PAN-AFRICANISM
HISTORICAL UNIT IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT FOR:
EDUCATION POLICY & LEADERSHIP 834
MBULA MBOLE
Mbole.1@osu.edu
PAN-AFRICANISM
The Unit:
Overview and Rationale
This is a unit plan that aims to assist teachers introduce a general course lesson pertaining to Pan-Africanism. The purpose of the unit is to provide students with a detailed and global understanding of the Pan-African movement. The unit will attempt to counter or break the mold of all preconceived ideas about Africa and the Diaspora . Particular emphasis will be paid to the common struggle faced by Africa, Africans and the African Diaspora. "The unit will make students aware that the study of the unit has to be done with a purpose, thus giving them the opportunity to provide interaction between the student/content, between student/student, while they bring their personal experience to the content of whatever subject is being represented, and personalized the meaning of the content in the lesson" (Ali, 1994)
Historical Overview
Definition of Pan-Africanism
The Oxford English Dictionary provides a definition of Pan-Africanism as a movement which advocates the political union of all the indigenous inhabitants of Africa; the ideals of this movement. Hence pan-Africanist sb., an advocate or supporter of pan-Africanism, also as adj., of or pertaining to pan-Africanism (Oxford English Dictionary, 1989). There is no specific definition for Pan-Africanism since most definitions stem from a people’s definition of their struggle and within their cultural context.
A good illustration of this conflicting interpretations was evident in the third annual conference of the American Society of African Culture held in 1960 at the University of Pennsylvania (Esedebe, 1982). Rayford Logan, an African-American historian, saw the phenomenon in terms of self-governnment by African countries in the Sahara. A Nigeria journalist and politician expressed a different viewpoint from Logan, by "insisting that it included the economic, social and cultural development of the continent, the avoidance of conflict among African states, the promotion of African unity and influence in world affairs" (Esebede, 1982, p.2). I do support the contention expressed by a well-known British journalist , Colin Legum who viewed Pan-Africanism "as essentially a movement of ideas and emotions; at times it achieves a synthesis, at times it remains at the level of antithesis (Legum, 1962, p. 14).
This unit will utilize the definition provided by Esedebe. "Pan-Africanism is a political and cultural phenomenon which regards Africa, Africans and African descendants aboard as a unit. It seeks to regenerate and unify Africa and promote a feeling of oneness among the people of Africa among the people of the African world. It glorifies the African past and inculcates pride in Africa"(Esedebe, 1982, p.3).
Origins of Pan African Ideas
Although the term "pan-African" and "Pan-Africanism" became popular in the 1900 London conference, the underlying ideas has long been in existent. The concept of Pan Africanism is believed to have been introduced by a Trinidad barrister, Henry Sylvester Williams. The first PanAfrican conference was held in 1900 which was organized by a committee of the African Association in London to discuss the Natives Race Question (Langley, 1973). T. Thomas Fortune, editor of the New York Age and New York World, as well as one of the most articulate anti-emigrationists and advocate of Afro-American participation in politics, lies claims to having been the one responsible for the idea of the Pan-African Conference 1900.
The constitution set forth aim:
Some scholars have made a distinction on what they believe to be two different categories of Pan- Africanism. According to Lamelle, the two categories are Pan-Africanism with a capital P. This category "attempts to create a social movement and an international (dues paying) organization which would further the cause of Black people around the world". The second form of PanAfricanism, "which is designated with a small p, is unorganized. It is comprised of those who sympathize and identify with the African heritage and support the aims of Pan-Africanism" (Lamelle, 1992, p.7)
Early Pioneers of Pan-Africanism
This sentiment started in the "New World" probably in the 18 century. The earliest pioneers were slaves who rebelled against the institution of Slavery.
Pan Africanism developed from among the slaves who created a vision of the unity of the struggles of the African people at home and abroad. It was the totality of the system of oppression which forced the African to create a vision of the world which was larger than the nation or ethnic group from which the slave was captured (Campbell,1996, p.212).
Pan-African thinking originally in the so-called New World became articulated during the century starting from the declaration of American independence (1776). Among the slaves were "free blacks" who believed that the solution to their problem was going back to Africa. Two of the notable supporters of the emigration to Africa were Prince Hall (1735-1807) a Boston Minister and African Grand Master, and the Paul Cuffee (1759-1817) a Quaker Merchant and shipbuilder (Lemelle, 1992). This belief was crystallized in the formation of an organization in 1816 called the American Colonization Society (ACS). ACS’s main goal was to finance and arrange for the removal of "free Blacks" to Africa, specifically Liberia. This sentiment to return home was not only expressed by African-Americans, but also African descendants from the West Indies. A notable example is Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus Vassa ,an African kidnapped from Nigeria at an early age by Slave raiders.
