve out space for them to reap crumbs from the master's table.  They are saying  Africans within the U.S. should denounce Africans here from other parts of the world and that we should see them as competing against us for resources here within the U.S.  Their argument is that Pan-Africanism, the movement to unite Africans everywhere, hasn't done anything tangible in recent times to benefit Africans in the U.S.  In other words, they are claiming that Africans born outside the U.S. are stealing resources that should go to Africans born in the U.S. while contributing nothing to Africans in the U.S.

Besides the obvious and crass imitation of white supremacist talking points against immigration into the U.S. (no surprise here, the white supremacists and these ADOs people have many of the same benefactors), the false argument that Pan-Africanism does nothing for Africans within the U.S. is quickly disposed of by taking just a cursory glance at African Liberation Day.  ALD is to Pan-Africanism what Christmas is to Christianity.  Its shinning moment.  Its best face for the entire world.  And anyone looking at ALD should be able to see right away how much Pan-Africanism is moving.

In 2019, next weekend, there are about 30 known African Liberation Day commemorations being conducted all over the African world.  The All African People's Revolutionary Party (A-APRP) alone has a role in organizing at least 17 of them throughout Africa, Europe, Canada, and the U.S.  For the ALDs we are organizing in the A-APRP, the languages being spoken in each venue will vary significantly.  English.  The so-called King's English.  Fante, Kiswahili, Zulu, French, Susu, Wolof, all will be utilized this next weekend, but despite the differences in languages and geographical locations, the theme will be the same; "Revolutionary Pan-Africanism calls us to unite and forge a definitive struggle against neo-colonialism; Forward to one unified socialist Africa!"

How this international uniform theme benefits Africans everywhere should be obvious.  Our detractors are always quick to point out that African people have so many different languages and customs that, in their opinion, it would be very difficult for us to unite.  ALD disproves that because having the same theme and focus in so many different places around the world with so many different customs, languages, etc., illustrates that despite our differences, as Nkrumah said, we have more commonalities.  ALD 2019 symbolizes that we getting on the the same page everywhere we are on the planet. 

To the ADOS argument about Pan-Africanism not helping Africans in the U.S., think about any situation in life you have experienced where you are being abused, bullied, etc.  Maybe it happened at school.  Or work, or even in your family relationships.  What always constitutes the strength for the abuser is their ability to isolate you and keep you powerless.  The minute other people understand what is happening the power of the abuser weakens significantly.  This is no different with Pan-Africanism.  As long as they can convince us that we must focus only on the U.S. or as ADOS would have us believe, that our only opportunities are to fight other Africans and everyone else for stolen resources here in this country, we will never burst out of our oppressive state.  With ALD, the fact we are even symbolically on the same page sends a message to our enemies that we are working to get on that same page practically, concretely, and consistently.  This alone will always make your enemy look at you quite differently and it should make you look at yourself in an entirely new light.

For so many places in Africa to embrace a message of African unity tells you in the U.S. that contrary to the lies imperialism has consistently told you, there is a home for you.  You have a place to go - Africa.  Since a major power source for imperialism against the African masses within the U.S. is that the only place in the world that matters is here.  This message of African unity shatters that lie and tells us that we have a place that wants and needs us. That the wealth in the U.S. is stolen from Africa and that all we need to do is regain our stolen wealth and Africa will rise again.  The same message tells Africans in other parts of the world that we have the ability to organize our resources, technological capabilities, potential, and capacity to build up our homeland - Africa - independent of whatever imperialism wants to do.  This is our moment where the abusive "partner" who controls every element of our lives is forced to recognize that we are no longer in the position where they can dictate what we do.  That automatically means strength for us and defeat for our abusers.  This is especially critical for Africans within the U.S. because none of the legislative and other inside the system reforms we have fought for in the U.S. can offer us any hope of any power and dignity.  The system controls all of those things.  They know it and you know it.  With Pan-Africanism, we control everything and by we its clear that we are talking about the masses of African people.  That's the power in it.  What other people anywhere on earth are doing the same thing, at the same time, all over the earth, to commemorate a unified movement for freedom and justice?  That last sentence summarizes African Liberation Day which symbolizes Pan-Africanism.  Plain and simple.  

Today, we have that symbol, but the relevance of symbols is the power they represent.  All we have to do is continue to build on that power, but there is no quality argument to dismiss that this is a current day reality that every African everywhere on earth benefits from whether that African is aware of it or not.  So, find yourself an African Liberation Day activity taking place this week and this weekend.  Do what you can to support it.  And, definitely tell those ADOs people that the jig is up on their scam denial of the strength of Pan-Africanism.  Just the fact that Pan-Africanism and ALD lifts up the masses of African people everywhere while ADOs is only interested in providing resources for a tiny petti bourgeoisie element of African traitors ready and willing to compromise with imperialism for their cut says all that needs to be said about what's really happening here.  Pan-Africanism is our way forward.  The clear potential it represents today already gives us strength in ways we only need to learn to be aware of in order to feel and benefit from.  That's another purpose for ALD.  To educate our people about this reality.  Imperialism knows Pan-Africanism spells its downfall.  Or, as Sekou Ture told us "imperialism will find its grave in Africa."  That's why imperialism will stop at nothing to get us in the U.S. focused on everything in the world except Africa, but once we figure this piece out for ourselves, we will be not be able to be stopped.  Make a commitment to help our true movement for liberation grow.  Start by supporting African Liberation Day.  You can find out more about African Liberation Day events near you by going to https://africanliberationday.net/ for more information.  See you out there this weekend!