We [stand] in solidarity with all those who believe that Black Lives do matter and [call] for raising greater consciousness in this area by expanding the concept to “Global African Lives Matter.”
[We] strongly support the actualization of the concept of the 6th Region of Africa–the African Diaspora.
Main proponents of Pan Africanism in Africa, Mwalimu J. K. Nyerere (L), Tanzania’s first President, and Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first President.
By TZ Business News Staff.
Marcus Mosiah Garvey, Jr., ONH (17 August 1887 – 10 June 1940), a Jamaican political leader, publisher, journalist, entrepreneur, and orator who was a staunch proponent of the Black Nationalism and Pan-Africanism movements, to which end he founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA-ACL). He founded the Black Star Line, which promoted the return of the African diaspora to their ancestral lands.
Prior to the 20th century, leaders such as Prince Hall, Martin Delany, Edward Wilmot Blyden, and Henry Highland Garnet advocated the involvement of the African diaspora in African affairs. Garvey was unique in advancing a Pan-African philosophy to inspire a global mass movement and economic empowerment focusing on Africa known as Garveyism. Promoted by the UNIA as a movement of African Redemption, Garveyism would eventually inspire others, ranging from the Nation of Islam to the Rastafari movement (some sects of which proclaim Garvey as a prophet).
Garveyism intended persons of African ancestry in the diaspora to “redeem” the nations of Africa and for the European colonial powers to leave the continent. His essential ideas about Africa were stated in an editorial in the Negro World entitled “African Fundamentalism”, where he wrote: “Our union must know no clime, boundary, or nationality… to let us hold together under all climes and in every country…
A resolution was made in Accra, Ghana, in March 2015, calling African nations to speed up incorporating into the African Union, the 6th region of the Continent– the African Diaspora.
This resolution was part of resolutions made to recapture the old African desire for unity, to re-ignite the Pan African spirit, to enthuse commitment to the African identity and to inject energy into the Pan-African Movement.
The Pan Africanism movement was born in slavery in The Amiericas, where sons and daughters of African slaves envisioned a united Africa as the path toward self determination, political independence and eventual economic freedom and prosperity, and indeed, their own freedom. Born in islands of the Americas, the movement spread to continental America– the USA in particular–then to Europe and finally catching fire on the African continent.
Tanzania is the only beacon of major success of the Pan African movement, in terms of African unity, through the union of Zanzibar and Tanganyika in 1964.
A number of ethnic and cultural organizations were established by the peoples of the two countries to deal with their social, religious and cultural concerns. In 1929 an African Association was founded in Tanganyika mostly as a social and cultural organization of the African elite in Dar es Salaam and other urban areas. A branch of this Association was established in Zanzibar in 1934 with its membership mostly being Zanzibaris of Mainland origin.
Nationalist organizations in Eastern and Central Africa came together in September 1958, at the invitation of the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU) party, in the lake city of Mwanza in northern Tanganyika, to exchange views and experiences and to forge unity. Two political parties from Zanzibar attended this Pan Africanist gathering– the parties were ZNP and ASP.
It was at this conference that the Pan-African Freedom Movement for East and Central Africa (PAFMECA) was founded. Later the organization was to include nationalist movements from Southern Africa. On the African Continent, major proponents of the movement became Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere, Tanzania’s first President, and Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first President.
The Pan African Congress which met in Accra, Ghana on the dates of March 5 – 7, 2015 revisits Africa’s struggle for unity toward self-determination, toward a common African struggle for political independence, and eventual economic development. This year’s gathering was held 21 years after a similar gathering to take stock of the African destiny.
A circulated statement released after the congress read in part that the meeting’s resolutions were meant to capture the Congress’s desire to re-ignite the Pan African spirit, to “enthuse commitment to our African identity and [to] inject energy into the Pan-African Movement.”
The Statement Continued: “We, the representatives of the global Pan African family, gathered in Accra, Ghana, from 5th to the 7th of March 2015, [met] to review progress made thus far since the Pan African Congress in 1994, and to take stock of the continual challenges confronting African persons of African descent globally.” This gathering represented the first session of the 8th Pan African Congress, with the second session to be convened by May 2016.
The President of the Republic of Ghana, H.E John Dramani Mahama, officially opened the 8th Pan African Congress and delivered a keynote address calling upon all African governments and people to take practical steps collectively – and in solidarity- for the unification and development of Africa.
The statement read: “We recognized that we belong to a historical tradition of congress and regional meetings that have convened over irregular periods since 1900, incorporating ardent Pan Africanists of various persuasions from the Global Pan African Family, who brought ideologies and political practice from a diverse set of circumstances in a search for a more positive future for all.
“We affirmed the contributions of the 1994 pre-Congress of women that established the Pan African Women’s Liberation Organization to address the specific needs and aspirations of women activists in the Pan African Movement.
“We acknowledged that the world has significantly changed since the 1600 delegates, men, women and youth from twenty countries and six continents, gathered in Kampala and it is in that context that we understand the challenges and contradictions faced by the standard bearers of Pan-Africanism. It is also in that context that the Resolutions of the 7th Pan-African Congress were adopted, partially implemented or completely ignored.
