17. Breathing New Life into Pan-Africanism
Author: Adekeye Adebajo
Date: 12 June 2017
Publication: Business Day
Image supplied by: Suad Kamardeen via Unsplash
Pan-Africanism can be defined as the efforts to promote the political, socio-economic, and cultural unity and self-reliance of Africa and its Diaspora. It is currently a much under-researched topic. To correct this gap, next weekend (16-18 June), the newly established Institute for Pan-African Thought and Conversation at the University of Johannesburg will host a three-day public conference on “The Pan-African Pantheon” at the university’s Arts Centre.
The meeting will commemorate the Soweto youth uprising of 16 June 1976 against apartheid education, during which 176 protesting students were killed. The conference also represents a concrete initiative to contribute to efforts to decolonise South Africa’s academic curriculum, and to ensure that the epistemology of the country’s curriculum reflects its African context. The seminar thus adopts an interdisciplinary approach that focuses on history, politics, sociology, economics, philosophy, literature, and music.
This meeting further represents an effort to create a “Johannesburg School of Pan-Africanism” that can help revive Pan-Africanism as a civil society movement linking actors from Africa and its Diaspora, that can move the concept beyond the sterile initiatives of largely rhetorical state-led efforts. The Pan-African solidarity forged in the crucible of the anti-apartheid struggle with the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), TransAfrica, and other civic groups in the United States (US), Canada, the Caribbean, and Europe, has all but disappeared today. Pan-Africanism is thus in need of urgent revival. This is particularly ironic during an era (2009-2016) in which the first black president of the US with African roots – Barack Obama – was the most powerful individual in the world.
Prominent African and Diaspora scholars will present on such broad topics as: reparations; the rise, fall, and potential revival of Pan-Africanism; pioneers of Pan-Africanism; politicians and activists; political scientists; sociologists; historians; economists; philosophers; the literati; and musical activists. The intellectual thinking and contributions of 36 key historical and contemporary figures will be assessed during the meeting: Edward Blyden, W.E.B. Du Bois, Pixley Seme, Marcus Garvey, Amy Ashwood Garvey, George Padmore, Kwame Nkrumah, Dudley Thompson, Robert Sobukwe, Thabo Mbeki, Malcolm X, Maya Angelou, C.L.R. James, Walter Rodney, Stuart Hall, Ruth First, Randall Robinson, Ali Mazrui, Angela Davis, Arthur Lewis, Samir Amin, Adebayo Adedeji, Thandika Mkandawire, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Frantz Fanon, Steve Biko, Kwame Anthony Appiah, Wole Soyinka, Derek Walcott, Léopold Senghor, Buchi Emecheta, Chimamanda Adichie, Miriam Makeba, Bob Marley, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, and Harry Belafonte.
The essays presented at the conference will, however, not just be celebratory but also critical in areas where their subjects may have fallen short of their ideals. It is important to present a balanced picture of these historical and contemporary Pan-African figures, even while celebrating their intellectual contributions and achievements. An edited volume will be produced from the meeting that can be used for courses across Africa and its Diaspora. Within South Africa, the book will also be widely disseminated in order to contribute to broader efforts to educate the general public on Pan-Africanism and to encourage South Africans to engage more with their African identity.
The meeting further seeks to build bridges with institutions in all five African sub-regions, as well as key Diaspora intellectual communities. It will examine the roots of Pan-Africanism based on the works of pioneering intellectuals such as Blyden, Du Bois, Marcus and Amy Garvey, and Padmore. Blyden greatly influenced Garvey, Nkrumah, Padmore, and Mazrui. From the time of Garvey and Du Bois to more contemporary Pan-Africanists like Adedeji and Mbeki, the idea of Pan-Africanism has also been fiercely contested.
One of the early champions of African democracy was the only black Nobel prize winner in economics, Arthur Lewis, who advised Nkrumah: ironically one of the early pioneers of one-party rule. The influential idea of an “African Renaissance” was championed by Pixley Seme, Nnamdi Azikiwe, and Cheikh Anta Diop. Another South African struggle icon, Robert Sobukwe, championed non-racialism, with his ideas influencing Steve Biko’s Black Consciousness Movement.
The issue of cultural Pan-Africanism will also be addressed. This idea represented the reaction by the black African Diaspora to the indignities that black people had suffered in the West. Writers like Aimé Césaire and Léopold Senghor developed the idea of négritude which glorified black culture. Wole Soyinka and Derek Walcott are Nobel literature laureates whose work will be assessed, while the musical activism of Bob Marley, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, Miriam Makeba, and Harry Bellafonte will also be discussed.
Professor Adekeye Adebajo is Director of the Institute for Pan-African Thought and Conversation at the University of Johannesburg.
Ms Zoliswa Ntsoko (South Africa) is the Institute’s Administrative Assistant who assists with general administration and research. She is a seasoned professional with a background in Disaster Management. She holds an Advanced Diploma in Management from Milpark Business School, and a Post Graduate Diploma in Public Management from Regenesys Business School. She also holds certificates in Project Management, and in Disaster Management. Previously, she has worked as a Disaster Management Specialist at the City of Johannesburg – Disaster Management Centre.
Ms Cecilia Lwiindi Nedziwe-Moyo is the Research Coordinator at the Institute for Pan-African Thought and Conversation. She previously served as a Regional Coordinator at the Centre for Peace Initiatives in Africa (CPIA) in Zimbabwe between 2007 and 2013. She completed her master’s degree in International Studies, Peace, and Conflict Resolution at the University of Queensland in Australia as a Rotary Peace Scholar. She has just completed her doctoral studies at Rhodes University. Her areas of interest include: gender, foreign policy, regional organisations and conflict resolution.
Ms Thembeka Somtseu is a seasoned professional with a background in the textile and construction sectors. She holds a National Diploma in Business Administration from the Durban University of Technology, and studied Development Communication and Media Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand. She worked as a corporate communications specialist for more than ten years, serving in both local and multinational companies.