marcus garvey pan african university - Blackherbals.com

Continued from page 17 - The Urgency of the Pan
Afrikanism Ideal in the 21st Century
counterrevolution from outside and within.
Within the new, living, vibrant current is where a
contingency of forces must begin to nail down the
blueprint for African revolution in the 21st century. Pan-
Africanism stands on the foundations of our ancestors
who carried the work of developing revolutionary
theory, strategy, and tactics before they were cut down
by the counterinsurgency. It has finally arrived at the
point where it can say to the past, “we have learned
from you and now we are ready to add to you.” Pan
Africanism must stare the future straight in the face and
gives full expression of the real interests and
articulations of the struggling masses of African people.
Neocolonialism, which is the last stage of capitalism and
imperialism in all of its forms and manifestations, is the
primary enemy of Africa and the African Diaspora
today. Leaders and members of parties and movements
in Africa and the African Diaspora who misuse their
historical positions in the mass organizations or
movements during the national liberation phase of our
struggle; who are in positions of power in these parties,
movements and in government today, and are unwilling
to improve the conditions of the people; and who misuse
their positions of power to accumulate individual/
family/tribal privileges and wealth are neo-colonial
puppets and enemies of the people and the Pan-African
movement.
African scholars are revisiting the nationalist period and
the aborted national project. There is renewed interest in
the Pan-Africanist vision. There is no way, it is argued,
and black Africa can truly develop in the face of the
threat of marginalization by the new imperialist assault
called globalization, unless it unites.
The Pan Africanism ideology must give primacy to
politics. It must be a political ideology, not a
developmentalist programme. It must provide a vision
not simply set out a goal. It must inspire and mobilize.
While black African unity is undoubtedly the rallying
cry it must unite us to struggle and inspire us to struggle
to unite.
No doubt Africa needs economic development. But as
the Lagos Plan of Action, which was shamelessly
rejected by African states because of lack of
endorsement by their imperialist masters, argued, such
development cannot be self- reliant or sustainable unless
African economies and resources are internally
integrated. This in itself requires a political decision.
Pan-Africanism in its theory and ideology, in its pro-
gramme and strategy must be anti- imperialist and propeople.
It must totally and uncompromisingly distance itself
from the position that globalization offers opportunities and
challenges and that we should use the opportunities. The
fact that in your struggle you may wrench the master’s
weapon and turn it against him does not mean the master
has given you an opportunity to do so. Globalization, as all
serious studies show is a process of further intensification
of imperialist exploitation through deepening the
integration of the world economy in the interest of
international finance capital.
These dilemmas, to a certain extent, may be overcome by
the conception of Pan-Africanism as a peoples’ ideology of
struggle and a vision of liberation as opposed to the statist
Pan-Africanism of leaders. Pan-Africanism must be a
bottom- up people’s ideology putting pressures on their
states and monitoring their actions rather than a top- down
statist programme or plan. People’s Pan-Africanism must
be wary of black African states and their imperialist
backers who wrap up their “nepadisms” in the garb of Pan-
Africanism.
A spectre is haunting Africa- the spectre of Pan-
Africanism. We Africans have been exploited a great deal,
humiliated a great deal, disregarded a great deal. Now we
want to make a revolution, a Pan-Africanist revolution so
that we are never again exploited, humiliated and
disregarded.
It could well be that the Black comprador elites in Africa
today have degenerated from the level of humanity
displayed by their ancestors, and have become subhuman in
their preference to stomach insults and dishonor gladly; that
they are spineless enough to suffer humiliation with
equanimity; that they are so debased that they can
contemplate without indignation the prospect of the
extermination of the black race; that they lack human selfrespect,
lack a sense of dishonor, and are quite happy to
live in a state of shame! Otherwise, why have they put up
with the disgrace of being last in everything laudable on
earth? Why are they tolerating gross misgovernment,
chronic maldevelopment and a disgraceful powerlessness?
It is quite possible that our Black comprador rulers are too
infantile to take responsibility for the collective security of
Black people; too infantile or comatose to take an interest
in the processes of extermination that have already been
unleashed on us by our European and Arab enemies; too
infantile to comprehend the abundant evidence of our
extermination; too deranged to understand that the survival
of a people cannot and should not be left to happenstance or
to the enemy‘s goodwill.
Frankly speaking, our leaders are like crawling babies who
Continued on page 19
-18- Traditional African Clinic August 2013