Other African -Americans expressed a different viewpoint. Fredrick Douglass (1817-1895) and Dr. Martin R. Delany were opposed to emigration to Africa. Most viewed the United States, as a home which should remain. Hence, some viewed ACS as a conspiracy to deny blacks their rights. Another expression of opposition to the ASC came from the Annual Convention of the Free Colored People whose first meeting was held in 1830 in Philadelphia. This anti-colonization sediment is expressed in an oration delivered in July 1830 by Peter Williams, a pastor of St. Phillips Episcopal church in New York (Woodson, 1925). Although Williams maintained that the "white liberals were not concerned about the relative backwardness of African continent, he demanded the "improvement" of blacks in the United States rather than in the jungles and disease ridden villages in Africa" (Esedebe, 1982, p. 12).
Prominent Figures in the Early Stages of Pan-Africanism
W.E.B Dubois was a veteran African-American scholar who was instrumental in the movement in its founding stages. He "stated that the Pan-African movement aimed at an intellectual understanding and co-operation among all groups of African descent in order to bring about " the industrial and spiritual emancipation of the Negro people" (The Crisis, 1933, p.247). Earlier on in his career he believed that his work with white Americans liberals would advance black life. "It saw its Pan-African state as a socialized ‘industrial democracy’ run by black intellectuals, yet it welcomed white capital and took for granted the unanimous adherence of the letter idea" (Langley, 1973, p.60). The leaders in Du Bois utopian state would be the elite, both American and African (Langley, 1973). Later, after having watched the deteriorartion of black life, he acknowledged that blacks were responsible for their own advancement.
Marcus Garvey, another dominant figure in the movement, came from a different ideology. Unliked Du Bois , Garvey "pan Africanist state would be more broad-based and one that advocated seperatism. He viewed the problem in "cultural, economic and psychological terms" Lamelle, 1992). Garvey believed that the basic problem was that Blacks lacked knowledge and pride in their African ancestry and therefore could not counter white racism" (Lamelle, 1992, p.81).
Thus, he believed that people had to achieve their own power.
These two promenient may have had different ideologies but the goal was the same to restore dignity and self-determination to Black people in the world (Lamelle, 1992).
The Main Factors which lead to these conditions of the Pan-Africanist Movement
There are various factors which lead to the emergence of pan-African consciousness. The racial ideology which developed as a result of the Atlantic slave trade "with the colonisation of the American hemisphere , the Aristotelian hypothesis that some humans by nature, slaves, and others free was used to justify the enslavement of the aboriginal Amerindians and later Africans (Esedebe, 1982, p.17) . Racial theory can be distinguished in two main currents, the evolutionary and the technological.
Dr. Thomas Arnold’s view is a good illustration of the evolutionary theory. Arnold "saw history as a kind of relay race among the best team of gifted peoples each of whom produced their best, passing on their achievements to greater successors. Thus, what the ancient Greeks handed to the Romans, the Romans, in turn, passed on to the Northern Europeans" (Esedebe, 1982, p.18). "It struck the professor’s reviewer that three centuries of close contact with the powerful Europeans had failed to exterminate the Africans in exile; on the contrary, "they have advanced under circumstances the most hostile in advancement" (Thomas, 1842, p.6).
The teleological school believe that the creator made men unequal.
"The whites, he gave intelligence to enable them to direct wisely the activities of the others. The non-whites, these usually meant blacks, He gave strong blacks fortified with a weak mind an obedient temper, so that they might labour effectively under the supervision of the white masters" (Esedebe, 1982, p. 19). This interpretation was used to legitimize "Negro" slavery and did revive in the middle of the nineteenth century.
Conditions which gave rise to Pan-African consciousness and Ideas.
According to Esedebe (1982), the main sources and conditions which gave rise to Pan-African consciousness and ideas were: "the humiliating and discriminatory practices of the African Diaspora, the racism that accompanied the campaign for the suppression of the Atlantic slave trade, the independent African church movement, as well as European imperialism" ( p.25).
As the pan-Africanist sees it, "wherever the African has been, whether in America, the Caribbean, or in Africa, his experience–the Black Experience–has been virtually the same exploitation, persecution, discrimination, and spiritual violation suffered at the hands on non-Africans (Ofuatey-Kodje, 1985, p.391).
