A Zimbabwean View of Black History Month.

 By Takura Zhangazha*

A presentation to Litfest Zimbabwe’s Black History Month Commemorations

Thursday 27 February 2020

Cde Chairperson,

Let me begin by thanking the organisers for extending an invitation for me to be here at this important event.  And also for continuing a spirit of engagement with ideas that relate to the historical linkages of Africans beyond their geographical location.

In discussing Black History Month (BHM) from a Zimbabwean perspective one would still have to make reference to its historical linkages to Pan African consciousness.  This is because a great number of ideas and organizing around the liberation of the African continent initially began with the work of African American leaders such W. E DuBois and Marcus Garvey.  It was DuBois that was to lead in organizing various Pan African congresses such as the ones held in Paris in 1919 or London and Brussels in 1921 where DuBois is quoted as having said

 “The beginning of wisdom in inter-racial contact is the establishment of political institutions among suppressed peoples.  The habit of democracy must be made to encircle the world.” (See Legum C. 1962. Pan Africanism. A Short Political Guide )

Again DuBois was to be present at the famous sixth Pan African Congress held in Manchester the United Kingdom in 1945 where eventual luminaries such as Kwame Nkrumah, George Padmore, Jomo Kenyatta, Peter Abrahams among others were present.

All of these conferences were clear in their call for Africa’s freedom from colonialism and the democratic urgency of ending racial discrimination.  And they indeed sowed the mustard seed for bigger organisations such as the Organization of African Unity (OAU) now known as the African Union. 

I deliberately mention this because often times on social media it would appear that BHM is entirely an African American affair. Or sometimes made to appear like a symbolic show as opposed one that is grounded in an organic history and shared solidarity between people in the, initially forced by the salve trade, African Diaspora and those that remained on the continent.

Even after the slave trade and while African Americans were still fighting for their own domestic civil liberties it was never lost on them that there is the mother continent of Africa that they could and should always show acts of solidarity to.  Or even seek to return to such as the Marcus Garvey led back to Africa movement. 

Where we fast forward to the more exciting civil rights movements as invariably led by Martin Luther King, Malcom X and the (real) Black Panthers in varying respects the umbilical cord between African Americans and us in Africa was never lost.  Reference to anti-colonial struggles was a regular theme and again, the struggle against racial discrimination was shared. 

While a lot of us now have engaged with this history through movies of the era’s black leaders, there were African leaders who also remembered the shared history such as Nkrumah, Nyerere and Cabral. 

But where we now look at the contemporary understanding of this shared history is increasingly being lost.  In an age of rapid globalization and a patent fear of African emigration to the global north, the solidarity has been suffering strenuous pressure. 

This is probably due to at least three reasons.  The first being that the urgency of African liberation from colonialism as linked to racial equality in the USA is no longer apparent.  African countries (barring one, The Saharawi Republic) are now independent and also have to now work with the formal American government as opposed to the likes of WE DuBois.

The second reason is that solidarity between African Americans and Africans while previously having a ‘return to the motherland’ significance is saddled with a ‘leave the motherland’ surge. A desire to emigrate to the United States, possibly via a green card or any other legal means by young Africans means that while race relations progressively got better, American society became more attractive than home.  And there’s the general change of attitude toward Africa by many African Americans who would probably not romantically refer to it as home after seeing and reading the news about African conflicts or disease outbreaks either on social and mainstream media. 

The third is that of a dying pan African consciousness among African American and African leaders.  This is attributable to either a dying intellectualism on the same topic or else a stronger desire to be recognized as universal beings than to claim a uniqueness of Pan African history or Africanness. The previous historic and organic intellectual link has been lost out in the age of globalization and consumerism.  Indeed while we have the globally acclaimed Black Panther move for its portrayal of African Americans, its mythical value can always be turned to confirm stereotypes of the continent (animals, forests, kings and magic). Or alternatively as a momentary and cathartic desire for recognition. 

But as always Black History Month always serves to inspire us here in Africa.  Even if its officially a celebration of African American History.  The latter being a history that would never have existed without reference to Africa and its struggles for liberation.  Not only from the mercantile capitalism that was the Atlantic Slave Trade, but also colonialism, racial discrimination and now neoliberalism. We would do well to build new organic linkages based on democratic values and with an understanding of the need for a revived Pan African consciousness that fully embraces our historical African Diaspora.  Not just via the entertainment industry but also on the difficult political and economic issues of the day.

Thank you.

(Takura Zhangazha spoke here in his personal capacity takura-zhangazha.blogspot.com)