The and Interactions and Relations

Edited by ALUSINE JALLOH AND TOYIN FALOLA

(DJ UNIVERSIlY OF ROCHESTER PRESS Copyright © 2008 by the Editors and Contributors All lights reserued. Except as permitted under current legislation, IlO part or (his work Ill

First published 2008

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Cloth ISBN-I 3: 978-1-58046-277-8 Paperback ISBN- 13: 978- 1-58046-308-9

ISSN: 1092-.')228

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The United States and West Africa: interactions and relations / edited by Alusine Jalloh and Toyin Falola. p. cm. - (Rochester studies in African history and the diaspora,ISSN 1092-5228 ; v. 34) Papers based on an international conference held Apr. 2, -30, 200!), convened by the Africa Program, lnivcrsity of Texas at Arlington. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISB -13: 978-1-58046-277-8 (hardcover: alk. paper) ISB -10: 1-58046-277-4 (harclcover: alk. paper)

I. Africa, West-Relations- nited States-Congresses. 2. nitcd States-Relations-Africa, West=-Ccngres es. l. Jalloh, Alusine, 19(i3- n. Falola, Toyin. DT509·63·U6U552008 303-48'273066-dc22 2008021659 .~ A catalogue record [or this title is available from the British Library.

This publication is printed on acid-free paper. Printed in the nitecl States of America. \'111 Contents

8 in Ghana and Their Contributions to " ation Building" since 1985 Kuiame Essien

9 Perspectives on Ghanaians and African Americans Harold R. Harris

Part Three: Forging Cultural Connections: Africa in America 10 The Chasm Is Wide: nspoken Antagonisms between African Americans and West Africans 189 Fred L. [olinson III Double Consciousness and the Homecoming of African Americans: Building Cultural Bridges in West Africa 200 Bayo Latoal

12 Sierra Leoneans in America and Homeland Politics 214 Alusine [alloli

Part Four: V.S. Political and Economic Interests in West Africa 13 The United States and West Africa: The Institutionalization of Foreign Relations in an Age of Ideological Ferment 237 Peter A. Dumbuya

14 U.S. Foreign Policy toward West Africa: Democracy, Economic Development, and Security Andrew 1. E. Ewoh

15 U.S. Economic Assistance to West Africa Abdul Karim Bangura

16 The West African Enterprise I etwork: Business Globalist , Interregional Trade, and U.S. Interventions A nita Spring

17 Poverty Alleviation in Sierra Leone and the Role of 21": U.S. Foreign Aid: An Institutional Trap Analysis 3 .) Stephen Kandeh

18 Post-Cold War U.S. Foreign Policy toward and Sierra Leone 3S5 Osman Gbla ·,r 11

Double Consciousness and the Homecoming of African Americans

Building Cultural Bridges in West Africa

Bayo Lawal

Introduction

An attempt is made in this chapter to explore the validity of DuBois' thesis of "double consciousness," which has naturally been motivating African Americans to know more about Africa, visit Africa, rediscover their roots, and if possible live in Africa. But this psychological phenomenon is not pecu- liar to African Americans alone. It is common to various diasporic groups all over the world. Hence the longing for one's place of birth after relocating either voluntarily or involuntarily to faraway countries is natural and human. According to DuBois, the African American

Jives in a world which yields him no true self-consciousness. One ever feels his two- ness-An American, a Negro: two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings, two warring ideals in one dark body. The history of the American Negro is the his- tory of this strife-this longing to attain self-conscious manhood, to merge his dou- ble self into a better and truer self. I

Dulsois' thesis of double consciousness raises the question of other forms of consciousness. Is double consciousness synonymous with split conscious- ness? Are both conditions associated with modernity? Is self-awareness the same thing as self-image? What role did the spread of visual culture in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries play'in creating or reinforcing dou- ble consciousness? How are race, class, gender, sexuality, and ethnic con- sciousness different from other consciousnesses? Is there any possibility of multiple consciousnessr/ Answering these questions is not the focus of this chapter. But the questions are raised for consideration in further studies. Double Consciousness and the Homecoming of Afrirnn A merirn ns 20 I

