‘Those Not Yet Free’ Pan-African Nationalism (pt 1)

“Black Power is part of the world rebellion of the oppressed against the oppressor, the exploited against the exploiter. It operates throughout the African continent, in North and South America, the Caribbean, where African and people of African descent live. It is linked with the Pan-African struggle for unity on the African continent and with all Black people who strive to accomplish an African-controlled socialist society.” Kwame Nkrumah
Sisters and brothers, the struggle for Black Power in the U.S. is to free Black minds and colonies from external domination. The struggle to free our minds and our communities directly relates to the struggles against white supremacy, not only in the U.S. but around the world.
Pan-African Nationalism is Black power!
Historian John Henrik Clarke taught us that “trying to unite Africans (Black people) into any formation without African nationalist roots is doomed for failure before it starts.” He also makes a critically clear point that “one cannot be a Pan-Africanist without simultaneously being a Black Nationalist, which is being a practitioner of African people having total power and control over all aspects of socialization. This socialization process is applied to African people, wherever we happen to be, but preferably on a land mass under our own sovereignty.”
Just recently, freedom fighters in the Democratic Republic of the Congo burnt down the Embassies of the neo-colonial powers of France, America, and Belgium. They said that they simply don’t need or want European influence anymore. These African countries realize that they have the resources, intelligence, culture, and unification to remain sovereign without any engagement with European countries. Ghana’s President John Mahama has just closed all U.S. military bases. The president said, “When one African country wins, all of Africa wins!
Pan-Africanism is the worldwide concept of Black unity. Pan means all. Pan-African means all Black people. Black Nationalism can be looked at and embraced as the actual working component to sustain Black power, independence, and unity.
Historian Chancellor Williams taught us that “it is impossible to keep a whole people permanently enslaved. Instead of being the development of a regional scheme of an international collaboration between fully developed nation-states, Pan-Africanism emerges ahead of its time, as it serves both as a continental protection for the newly independent states and the driving force of those not yet free.
What has been taught to be a real barrier to unity has been overridden or ignored. Pan-African leaders from different areas are not waiting to learn each other’s language. Tribal languages and religious differences are being tactically ignored. Black hands reach out to grasp Black hands across the continent. When two leaders meet and can’t understand each other’s speech, the media of communication becomes the hands, the eyes, and the heart. The urge towards unity is so great that Black people are getting together without wanting to understand each other’s tongue.
Dr. John Henrik Clarke taught us that “When we conceived Pan-Africanism, we erected it without any kind of protection.” I believe protection is Black Nationalism.
Brothers and sisters, today we see more and more African-Americans not only visiting the Mother Land but relocating to the continent as well. African leaders and governments are realizing how essential Africans are throughout the diaspora. Dual citizenship is beginning to be offered in numerous African countries.
Toward a Definition
A Pan-African Nationalist is a Black person who believes in the oneness of ‘ALL BLACK PEOPLE’ worldwide, even though we are temporarily separated by space and thought. One who believes in the realization that all Black people have a common past and present, and if we work together/Harambee (Pull together) a common future!
Pan-African Nationalism speaks to the oneness of thoughts and actions of our people trying to forge ourselves into national bodies throughout the world that represent one African nucleus that is unified by a common culture, heritage, language, and destiny.
Pan-African nationalism is a commitment and devotion to interest defined by Black people who understand that we will never be respected or taken seriously by ourselves or others until Mother Africa and her sons and daughters are unified and empowered.
Khabyr Hadas is a Pan-African Educator, Garveyite, and author of several books, and teaches African History and Culture at Harambee Institute for Science and Technology Charter School, founded by Baba John Skief in 1972. khabyrhadas@gmail.com