From Martin Delany to Anna Julia Cooper to Henry Sylvester Williams to Marcus/Amy Garvey to Kwame Nkrumah to Patrice Lumumba to Sekou Toure to Malcolm X to Amilcar Cabral to Thomas Sankara to Kwame Ture to Pan-Africanists today, we have been talking about for literally centuries. Still, so many people are 100% confused about what Pan-Africanism is, why we want it, why we need it, and why we won't stop until we get it. Before we get into that, we have to acknowledge that it's not hard to understand the confusion. The capitalist countries, the societies geometrically opposed to Pan-Africanism and any humanistic movement, continuously pump misinformation into the mix. Plus, most people within the industrialized societies, especially the U.S., don't read, don't study, don't know squat about the world outside of their personal lives, and don't want to know. And, we have to also be very truthful about the fact too many of the people claiming to be Pan-Africanists haven't done a great job representing us with integrity and commitment which only discourages people from wanting to know more.
In spite of those problems, you cannot refute the fact that any program/system/movement etc., has to operate and be judged based on it's principles. That goes for Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Yoruba, Rastafarianism, and Pan-Africanism; properly defined as one unified socialist Africa. In other words, we cannot judge those entities simply by the people who claim to represent them, we have to judge them by their principles. For example, are they grounded in justice? Is their objective to make society advance and improve the conditions for the masses of people? Is there a methodology to produce tangible progress that can be measured and assessed? For Pan-Africanism as an objective for African liberation, the answer to all those inquires is an unquestionable yes.
Let us quickly explain why this is so.
Question?:
Why is Africa important even if I've never been there, have no plans to go there, and don't know anything about it actually?
Answer:
Whether you were born in Africa and are currently there or in the U.S., whether you were born in Europe or the Caribbean, whether you were born in the U.S., whether you were born and living in Africa, etc., what has happened and what is currently happening to Africa has everything to do with your day to day reality. It doesn't matter whether you are aware of this fact or not. It's ill-relevant whether you acknowledge it or not. It's still true. Why? How? Because if for no other reason, the economies of the industrialized societies were built and are maintained based on exploiting cheap African material resources e.g. oil, gold, rice, sugar, uranium, bauxite, iron ore, coltan, diamonds, zinc, etc., and cheap human resources such as labor to mass produce clothes cheaply for Walmart and Target, etc. Cheap labor to provide any number of labor functions for corporate profits through the prison industrial complex. In order for these industrialized societies to maintain their power and keep their oppressed populations fueling them everyday by supporting them and providing the labor to keep them moving, these societies have to maintain Africa in the weakened condition it currently exists in so as to permit the exploitation to continue. A major aspect of that process is keeping you ignorant about Africa so that you will not question what happens to her. This is the exact reason you know very little or nothing about Africa today except what the imperialists have permitted you to know which is all misinformation. Think about that. If you live in the U.S. for example, there are 50 million Africans who live in that country. Most were born there, yet none of them, even the ones born in Africa, know much of anything about African history and what the current conditions are politically on the continent. If nothing else, that should strike you as very strange at least and out and out conspiratorial at best. Or, think of it like this, ever own something that people kept trying to get from you? Maybe it's property. Maybe a car, jewelry, etc. Those persons are working hard to convince you that what you have doesn't contain much value at all so that they can wrest it from you without offering much of anything, yet, they push so hard to try and get it from you. Doesn't make sense, but still, you oftentimes end up giving this possession up for less than you should because you don't yourself see it's real value, in spite of the fact the people you are dealing with do, and are hiding that value from you. That is what's currently happening with you - African - and Africa.
Question:
Ok, so I get your geo-political analysis of what Africa means in today's power context, but what can I do about that? I mean, the problem is so large, I don't even see how we could even go about addressing that problem. I can't even get people together in my family, not to mention people who speak different languages and come from different parts of the world. It all seems so out of control.
