Our Objective is Pan-Africanism

Our Party provides African people organizing globally a vehicle for the achievement of one primary objective – Pan-Africanism, which is: the total liberation and unification of Africa under scientific socialism.

There are many other objectives our organization might have that could focus on our local circumstances and that could facilitate our integration into existing systems and institutions. But our liberation requires more than positions in local government, or ownership of small businesses, or membership on corporate boards of directors, or even the support of well-meaning non-governmental organizations. Genuine African liberation requires power. Power does not mean money. Power does not mean fame. Power does not mean close association with those who have power. When Africans gain real power, Africa and Africa’s people worldwide will have the ability to determine and pursue their own destiny without anyone having the capacity to stop them. Fighting for Pan-Africanism is the time-tested strategy for achieving power. It is a strategy implemented by African people organizing globally to achieve one primary objective: the total liberation and unification of Africa under scientific socialism. It will place within the hands of the masses of African people the wealth of the world’s most mineral rich continent, and a truly democratic government that will use it for their benefit and their protection.

Total Liberation

The total liberation of Africa is a critical element of Pan-Africanism. African countries may have African presidents, prime ministers and parliaments, but most of these countries are not under African control. Africa is largely controlled by western governments and foreign corporations. European countries understood back in the 19th Century that Africa possesses enormous natural resources of inestimable value. This one continent has gold, oil, coltan, chromium, bauxite, diamonds and numerous other valuable minerals. Imagine if these resources were in the hands of Africans. Imagine what Africa’s resources could do for Europe. By 1885, European countries had resolved to colonize and dominate African countries to gain full access to the continent’s wealth.

African resistance to colonialism was protracted and fierce. By the end of the 20th Century this resistance had succeeded in driving European governments out of Africa and leaving African countries nominally independent. However, this independence was illusory. Unwilling to surrender access to the valuable natural resources of Africa, imperialists devised a new form of colonialism that to all appearances was not colonialism at all. This new form of colonialism – or “neo-colonialism” relies heavily on the betrayal of Africa’s people by Africans who by one means or another control the reins of African governments.

Some of these African neo-colonial heads of state are vicious dictators like Mobutu Sese Seko of Congo, who during his tyrannical tenure stole much of the country’s treasury and had innumerable people killed. The U.S. and Western Europe turned a blind eye to his crimes for many years because he allowed foreign interests to steal and exploit Congo’s resources. There are still other African neo-colonial government officials who mean well, but they are constrained and directed by a well-organized system of imperialism (i.e., domination of African territory by non-African foreign forces). Even these well-meaning government officials are bound to carry out the agenda of their puppet-masters in the U.S. and Europe.

Imperialist control of Africa is by force. If an African leader attempts to steer an independent course even after experiencing threats and coercion, intelligence agencies of the western governments will engineer a coup, or in some cases an assassination. In other cases where an African leader not only attempts to act independently but establishes effective defenses to subversion, imperialists may resort to economic warfare. This happened in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe’s governing party, the Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front, initiated a program for the return of land occupied by European settlers to Africans. In response, the U.S., England and other western countries commenced and maintained an economic embargo against Zimbabwe for many years that caused substantial economic decline and consequent social and political instability.

Africa Command (AFRICOM). The purpose of AFRICOM is to dominate Africa militarily without appearing to dominate Africa militarily. The way it works is U.S. military forces serve as behind the scenes “advisors” to the armies of African countries. These African armies are directed to carry out missions that advance imperialist interests. One example is AFRICOM’s leadership in the overthrow and vicious murder of Moammar Gadhafi in Libya. AFRICOM armed reactionary and racist forces whose campaign of terror allowed the U.S. and France to gain control of Libyan oil fields and end Gadhafi’s plans for an independent gold-backed Pan-African currency. AFRICOM now has operations in almost all African countries.

Pan-Africanism requires Africa to be totally liberated from all these foreign forces and interests so that Africa can not only genuinely govern itself but also control its own natural wealth for the benefit of its own people in Africa and in other parts of the world.