“We recognized the need for African leadership to immediately implement processes and structures that incorporate the 6th region of the African Union, the Diaspora, in implementing Agenda 2020 and Agenda 2063
“Specifically, the head of the Secretariat, Tajudeen Abdul Raheem, was acknowledged for playing a significant role in laying the groundwork for the continental transition of the Organization of African Unity to the African Union in 2000.
“Similarly, he was a pivotal factor in ensuring that the social contradictions that resulted in open warfare in the Great Lakes Region were mediated by the involvement of all stakeholders – governments and civil society – under the rubric “Africans to Solve African Problems.”
“This capacity to grasp complex situations with multiple interest and players was also deployed by the head of the Secretariat in expediting dialogue between the African Union, Civil Society and the Regional Economic Communities.
“As a direct result of the persuasive powers of the PAC Secretariat head based on the resolution of the 1994 delegates, Ethiopia amended its policy to allow the majority of Africans to apply for a visa on arrival. Uganda and Tanzania subsequently followed suit. We unreservedly applaud Mauritius, Seychelles, Mozambique, Rwanda and Comoros that facilitate visa-free or visas on arrival for all African citizens. This is a significant step in the often expressed desire for a continental passport.
“Communication on these and other initiatives were shared on a regular basis via “Tajudeen Postcards,” a short form of expression that cogently captured existing challenges and successes while sharing a brief historical narrative that provided an appropriate context. These briefs have been captured in book form under the title “Speaking Truth to Power” effectively serving as a potential guidepost for the future.
“Structurally the Secretariat established a Youth Desk and Women’s Desk, both of which were functional for approximately six years after the 1994 Congress. Due to existing external conditions which undermined earlier optimism regarding fundraising, the Secretariat was unable to fund these two operations after that time. However, both sectors have continued to contribute through the work of volunteers, with the Youth able to do so more regularly. Youth Regional Meetings, workshops and mobilization drives have kept the mission of the Pan African Congress viable, especially within the East African Community States.
Authors of Africa’s only surviving union, Tanzania, Mwalimu J.K. Nyerere (L) and Sheikh Amri Abeid Karume
“We acknowledged that all these achievements were only possible through the generous support of the Uganda government who provided not only concrete resources but a sense of legitimacy both within and external to the host country.
“Focusing on current conditions, we recognized the obligation of the 8th Pan African Congress to address in the most forceful terms the recent examples of the violation of territorial sovereignty and personal dignity, and specifically the abductions (and subsequent murder of one) of Presidents Laurent Gbagbo and Muammar Gaddafi.
“We called for an African member of the Security Council to ensure an African Voice for both policy discussion and votes that are supportive of Global African Unity.
“We also recognized that the establishment of an African Union brigade could effectively serve as a stabilizing force in areas previously destabilized by Western interests, such as in Libya.
“We welcomed the decision by the governments of the Republic of Cuba and the United States of America to re-establish diplomatic relations between both countries and call on all African governments to continue to support the lifting of the US blockade against Cuba in all international forums.
“We acknowledged the need for strong collaboration, especially through citizen input, with existing Pan African entities and initiatives, such as Agenda 2063 of the AU, and especially those identified to promote the Sixth Region of the African Union and the United Nations Decade for the Peoples of African Descent. Efforts such as these can serve to educate and stimulate individuals within the Global African Family who have not been previously reached to be mobilized in their own interests.
“We stood in solidarity with all those who believe that Black Lives do matter and called for raising greater consciousness in this area by expanding the concept to “Global African Lives Matter.”
“We viewed with alarm the root causes that drive so many African youth to migrate from the continent, only to end up in desperate straits of indentured servitude, especially young African women.
“We received solidarity messages of support from the highest levels of government from Algeria, Benin, Brazil, Equatorial Guinea, Iran, Togo, Venezuela and Zimbabwe in addition to the Instituto Cubano de Amistad con los Pueblos.
“We reiterated our opposition to the imposition of a neo-liberal Agenda that has and continues to impoverish Africans farmers, peasants, workers, women and youth.
“We unequivocally acknowledged the centrality of equal and equitable representation and voice in all development and governance processes. In particular we recommit ourselves to these principles of non-discrimination, equality and equal representation of women and youth in PAM structures and processes.
“We collectively called for the total liberation of all Africans and persons of African descent still living under the yoke of occupation, colonization and oppression, including as one of the last colonies in Africa, Western Sahara, Martinique, Mayotte Comoros, Chagos Island, Puerto Rico, Cayenne, Guadalupe, and West Papua.
“We strongly condemn all forms of religious extremism and other forms of fundamentalism and uphold building an environment for religious freedom of consciousness and expression. We condemned the recent murders of 21 Egyptian citizens in Libya.
“We unequivocally condemn the unchecked violence being perpetrated by extremist groups such as the Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’Awati Wal-Jihad (Boko Haram), Al Shabaab, Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), Al Qaida, Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and Janjaweed against African people while recognizing that neoliberal policies and imperialist interventions are the real cause.
“We re-committed ourselves to Global Solidarity Action in mutual Support of Struggle of the Global Pan-African family.” DOWNLOAD THE REST OF THE RESOLUTIONS HERE:THE MARCH 2015 PAN AFRICAN CONGRESS RESOLUTIONS
