By Dr. Michael Barnett

Pan-Africanism

Esedebe (1982) defines Pan-Africanism as an ideology that seeks to promote a sense of oneness among all peoples of African ancestry. Specifically, it is a political and cultural ideology which regards Africa and its descendants as one unit.

A pan-Africanist is somebody who embraces the concept that all people of African Ancestry are connected, both the African diaspora and those Africans who are still resident on the African continent; They should also embrace the notion that they should work together for their mutual benefit and that the continent should be redeemed. (Barnett2000:12).

Wallerstein (1967) argues that the early Pan-African movement was symbolized by two key concepts:1) formulating a theorectical framework of analyzing the world and 2) formulating a method of changing it through organized, militant, mass action. He further argues that most of the intellectual leaders of African and Pan-African movements of this time only entertained the first concept and were therefore in a sense only “armchair revolutionaries.” For him, the only Pan-African leader of that era who utilized both concepts was Marcus Garvey, a leader who paradoxically rejected the theories of communism outright.

Garvey as the Father of Pan-Africanism

Garvey understood the possibilities of anticolonial solidarity and believed that Blacks should take control of their own destiny (Wallerstein 1967). Garvey’s ideas were echoed throughout Africa, in French-speaking as well as English-speaking areas. His writings which promoted the value of self-help and defiance for Black people were read worldwide. Garveyism had one basic overarching theme: the desirability of Black control over their own institutions, and the need to reinforce the solidarity of the Black community against the white world (Wallerstein 1967). Garvey in his quest to carve out a positive and progressive self-identity for Black people and to follow his own ideology, set up various organizations and enterprises: the U.N.IA (Universal Negro Improvement Association) in1914, The Negro World Newspaper in 1918, and the African Orthodox Church in conjunction with George Alexander McGuire of Antigua in 1921. The central idea in Garvey’s philosophy, according to Clarke (1974), was the idea of Black nationhood. The building of a strong independent Black nation would take its rightful place in the comity of nations. Nationhood entailed, first of all, changing the self-image of the Black man and formulating a new social-identity, (Clarke 1974). The activities of the aforementioned institutions established by Garvey were designed ultimately to achieve this purpose. This approach Wallerstein (1967) argues was too vulgar and unsophisticated for the intellectuals, most of whom never ceased to look with disdain, fear, and even repugnance on assertive, black-oriented, action-oriented mass movements. Whether in the Western hemisphere or Africa, these intellectuals concentrated on the weapons of the mind and the word as opposed to that of action

The argument over who is the true father of Pan-Africanism, Garvey or W.E.B. Dubois still rages in academic circles (Geiss 1974), but one thing is clear, and that is many modern day Pan-Africanists such as Kwame Nkrumah, Kwame Ture (Stokely Carmichael) and Malcolm X were heavily influenced by Garvey (Sewell 1990). He dared to build an exclusively Black organization with World wide connections, the Universal Negro Improvement Association, and to envision a globally united confraternity of Black people ( Tafari 1995;Van- Deburg 1997).

The Rastafari Movement and Pan-Africanism

Rastafarianism is tied to Pan-Africanism via Garveyism. Rastafari can be regarded as a continuation of the concept of Ethiopianism as espoused by Garvey (Barrett 1997). Although other Pan-Africanists such as Wilmot Blyden incorporated the ideology of Ethiopianism, it was in Garvey that the spirit of Ethiopianism came into full blossom (Barrett 1997). Through his writings and speeches , the glory of Ethiopia (Africa) became the glory of things to come. When reflecting on the nature of twentieth-century man, Garvey made references many times to Psalm 68 in the Bible which reads,

“Princes shall come out of Egypt and Ethiopia shall soon stretch forth her hands unto God.”

His interpretation of this verse was that glory was soon to come to the Black Man and Black woman. The importance of this verse of Psalm 68 cannot be overestimated, it was the theme of the Garvey movement and remains the most quoted text in the Rastafarian movement.Rastafarians consider themselves and all Black people as Ethiopians, which in effect means that they consider all Black people as Africans. This is because in Rastafarian philosophy it is argued that in ancient times Ethiopia was used to designate the whole continent of Africa (Barrett 1997), thus Africa and Ethiopia are synonymous with each other. Rastafarians by in large are considered as the present forerunners of the Pan-Africanism movement in the Caribbean region (Campbell 1987) and identify themselves as Africans living outside their homeland (Africa).

Murrell (1998) writes that Rastafarians are Africanists who are engaged in consciousness raising with regard to African heritage, Black religion, Black pride and being in the world. Because Rastafarians are African-centered, and articulate that all Black people are inter-connected via their African ancestry, they are Pan-Africanists. Their African-centered ideology is proof of Afrocentricity being embraced as an important phenomena in naming reality and reclaiming African heritage long before it came into popular use in the United States (Murrell 1998).

Black-Nationalism

Alphonso Pinkney (1976) defines Black nationalism as an expression of a desire for degrees of political, social, cultural and economic autonomy from the mainstream society. To attain this, it may be reasonable to conclude that the formulation of an identity that is to some extent autonomous from the mainstream society would be a necessary first step.

According to Van Deburg (1997) a common denominator of robust nationalistic expressions is the high value placed on self-definition and self-determination, whether the nationalism is expressed in demands for territorial cession, political empowerment, or increased cultural autonomy. Confirmed nationalists commonly believe that the ethnic, religious or linguistic group to which they are most intimately attached is undervalued and oppressed by outsiders. Adapting traditional nationalist tenets to their own situation as members of a racially defined minority population, most African American nationalists equate “racial” with “national” identities and goals. Bound together by ties of history and culture and kinship, they conceptualize themselves as being differentiated and (at least potentially) separated by competing social and ethnic groups.

