Jul 14, 20204 min read

Pan- Africanism

This week we will focus on the Pan- Africanist movement. The reason why I have chosen this topic is because the Pan- Africanist movement has played and is still playing an important role in Africa and in the black community in general. What I like about it, is that the main objective of this movement is to find solutions for the continent and black people in general and, to create a great nation that will be fully independent.

The first question that we could ask ourselves is: What is Pan- Africanism?

The first thing we can talk about when talking about pan Africanism, is its ideology: asserting and supporting Africans all over the world.

People who are pan Africanists, want their continent to be fully independent from a social, economic and cultural point of view. The aim is for each country in Africa to be able to depend on each other like a big collision instead of seeking help from countries outside the continent. In other words, pan Africanism is about making Africa a strong continent which is sufficient to itself, and to change how is Africa usually pictured (poor, dependent…).

The continent has a lot of writers, scientists, builders, architects, musicians… and all the qualities to stand out even more considering that this is the youngest continent. Therefore, pan Africanism want to push forward the continent.

Oppositely to what is usually showed and taught, pan Africanists focus on the pioneers of the African causes in Africa, those who had a vision for Africa and fought for their countries and more broadly their continent. Pan Africanists want to focus on innovations, technologies and positive actions that could make the continent move forward. There is an African pride behind it and a wish of unification.

The Premises (An overview)

The pan Africanism movement began in the united states of America around the 19th century. In the USA, Martin Delany, Alexander Crummell and Edward Blyden had a major role in the development of the movement. Martin Delany was an African American who worked on the abolition of slavery. He was also a journalist, a physician, a writer and soldier. Alexander Crummel was also an African American who was an academic and African nationalist and, Edward Blyden was a west indie educator. The three of them are not the “fathers” of pan Africanism but, they have their importance. In fact, their state of mind was that Black people in America will never be able to prosper nearby white people and, that if they wanted to prosper, Black people should go back to their motherland: Africa.

Martin Delany Alexender Crummell Edward Blyden

“Africa will furnish a development of civilization which the world has never yet witnessed. Its great peculiarity will be its mortal element.” Edward Blyden

Through them, and considering the context of that time, we can notice that there was already the notion of going back to Africa and to make the continent prosper by creating their own nation. It is worth noting that their wish to go back to Africa was also motivated by the state of mind of converting the people leaving there to Christianism.

However, the founder of pan Africanism was William Edward Burghardt Du Bois, an African descendant. According to him, “the problem of the twentieth century (was) the problem of the color line”. William Edward Burghardt Du Bois was implying the fact that Africans who were living in Africa were not truly free as Africans because they were controlled by rules imposed by European during colonial times. His believes was that Africans all over the world and afro descendants had the same interest. His wish was to create a “black economy” to fight against poverty and create their own community.

It is in the year 1900 that WEB Du Bois went to the first pan African conference which was in London fron 23rdto 25thof July. It was Henry Sylvester Williams who organized this event in which many afro descendants from the US, the Uk, Africa and even the Caribbean were present. WEB Du Bois had a major role during this event. In Fact, he wrote a letter which was addressed to European leaders telling them to that Black people should have the right to self- govern themselves. This letter was very important in the pan Africanist movement, because it was in accordance with their wish of making Africa a great nation which would be fully free of the occidental rules.

"The cost of liberty is less than the price of repression." William Edward Burghardt Du Bois

During this Conference, afro descendants coming from all around the world were discussing ways to improve their life standards as black people. The main aspect that should be noticed from this conference, is the fact that the members were looking for solutions. The aim was to look forward with the state of mind to make a brighter future. This was a historical event that was related in many newspapers included The Times. It also opened the way to the most recent figures of the movement.