The 's Theory Of Pan Africanism

Many black political theorists, either through the legacy of their works, or through the explicit explanation in their text have sought to determine the role of the black intellectual ranging from renowned scholars such as Dr. Michael Eric Dyson to Dr. Cornel West. In a quest to better understand the burdens and expectations of the black intellectual, it is only reasonable to undergo a critical thought experiment into how prominent black political theorists such as Walter Rodney conceptualize the role of the black intellectual in context of constant oppression and erasure. Hence, this paper will focus on Walter Rodney’s speech “The Groundings with My Brothers” and evaluate the claims made therein regarding the role of the black

Pan-Africanism was another major focus of Du Bois political career. Beginning in 1905, he organized a series of Pan-African conferences, the first in Paris, with subsequent conferences in Lisbon, Brussels, and Paris in1921, London and Lisbon in1923, and New York City in1927. In these conferences, Du Bois put forth his ideas of self-government for oppressed black people under colonial powers. Ideological and personal differences led to acrimonious debate between Du Bois and Marcus Garvey, a Black Nationalist leader who strove to construct through economic enterprise and mass education a unified empire of people of African descent. Du Bois rejected many of Garvey’s policies and mounted a campaign to expose corruption and mismanagement of Garvey’s famous Black Star Shipping Line: a black cross-continental trade venture. Pan-Africanism is a movement of people of African descent from sub-Saharan Africa in the early twentieth century that emphasized their identity, shared experiences, and the need to

Established in 1909 as an attempt to combat the racial hatred and discrimination that plagued the era the NAACP emerged. By supporting such cases such as Moore V Dempsey, Guinn V United States and Brown v Board Of Education, the group’s influence in both modern day and past civil rights movements is irrefutable. With this in mind this group has also had its pitfalls and has not always, still to this day, have the support of the entire black community for varying reasons. Marcus Garvey was a major activist voice that vehemently disagreed with the goals and tactics of the NAACP.

Through life’s phases, many develop perfunctory habits. Many start to lose that site of creativity and enthusiasm that can bring forth positive results. However, this is not the case for everyone when their republic is funded on principles of faith, liberty, and justice. It is not the case when an individual knows he is equally as good as his companions without the comparison of skin color. Frederick Douglass’ speech titled, “What the Black Man Wants” and the speech of Ralph J. Bunche titled, “The Barriers of Race Can be Surmounted” are 84 years apart. However, both display a few of the same philosophies that can even be found in today’s modern speeches. Both speeches understand the African-American affliction/disadvantage, lack of knowledge

In this short work Professor Huggins explores the position and achievement of black slaves in American society, with its dream of 'life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness', from which they were excluded, except as necessary instruments. Wisely, instead of cramming a narrative of 250 years of complex social and economic history into 242 pages of text, he uses his talents as an established historian of black American culture to offer the general, rather than the academic, reader an admirable blend of the higher generalization and the higher popularization.

The abolition of slavery in the mid nineteenth century changed the lives of African Americans and their role in society shifted from low class workers to individuals who gained opportunities to leave their marks. However, achieving that goal wasn’t easy. African Americans faced obstacles such as poverty, racism and lack of assimilation. From the works of poets like Dunbar and Johnson to writers like Langston Hughes, it is clear that the roles of African Americans have changed from the late nineteenth century to 1940.

This idea has taken on many different forms over the past century and a half, and its discourse has evolved alongside the major works of prominent figures like W.E.B. Du Bois, Martin Delany, and Marcus Garvey. A common theme among these thinkers is the notion of historicizing the development of black culture relative to diasporic movements in the preceding centuries. However, they differ significantly in their visions and aspirations for the culture at large, as well as in their interpretations of how peoples of African descent should behave with respect to the dominant (primarily white) societies in which they live and function. In particular, earlier scholars like Du Bois tended to “sustain their faith in a partnership with white allies, wagering that [their] commitments to ‘civilization building’ ... would hasten the day when they and their race would be respected as equal partners” (Ewing 16). In contrast, Garvey, a contemporary of Locke, supported a radical agenda for African independence, and a mass migration to bring peoples of African descent back to Africa (Ewing 76).