Answer:
No one is claiming that it will be easy. In fact, there's an old African saying "if you see me fighting a bear, help the bear, throw honey on me." Anything worthwhile requires a struggle. Think about it. If you have a college degree, was obtaining that easy? If you are in, or have had, a successful relationship of any kind, was achieving that easy at every stage? If you accomplish anything in your life that makes you proud, or you are proud of anyone for accomplishing something worthwhile, were those accomplishments easy and/or something anyone could do at any time? Of course not! What makes it special is that it was difficult to achieve. What makes it worthwhile is that it requires work and effort. This is certainly true of our liberation as a people. The forces that oppress us have spent the last 500 years perfecting this system of oppression. If you aren't willing to apply even more energy and effort towards dismantling their oppression than they have placed in applying it, than you aren't serious about achieving freedom. In fact, what you are really doing is simply trying to carve out a portion of that oppression that will serve your personal interests. And, don't think we aren't aware of what your doing either. You aren't fooling anyone. The true soldiers for justice know what's being said here is true and that in the words of Dr. King "if we want freedom, we are going to have to fight for that freedom. We are going to have to sacrifice for it!"
Show me one part of the African world, wherever it is geographically, that doesn't have a history of humanistic, egalitarian, and collective culture. You won't be able to do it because that's the African cultural way. And, Kwame Nkrumah was correct when he said that we as African people reject the classic European capitalist definition of identity as a shared language and geography. This dysfunctional definition is a crude attempt to convince you to accept the rules that colonialism and neo-colonialism have laid out for you. Our correct definition of identity is shared history and culture. And Ahmed Sekou Ture correctly illustrated for us that culture is the "sum total of all of a people's experiences...How they shape those experiences and how they define their legacy." So, we are not confused. No matter where we are today, we are there because of Africa's exploitation. If you are getting a poor education in the capitalist countries when you could and should be getting a quality education in Africa, you are proof of this. If you are incarcerated, you are proof of this. If you are unemployed, you are proof of this. If you are depressed, you are proof of this. If you are mis-educated, you are proof of this. If you have a hard time believing that African people will ever define our destiny and eliminate these oppressive conditions, you are proof of this. And finally, if you cannot envision a world without white dominance and capitalism you are not only proof of this, but you are unwittingly perpetuating our continued servitude.
We implore you not to spent valuable time debating if and how we can do it. We strongly encourage you to join the millions of us scattered across the planet who are working together to put in place the mechanisms for us to do it. We're already oppressed so you have nothing to lose. It's like Franz Fanon told us "each generation has it mission...You will either fulfill it, or betray it." Make your decision today and don't waste our time...Be honest and courageous enough to admit it through deed, not just words.
In spite of those problems, you cannot refute the fact that any program/system/movement etc., has to operate and be judged based on it's principles. That goes for Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Yoruba, Rastafarianism, and Pan-Africanism; properly defined as one unified socialist Africa. In other words, we cannot judge those entities simply by the people who claim to represent them, we have to judge them by their principles. For example, are they grounded in justice? Is their objective to make society advance and improve the conditions for the masses of people? Is there a methodology to produce tangible progress that can be measured and assessed? For Pan-Africanism as an objective for African liberation, the answer to all those inquires is an unquestionable yes.
Let us quickly explain why this is so.
Question?:
Why is Africa important even if I've never been there, have no plans to go there, and don't know anything about it actually?
