Now more than ever, Africans in the Diaspora have to combine forces to deal with the forces oppression world wide. Once the custodians of the richest continent in the world, the continent which bare the cradle of civilization, we are now among the poorest people in the world. Handicapped by our poverty, we are unable to pursue with ease, a course of self-determination. We have found ourselves dependents of racist states in a hostile world. Where does the African fit in the landscape? How does the African break through the cycle of dependence and become a truly liberated individual, community, and people. A course of liberation requires a united front, a deeply rooted and widely adopted (Afrocentric) philosophy, and a viable economic infrastructure.
This section is based on Chancellor Williamss book "The Destruction of Black Civilizations".
1: Africa is a vast continent of over 12,000,000 square miles (5000 miles by 4600 miles) in area
2: At one point, the Arabs, Greeks, and Romans invaded Africa from the North and pushed Africans further to the South.
3: Africa being (i) very large, and (ii) very tough, there were large expanses of uninhabited land. Many westerners used that to support a notion, that Africans rarely established any worthwhile civilizations with a notable historical past. These conclusions were based on limited exposure to Africa.
4: The Asian, Greek, and Roman occupation involved enslavement of Africans. Many groups of refugees had to move and settled where they found soil which seem favorable for cultivation, and relatively secure from their pursuers. They would attempt to put many miles between slave-hunters and themselves, hence the development of very isolated societies.
5: Many of these societies were formed with the painful separation from their kinsmen. But breaking up into smaller groups seemed to be the only route to survival.
6: Fragmentation and isolation led to different evolutions in language - over two thousand. This language difference widened the gulf between Africans that territorial distances had already achieved. Cultural differences also evolved, and the societies became more and more distinct. Disunity and mutual suspicion became a way of life for African people.
7: Some societies were completely wiped off by disease, starvation, and warfare. I some cases, some groups decided that salvation and survival were crucial enough to transcend their differences. Hence, they formed larger communities, lost some of their uniqueness, and developed a single common language and culture. These societies grew in to large chiefdoms, kingdoms, and finally empires that began the process of reconstructing great civilizations.
8: There were fierce wars between Africans. These took place in the founding and expansion of new kingdoms and empires.
9: In examining the destruction of African civilizations, many concentrate on the destructive impact of European imperialism and exploitation while ignoring the most damaging impact from the Arab exploits before the coming of the Europeans.
10: It is important to recognize the resilience of African people, a people who lost over 3/4 of their kinsmen, lost one state after another, nevertheless overrode all the forces of death and destruction and began to build, always once again, another state. The elimination of these states had always been an Asian objective stepped up by Muslim onslaughts after 7th Century AD. So the reestablished African states were still being conquered and islamized when the Europeans began to arrive in great numbers to impose their rule on both African and Asians.
11: Recognize that European imperialism checked and replace Asian imperialism in the midst of the Africans they had subdued. Hence, the Arab cry against European imperialism was due to the taste of their own medicine. Many Africans confuse this anti-European sentiment among Arabs as a common cause with Africans.
12: There was another interesting development in the history of Africans. The physical geography of Africa forced the migration of Africans northward. However, the steady incursion of Asians pressured more Africans back into the interior, where survival was limited. In some cases, weaker more submissive Africans ended up enslaved as laborers and soldiers. There was also a ruthless sexual trafficking of African women that gave rise to a breed of Afro-Asians or Caucasians or simply Asians. These Afro-Asians refused to identify with their African side. When these later became known as Egyptians in Egypt, Moors in Morocco, Carthaginians in Carthage, great care was taken to distinguish them from Africans in daily conversations, paintings, and documentary literature. It is worth noting that the new breed of half Africans, joined the Asian parents in the enslavement of Africans and their expansion until all of Northern Africa was taken.
13: Over time, Africans became hemmed in, and effectively cutoff from the world commercially and otherwise. They setup many trading posts in the interior. They had access to gold, ivory, copper, and iron. The Asian traders eventually setup towns and villages around the trading posts from land leased to them by the Africans. eventually, they set up fortifications with an African militia, African army under Asian control. This was later copied by the Europeans.
14: Africans became the fighting forces (for Arabs) against their own. We note that Africans were still engaged in the enslavement of their captives. They eventually began to sell their African captives to slave-hungry Arabs. Eventually, their sale of their fellow Africans became their chief source of wealth, and began wars for the purpose of obtaining captives for sale. As a result, there was increasing suspicion, distrust, and hatred among Africans.
The Role of Religion
1: Many other invaders found penetration under the banners of religion. Full advantage was taken of the fact that African were very spiritual.
2: The Islamic advance was three-pronged: (i) proselytizing missions claiming one brotherhood; widespread intermarriages and concubinage of African women, due to the Muslim system of polygamy; and forceful conversions at sword point.