DuBois' thesis challenged and still challenges African Americans to dis- cover their rOOL,>and know who really they are, to refute the cultural and racial labels imposed by the whites. Thus the longing for a thorough knowl- edge of Africa can only be satisfied by education, information, and cultural contact with Africans and Africa to build a cultural bridge and establish Cl cultural identity. To a large extent, DuBois' thesis has had a positive and rewarding impact, because Africans in the diaspora are still nostalgic about their roots and globalization has further reinforced the trend toward the reestablishment of cultural connection and interaction with Africa." The "double consciousness" of African Americans emanated from their experience of slavery and its history. In its career, the peculiar institution of slavery dehumanized and brutalized the uprooted Africans and their descen- dants, who were called all sorts of derogatory names even though they had dignified African names. They were made to believe that their anccstor s were criminals and vagabonds who roved in barbaric African environments until they were captured as slaves and brought to the civilizing American society; this was the justification of slavery and racism put forward by some whites." Despite the legal abolition of slavery in 1865 and the official recognition of African Americans as American citizens by the American Constitution, the battle for equality, equal rights, and freedom was fought until the civil rights movements of the 1950S and 1960s." The monumental success of these movements is well known. But the consciousness of the 1960s created in African Americans an overwhelming urge lo visit Africa and rediscover their cultural arid historical root'> in reaction to the disparaging remarks and pub- lications of many whites." Henceforth, African American scholars began to research into their African past and into African history from the African point of view. In the proce s they jettisoned the existing racist historical interpretation of African culture and value systems and succeeded in intro- ducing black studies, African history, and African American history into the universities in the 1960s.7 It must however be stressed that the thoughts, ideas, lectures, and publi- cations of the exponents of Pan-African ism motivated and are still motivat- ing African Americans and other Africans in the diaspora to assert their African identity with confidence by maintaining regular cultural contact'> with Africa and thereby deemphasizing the evils of slavery and racism that have impinged on their minds. The more they identify with African culture, the more they promote Africanness and acquire a worthy liberating experi- ence that is tied to pride in their heritage.&'- The project of cultural contact and promotion is a continuing onc, fostered by various groups such as traders, missionaries, scholars, tourists, and publish- ers who have satisfied their curiosity and carried a number of cultural items and mementos to orth, Central, and Latin America. Thus, many artists haw' 202 Forging Cultural Connections: Africa in /\ menra

visited West African towns and cities to give public performances during vari- ous Pan-African festivals of arts and culture. Many have been drawn to West Africa by Peace Corps experiences? and postings by the American consular ser- vice and multinational corporations. By and large, they have servcd as American cultural ambassadors who have motivated their peers to visit West Africa. In recent times, there has been a marked increase in the rate at which they have relocated and settled in various parts of West Africa. 10

The in Postcolonial Studies Very germane to the topic of this chapter are the concepts of the African diaspora, diasporic hybridity, and consciousness of cultural identity. Recent research and postcolonial discourses have justified a rethinking of the defi- nition of the African diaspora, its changing meanings, nature, and composi- tion. Thus we can identify one diaspora with scant contact with the homeland (Africa) and another that is characterized by frequent contacts with the homeland. I I But the focus here is the impact of regular contacts of African Americans with West Africa on the promotion of African culture from the twentieth century to the present. An African diaspora is any group of Africans and descendants or African ancestors who are alien residents, expellees, refugees, expatriates, immi- grants, or ethnic minorities sharing spaces with other racial groups outside Africa. Like other diasporic groups, African Americans are largely descen- dants of ancestors who were forcibly dispersed from Africa to North America,where they retained a collective memory, vision, or myths about their original homeland (Africa), it'>history and achievements. They received hostile treatment from their host society and therefore regarded themselves as strangers; hence the crucial role of the memory of their ancestral home- land, to which they should eventually return at an opportune moment. I~ They are convinced they should corporately develop their homcland by investment of their capital and constant visits, and this can be facilitated only by the ethno-communal consciousness and solidarity fostered by an Africanist ideology. According to Joseph Harris, several phases of the African diaspora have occurred in time and place. There are primary, secondary, tcr- . tiary, and circulatory phases of the African migration. Much has already been published on African cultural "survivals" or "transformations" ill the United States during the period of slavery and thereafter. However, fresh academic attention is now being paid to the re-creation of African cultures as a result of the frequent contemporary exchanges and contacts between African Americans and West Africa. 1'1 Paul Cuffe, Lott Cary, Martin R. Delany, Daniel A. Pcync, Alexander Crummell, and Colin Teague were most outstanding figures among the blacks who visited West Africa in response to the policy and program of"the Double Consciousness and the Homecoming of Afrial11 A lIWl7m17S 203

