Africa Day & Pan Africanist Movement

In the 1920s the Africans in North America and in the Caribbean began to experience an awakening and the rise of self-help programs began to spread across these areas. The message was advanced by Marcus Garvey. Garvey was the first person to call for the unity of all people of African descent regardless of geographic location. This unity was around the concept of “Africa for the African” through economic independence. In 1958 Dr. Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana held the first Pan Africanist meeting on the African continent that brought thinkers and foremost thought leaders of the day to a great meeting of the minds strategizing the path forward for Africa. These thought leaders wanted to be the architects to launch the strike that would dismantle the colonial regime and liberate millions of Africans from the tyranny of colonialism. Results of the 1958 Pan African meeting:

• By the year 1963 32 out of the 63 African states were independent from colonial rule.
• Influence of pan Africanist philosophy led to more uprising and the demand for economic liberty and political freedom
• Organization of African unity was formed to achieve the Pan Africanist vision
• African Development bank was formed to help finance African expansion projects
• Regional economic cooperation hubs such as ECOWAS & SADCC were formed to increase regional trade among Africans
• Today the OAU is the African Union which continue to promote peace and economic development across the continent
• In the 21^st century there are African- African American conferences to foster ties between Africans in America and those on the motherland. Haiti has indicated its desire to join the African Union.

May 25^th is the celebration day across Africa to commemorate the formation of the Organization of African Unity. Economic activism is the pan Africanist issue of the day. Young Africans across the globe must embrace land ownership and economic dominance in order to compete in the global economic dominance environment otherwise political independence means nothing without economic liberation and the freedom to control the continent’s destiny.