Nyerere reaffirms the Black experience:
STUDENTS ACTIVITIES & EXERCISES
Grade level: High School
Diagnostic Activities:
Base Group Activity
Students will be given the ditto If the world were a village of 1000 people. This exercise is vital for assisting students in understanding the division of the world population in the world. In-groups of 4-6 students will discuss their feelings and comprehension of the world population.
Class Project
A representative from each group will report to the class about opinions stated and their rationale. A questionnaire will be passed about what students think of Africans, Caribbeans, Afro-Latin Americans (Brazilians) etc. Lastly, the teacher will facilitate a discussion on the idea raised by the class. The teacher to actively engage students can show a video of the Mohammed Ali and Larry Holmes fight in Zaire, or Malcolm X visit to Libya.
Optional: They can have the student complete the cultural Pursuit form which is Part I, leadership for a Culturally Diverse Society.
Research on the Pan-African Conferences
Base Group Activity
Students in their base groups of 4-6 will research on one of the previous Pan-African conferences. The students can choose one of the conferences or compare two. The students will be expected to gather information by reading newspapers, visit to a historical site, watching videos, etc.
Class project.
Each base group will compile their information into a summary report of 4 pages and present to the class. The summary can comprise of the following: the participants of the conference, the agenda and the new strategies adopted. Comparison will also be drawn with the first Pan-African Conference.
Other projects: Students can select to work on either --Pan-African Regional Movements, Pan-Africanism and the East African Integration, Pan-Africanism and West African Integration, Pan-Africanism and the Black power, Negritude, Harlem Renaissance, Ethiopianism, and African socialism,
Time-line of the progression of the Pan-African Movement
Base group Activity.
Have students get into their base groups. Distribute a handout list of the Early Pioneers of Pan-Africanism. The students will list the time period, their family background, the social climate, and the ideologies of the pioneer, their contributions and limitations to the Pan-African movement. How did their ideals change over time?
Class Project.
Students will bring this information with specific citations including dates, name of the pioneer, their ideologies and contributions and what changes were implemented in the lives of black people during this time. As a class, students will construct a timeline noting the improvements and the limitations of the different concerns fought by people of color.
Panel Discussion
Organize a panel of Black leaders of Africa and the Diaspora preferably from the Ohio Area, who have adopted Pan-Africanist ideals, to speak in class about their life experiences. Potential leaders can comprise of political, religious etc.
Class Project.
The teacher would have identified the various cultural background the panelists may have originated from and have the students work on gathering music or folklore, reciting a poem or performing a dance. Thus incorporate active participation of the students.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY & TEACHER RESOURCES
Dennis, D. (1984). Black History for Beginners. New York: Writers and Readers.
Du Obis, W.E.B. (1946). The World and Africa. New York: International Publishers.
Fishel ,Jr. H. L & Quarles, B. The Negro American. A documentary History, pp. 145-147.
Harris. J. E (1982). Global Dimensions of the African Diaspora. Washington D.C: Howard Press.
Langley, J.A ( 1973). Pan-Africanism and Nationalism in West Africa 1900-1945. London: Oxford University Press.
Legum, C. (1962). Pan-Africanism: A short Political Guide. New York: Fredrick A. Praeger.
Lemelle, S. (1992). Pan-Africanism for beginners. London: Writers and Readers Publishing, Inc.
Malcolm X., & Haley, A. (1965). The Autobiography of Malcolm X. New York: Grove Press.
Ofuatey-Kodje, W. (1985). Pan-Africanism New directions in Strategy. New York: University Press of America.
Raheem-Abdul, T. (1996). Pan-Africanism: Politics, Economy and Social Change in the Twenty-First Century. New York: New York University Press.
Thomas, A. (1842). Introductory Lecturers on Modern History. Oxford:Clarendon Press.
Woodson, C. G. (1925). Negro Orators and Their Orations. Washington, D.C: Associated Publishers, Inc.
Woodson, C. G.(1928). African Myths. Washington, D.C.: The Associated Press.
Woodson, C.G. (1933). The Mis-Education of the Negro. Washington, D.C: Associated Publishers, Inc.
Keynote Address to the Sixth Pan-African Conference, held at the University of Dares Salaam, 1974, quoted in Africa Report, (Sept-Oct, 1974,) p. 3.
The Crisis (November, 1933), p. 247.