Unification

“Divide and conquer” is a very old strategy used by oppressors. Africa is extremely divided, and it is for that reason that Pan-Africanism can be achieved only if Africa is united. How did Africa become divided in the first place? As the year 1884 neared its end, the major European powers that lusted after Africa’s wealth concluded that it made no sense for them to fight each other because there was enough in Africa for everyone to exploit. Representatives of the various European countries came together in Berlin and cut up and distributed portions of a map of Africa in much the same way one would divide a birthday cake. Each European country proceeded to colonize the African territory assigned to them.

When dividing the African continent, Europe paid no heed to existing communities and nation states. Borders and boundaries were established for European convenience, and in the process, Africans with political and social differences were forced into relationships with those they did not necessarily want in their communities. Language differences and other factors created tension and division within the colonies, and these territories were much easier to dominate.

Notwithstanding the intra-African conflicts in the colonies, resistance to colonialism occurred nevertheless. As these movements gained momentum, conditions became ripe during World War II for African countries to begin to win at least nominal independence. With its attention and resources consumed by the war, Europe lacked the capacity to maintain direct control of its colonies. Independence ushered in a new era of struggle.

Kwame Nkrumah, the first president of Ghana, became a vocal proponent of Pan-Africanism. Other heads of state like Sekou Toure of Guinea and Patrice Lumumba of Congo echoed these calls much to the chagrin of the United States and Western Europe. The continuing interest in the exploitation of Africa made these African revolutionaries a threat to efforts to establish a new form of colonialism, or neo-colonialism. Consequently, Nkrumah was overthrown by a plot devised by the CIA. Toure was repeatedly attacked and harassed by the French. Lumumba was assassinated by African stooges of the CIA. Other African revolutionaries were also targeted by imperialist forces in the years that followed.

The attacks on African revolutionaries and revolutionary forces have historically been made easier by disunity in Africa. For example, one country that has thrown off imperialist control and is traveling a revolutionary path may be regarded as a “liberated zone.” However, a country on its border may still be a “zone under enemy control” that still bears the burden of western domination. Such a country may be used as a convenient staging ground for attacks and invasions of the neighboring liberated country. Such a strategy could not be pursued if Africa were united in its opposition to neo-colonialism.

There is a yet larger and more important benefit of a united Africa. To understand it, imagine the state of New York in the U.S. as an independent, sovereign country. Even the fact that it has one of the largest, most cosmopolitan cities in the world would not give it very much power or influence on the world stage. It would be overwhelmed economically, diplomatically and militarily by not only the world’s superpowers, but also by many smaller countries.  However, if you annex New York to 49 other states that together call themselves the United States of America, then New York along with these other states becomes a force to be reckoned with. The more than 50 little countries in Africa are no different. Alone, they have no more power than would a “country” called New York. However, if all these countries come together to form the United States of Africa, there will be no other country on the planet with as much economic, diplomatic, or military power. That can mean only good things for Africans worldwide.

Scientific Socialism

When Africa unites to achieve Pan-Africanism, scientific socialism must guide and govern the continent’s economics. Many Africans not only fail to include scientific socialism as part of their agenda, they also don’t even know what it is. It’s really not as complicated as it sounds.

Any country is always faced with a basic question: “How are we going to deal with the nation’s money and resources?”  If those answering the question believe in a capitalist approach to economics, they will say: “Let’s put the wealth of the nation in the hands of a small elite group. This group can determine whether the broad masses of people will share in this wealth, and if so, to what extent.” Africa has already had many years of experience with capitalism, and the results have not been good.

Among other things, capitalism gave Africa the slave trade, colonialism, widespread poverty, environmental disasters, wars, foreign theft and exploitation of natural resources, corruption, and disease. There is another path that Africa must follow. It is the socialist path.

A socialist will say: “Let’s put the wealth of the nation in the hands of everyone. This will ensure that decisions about what to do with it will always be in the best interests of the broad masses of the people. The people themselves will never purposely make decisions that will hurt themselves.”  Why, for example would the people ever decide to allow foreign corporations to come into Africa to steal their oil and most valuable minerals?  Socialism just makes good sense. It is a scientific approach to economics because it is based on concrete, practical considerations rather than romantic, theoretical notions about how money and resources should be handled.

