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Internet friends from Twitter (before it was X), Nick and I meet quarterly to discuss solidarity economics, liberation, relationships, poetry, music, and anywhere else our theory meets praxis. I appreciate the container of accountability. Nick and I are committed to Pan-African principles and studying historic revolutionary movements to inform our living today.
Pan-Africanism is not just a movement for Black people world-wide. It’s a call for the “total liberation and unification of Africa under scientific socialism,”1 which ultimately seeks to bring an end to colonialism, imperialism, and capitalism globally. As people living under these systems, how might we resist and build during a time of extreme inflation and economic precariousness for the working class?
On May 25th, we celebrate Africa Day which remembers the formation of the Organization of African Unity (OAU). Africa Day is an important marker in Pan-African history. This commemoration is an opportunity for political education and deeper inquiry into how we can honor the struggles that came before ours and advance the potential of reshaping world power within our individual and collective spheres of influence.
In May 1963, 32 Heads of independent African States met in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to sign the Charter creating Africa’s first post-independence continental institution, The Organisation of African Unity (OAU). The OAU was the manifestation of the pan-African vision for an Africa that was united, free and in control of its own destiny2
This episode focuses on Africa Day and the OAU in it’s inception. We explore how the organization, which is now the African Union, has changed since 1963 and how cultural workers and organizers can participate in advancing Pan-Africanism. Expect additional segments of our conversation to appear in future episodes of Good Morning World-Builders.
Big thanks to my Venusian editing wizard and vision translator, Dionne Mankazana <3
“All-African People’s Revolutionary Party.” All-African People’s Revolutionary Party, aaprp-intl.org/.
African Union. “About the African Union.” Au.int, African Union, 2019, au.int/en/overview.
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