Answer:
Whether you were born in Africa and are currently there or in the U.S., whether you were born in Europe or the Caribbean, whether you were born in the U.S., whether you were born and living in Africa, etc., what has happened and what is currently happening to Africa has everything to do with your day to day reality. It doesn't matter whether you are aware of this fact or not. It's ill-relevant whether you acknowledge it or not. It's still true. Why? How? Because if for no other reason, the economies of the industrialized societies were built and are maintained based on exploiting cheap African material resources e.g. oil, gold, rice, sugar, uranium, bauxite, iron ore, coltan, diamonds, zinc, etc., and cheap human resources such as labor to mass produce clothes cheaply for Walmart and Target, etc. Cheap labor to provide any number of labor functions for corporate profits through the prison industrial complex. In order for these industrialized societies to maintain their power and keep their oppressed populations fueling them everyday by supporting them and providing the labor to keep them moving, these societies have to maintain Africa in the weakened condition it currently exists in so as to permit the exploitation to continue. A major aspect of that process is keeping you ignorant about Africa so that you will not question what happens to her. This is the exact reason you know very little or nothing about Africa today except what the imperialists have permitted you to know which is all misinformation. Think about that. If you live in the U.S. for example, there are 50 million Africans who live in that country. Most were born there, yet none of them, even the ones born in Africa, know much of anything about African history and what the current conditions are politically on the continent. If nothing else, that should strike you as very strange at least and out and out conspiratorial at best. Or, think of it like this, ever own something that people kept trying to get from you? Maybe it's property. Maybe a car, jewelry, etc. Those persons are working hard to convince you that what you have doesn't contain much value at all so that they can wrest it from you without offering much of anything, yet, they push so hard to try and get it from you. Doesn't make sense, but still, you oftentimes end up giving this possession up for less than you should because you don't yourself see it's real value, in spite of the fact the people you are dealing with do, and are hiding that value from you. That is what's currently happening with you - African - and Africa.
Question:
Ok, so I get your geo-political analysis of what Africa means in today's power context, but what can I do about that? I mean, the problem is so large, I don't even see how we could even go about addressing that problem. I can't even get people together in my family, not to mention people who speak different languages and come from different parts of the world. It all seems so out of control.
Answer:
No one is claiming that it will be easy. In fact, there's an old African saying "if you see me fighting a bear, help the bear, throw honey on me." Anything worthwhile requires a struggle. Think about it. If you have a college degree, was obtaining that easy? If you are in, or have had, a successful relationship of any kind, was achieving that easy at every stage? If you accomplish anything in your life that makes you proud, or you are proud of anyone for accomplishing something worthwhile, were those accomplishments easy and/or something anyone could do at any time? Of course not! What makes it special is that it was difficult to achieve. What makes it worthwhile is that it requires work and effort. This is certainly true of our liberation as a people. The forces that oppress us have spent the last 500 years perfecting this system of oppression. If you aren't willing to apply even more energy and effort towards dismantling their oppression than they have placed in applying it, than you aren't serious about achieving freedom. In fact, what you are really doing is simply trying to carve out a portion of that oppression that will serve your personal interests. And, don't think we aren't aware of what your doing either. You aren't fooling anyone. The true soldiers for justice know what's being said here is true and that in the words of Dr. King "if we want freedom, we are going to have to fight for that freedom. We are going to have to sacrifice for it!"
Show me one part of the African world, wherever it is geographically, that doesn't have a history of humanistic, egalitarian, and collective culture. You won't be able to do it because that's the African cultural way. And, Kwame Nkrumah was correct when he said that we as African people reject the classic European capitalist definition of identity as a shared language and geography. This dysfunctional definition is a crude attempt to convince you to accept the rules that colonialism and neo-colonialism have laid out for you. Our correct definition of identity is shared history and culture. And Ahmed Sekou Ture correctly illustrated for us that culture is the "sum total of all of a people's experiences...How they shape those experiences and how they define their legacy." So, we are not confused. No matter where we are today, we are there because of Africa's exploitation. If you are getting a poor education in the capitalist countries when you could and should be getting a quality education in Africa, you are proof of this. If you are incarcerated, you are proof of this. If you are unemployed, you are proof of this. If you are depressed, you are proof of this. If you are mis-educated, you are proof of this. If you have a hard time believing that African people will ever define our destiny and eliminate these oppressive conditions, you are proof of this. And finally, if you cannot envision a world without white dominance and capitalism you are not only proof of this, but you are unwittingly perpetuating our continued servitude.
We implore you not to spent valuable time debating if and how we can do it. We strongly encourage you to join the millions of us scattered across the planet who are working together to put in place the mechanisms for us to do it. We're already oppressed so you have nothing to lose. It's like Franz Fanon told us "each generation has it mission...You will either fulfill it, or betray it." Make your decision today and don't waste our time...Be honest and courageous enough to admit it through deed, not just words.
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