The way forward for pan Afrikanism (PART TWO) by Malaika wa Azania
by Malaika Wa Azania on Saturday, April 9, 2011 at 10:29pm ·
The reality of the situation is that a lot of the damage has been done.A philosophy that promised to deliver Afrika to "the promised land" has been dealt with many blows from both without and within.
The ruthless in-fighting within the once revolutionary body of pan Afrikanism in Azania,the PAC,has resulted in numerous defections by its members and the formation of new political parties the likes of the Independent Democrats (ID) formerly led by Patricia de Lille (who has since joined the Democratic Alliance led by Western Cape premier,Hellen Zille),the Pan-Afrikanist Movement (PAM) led by moAfrika Tefu,the Afrikan People's Convention (APC) led by Themba Godi to name but a few.
Coupled with external forces like the United Nations,Britton Wood institutes that are creating a cycle of dependence on the West and thus,nurturing neo-colonialism,the pan Afrikanist cause has a lot of battles to fight and obstacles to overcome.
Pan Afrikanists are angry people,they are mad people,and justifiably so.As former Burkina Faso leader Thomas Sankara once said:
"One cannot achieve revolution without some level of madness."
With the status quo being as it is,it is not possible to remain calm and act disaffected.However,in our anger,we ought to at all times be rational.
ONE SETTLER,ONE BULLET!...WILL NOT HAPPEN
Whether or not we like it,the reality of the situation is that we live in a globalised world where we are linked with all continents in one way or another.The enemy that faced the Sobukwes in the 1950s,60s and 70s has become more sophisticated,more complex and unarguably,less distinctive.Where once it was clear that the settler minority is the problem,now,with the growing strata of the patriotic bourgeoisie (commonly known as "amaBhunu amnyama" or Black Boers/capitalists) the problem is not so easily dissectable.Our ability as pan Afrikanists to understand this fact objectively,is the key to our economic emancipation.
White people are in our country.We cannot wish them away and we cannot drive them to the sea.This rhetoric has created a lot of problems for us,chiefly because it reduces us to lunatics who cannot think rationally enough to strategise and come up with a programme of action that will seek to reverse the injustices done unto us,particularly on the issue of land and resources.We must start to divorce the "One settler,one bullet!" mentality,but should never at any point be apologetic about the philosophy that we subscribe to,the views that we hold and the goals that we have set.We must not compromise any more than we already have,nor abandon this cause that we know to be just even as we face the probability that we might not win everything.
ANOTHER AFRIKA IS POSSIBLE
Pan Afrikanism is powerful,and it is our only hope for salvation.Liberalism will not serve us and rainbow nationisation will only be to our detriment.It is time that we no longer remain defensive and reactive,but instead push for and shape a radical alternative of sustainable Afrikan development.
It is my view,and i know that i share it with many of you that we must create alternatives to neo-liberalism,neo-colonialism and neo-imperialism in Afrika.We can't do that until we address certain vital questions.
This alternative must be based on 5 principles:
1.Autocentric development
2.Education for sustainable Afrikan development
3.De-linking with certain forces
4.Continental solidarity
5.Common objective of land repossession
The first step that we must take,though,is to accelerate the level of mass conscientisation without imposing our philosophy.We must learn from Marxist-Leninists the power of using writing as a tool of conscientisation,with the understanding that the transformation of any region or society that contain hundreds of millions of people is not a one-day wonder.
We must go back to the drawing board and strategise-as a unit.Us young pan Afrikanists who must carry the baton must broaden the programme and turn it into a mass movement over a period of sustained research,education,coonsultation,debate,action and reflection.
With our people still having no ownership to the means of production and the West wanting to take over Afrika as evident in Côte d'Ivoire and Libya,we must emphasise the importance of pan Afrikanism.But before that,we must first LEARN about our philosophy,because even our own people don't understand it.
And we can't teach unless we ourselves understand,because to transform our people,we must have powerful ideas.
Forward to a United States of Afrika.
The ruthless in-fighting within the once revolutionary body of pan Afrikanism in Azania,the PAC,has resulted in numerous defections by its members and the formation of new political parties the likes of the Independent Democrats (ID) formerly led by Patricia de Lille (who has since joined the Democratic Alliance led by Western Cape premier,Hellen Zille),the Pan-Afrikanist Movement (PAM) led by moAfrika Tefu,the Afrikan People's Convention (APC) led by Themba Godi to name but a few.
Coupled with external forces like the United Nations,Britton Wood institutes that are creating a cycle of dependence on the West and thus,nurturing neo-colonialism,the pan Afrikanist cause has a lot of battles to fight and obstacles to overcome.
Pan Afrikanists are angry people,they are mad people,and justifiably so.As former Burkina Faso leader Thomas Sankara once said:
"One cannot achieve revolution without some level of madness."
With the status quo being as it is,it is not possible to remain calm and act disaffected.However,in our anger,we ought to at all times be rational.
ONE SETTLER,ONE BULLET!...WILL NOT HAPPEN
Whether or not we like it,the reality of the situation is that we live in a globalised world where we are linked with all continents in one way or another.The enemy that faced the Sobukwes in the 1950s,60s and 70s has become more sophisticated,more complex and unarguably,less distinctive.Where once it was clear that the settler minority is the problem,now,with the growing strata of the patriotic bourgeoisie (commonly known as "amaBhunu amnyama" or Black Boers/capitalists) the problem is not so easily dissectable.Our ability as pan Afrikanists to understand this fact objectively,is the key to our economic emancipation.
White people are in our country.We cannot wish them away and we cannot drive them to the sea.This rhetoric has created a lot of problems for us,chiefly because it reduces us to lunatics who cannot think rationally enough to strategise and come up with a programme of action that will seek to reverse the injustices done unto us,particularly on the issue of land and resources.We must start to divorce the "One settler,one bullet!" mentality,but should never at any point be apologetic about the philosophy that we subscribe to,the views that we hold and the goals that we have set.We must not compromise any more than we already have,nor abandon this cause that we know to be just even as we face the probability that we might not win everything.
ANOTHER AFRIKA IS POSSIBLE
Pan Afrikanism is powerful,and it is our only hope for salvation.Liberalism will not serve us and rainbow nationisation will only be to our detriment.It is time that we no longer remain defensive and reactive,but instead push for and shape a radical alternative of sustainable Afrikan development.
It is my view,and i know that i share it with many of you that we must create alternatives to neo-liberalism,neo-colonialism and neo-imperialism in Afrika.We can't do that until we address certain vital questions.
This alternative must be based on 5 principles:
1.Autocentric development
2.Education for sustainable Afrikan development
3.De-linking with certain forces
4.Continental solidarity
5.Common objective of land repossession
The first step that we must take,though,is to accelerate the level of mass conscientisation without imposing our philosophy.We must learn from Marxist-Leninists the power of using writing as a tool of conscientisation,with the understanding that the transformation of any region or society that contain hundreds of millions of people is not a one-day wonder.
We must go back to the drawing board and strategise-as a unit.Us young pan Afrikanists who must carry the baton must broaden the programme and turn it into a mass movement over a period of sustained research,education,coonsultation,debate,action and reflection.
With our people still having no ownership to the means of production and the West wanting to take over Afrika as evident in Côte d'Ivoire and Libya,we must emphasise the importance of pan Afrikanism.But before that,we must first LEARN about our philosophy,because even our own people don't understand it.
And we can't teach unless we ourselves understand,because to transform our people,we must have powerful ideas.
Forward to a United States of Afrika.
No comments:
Post a Comment