American Colonization Society." The society established the colony of Liberia in 1822 and shipped about 15,000 blacks there. Later, more shiploads of emancipated Southern slaves and nonslaves triggered the demo- graphic transformation of the colony. The independence of Liberia and the material support of the U.S. government attracted more black returnees, who became educators traders, importers, exporters, artisans, missionaries, and administrators.I'' Edward Blyden exemplified the caliber of Liberian intellec- tuals who influenced anticolonial protests against the imposition of Western culture. His thoughts and comments about the abuses of colonialism were disseminated among his peers in the Liberia Herald and other newspapers. 16

The Impact of Pan-African ism

Pan-African ism began in the nineteenth century as an evolving ideology designed to attack the colonial world order. Its exponents, in speeches and writings, included , W. E. B. DuBois, , KW;Jmc Nkrumah, , Nnamdi Azikwe, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and , to mention but a few. In the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, Pan-Africanism has become a multidimensional concept that embraces all the positive forms of African redemption, restoration, repara- tion, political and economic development, and the reintegration of the all the various diasporic Africans into their homeland. It is a life-changing worldview, teaching us that the world should be a peaceful place for the development of human potential, mutual respect for others, cooperation, and recognition of the significant contributions of the various groups of Africans and their descendants toward the progress of mankind.'? Pan-Africanism glorifies and appreciates the ancient African civilizations and their enduring legacies to the world. It educates us about the origins and consequences of colonization and neocolonialism, exploitation and underdevelopment, and the evolving relationship between the diaspora and continental Africans. Its realistic set of goals have included decolonization and independence, the establishment of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) , which is now the (AU), and the reshaping of the cur- rent and future circumstances of Africa for the purpose of development by the c?lIaborative efforts of Africans in the diaspora.!" Pan-Africanism has promoted frequent interactions, cooperation, COIll- mon understanding, and cultural exchanges through numerous roundta- bles, conferences, and symposia in Europe, Africa, and the over the years. It was Pan-Africanist sentiment that-stimulated scholarly research by African Americans into African history, culture, and society, to edu- cate Africans in the diaspora about the necessity for the study of Africa, the reconciliation of diverse interests and views, the cross-fertilization that has taken place, the promotion of understanding, and the need to appreciate 204 For[!)ng Cultural Connections: Afiim in America the rich and glorious African cultural heritage. The same movement mobi- lized wide-ranging protests against racism in America, Africa, the Caribbean Islands, and South America and insisted that black people should be accorded their due respect everywhere in the world. I') So far, the African Union (AU) has maintained the expected contacts with Afro-descendants in the diaspora through the Sixth Region Initiative. In the process, Afro-descendant institutions have proliferated all over the world to promote African culture and organize unity conferences that draw together in one forum Africans, African Americans, Afro-Latin Americans, Afro- Brazilians, Afro-French, and Afro-Caribbeans. Thus they build bridges for cultural, social, and economic development.P? The effective articulation of Pan-Africanism in the United States was one of the factors that accounted for the unprecedented civil rights movements of the 1950S and 1960s, the emergence of and the Nation 0'" led by , and protests at American universities by African American students against Eurocentric education. The collective black con- sciousness was mobilized with the introduction of African studies, black stud- ies, and African American studies." Edward Wilmot Blyden, one of the proponents of such studies, argued that "a disciplined focus on the issues concerning the people of African descent globally required an autonomy of disciplined thought and dedica- tion to the topic." For Blyden and his peers, the purpose of intellectual inquiry was to educate a race of people who were by law denied education in the United States and Africa. By implication, Africans and African Americans were denied access to the technological and global benefits of the study of scientific discoveries in the West.22 There was therefore an urgent need to correct the distorted worldview of Africa and its peoples held by Euro- Americans. Indeed, Pan-Africanist campaigns stimulated African nationalists to advocate the decolonization of the teaching of all disciplines in schools and colleges. To the exponents of Pan-Africanism, culture and history were the cornerstones of African development and the development of Africans in the diaspora. Black studies was regarded as an educational channel for the development of self-knowledge and liberation, by which blacks would take responsibility for the development of their OW11 knowledge base with which to acquire the new technologies, rather than depend on Euro-Arnericans who would not transfer their technologies. Black studies is, then, an Africa- centered form of scholarship, designed to properly address the issues of development confronting peoples of African descent.F' ...•.