Black nationalism, by and large, is considered to be a North American phenomenon (Van Deburg 1997; Pinkney 1976; Essien-Udom 1962; Lincoln 1994), wherein a commitment to or a search for African heritage is not necessary or a requirement. What is necessary or a requirement however according to James Turner (1969) is: 1) the desire by Blacks to control their own destiny through control of their own institutions and organizations; 2) group unity in a common community; 3) resistance to oppression ; 4) ethnic self-interest and race-pride; and, 5) reevaluation of self. For Pinkney (1976), there are three essential elements which go to form the basis of contemporary Black nationalist ideology. : 1) racial solidarity (unity); 2) pride in cultural heritage; and, 3) autonomy. According to Pinkney (1976), these elements are not only linked to each other, but are, to some extent, interdependent. For instance, in the case of the third element, Pinkney (1976) argues that given the nature of American society some degree of autonomy is necessary for self-determination, meaning some degree of political, social, cultural and economic autonomy from the mainstream society of America.

Garvey as the Father of Modern Black Nationalism

Marcus Garvey’s influence, dynamicity, and effectiveness in mobilization of Black people singles him out, as perhaps the only Black leader that can be thought of as the father of both modern Black nationalism and Pan-Africanism1 (Hutton and Murrell 1998). Not only was Garvey concerned with the problems of Black America, but he was wedded to the notion that all people of African Ancestry, those separated from their roots by the slavery, (in effect becoming an involuntary diaspora), and those that are still resident in the ancestral homeland should work together for their own mutual benefit (Deburg 1997).

Deburg (1997) and Pinkney (1976) note that Garvey’s ideologies and his institutions encompassed all the popular categories of Black nationalism. For instance Garvey incorporated economic nationalism into his program for Black people by establishing a cooperative network of grocery stores, laundries and restaurants and the Negro factories Cooperation. He also established the Black Star Line Steamship Corporation, the Black Cross Navigation and Trading Company, a Printing Plant and a Black doll Company. He also incorporated a religious nationalist element to his program by establishing the African Orthodox Church in 1921, along with George Alexander Mc Guire and preached a developed and refined brand of Ethiopianism, (the belief in a Black God and Messiah). Garvey like Bishop Henry Turner before him wrote (Garvey 1968:71), “If the whiteman has the idea of a white god, let him worship his God as he desires, if the Yellow man’s God is of his race, let him worship his God as he sees fit. We, as Negroes have found a new ideal.........We have only now started out to see God through our own spectacles.”

He incorporated educational nationalism into his program by providing U.N.I.A. branch sponsored schools. He also established the Booker T. Washington University in New York and Liberty University in Claremont, Virginia. Garvey’s cultural nationalism was provided in the form of race-conscious historical and poetic works published in his Negro World newspaper (Deburg 1997). In addition in his speeches Garvey emphasized pride in Blackness, racial solidarity and a deep respect for the African heritage of Black people (Pinkney 1976). The political nationalism was provided by his periodic international conventions for the U.N.I.A. and any other Black supporters. (His 1920 International convention was held in Madison Square Garden, New York, and attracted twenty five thousand delegates.) Politically charged aspirations for Pan-African nationhood were encouraged from Garvey’s followers by inspirational slogans from Garvey such as “Africa for the Africans, at home and abroad,” “Princes shall come out of Egypt, and Ethiopia shall soon stretch forth her hands unto God,” “One God! One Aim! One Destiny!” Then there were Garvey’s Paramilitary units, the African Legion, the Garvey Militia, the Ladies Brigade, and the Black Eagle Flying Corps (Deburg 1997). The ideology of Garvey then combined economic, religious , cultural, educational and political nationalism to make his U.N.I.A. the first Black organization to embrace the complete spectrum of Black nationalism (Deburg 1997:12; Pinkney 1976:46).

According to Deburg (1997:12) for the interconnected assemblage of committed Black nationalists that belonged to the U.N.I.A. of Garvey, U.N.I.A. doubled as an acronym for “United, Nothing can Impede your Aspirations.” By way of contrast, for the members of the U.N.I.A. the integration-oriented National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was said to stand for “Nothing Accomplished After Considerable Pretense.”

Comparing and Contrasting Pan-Africanism with Black Nationalism

According to Walters (1993:69), Pan-Africanism is a globalized expression of Black nationalism, in which a high value is placed on the self-determination and political empowerment of Black people globally, rather than within the confines of a particular country or geographical location.

In the case of Black Nationalism the self-determination that is sought or desired is not guided or influenced by global dynamics (as is the case of Pan-Africanism), but rather by the “Majority-Minority” relations of the particular nation or country (Barnett 2000:42). In addition Black Nationalism generally lacks the African-centeredness of Pan-Africanism, in that the continent is not regarded as the homebase for all peoples of African descent and Garvey’s cry “Africa for Africans at home and Abroad” is not taken as an ideal. Thus repatriation, while a major concern for Pan-Africanists, is not for Black Nationalists. Pan-Africanists may also be distinguished from Black Nationalists in that they have a genuine desire and zeal to live in Africa, whereas Black Nationalists generally only consider emigrating to Africa, because they feel that they have no other recourse but to do so (Marsh 1996); Barnett 2000: 48). (Examples of such Black Nationalists are Martin Delaney and Bishop Henry Turner).

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1) It is worth pointing out here that Marcus Garvey, who provided the ideological foundation for both Pan-Africanism and Black Nationalism, is widely considered as being both the forerunner for the pan-African movement of Rastafarianism and, in many circles, the Black nationalist organization, The Nation of Islam.

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