Pan-Africanism is not just a nice-sounding idea. It is a firm personal commitment to the lives of the peoples of Africa. When the latest Ebola crisis broke out in West Africa in 2014, Dr. Atai-Omorotu gathered some medical personnel in Uganda and headed to the region that everyone was running away from. She helped save many lives – only for her to die of pancreatic cancer two weeks ago.

Members of the Pan-African Parliament are handpicked by the executive of their country – by the same heads of state who retain the ultimate power at the African Union. And as if that is not bad enough, PAP is only a consultative organ. Efforts to change this, so that the people of Africa can have meaningful representation, continue to be resisted. African people must work hard for the transformation of this important AU organ.

All evidence points to humanity’s common origin and one destiny. Instead of history being a theater of class struggle, it is a history of globalization and a quest for unity. Africa, the cradle of humanity, must take the lead in promoting unity, not fragmentation. That unity cannot be based only on transient systems like economics and politics, but has to include deeper values and norms rooted in ontology, anthropology and belief systems.

Isn’t the time ripe for the African Union to create the space for true Africanisation of its institutions and ownership of its processes by the people at home and in the diaspora? There should be enough resources and incentives for all people to participate in the Pan-African project in our villages, communities, constituencies, campuses, and workplaces.

Only an upsurge from the left and anti-imperialist forces can fulfill the visions of a true united Africa in line with the work of Nkrumah, Gaddafi and other revolutionary leaders. The worsening economic crisis due to the decline in commodity prices and western sponsored destabilization is reversing the advances made in regard to growth and development over the last decade.

Partition of Africa and delimitation of borders were arbitrary acts which Europeans imposed without regard to local conditions. Dismantling colonial borders is therefore a veritable pan-African project. Pan-Africanism should be seen as a people-to-people relationship rather than one among heads of state, intellectuals or western tutored elites.

Between September 2015 and January 2016, African-Brazilian activist Rafaela Araujo visited Azania/South Africa on a share/ study program. She was hosted by eBukhosini Solutions – a community-based company specialized in Afrikan centered education and youth/community empowerment. She spent most of her time studying English, getting to know the situation of Afrikan people in South Afrika and assisting in eBukhosini’s activities. She also undertook some speaking engagements in neighboring Namibia.  

Whatever the outcome of the U.S. elections this year, Washington’s militarized imperialist policy towards Africa looks certain to remain unchanged. Matters are not helped by the fact that, unlike in the 1970s and 1980s, the Black leadership in America is not pushing for any policy change towards Africa.

Since the visit by President Obama, two scenarios are playing out in Cuba. One is the barely veiled naive perspective regarding Obama. The second is the staunch resistance to the US ideological/political war being waged against Cuba’s socialist culture. The balance of forces is in favour of the outlook that is combating the infiltration of US prejudices within Cuban society.

The West is gearing up for another military intervention in Libya after destroying the country in 2011. What is the African Union - and all Africans - doing about this? What is the role of the AU Special Envoy to Libya, former Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete? At the minimum, the UN should be told that there should be no Western intervention until there is a full-scale inquiry into the first intervention.

He was a vigilant leader. He never sacrificed the fundamental objectives of the liberation struggle of his people on the polluted altar of appeasement and pseudo-diplomacy. At the heart of Makwetu's commitment to the struggle for freedom in South Africa was the land question, which remains unresolved to date.

Few Canadians are familiar with pre-colonial African cities, and even fewer know a Canadian military leader helped sack one of West Africa’s great metropolises. When the British and Canadians took part in the ‘Scramble for Africa’, they did so with impunity, a complete disregard for property, sacred forests and people. They only saw savages that needed to be tamed.

On Sunday, 3 April 2016, the West Indies beat their old adversary, England, in the Final of the World T-20 Championship in Kolkata, India, to become the only country to clinch the title twice. If you only see cricket as a game – especially when it is played by blacks against nations that have practiced racial discrimination against blacks in the past – you will entirely miss the passion that drives it.

What do African Americans have to gain from their continued support for centrist Democratic candidates? Joblessness, poverty, mass incarceration, police terrorism and institutional racism remain. African Americans must break with the Democratic Party to establish their own organization that will speak in their name, fighting for a program of total liberation and socialism.

US President Barack Obama expresses pride in his African heritage, but his regime over the last seven years has not demonstrated any substantial commitment to the wellbeing of the African people. He has merely continued the imperial interventions and militarism of his predecessors.

Professor Mafeje contributed enormously to the concrete understanding of the African socio-political and economic situation. He emphasised the structural need to substantiate theoretical positions on issues in practice as a means to solve Africa’s problems. The annual lecture in his honour immortalizes his perspectives.

Any initiatives that seek to rekindle the dreams of Africa’s founding fathers and mothers must be welcomed by all. But it is a strong indictment on the continent’s post-independent leadership that almost 60 years after many of the countries gained political freedom, Africans are more divided than ever.

The Justice for Walter Rodney Committee is concerned that, despite a promise by President Granger, the renowned intellectual and activist’s family and the public in Guyana and abroad are yet to receive the Walter Rodney Commission of Inquiry Report.

March 5 marked the third anniversary of the death of the revolutionary Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez. Revolutionaries are rare. Chávez’s socialist thought and visionary policies aimed at radically transforming his country and meeting the needs of the majority of his people have vital lessons for Africa and the rest of the Global South.

Archie championed the pan-Africanist ideal that Africans should speak for themselves and understand themselves through their own efforts. As an anthropologist he made immense contributions to a better understanding of African people, their achievements and struggles. In a continent where the academy is often oupied by fence-sitters and academic cowards, Archie’s thought is an outstanding challenge.