Postcolonial Contacts and Cultural Exchanges

Apart from helping to lead African colonies to independenc in the J 950S and 1960s, Pan-Africanism continued to stimulate a growing interest alllollg Double Consciousness anrl ihe Homecoming ojAjrimn Am('17.m17s 20:; activists and scholars seeking political, socioeconomic, religious, educational, and cultural self-determination for Africans and for blacks in the diaspora, imbuing them with pride in African history and culture. African Americans freely came to various countries in West Africa and other parts of Africa for trade, research, tourism, festivals, workshops, conferences, and seminars. In recent years, many Pan-African nongovernmental organizations ( GOs) have sprung up in America and Africa to promote Pan-African ideals." These organizations include the Pan-African Strategic and Policy Research Group (PANAFSTRAG, igeria), the Pan-African Organizing Committee (PAOC, USA); the Institute for Research on African Diaspora in the Americas and the Caribbean (lRADAC, USA); United African Artists (UAA, USA); the African Heritage Research Library (AHRL, Ibadan, ); the Organization of Afro-American Unity (OAAU, USA); and sev- eral others around the world with Web sites that showcase the glorious diver- sity of African cultures.P The UAA, for example, promotes the growth, unity, and sustenance of African artists around the world by providing exposure and support services to them. Such artists include actors, writers, directors, singers, dancers, per- formers, poets, instrumentalists, and others who are sponsored to develop African artistic culture and heritage in the diaspora for the entertainment of the world at cultural festivals, concerts, and public ceremonies. The African Heritage Research Library (AHRL, located in Adeyipo Village, Lagelu Local Government Area, on the outskirts of lbadan, Nigeria) is the first private, rural-community-basedlibrary on the African continent. Apart from serving the educational needs of students, researchers, scholars, documentalists, and archivists, it also caters for the sociocultural needs of the local commu- nity. It houses all the publications on Africa and Africans in the diaspora of the Americas, Europe, Asia, the Pacific, and the Caribbean islands. The chief librarian is Mrs. Yeye Akilimall Funua Olade, an African American married to a Nigerian for more than twenty-five years. She always appears in the typ- ical Yoruba buba and iro dress with matching headgear" Among the Pan-Africanist societies on the Internet is Africa: One Continent, Many Worlds, with its extensive site featuring traveling art exhibits from the Field Museum, the Natural History Museum of Los Ange)es, and others. Its collection includes videos and photographs on the following: the history and art of the royal palace of the Bamum (Cameroon), conflict resolution among the Bakongo (Congo-Brazzaville, Congo- Kinshasa, and Angola), Benin history throug!1 elephant tusks and Benin bronzes, metal working, the use of gold weights, commerce across the Sahara, the market in Kano (Nigeria), men's hats, combs, jewclry, rock art, and much more.i? The African Performance Clearing House, under the auspices of the African Studies Program, University of Wisconsin-Madison, promotes access 206 l'iJ1~l{ingCuttural CO?1?1nliII11S: IIjiim in /\ 111m ((I to visiting African performers or troupes in North America by listillg their schedules according to their country and genre, that is, music, dance, or the- ater.2R Dr. George F. Kojo Arthur and Dr. Robcrt Rowe, both of the Art Department, Marshal! University, West Virginia, direct the Akan Cultural Symbols Project to "utilize the pictograms and ideograms encoded in the arts of the Akan to decode some aspects of the history, beliefs, social organi- zations, social relations, and other ideas of the Akan of Ghana." The site is rich in illustrations of Akan symbols used in architecture, cloth (adinlml, kente, asajo flags, and so on), cosmology, economics, knowledge, political beliefs, gold weights,jewelry, and wood carvings.~t) At the University of Iowa, professor of art Christopher Roy directs a pro- ject on Art and Life in Africa. This site introduces a CD-ROM project and serves as an on line searchable catalog of the University of Iowa's Stanley Collection of African Art. The "Key Moments in Life" section describes events such as infancy, childhood, initiation, marriage, religion, leadership, elderhood, and death and illustrates them with art in a mini-slide show. "While the "Countries Database" provides some basic facts. the "Types of Art Database" describes the art of each ethnic group, including the Ashanti, Bamana, Baule, Bwa, Dogon, Fang, Hernba, Ibibio, Kongo, Kota, Kuba, Lobi, Luba, Lwalwa.I" Makonde, Mbole, Mossi, Pende, Suku, Tabwa, Woyo, Yaka, and Yoruba. Several other Web sites on African cultures and institutions arc managed by American universities. It is rather ironic that similar Wcbsitc projects are yet to be developed in Africa, and so African scholars must use the Web sites of Euro-Arnerican institutions and organizations. Apart from the initiatives of private organizations, the Organization of African Unity (OAU; now the AU) has sponsored mallY Pan-African culthral festivals in different parts of Africa since the I ~)()os. Such festivals have been hosted by Senegal, Ghana, Nigeria, and Algeria to provide opportunities for cultural exchange, social interaction, and continental integration. As expected, the attendance and participation of Africans in the diaspora at these festivals have been conspicuous. Indeed, the contingents of African Americans have always been spectacular by reason of their enthusiasm and eagerness to reunite with Africans in their cultural environments. In 1966, and W. E. B. Du130is were honored for exerting the great- ,est influence on African people in the twentieth century at the World Festival of Arts in Dakar.11 The Second Festival of Black Arts and Culture (FESTAC), held in Lagos in 1977, was spectacular in scale, diversity, and content. It attracted hundreds of African American artists like Stcvie \1\'oncler and Isaac Haycs, tourists, scholars, and publishers from Latin America. The published proceedings of the FESTAC Colloquium are kept at the National Theatre, Lagos, in the Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilization (CBAAC) .:>2 The themes of the published proceedings include black civilization and arts, pedagogy, Double Consciousness and the Homecomine of African A11l('I7(((11.1 207