It should therefore be clear that Pan-Africanism is the objective that Africans throughout the world must pursue. For those who conclude that Pan-Africanism is the proper objective, there is a need to ensure that as efforts are made to achieve it, those efforts are properly directed and effective. This is accomplished through the adoption of an ideology. There are many socialist ideologies that are based on the ideas of Marx, Lenin, Mao, Trotsky, and others. But the All-African People’s Revolutionary Party has adopted an ideology that is both proper and effective because it is grounded in the analyses of Africans themselves.

Our Ideology is Nkrumahism-Toureism

Nkrumahism-Touréism is grounded in the consistent, revolutionary, socialist and Pan- African principles, practices and policies followed, implemented, and taught by Kwame Nkrumah and Ahmed Sekou Touré. It is an ideology drawn from their speeches, writings, actions, achievements, and lives. The ideology also includes accumulated practical and theoretical contributions and achievements of struggles for Pan-Africanism and socialism over many generations.

Nkrumahism-Touréism is anchored by a set of fundamental principles. They include: the primacy and unity of Africa; the integrity of the revolutionary African personality; humanism, egalitarianism, and collectivism; dialectical and historical materialism; and the harmony of spirituality and revolution. We will consider each in turn.

The Primacy and Unity of Africa

The primacy of Africa speaks to our primary identity as Africans regardless of where we were born or live. We are African even if we are regarded by others as Nigerian, Ivorian, Kenyan, Ethiopian, Jamaican, Brazilian, African American, etc. Nkrumah himself said: “…[T]he core of the black revolution is in Africa and until Africa is united under a socialist government, the black man throughout the world lacks a national home… All people of African descent, whether they live in North or South America, the Caribbean or in any other part of the world are Africans and belong to the African nation.” Because we are Africans first, last, and always, we must also regard the African continent as one nation rather than as a collection of artificial micro-states created by Europe in 1885 at the Berlin Conference.

The Integrity of The Revolutionary African Personality

The African personality reflects Africans’ conception of the world, their way of life, their ethics and moral principles that reflect African culture. This African personality has been under constant attack by Africa’s enemies in diverse and sometimes subtle ways. These attacks assert that Africans are morally, intellectually, and culturally inferior. When effective, these attacks cause even Africans themselves to embrace these lies and to internalize their own oppression.

Sekou Touré said: “…[T]he science of depersonalizing the colonized people is sometimes so subtle in its methods that it progressively succeeds in falsifying our natural psychic behavior and devaluing our own original virtues and qualities with a view to our assimilation.”

Affirming and asserting the personality of an oppressed people can become the catalyst for national liberation. Nkrumah and Touré both called for re-personalization – or the successful affirmation of the cultural personality of the oppressed.

Humanism, Egalitarianism and Collectivism

Humanism, Egalitarianism and Collectivism are the cluster of humanist principles which underlie traditional African society and define the African personality. Respect for human beings and social solidarity, coupled with a keen sense of fraternity, justice and cooperation are the very foundation of traditional African society.

Imperialism exacerbated negative, destructive notions that conflict with the humanism that existed in traditional Africa. Our ideology is based on the idea that everything we have in life reflects the struggles and contributions of the people, and people must not be treated as means to an end but rather as an end in themselves.

Dialectical and Historical Materialism

Dialectical materialism and historical materialism are analytical tools that analyze material rather than metaphysical/spiritual conditions. More particularly, they involve analysis of social, political, economic, and historical forces in conflict, and how those conflicts are resolved. By recognizing that systems (like capitalism and socialism) that are fundamentally in conflict cannot coexist in the same place at the same time, revolutionaries are better equipped to struggle for the profound changes needed and demanded by the people.

The Harmony of Religion/Spirituality and Socialist Revolution

Religion and spirituality are dominant features of the African Personality. Religion generally consists of beliefs and principles that serve as a moral compass while also affirming respect for human dignity and human virtue. Both socialism and religion share positive, life-affirming values and challenge people to aspire to the defeat of evil forces and the achievement of a just world. Suffering and sacrifice are regarded by both socialist revolution and religion as redemptive. Religion and socialism revolve around ideas of community and collective welfare. Unfortunately, both socialism and religion have been distorted and reconfigured for use by corrupt forces as tools of exploitation and oppression. Consequently, socialism and religion must be judged by their principles rather than by negative actions of some of their adherents.