Time is running out for the rebirth of Pan-Africanism 

Francis Kokutse, in Accra, Ghana  

Francis Kokutse is a journalist based in Accra and writes for Associated Press (AP), University World News, as well as Science and Development.Net. He was a Staff Writer of African Concord and Africa Economic Digest in London, UK. 

Too much talk has taken place on Pan-Africanism over the past decades, yet there is little to show for it,  and so,  what Africa needs now is how to take the required actions to make the concept work for Africans and the Black race in general. For this reason, African leaders must move quickly to put into action, plans that were drawn up by the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union (AU),  to re-ignite Pan-Africanism,  three years ago.

At its 34th Ordinary Session held on 6th and 7th February 2021 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia,  the AU declared  2021-2031 as the  “Decade of African Roots  and the African Diaspora.”  To keep the momentum, over the past three years, so much has taken place, but it looks like not much has been achieved.

As part of the programmes to reset Pan-Africanism, there was to be the 9th Pan-African Congress in the Togolese capital, Lome, from October 29. This has now been postponed, and it is not clear when this will hold. At this congress, African leaders and Black people from the diaspora were expected to take decisions that will make the world see that the continent is serious.

It was against this background that the Togolese foreign minister, Robert Dussey,  told delegates, mainly Africans and Blacks from the Diaspora, at the opening of the pre-congress of the 9th PAC  in Salvador, Brazil, last August, that renewal of Pan-Africanism was being  “launched in a broken world, where the aspirations of our peoples for greater justice and better representation in global governance are calling for courageous and inevitable reforms.”

Dussey said  the challenge of revitalising relations with the diaspora and Afro-descendants was  at the heart of the conference in Brazil, following on from the regional pre-conferences held in Pretoria (South Africa), Bamako (Mali), Rabat (Morocco), Brazzaville (Congo) and Dar es Salaam (Tanzania).

He reminded the delegates that “Pan-Africanism was born in American and Caribbean Afro-descendant milieus, and so  we cannot build the Pan-Africanism of the 21st century without the Afro-descendants.” Fine words from one man who has been seen to be dedicated to the cause of what Black people want to achieve.

Dussey said the dispersion of people of African descent around the world after the transatlantic slave trade, imposed on the African community a duty of global unity, a duty whose roots go back to the end of the 19th century, and which materialised through the holding of the Pan-African Conference in 1900 on the initiative of the Afro-Trinidadian Henry Sylvester-Williams and the various successive congresses.

Recalling the words of William Du Bois at the first pan-African conference that the African community was destined “to have a great influence on the coming world,” Dussey told the delegates that the question of Africa’s place within international institutions, in particular within the late League of Nations, was already at the heart of the concerns of the subsequent pan-African congress in 1919.

He said by making Pan-Africanism the cause of reform of multilateral institutions and a paradigm shift in global governance, Black people were  taking on and supporting a Universalist Pan-Africanism, whose struggle is in line with that of other global bodies working for the triumph of justice between peoples.

Dussey was quick to add that, “we cannot rally around the pan-African ideal with Afro-descendants without, first, talking about memory. The memory we are talking about here is the memory of our relatives who were deported, the memory of our brothers and sisters who died on the transatlantic voyage, the memory of the wounds of many Afro-descendants scattered around the world and of their suffering linked to the loss of their origins, the memory of their ‘struggles for freedom’, of their ‘long walk to freedom’, to paraphrase Nelson Mandela.”

He pointed out that, there cannot be any meeting of Afro-descendants without raising the issues of restitution and reparations, adding that, “these  two issues raise the question of justice from a historical perspective. From a historical perspective, justice means restoring what is owed, repairing the damage done, and in this case taking responsibility for the negative impact of the crimes of slavery and colonisation on the African world.”

“Requests for restitution, which particularly concern the looted cultural heritage of the African world, are part of the mobilisation of the African community to culturally reappropriate and re-arm itself in a process of self-rediscovery. These demands are part of the reparations issue that is currently mobilising the African community in Africa, North America, South America, as well as in the Caribbean,” he added.

He said the transatlantic slave trade of our brothers and sisters has not  been repaired, but it continues to impact the lives of Africans and people of African descent around the world. For this reason, it is important to intensify the mobilisation around the issue of reparations to make it a global concern and against racism and systemic injustices against Africans and people of African descent.

Dussey said people of African descent have valid reasons for resenting Africa, because Africa has not always been solidly on their  side in their  battles. They also have the feeling of  “abandonment” against Africa because they see themselves as “daughters and sons abandoned by Mother Africa, the Africa of their origins and roots.”

He cited the current situation in Haiti and the lack of mobilisation to assist Afro-descendant brothers and sisters in Haiti, adding that,  “this is unacceptable and fraternally unbearable.”  In addition, he said other  Afro-descendants blame continental Africa for having been complicit in the abduction and deportation of their parents. “You sold us out” – that is the cry of pain from some of you.

Lagoke Gnaka, associate professor of history and Pan Africana Studies, and chair of the Pan-Africana Studies at Lincoln University (PA) as well as chairman of the Scientific Committee of the 9th Pan-African Congress, said there is need to understand that “Pan-Africanism is not a static phenomenon. It renews itself every time according to the contingencies of the moment.”

“It is for this reason that today we see an awakening in Africa, particularly in  Francophone Africa, also in the southern part of Africa, in different parts, and then also in the diaspora with the Black Lives Matter movement against police brutality,”  Gnaka added.

He  said the decision to organise a pre-congress for the diaspora in Salvador was not because  of  the fact that there are many black people in Brazil, but due to the fact that, “many of them have strong roots, strong African roots, and then in different ways, through the culture, through the dance, music, many of them are still attached to the culture of Africa.”

Besides, Gnaka said the city of Salvador, in the state of Bahia, is the symbol of the resistance by slaves, as they created a number of communities that they controlled in order to fight against slavery. They ran away, and  built the communities of  Palmares, Quilombos, that people talk about. And it was this, before the Haitian revolution, that was going to be the most effective rebellion, which was going to lead to the ending of slavery and to the creation of a state controlled by former slaves.

These should not be just words said to make the headlines. The AU must quickly find out why the congress was postponed and then, put in place the necessary logistics so that, Black people can come together to once again, chart a new path for their growth and development.  If we don’t, generations to come will not forgive today’s leaders for missing another opportunity to rebuild and revamp Africa!

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