Title: The History of Pan Africanism
Headings: The History of Pan Africanism
The History of Pan Africanism
Content: Emerging from the exchanges between the two camps, the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) was formed in May, 1963. Throughout the twentieth century, cultural Pan Africanism weaved through the politcal narrative – the Harlem Renaissance, Francophone philosophies of Negritude, Afrocentrism, Rastafarianism and Hip Hop. Artists of African origin and heritage have found inspiration in and been drawn to exploring and communicating their connections with the Continent. Post-independence, a new generation of African writers – such as Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, Bessie Head gave voice to issues that could be recognised throughout the Continent (links to other pages from the key words here). The 6th Pan African Congress in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania in 1974 took place fuelled by the radical Black movements sweeping the Diaspora espousing militant Black pride and fighting white domination with Black separatist organisation. The Congress was attended by 52 delegations from Africa, the Caribbean, the Americas, Britain and the Pacific. Disappointed by the OAU's lack of engagement with the Diaspora, this Congress restated the global unity of Black peoples struggling for liberation. Inspired by the principles of self-reliance being instituted by the Tanzanian president Julius Nyerere, many hoped also to give concrete support to the new wave of independence movements in Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, Zimbabwe and South Africa – but the Congress was unable to create clear structures to enable such action. The 7th and last Congress in Kampala, Uganda in 1994 sort to rectify this by setting up a permanent organisational structure to carry forward decisions taken at the Congress meetings. Still, divisions and debates remained – was Pan Africanism a movement of the people or had it now been taken over by governments, were Black Africans of Sub-Saharan origin the only true Africans?