Pan-Africanism

A call for articles from Pambazuka News for a special issue raised many important questions about the status of Pan-Africanism in the 21st century and the role of the African Union (AU) in promoting or hindering its success.

Introduction

Introduction

May 25, 2016 marks the 53rd anniversary of the formation of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), now known as the African Union (AU) since 2002.

Today we are witnessing large-scale movement of people across borders. Political, economic and social instability within nation-states has reached a volatile level. Concern about tightening of borders, national security and increasing fear of the African “Other” are now commonplace.

I would like to have written many things when I was in Azania, but unfortunately things do not always go as planned. There I did not have enough time to be alone and write, and since I had difficulties in connecting to the internet, it became a little more difficult.

There has been no substantial discussion within the context of primary debates and capitalist party platforms related to Washington's foreign policy towards Africa.

Before leaving Montreal for Havana in March 2016 to cover the Obama trip, I wrote an article on Cuba–US relations. Referring to the cultural war to include, in the broad sense of the term, ideological and political aggression, I asked:

There is intense push for the NATO countries to make an overt intervention in Libya. In this moment, the justification is to fight the Islamic State and to prevent terror from spreading across the Mediterranean to Europe.

We shall miss his charming smile. We shall miss his towering height – “uFafa” (the tall one), “uZikhali” (his clan name). We shall miss his frankness and bravery in matters of national importance affecting the land dispossessed people of Azania (South Africa).