Pan Africanism is inextricably linked to socialism, the symbiotic nature of this relationship is similar to the link between racism and capitalism. If we are to understand why attempts at unifying Africa behind a shared purpose have failed, moreover efforts to unify the
peoples of African descent in South Africa, it is crucial to identify the barriers to progress towards achieving this
goal of a unified Africa — whether you favour the Casablanca Group’s United States of Africa or you lean towards the integrationist approach of the Monrovia Group before the inaugural OAU conference.
The notion of “independent” Africans integrating themselves into various colonial superstructures such as the United Nations or the British Commonwealth of Nations is confounding; not because of opposition to the goal of a more interconnected world but rather
because Africans are still yet to be restituted by the same colonisers who killed innocent Africans, dispossessed them of their land, ravaged her mineral wealth and continue to do so to this day. The divide and
conquer strategy employed by European settlers still plays a pivotal role in successfully keeping Africans at each other’s throats, as evidenced by the multiple outbreaks of xenophobic violence where Africans specifically target other Africans to the exclusion of people of other races. There’s many reasons given for this outcome, with the competition for resources ranking highly among them. Competition is one of the central tenets of capitalism — socialism preaches
cooperation — it is for this and many other reasons that capitalism should be the mortal enemy of any Pan Africanist.
Since most of Africa failed to effectively decolonise her newly formed independent “post-colonial” nation-states, the deeply entrenched affects and effects exerted through the coloniality of power on Africa’s affairs can never be understated. It is often said that Africans are a
diverse people yet you find so many Africans that are more interested in pretending to be something which they are not, craving the validation of others. The meekness and timidity of the Black “middle class” in particular, most probably derived from a shallow
misinterpretation of the “turn the other cheek” Jesus Christ parable, is one such example of this condition. The political, economic, cultural, philosophical, religious etc. dimensions of colonialism need to be challenged and completely replaced with more Afro-centric institutions that can generate African solutions to African problems as has been the clarion call since the 1960s and before. The centering of the opinions of Africans will foster a culture of greater cooperation as
well as cultivate a unity of purpose among Africans.
Freedom is basically the ability to think and act in any way you see fit whereas independence means being sovereign or having no higher
authority.
African value systems are based on a harmony with nature, they are focused on collectivism, cooperation and spiritualism, and in the search to redefine ones African-ness, they must remain cognizant of the fact that they are fighting against both internal and external
opposition forces, whether western propaganda or traitors, who seek at all costs to maintain the status quo and the hegemony of The West. “We say we’re at war, but we ain’t doing war. War requires planning, strategy, studying your enemy. They study us and act accordingly. We are being warred upon.” It is not clear who served up the clarity and illuminating truth contained within this message but it’s apt…This is in no way an attempt to glamourize nor romanticize war, however, ever since the first Portuguese ships dropped anchor on the West coast of this glorious continent in the fifteenth century, Africans have found themselves in the throes of a protracted war for freedom, dignity, their heritage and their very survival. Pan Africanism and therefore socialism does not exist in a vacuum, and it is not immune to the corrupt tendencies of men, however, it
remains the only viable alternative to the exploitative and extractive capitalist monetary system imposed on the continent of Africa. As a pan Africanist one should be a philosopher who possesses the ability to envision a prosperous future for Africa’s sons and daughters, and must have an appreciation of the shared struggles locally as well as the rest of the continent and in the diaspora. Although, Africans are not mere victims who have unfortunate things happening to them, these
things are being done by imperialists and their collaborators who look like us in the service of capitalism! “The establishment” only became
established through violence and while this author would never advocate for murder — one must understand that we live in a violent world where the powers that be are either unable or unwilling to listen
to any nonviolent approach… look no further than France’s ongoing pension reform protest as evidence.
The theory of scientific socialism states that social systems only change once they lose their usefulness to society, and this change can only take place when the majority of people recognise and necessitate it. Kwame Ture said when we speak of Pan Africanism we are
speaking of socialism and Fidel Castro said socialism remains the only real hope for peace and survival; while Nkwame Nkrumah preached about the need to change African mindsets in order to dismantle colonialism and the intrinsic dangers of neo-colonialism. The fundamental belief of these stalwarts was that capitalism was the real enemy of the people. It is capitalism that Pan Africanists seek to eradicate, furthermore, capitalism is not a synonym for white people, who are themselves victims of the same miseducation that is resultant from capitalism/colonialism/imperialism. This is why in order to solve the problems facing Africa as a continent and Africans as a people, a new education system and an Afrocentric curricula must be formulated and implemented posthaste.
If one interrogates the myriad problems facing Africans, it becomes evident that Black people are oppressed regardless of where in the world they may find themselves — which is why Pan Africanism remains important to this day. One must appreciate the difference between principles and tactics in order to build and develop the capacity to not only survive but to thrive. Another important issue to grapple with is the kind of institutions that need to be created and the
kind of people who must be developed to run these institutions. Pan Africanism and Pan African unity has to be the most logical starting point. Dr. Amos Wilson said that to be oppressed is to act in the interests of your oppressor, and that the things and all the feelings
which motivated you prior to this oppression then get repressed, suppressed and almost become almost alien… evidently, until Africans stop embracing, enforcing and celebrating foreign systems they will
never find the motivation to act in their own interest.
By simply embracing one’s African-ness, one can begin a process towards true liberation; it is a transformative process that frees both the mind and the intellect, as we know what Biko said of an oppressed mind in the hands of the enemy — and that enemy is capitalism! It is
capitalism that brought invaders to Africa, capitalism that exploits labour, capitalism destroyed young minds with gobbledygook education, capitalism is killing the environment, capitalism fuels racism, and enables growth of phoney baloney churches, the capitalist
owned media misinforms the public and turns them against one other, worse still it was capitalist Cold War propaganda that convinced many Africans of this nonsensical fallacy “socialism doesn’t work”. Peace and Black power.
