Pan-African Congress

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The Pan-African Congresses ( English Pan-African Congress ) were a series of five international gatherings at the beginning of the 20th century , organized by WEB Du Bois (William Edward Burghardt Du Bois), the situation of the African continent and the Africans dedicated in the Diaspora . The Pan-African Congresses took place

Following a general disillusionment with the First World War , the Congress should deal with the solution of the problems of the continent, which were caused by the colonial policy of the European great powers . The subsequent decolonization of Africa was philosophically and politically decisively influenced by the results of the congresses.

The first five congresses

The first pan-African conference took place in London as early as 1900, mainly with representatives from the West Indies . Diaspora Africans shared the recurring experience of racial discrimination by the white colonial rulers. In addition, there is an increased awareness of their common origins, the immoral enslavement of their ancestors, and a growing political awareness, especially in the United States and on the Caribbean islands of the European colonies . In view of the global horrors of the Great War that began in Europe , many Africans turned away from the partially respected European ideal and remembered their "black roots". Apart from that, the soldiers from the African colonies, such as the Zouaves or the Tirailleurs sénégalais in the French army, who fought side by side with their European comrades, were often treated discriminatory by their superiors.

The term pan-Africanism ( see also : Pan movements ) was coined around 1900 by Henry Sylvester Williams . The idea pursues the unity of all people of African culture and origin. That means the Africans themselves, and those people who were deported over the centuries by the European and Arab slave trade to the Caribbean, North and Latin America , the Middle East and in some cases even to South Asia .

57 delegates took part in the 1st Pan-African Congress . The priority was to draft a petition to the Paris Peace Conference, which was taking place at the same time . Following the US President Woodrow Wilson demanded self-determination as part of its 14-point program , called for the delegates:

  1. The Allies may jointly administer the formerly German African territories on behalf of the Africans living there.
  2. Africans are to participate in the government of their countries "as quickly as their development allows" until they are granted self-government at some indefinite future point in time.

The 2nd Pan-African Congress met in several sessions in different cities and is considered the most radical meeting in the series of congresses. Congress eventually culminated in the adoption of the London Manifesto : England, with all its pax Britannica, its courts, established trade and a certain recognition of local laws and customs, and nonetheless has fostered ignorance among the locals, enslaved them - and enslaved them also continues - has usually refused to train the browns and blacks in self-government at all, to recognize civilized black people as civilized, or to grant the colored colonies the self-government that freely gives white people. (from the 1921 London Manifesto ). Participants were u. a. the Indian revolutionary Shapurji Saklatvala and the level-headed Senegalese politician Blaise Diagne .

The poorly attended and organized 3rd Pan-African Congress nevertheless reaffirmed the preceding principles and demanded:

  • the development of Africa for the benefit of the African peoples;
  • Self-Government and Good Government for British West Africa and the British West Indies ;
  • the abolition of the claim of a small white minority in Kenya , Rhodesia and South Africa to dominate a black majority;
  • the abolition of the lynching and mob law in the USA.
5th Pan-African Congress

After the 4th Pan-African Congress passed resolutions similar to those of the previous Congress, 90 delegates (including 26 from all over Africa) met after the Second World War for the 5th Pan-African Congress in Manchester ( Northern England ). Among them were Peter Abrahams from the ANC and a large number of men who would one day become political leaders in their countries, such as: Hastings Kamuzu Banda , Kwame Nkrumah , Obafemi Awolowo and Jomo Kenyatta . 33 delegates came from the West Indies and 35 from various British organizations. The then already 77-year-old Du Bois was also present.

The main resolution of this meeting denounced imperialism and capitalism . The British press also echoed the call for racism to be declared a crime. Marcus Grant , a member of the West African Youth League , said: We are unwilling to continue starving while we labor the world through our poverty and ignorance to support a false aristocracy and discredited imperialism. We condemn the monopoly of capital and the law of private wealth and an industry that is exclusively private. We will sue, call and dispute. We will let the world hear the facts of our situation. We will fight for freedom , democracy and better social status in every possible way .

The manifesto of the Pan-African Congress positioned the political and economic demands of the Congress within the new world of international cooperation, which arises from "the horrific test of the war of liberation against fascism ". It called for an end to colonial rule and racial discrimination, while advancing the struggle against imperialism, for human rights and equal opportunities .

Further congresses

Effects

The principles and ideals formulated by the Pan-African Congresses found widespread dissemination among young intellectuals in Africa. Many of the later protagonists of African statehood were familiar with the ideas of Pan-Africanism from an early age.

The so-called Casablanca Group , including Ghana , Egypt , Morocco and Mali , aimed for a union of all African countries. The project was a successor organization to the short-lived Union of African States . In contrast, there were the countries that wanted to bring about gradual integration through economic cooperation. These countries were mostly formerly French colonies and were called the Monrovia Group . In 1963, both groups of countries merged into the International Organization for African Unity (OAU).

When the OAU was dissolved on July 9, 2002, its successor organization, the African Union (AU), was founded. Except for Morocco, all African countries belong to the AU. It is similar to the EU in terms of its structure and objectives and has more extensive competencies than its predecessor organization. Its seat is in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa . The institutions mentioned in the founding act include a .: the General Assembly as the main body (Art. 6 ff.), the Executive Council (Art. 10 ff.), the Pan-African Parliament (Art. 17), the Court of Justice (Art. 18), the Commission (Art. 20), a permanent representative committee (Art. 21), seven special committees for technology (Art. 14 f.), Economic, Social and Cultural Council (Art. 22) and the three financial institutions African Central Bank , African Monetary Fund and African Investment Bank (Art. 19 ).

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Deutschlandfunk Kultur, February 19, 2019: 100 years ago in Paris. Starting shot for the emancipation of Africa
  2. ↑ BF Bankie: Pan-African nationalist thought and practice . www.blackherbals.com ( Memento of the original from September 23, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.blackherbals.com
  3. ^ Anonymus: Rebuilding The Pan African Movement, A Report on the 7th Pan African Congress . In: African Journal of Political Science Vol. 1 (1996), edition 1. S. on www.archive.lib.msu.edu (PDF; 267 kB) Bibliographical data ( Memento of the original from September 25, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.africabib.org
  4. ↑ Website of the 2014 Congress ( Memento of the original from 23 September 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.8thpac.com

further reading

  • George Padmore: History of the Pan-African Congress: colonial and colored unity, a program of action . London [1963], 2nd edition (Report of the 1945 Pan-African Congress)