Is Pan-Africanism Dead?: The Relevancy of Garveyism in the Twenty-First Century: The Politics of Black Self-Determination in the Southeastern United States A thesis presented to the faculty of the Center for International Studies of Ohio University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts Bakari K. Lumumba August 2018 © Bakari K. Lumumba. All Rights Reserved 2 This thesis titled Is Pan-Africanism Dead?: The Relevancy of Garveyism in the Twenty-First Century: The Politics of Black Self-Determination in the Southeastern United States by BAKARI K. LUMUMBA has been approved for the Center for International Studies by Loren Lybarger Associate Professor of Classics and World Religions Ghirmai Negash Director, African Studies Lorna Jean Edmonds Vice Provost of Global Affairs 3 ABSTRACT Lumumba, Bakari K., “M.A.,” August 2018 African Studies Is Pan-Africanism Dead?: The Relevancy of Garveyism in the Twenty-First Century: The Politics of Black Self-Determination in the Southeastern United States Director of Thesis: Dr. Loren D. Lybarger Since the 1960s, Pan-Africanism has steadily lost its currency amongst leaders and citizens in the African continent and throughout the African Diaspora. During the past fifty years, Pan-Africanism has suffered a series of seemingly insurmountable setbacks, including the assassinations of prominent activists and statesmen such as Patrice Lumumba, Steve Biko, Malcolm X, and Thomas Sankara to name a few. Furthermore, Pan-Africanism flagship organization the African Union (AU) has had its fair share of challenges, and criticism leading its detractors to call it a “toothless bulldog.” Additionally, the growing disillusionment amongst Africans in the continent and throughout the Diaspora towards an ideology that has promised so much but delivered so little has caused Pan-Africanism to be seen as an antiquated model of resistance to global white hegemony. This stance has also caused many to question the efficacy of the philosophies and opinions of Marcus Garvey in the age of globalization, in which the forms of oppression African people face have evolved through sophisticated social structures that produce contradictory forms of consciousness. Moreover, the pessimistic undercurrent toward Pan-Africanism that permeates the African world leads one to ask the question, is Pan-Africanism dead? 4 DEDICATION To my watoto Amir, Zaina, and Asantewaa for believing in me. Mimi kupenda sana. & To Dr. Boikai S. Twe, Baba Larry Crowe, and Mama Nozipo Glenn for being models of what a Pan-Africanist is in the twenty-first century. 5 ACKNOWLDEGMENTS I am forever indebted to Ohio University’s Center for International Studies African Studies program, the Voinovich School of Leadership & Public Affairs, and Dr. Lybarger, Dr. Muhammad, and Dr. Houston for their time, effort, diligence, and patience in helping this thesis become a reality. To my ancestors who are too numerous to name, thank you for teaching me to always bet on Black! 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………....3 Dedication...…………………………………………………………………………...…..4 Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………………......5 Introduction………………………………………………………………………………..7 Chapter 1…………………………………………………………………………………26 Chapter 2………………………………………………………………………………....43 Chapter 3....……………………………………………………………………………....56 Chapter 4…………………………………………………………………………………72 Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………..79 7 INTRODUCTION This thesis will critically analyze how and why Pan-Africanism1 has become associated with an antiquated model of resistance to racism/white supremacy, while also examining how the philosophies and opinions of Marcus Garvey are as relevant today in the 21st century as they were during the time of Garvey through the idea of the “alienated revolutionary.” The alienated revolutionary is one who is cynical about existing power structures but argues that progressive change can only take place via the use of calculated acts of instrumental violence. In 1889 Henry Sylvester Williams, an Afro-Trinidadian barrister, created the African Association in London, England in partnership with Mrs. E.V. Kinloch, a Black South African. Williams later coined the term Pan-Africanism2 and attributed doing so to Mrs. Kinlock whom he heard speak in Britain in 1897, about forced labor in the mines of South Africa. 3 Williams would subsequently call and lead the first of several Pan-African conferences in 1900 “to protest the stealing of lands in the African and West Indian colonies by European powers, racial discrimination and other issues of interest to Blacks.”4 A young W.E.B. DuBois, played a leading role during the conference, and drafted a letter to the Queen of England and other rulers of Europe which contained “an 1 Pan-Africanism in this thesis is defined as the concept and conviction that Africans are a distinct people with a distinct historical personality and that they should unite in order to gain the structural capacity to define, defend and develop their own interest as a people. 