African languages, literature, philosophy, religion, history, government, mass media, science, and technology. Since FESTAC, CBAAC has bce n orga- nizing regular public lectures and international conferences on different Pan-African themes.P Since 1992, the Pan-African Historical Theatre Festival (Panafcst); a bien- nial cultural celebration in Ghana, has replaced FESTAC. Each time the fes- tival has been held, in 1994, 1997, and 1999, it has attracted people of African descent in the diaspora. African Americans have seen it as an oppor- tunity for cultural education, reunion, entertainment, and sightseeing, and as an occasion for exploring and exploiting business opportunities through contact and exchange of ideas with African business concerns." Cultural and theater displays, musical concerts, and dances have been held in Cape Coast, Elmina, Accra, Koforidua, Takoradi, and Kurnasi. African Americans have participated in the grand durbar of traditional chiefs, carnivals, rever- ential events, the Pan-African colloquium, and visual art exhibitions, and have seized the opportunity to purchase ladies' attire, men's suits, and beau- tifully embroidered dresses made of kente cloth and various local textile materials." Although Senegal, Nigeria, and Liberia have been attractive destinations for African Americans, Ghana, in recent years, has been their most attractive destination as a result of the continuation of the Ghanaian policy of hospi- tality and accommodation inaugurated by late Kwame krurnah. DuBois relocated to Accra, which he claimed was the home of his ancestors, in the 19.50s. He died and was buried there in 1963. The late Louis Armstrong, the great jazz musician, traced his ancestry to Krornantse and Abenze, twill fish- ing villages in the Central Region of Chana.I" Malcolm X, who firmly believed in uniting people of African descent throughout the world, visited Ghana and igeria. Professor , of the Department of Black tudies at California State University, Long Beach, served as the chairman of the African American delegation to FESTAC in 1977. He is widely known as the creator of , an African American and Pan-African holiday cele- brated in African communities throughout the world.'? Thousands of African Americans already live in Ghana [or at least part of the year. Stevie 'Wonder and Isaac Hayes have some landed property, and to encpurage others to come to Ghana, the African American Association of Ghana has been formed, with Valerie Papaya Mann as its president. The gov- ernment of Ghana has proposed to offer a special lifetime visa for members of the diaspora and to relax citizenship requirements in order to enable peo- ples of African descent to receive Ghanaian passports.i" Publicity campaigns and slogans are being promoted to encourage Ghanaian people to change their attitudes toward African Americans, who hitherto have been regarded as rich tourists rather than long-Io t relatives. Advertising campaigns urge Ghanaians to drop the label obruni, which means "white foreigner," a label 208 Forging Cultural Connections: llfiiw in A menra

that is applied to African Americans regardless of their skin color, Instead, the public are to say, akwaba ansemi, meaning "Welcome, sister or brothel."