The next major landmark in the history of Pan Africanism was the 1945 Manchester Pan Africanism Conference. For the first time the congress did not ask for recognition or favors from European powers. They unequivocally demanded an end to colonialism in Africa, in addition to demands for social justice and rights. All schemes of half freedom were rejected. The Manchester Congress gave an impetuous to the goal of achieving national independence. The next conference was in Ghana, this was a

By 1919 the UNIA reached its peek with about 2,000,000 members and hundreds of branches worldwide. Marcus also founded the Negro Factories Corporation (NFC) which its purpose was to promote black economic independence by providing money and labor to black business owners. It also helped to build factories in the United States, Africa, Central America, and the West Indies. He also founded the first and, to this day, the largest black-owned multinational businesses, the Black Star Line (BSL), which focused on purchasing boats and serving an international shipping triangle that would return black people to their homeland of Africa. The shipping triangle revolved around the United States, West Indies, and Africa. Marcus Garvey not only founded companies or groups, but he also founded the Negro World in 1918, which was the leading black weekly and soon had 50,000 readers in the United States, Latin America, the West Indies, and Africa. Due to it’s content of black equality and freedom, the British and the French banned it from their African colonies. Even leaders who did not agree with Garvey’s ideas appreciated his efforts to build black pride and political independence (Kranz, Koslow 86).

In many ways it could be argued that Marcus Garvey was the most significant African American civil rights leader of this time because of his role in tackling the social issues African American’s faced. He aimed to improve the lives of African Americans by encouraging them to take control of their own affairs and education. His role surrounding this issue is illustrated by his founding of the UNIA. This Universal Negro Improvement Association was an organisation dedicated to racial pride, economic self sufficiency and the formation of an independent black nation in Africa. Through this and the magazine the ‘Negro World’ he urged African Americans to be proud of their race, and argued “a people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots”. It has been said that through Garvey’s dedication to social improvement for his race he managed to capture the imagination of many blacks for whom the American Dream was a dirty joke.

Upon learning about the colonial history in its truest form, one can attest that resistance has been deeply rooted in the African diaspora. One of the earliest forms of resistance was the upstaging of revolts by the slaves on land and ships, which date back to the beginning of the slave trade during 17th century. Since then, African Americans have continued to resist their oppressors throughout the history. This persistent resistance has been inspired from the ideals of black nationalism. In the simplest terms, “black nationalism is the recognition of cultural and racial commonality and a call to racial solidarity” (Harris 2001:409). This ideology has united the African diaspora and paved the way to resistance. Thus, successfully shaping the

Marcus Garvey was important because he aided in inspiring a mass movement amongst African Americans. Garvey make efforts to show African Americans economic empowerment meanwhile sharing the importance of taking part in politics and have greater impacts. Along with these many accomplishments, his biggest accomplishment was becoming the founder of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League in Jamaica. Garvey came to the United States in 1916 and launched the New York Division of the UNIA the following year. This association started off with merely thirteen members and exponentially grew to approximately 3500 members. Garvey has reached new heights of power within his career in the late 1920s when he headed an international convention in Liberty Hall, containing frequent delegates in attendance from 25 countries. Garvey also led a parade of over 50,000 throughout all of Harlem.

The 1920’s were a time of change for African Americans. They were beginning to retain a sense of pride in their background and culture, were becoming more independent socially and economically, and were becoming more militant. Part of this was because of the Great Migration, in which a proliferation of African Americans moved from the Southern states to the Northern states, and the excessive levels of racism and prejudice they faced during the process. African Americans were really starting to make their voices and identities prevalent, especially through movements like the Harlem Renaissance and Marcus Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA). This mentality of independence and militance that African Americans adopted which is represented through the actions of Ossian Sweet is what makes up the 1920s cultural construct of the “New Negro” which allowed me to understand the realness and effectiveness of cultural constructs.

Soon after World War I, Garvey concluded that the anger that engulfed many Black communities after the war could be used as a catalyst to end both imperialism in Africa and discrimination in the United States. He combined the economic nationalist ideas of Booker T. Washington with various Pan-Africanist idealists of the time. Garvey’s goals were modern and urban. He wanted to end imperialist rule and create modern societies in Africa. He formed black communities on three continents with his newspaper the “Negro World ,” and in 1919 he established the Black Star Line, an international shipping company to provided transportation and encourage trade among the Blacks in Africa and Blacks in the United States. In the same year he founded the Negro Factories Corporation to establish such

Pan Africanism, in its fundamental definition, implores the black population to pursue self-dignity and self-determination in bettering their situation and becoming equal to the majority population; W.E.B. Dubois and Marcus Garvey, while both active Pan-Africanists in theory, have different goals and perspectives on the ways in which the racial problems should be approached. The central differences between Dubois and Garvey lie in their adolescent upbringings, and permeate through adulthood to form opinions about the history of colonialism and imperialism that separated society as a whole. In many ways, class structure ultimately shapes the views of a person towards themselves as well as society in general — as we compare and contrast