2 Stylistic Note The terms Pan African, Pan-Africanism, and pan-African are all used interchangeably to reference the social-political, ideological and economic movement that’s advocates solidarity and resistance against oppression for Africans throughout the world. Furthermore, African, Black, African American, people of African descent, are referred to interchangeably, but with due deference to the context involved. 3 Bonita Harris, “Caribbean Women & Pan-Africanism,” African Journal of Political Science New Series 1, no.2 (1996): 257. 4 Tajudeen Abdul Raheem, Pan-Africanism, Economy and Social Change in the Twenty First Century (New York, New York University Press, 1996), 2. 8 appeal to struggle against racism, to grant Black colonies in Africa and the West Indies the right to responsible government, and demanded political and other rights to Blacks in the United States.” 5 The document asserted, “‘The problem of the 20th century is the problem of the color bar.’”6 The conference would signal a coherent beginning of the Pan-African movement, advocating liberation from foreign oppression, unity of African people at home and abroad, and the coalescing of political and economic resources for the benefit of African people. These objectives were briefly met in some form during the aftermath of the Haitian Revolution, and the establishment of Haiti as a nation state. During the 1920’s Garvey era its ability to unify African people domestically and abroad under the cause of African redemption through organized efforts. Efforts that included, US-based Civil Rights/Black Power movements, and African Decolonialization/ Independence movements that ended de jure second-class citizenship in the US and direct European rule in Africa. Today, however, after 118 years, there is a new clarion call to African people led by voices such as Tanzanian businessman Ali Mufuruki. Who declared in April of 2015 at the Meles Zenawi lecture series, in the Ethiopian town of Bahir Dar, that “Pan- Africanism is dead, and that Kwame Nkrumah was no hero.’’ 7Mufuruki presented the legacy of Nkrumah quite differently from how others have, stating: I studied the biography of Nkrumah for several weeks to prepare this lecture. I was first surprised, then disappointed, and petrified about what I 5 Ibid., 2 6 Ibid., 2 7 CORRESPONDENT, SPECIAL. "Kwame Nkrumah Was No Hero, Pan-Africanism Is Dead and Other Stories from a Unique Presidential Meeting." Mail & Guardian Africa. N.p., 21 Apr. 2015. Web. 17 Apr. 2017. 9 found. Like all leaders full of ideals, the father of Ghana’s independence and Pan-Africanism had his own dark moments. As a matter of fact, the Pan-Africanist dream still struggles to be fully implemented. Shouldn’t we consider it ‘dead?8 Moreover, this call is being made outside the halls of academia by a community that is disenchanted with an idea that has promised so much but produced so little. In the US this call has been made by Michael Harriot of The Root, an online magazine of African-American culture, has argued that African Americans are unaware of what Pan- Africanism is. He asserts that its few remaining acolytes promote an anachronistic ideology based more on fantasy than reality, championed by economically destitute African Americans who promote alternative facts and conspiracy theories via Hidden Colors DVDs. 9 Furthermore, Zimbabwean, journalist and civil activist Vince Musewe, has also joined the chorus in stating that Pan-Africanism is dead in an article for The Zimbabwean an online journal for the voiceless, in which he lambasted Pan-Africanism for its inability to unify African people. Musewe, also cites the history of its acolytes use of such noble claims as a stepping stone to gain public trust en route to gaining access to elite positions in society that were formerly held by European colonizers. 10 The statements of Mufuruki, Harriot and Musewe, true or not, speak to the growing disillusionment among Africans on the continent and throughout the diaspora. These sentiments support the perspective that Pan-Africanism has promised so much but delivered so little. During the past fifty years, Pan-Africanism has suffered a series of 8 Ibid. 9 Michael Harriot, “We Fact-Checked Umar Johnson's Hotep Tantrum with Roland Martin Because Someone Had To.” The Root, www.theroot.com, 11 July 2017. 10 Vince Musewe, “Pan-Africanism is dead,” The Zimbabwean, 8 April. 2014. 10 seemingly insurmountable setbacks. Setbacks that, include the assassinations of prominent activists and