African Immigrants as Cultural Ambassadors It is not surprising that the reception that has been accorded African Americans in Ghana has been adequately reciprocated in the United States. In recent years, Ghanaians who have migrated to North America have out- numbered the nationals of other African countries apart from Nigeria. The most successful are academics, professionals, football players, and musicians who marry Caribbean and African American women. This trend in African immigration has been attributed to the Immigration Diversity Lottery'? African immigrants have formed various ethnic and cultural associations in American cities like their counterparts in Europe. Their Internet. and Web site facilities have widened the cultural networks for unity and cooperation in education, trade, and social events. There are Asante associations all over the United States with their kings, queen mothers, and wing chiefs moclclcd on the traditional Asante political system. Their conferment of traditional titles is always endorsed by the asatuehene (king of Asante in Ghana), who is represented by a chief.1o In 1998, the Asante Association of Chicago spon- sored a traditional durbar for the Ghana Studies Council at the African Studies Association conference. In like manner, the Yoruba of Nigeria have chapters of Egbe Omo Oduduwa all over the United States that admit 1I1<1I1y African Americans as members. Apart from their regular cultural activities, these chapters promote the economic and educational development of the Yoruba in the diaspora. Recently, a chapter in Florida requested applications for scholarships from students in Nigerian universities who come from eight Yoruba-speaking states."! The chiefs of the Asante associations are indeed cultural ambassadors ill the United States, making efforts to strengthen cultural tics between African Americans and Africans. So far they have sponsored the visit of two of their kings from Ghana. Several years ago Asantehene Oturnfo Opoku Ware Il vis- ited the New York Museum of Natural History. In November 2005 his suc- cessor, Otumfo Osei Tutu Il, made a visit to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, accompanied by a delegation of his palace officials and with tradi- tiona1 Asante drumming, horn blowing, and dancing provided by the Ghanaian community in the United States.V It is likely that before long other groups of African immigrants will emulate their Ghanaian peers in inviting their kings to the United States, in orcltr to honor the timc-horiorcd African political institutions that have survived the ravages of imperialism and colonialism. Both African immigrant'> and African Americans now engage in the business of importing many cultural items from Africa for retail in the United States. Double Consciousness and tlte Homrroming lif Ajrir([11 A menrnns 209

Thus we have private museums, art galleries, shops, and supermarkets selling African clothing material, ready-made clothes, bangles, hats, shoes, leather belt'>, bags, slippers, and necklaces. Eateries are spread across many American towns and cities for African tourists with a desire for African cuisine.f" Sports, music, films, and religion are other viable channels of cultural con- tact and exchange. These have been fully explored and exploited to optimal advantage over the years. African American boxers, wrestlers, and basketball players have visited West Africa and have influenced sports development there.:" The names of African American singers are household names in West Africa, as thousands of their records, DVDs, and videos sell rapidly. Since its premier showing in 1977, the movie Roots has had a profound impact on the psyche of both whites and Africans in the diaspora. The epic drama, which chronicled seven generations of Kunta Kintes family, moti- vated African Americans and whites to investigate their family histories and names. Roots made Alex Haley, who died in 1992, and his ancestors Kunta Kintc and Kizzy, household names; African Americans have giYen these names to their children. The movie not only led to frequent vi its to 'Nest Africa by African American but it also served as a timulus for impassioned discussion on American history and race relations. It reawakened in African Americans a. ense of pride and a genuine knowledge that their heritage did not begin with slavery and it') stereotypes."

Conclusion The recurring theme of this chapter has been the rolc of Pan-Alricanism ill fostering the nationalist struggle for colouia! disengagement in Africa and in mobilizing Africans in the diaspora for moral support. Thus Pan-African ism has stimulated political and cultural interaction and generated an awareness of the necessity of identifying with the glorious African past and Africa's con- tributions to the development of the ancient world. Many exponents of Pan-African ism have been celebrated and honored for their ideas, publications, public addresses, and activities, which have stimu- lated cross-cultural conferences and congresses hosted by various countries to mobilize support for unity and cooperation in promoting African culture for pu~poses of development. Thus Pan-African ism has positively trans- formed the altitudes of Africans in the diaspora, encouraging them to regard one another as brothers and si ters, and a belonging to African ancestral roots. Pan-Africani m was highly influential ill awakerring the nationalist spirit of the educated elite in Africa, encouraging them to agitate for the indepen- dence of their colonial states. The achievement of independence for many states since the J 950s, and the establishment of a continental forum known as the Organisation of African Unity (now the AU), opened the floodgates 210 Forging Cultural Connections: Africa in A maim

