Delineating pan‐Africanism from contemporary conceptual deflections

Abstract

AbstractIs pan‐Africanism relevant today? Against the background of challenges to its continued relevance through assaults on its fundamental tenets, this intervention reaffirms the integrity and undiminished salience of pan‐Africanism as a philosophy of radical action for emancipation of black humanity. Pan‐Africanism represents the complexities of black political and intellectual thought over 200 years. Politically inspired conceptual deflections of the authentic tenets of pan‐Africanism threaten the essences of the ancient struggle of black humanity as one people for holistic emancipation. As configured, Africa is confronted with widespread foreign security deployments on its soil that it is unable to check. There is internal connivance in the new scramble to partition the continent. Meeting the challenges implied by the axiomatic commonality of identity, inexorable destiny, and the singularity of the ultimate interest of black humanity has remained the enduring challenge of pan‐Africanism. In the face of this challenge have emerged conceptual deflections to provide respectability to attempts to diminish the depth and scope of pan‐Africanism. The criticality of the continued integrity of the precepts of pan‐Africanism is imperative because intellectual traditions matter in shaping organizing principles directing any struggle. Finally, it is affirmed that the greatest disincentive to pan‐African consolidation is the reality of African statehood as private enterprises of a few political‐entrepreneurial “poliprenuer” families. The way forward is to consolidate Africa into a continental republic.