3: The Cross of Jesus Christ followed the Muslim Crescent.
4: In the conversion of Africans to Christianity and Islam, the triumph of "White over Black" was achieved. Millions of Africans became non-Africans, they became "pagans". They had to therefore, disavow their entire culture and African institutions as "backward" and "savage". Africans became no-bodies, hopeless, that self-realization had to come through becoming Christian or Muslim.
5: There were invaders who did not want to use deception. They came in fighting with their organized body of men. They had few problems capturing Africans who were not prepared to deal with their weaponry. These attackers would often send in spies as "goodwill" ambassadors before the invasion. The spies could report:
- Africans are largely a peaceful
people
- These settled states were highly organized
advanced forms of civilizations
- But they are ill-prepared for war except
against their neighbors
- In general, they have no swiftly moving
mounted soldiers. 100 calvarymen with firepower can send 10,000
into flight
- They are a secretive people, knowing where
the gold, and mineral wealth was, but not willing to divulge the
information
- The whole of Africa could be progressively taken by picking off one small state after another. The structure of the continent is such that countless small states exist independent of each other. Since the role of the chief is to protect his people, he was much too proud to seek unity with other chiefs as it might be seen as a sign of weakness and invite possible invasion.
Though this is not wholly true, it may hint at the state of affairs after the widespread collapse of the stronger and larger African states.
The Enslavement Period in The West
The search for wealth in a bid towards European expansionism, the European Slave Trade developed. Africans were brought to Canada, America, South America, the Caribbean as a cheap source of labor. A proliferation of the notion of Africans as a sub-human species was used to justify their enslavement. Terms such as savages, cannibals, uncivilized, backwards, inferior, are all too common in the list of adjectives describing the African.
The impact of the Enslavement Period
1: A further destruction of African civilizations
2: The perpetuation of the African exploitation of Africans
3: Racism as a means of justifying the enslavement of Africans
4: A process of cultural and spiritual sanitization was necessary to make the enslaved African a better servant
5: Acculturation into becoming more European
6: The raping of African women
7: The inculcation of self-hatred
8: The entrenchment of a seemingly permanent inferiority complex
9: The miseducation of Africans (Schools and church)
10: The emasculation of African men
11: The creating of a color continuum through the "mulatto" or "colored" class.
12: The reinforcement of ethnic cleavages
In the Diaspora, African communities appear to isolated, "small", weak, distrustful, at "war" with each other, easily defeated by the enemy, are ill-prepared for war except against themselves, and a cavalry of 100 policemen can send 10,000 Africans in flight, or a single European politician, or teacher, or "boss" can do the same thing.
Critical Issues
Lack of Common Rituals
- The various groups of African existing in
the Diaspora do not possess one or more common rituals that could
serve to bind us at a deep spiritual and cultural level. It is
well-known that rituals are fundamental to unity and loyalty
within any group or nation. Coming from our diverse backgrounds,
our rituals, at least in form not necessarily substance, appear to
differ. As such, we maintain our own little enclaves and protect
our spaces. Not understanding ourselves at a deep cultural level
also helps to fuel the perpetual divide. Such divide facilitates
the "divide and conquer strategy" of the European which keeps us
enslaved both physically and mentally.
- Even if there are groups of Africans that may come together on the basis of ritual commonality, our perception of our struggle as an individual struggle in the Diaspora, often lead us to abandon or devalue our rituals. We have this false notion that success requires assimilation into the "main stream".
Failure to Recognize the True Enemy
Many Africans vindicate Europeans of any responsibility for the atrocities dealt to Africans. While Africans have played a role in their own exploitation, the European supremacist agenda sets the framework for how Africans are supposed to fit. Some Africans rightfully reject the role defined for them, while others, too weak or too greedy, partake in their own demise.
Capitalism
Racism
Euro-Supremacy
The Class Struggle in a Racist Society
There is a belief in a upper class, middle class, and lower class in the African communities as the prevailing paradigm. There is a simply a ruling class and a non-ruling class. In North America, even the African "upper class" if it exist does not belong to the ruling class. This class usually co-conspire with Europeans against Africans. Hence, they are often tools of the ruling class (Booker T. Washington).
The element of class in African and the Caribbean is particularly strong. In Africa, the British created the petty bourgeoisie class, in between the British aristocracy and the peasants. That bourgeoisie class acted as a buffer, and were highly despised by the peasant (or working) class. That class was made up of Africans, who were even more cruel to Africans than their British masters. There eventually came a struggle between the petty bourgeoisie class and the aristocracy (ruling class) for more power. The petty bourgeoisie would pretend to represent the interest of the peasantry. After independence, that class gained a significant amount of power, and was often co-opted by multinational interests to maintain an oppressed state, and essentially a plantocracy.