of immigration into Africa for Africans in the cliaspora, especially African Americans. In like manner, Africans became free to C'llligrate to various p~lrts of the world since colonial re trictions had been removed. Scholars, researchers, publishers, traders, and tourists among Africans in the diaspora from North, Central, and South America have visited various African countries to learn more about the legendary riches of African cul- ture. Their efforts have yielded some appreciable dividends in portraying Africa in its true colors, destroying the Western stereotype that had hitherto discouraged people from learning about or visiting Africa. All this has fur- ther promoted the program of the Pan-Africanist movement. Under the auspices of the OAU, transcontinental cultural festivals of arts and culture in various countries have brought together Africans in the dias- pora, and opened up more opportunities for friendships, marriages, cultural exchange, employment, business, trade, and permanent settlement. Indeed the AU is encouraging nongovernmental organizations to complement its efforts in this direction. Notwithstanding the arguments of such schools of thought as , Atlanticism, and Essentialisrn.t'' Africans in the diaspora and African immigrants abroad are becoming more united and culturally inte- grated. In fact, they are not daunted by those who attempt to differentiate African Americans from such Afro-descendants in the diaspora as Afro- Latinos and Afro-Caribbeans. Rather than live separately as assumed by the Atlan ticists and Essential ists, they intermarry wi th each other as well as wi th African immigrants, even though their offspring inevitably reflect a diasporic hybridity. Indeed representatives of the Afro-Laiino and Afro-Caribbean diasporas have been visiting West Africa, although they have not done so in such large numbers as the African Americans. The AU has designated the Afro-descendants in the diaspora as its official Sixth Region, because of the potential to increase global trade and open commercial opportunities for entrepreneurs to foster economic develop- ment. Thus African member slates are encouraged to get in touch with those in the diaspora in order to achieve a positive response to the AU initiative through regular national and international dialogues.

Notes

I. W. E. B. DuBois, 77le Souls of Blark Folk (New Xork, Vintage Books/Library of America, 1990), 8-9. 2. The information ancl ideas in this paragraph arc taken from a Cooglc search on "double consciousness" http:// ...dby conc.htrn+riouble +consciousness&h 1= ell&ie = UTF-4/23/2oo5· 3· Isidore Okpewho, Carole Boyce Davis, and Ali A. Mazrui, cds., '1111' Ajiirrlll Diaspora: Afiiwn Origins and New 11'odd ldentities (Bloonuugton: Indiana Un ivcrsity Double Consciousness and Ihe Homecoming 0/ IVi-;m 11 A mrrira ns 21 I

Press, 1999), xv, xvi, See also Paul Gilroy, The Black Atlantic: Modemily and Doubl« Consciousness (Cambridge, 1\1A:Harvard University Press, 1993). 4. Kenneth, M. Starnpp, The Peculiar Institution: SLavery in the Ante-Belluni ,)'011111 (New York: Vintage Books, 1956), II I, 177-91,204, 21 9;John Hope Franklin, Fm7l1 Slauery 10 Freedom: A History oJ Negro Americans, 4th eel. (New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 1974), 140-42, 155-59· :'j. Thomas A. Bailey and David M. Kcnnedy, The American Pagf(J1/I, 8th eel. (Lexington, l\JA, D. C. Heath and Company, 1987), 4:')9, 460-61,472-73,865-66. 6. Ceorge B. Tindall and David E. Shi, America, brief z nd eel. (New York: \,V. W. Norton, 1989), 880; joseph E. Harris, "The Dynamics of the Global African Diaspora," in The Ajri({ln Diaspora, ed. Alusine jalloh and Stephen E. Maizlish (College Station: Texas A&1\[ University Press, 1996),7-8. 7. Car)' y. Okihiro, "Education for Hegemony, Education for Liberation," in Ethnic Studies, \'01. I, Cross Cultural, Asian and Afio-American Studies, ed. Cary Y. Okihiro (New York: Marcus Wiener, 1989), 1-5; St. Clair Drake, "Prospects for the Future,"

