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)
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