in Key Issues in the Afio-Amn-;can Experience. vol. I, cd. Nathan I. Higgins, Martin Kilsou, and Daniel M. Fox (San Diego: Harcourt Brace jovanovich, 197 I ), 28 1-8:~; Charles H. \\'esley, "Creating and Maintaining an Historical Tradition," in Understandiug Nfgro History, ed. Dwight H. HOO\'er (Chicago: Quadrangle Books, 19(8), 17-19,20-26. 8.]. B. \\'ebster and A. A. Boahen, eds., The Rruolutionarv }pan: m'sl Afi-;ra since 1800, 4th impression (London, Longmans, 1969), 300, 302; lolefi Kctc Asantc, Afrocentricity (Trenton, .J: Africa World Press, 1989), :,)-27. 9. Jonathan Zimmerman, "Beyond Double Consciousness: Peace Corps Volunteers in Africa, 1961-1971," journal oJ /vmrncan l ltstrn » (December 1~)~)ij): I 000- J 003. 10. Since W. E. B. DuBois' relocation to Ghana and claim of Ghanaian citizcnvhip in the 1950s, more African Americans have visited and set tied in West Africa. More research needs to be done on this topic. 1 I. Bill Ashcroft, Careth Griffiths, and Helen Tiffin, Post-Colonial Studies: Till' KI')' Concepts (London: Routledge, reprint 2005), 70. 12. \\'illiam Safran, "Diasporas in l\lodern Societies: \lyths of Homeland and Return," Diaspora I, no. I (1991): 83-99. 13. Joseph E. Harris, "Introduction," in Global Dimensions oJ the IIJ,-;((I n Diaspora, cd. joseph E. Harris (Washington, DC: Howard University Press, 1982), 8-q. '4. John Hope Fran klin, From Slavery 10 Freedom: A Histors oJ Negro /vmrricans. 4 th cd. (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1974), 114, 186, J 87· 15· 1\1.K. Akpan, "The Return to Africa-Sierra Leone and Liberia," T{l/-;/(II.s, no. 4 (1980): 96, 98, 99;]' B. \\'ebster and A. A. Boahen, Tile Rruohuionar» jpars: m'sl Afi-;ca since 1800 (London: Longmans, 1969), 159, 160. . J 6. Hollis R. Lynch. ed., Selected Letters oJ Edtoaid \\filll/ot Blydfll (Millwood. 0:Y: KTO Press, 1978),54-59, 6o-G9, 70-79, 80-81. 17· James de Jongh, "The Diaspora's Role as the World Re-Awakens to Africa: The Perspective From Harlern USA" (paper presented at an international symposium on "Pan-Africanism and the African Diaspora," organized by the Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilizati on [CBAAC), University of Lagos, Nigeria, August 1-5, 20(5), )-2. 18. De .Jongh, "The Diaspora's Role," 4-6. 212 FOIging Cultural Con nertions: IVi';m ill /vmrnra

Ig,Jamcs dejorigh. "African Litcr.u i and l'an-Africanism." (paper presented at ;1Il international svmposiuru on "I'an-,\frieanisln and ih« .vlrir.u: Di.ispora." org;lni,ed by the Centre for BI;lek .uid African ,\J'\s .mr l Civi liz.u io n lCB,\ACI. l'ni\'crsity of Lagos, Nigeria, August 1-:-), :loo:,)), 1-10, 20, JUlles de .Jongh, "The Diaspora !Zoic as the World Re-awakens to Africa: The Perspective from Harlcrn USt\" (paper presented at an iutcrnational symposium on "Pan-Africanisrn and the African Diaspora," organii'cd by the Centre for Black a nd African Arts and Civilization [CBAAC], nivcrsity of Lagos, Nigeria, ,\ugllst 1-.'),

20(5).4. 21. Diedre L. Badejo, "A Challenge for Pan-Africanism and Pan-Alrican Studies in the e i st Century: Gender ldcologv in the Advancement of Global Africa" (paper pre- sented at an international symposium on "Pan Africanism and the Afrirnn Diaspora." organized bv the Centre for Black and Alriran ,-\ns and Civiliv.u iou rCB,\ACI.

University 01' Lagos, I igeria, August I-!,), ~()(L')). ~ I, ~2, lbid., ~1-2_1, 2~~, lbirl.. 2(j 2+ For more information. sec I lak im ,\di and ;\1;\1iLl She-rwood, 1'r1ll-;lfi';1I1I1 History: Political Figul'!,5 {mill ,Ifi'im anti the /)ifll/I!J/'{/ sinr« 1787 (:-\CI\' York: Routlcdgc. 20(3)' 25. De.Jongh. 'The Diasporas Role," ,~, ,I, 26. Information brochure, African I Icritagc Research l.ibrurv, lhadan , igeria,2oor), 2" "Africa: One Continent. i\lany \\'orlds," http://I\'\\'\\'/lam,nl\I~,Ca,lIs/afric;l/ main.htrn. :lH, "African Performance C1earillg l lousc," http://polyglot.lss,wis('.cdll/;\f'rst/ clcar.hun,". 2~:l-"Akan Cultu raj 5>'111bo ls Project," http:/ /1\'\1'\\'.111;\1xhall.cd u/ ak.m.ut ,". 30, "Art and Life in Africa,' University of 1001'a, http://II'II'\\'.ui()wa.(,du/~

~~(i. Official Sonvenir Brorlunr Iljf>A,\'AI-LS'r '99. I ~~, :3" \Iciulan"s Diaspora," USA-Africa J) ial ogue 1

39' Akvcamporig, "Africans in the Diaspora.' 2 I I, 4()' Ibid. 2 10. _II, Adewalc Alonge, Chai, the Egbe Orno Od ucluw» of South Florida, Inc. (Eoo I), 21)(Fj/200() Academic Scholarship '\pplication F()I'I11. for the schol