This and much more explains the barrage of coup détats in Africa, and the mistrust of the African "middle class" by the majority of Africans.
Enthocentrism Among Africans
In North America, Africans from the Caribbean, America, and the continent, essentially behave like ethic groups. The evolution of the African in the Caribbean and America led to the formation of two different ethnicities - language differences, cultural differences, religious patterns, dress patterns, etc. attest to that fact.
Cleavages along those ethnic lines coupled with class struggles internal to these ethnicities hamper even the sincerest efforts to bring about some semblance of unification.
The ethnocentrism among Africans in the Diaspora is often characterized by perhaps similar but separate political and economic agendas. There is often a lack of support for each other (economically, politically, and in some cases culturally).
The Lack of Collective Social and Economic Power
The current status of Africans in the Diaspora can be characterized by a lack of concerted collective social, political, and economic power. In a capitalist state, a constituencys influence is a direct function of its collective economic wealth. In a racist state, a prerequisite for major influence is being a member of the oppressor class.
While there may be "wealthy" Africans in the Diaspora, the wealth may not be used in a collective way - e.g.., to lobby for government action on issues of concern to Africans as a whole.
Individualism vs. Collectivism
One of the cultural tenants of the European race is the proliferation of the individual. Many of us Africans miseducated to buy into a European system of values, adopt many of their traits. Hence, self-serving Africans would quickly sell out the race in order to further their own well-being.
To a large extent, the African system of communalism was retained during the enslavement period. This was created by necessity as enslaved Africans had very little, and they needed each other more than ever. In the mean time, the African was constantly exposed to the individualism of their masters and internalized it. Post emancipation and racist tendencies, still kept African communalism in place. But over time, as what is seemingly greater access to Africans present itself, there is a gradual movement away from communalism. It is no accident that middle-class Africans moved out of their communities to join European dominated suburbs. That is only possible with the adoption of the individualism tenant which characterizes Europeans.
The Legacy of The Enslavement Period
Complacency
Limited self-worth
Apathy
Psychological enslavement
Relativism (constant reference to Europeans)
Dependence on Europeans for self-validation
Mistrust of Africans
Self-hatred
The belief that what is European is better
The Color Complex
As European men continually and brutally raped and dehumanized African women, a number of mixed-race children were born. These children were still enslaved, but they were given lighter chores. Recognizing that power was synonymous with being European, the mixed-race individual despised their African ancestry. To this day, this legacy continues. Many bi-racial children in North America reject their African ancestry, while their European side rejects them. This inevitably creates a serious identity crisis.
Enslaved mixed-race individuals were often spies for their masters, and consequently, seized the opportunity to obtain any modicum of power at the expense of the Africans.
During the enslavement period and post-emancipation, mixed-race individuals received educational training denied Africans, and many became Doctors, Lawyers, Dentists, Civil Servants, etc. Soon, they became the oppressor class. Particularly in the Caribbean, many rose to influential positions since: i) the settlers were often small in numbers, 2) they displayed an uncanny level of loyalty to the British, and 3) they had effective access to information about possible revolts.
To this day, in many countries, mixed-race individuals became a proxy for Europeans. They perfected the manner of their European masters, and control much of the economy of those countries. They were treated with great respect simply because of their skin color, and were always given preference over the darker-skinned Africans.
Mobility and Myths
In some quadrants, there is a prevailing belief, that a meritocracy exist. That if we simply work hard enough, we can get ahead. Even in African societies this is not true. We are fully aware that in the Diaspora, Africans have to work five times harder than a European before they are considered for hiring or promotion.
There are some who believe that they can transcend class. While this is true, the central issue in the Diaspora is RACE. Africans cannot transcend their race, hence we are committed to a race struggle for a very long time. While we recognize the ruling class/non-ruling class dichotomy, the ruling class is European, and hence, the African could only transcend class within the confines of the non-ruling class.
Politicization around the issues
There is a myth that because we are African, we are all aware of our oppression, we all understand it, we can all articulate it, and we all have the right solutions to it. Nothing can be further from the truth. While there may be a general awareness of ones condition, but one may not fully comprehend the intricacies surrounding ones condition. Sort of like the person who could articulate the nastiness of a headache, but not why they have that headache.
Having said that, it is extremely important, that in order for progress to be made, the African must engage in a process of self-study both in a historical and contemporary context.
Ultimately, Africans must come together to fight what is a common condition, the continued exploitation of our existence, the dehumanization of our race, and our powerlessness. This will require the coming together of all the ethnicities on the basis of a common ground (race), on the basis of a common problem (racism), and a common history.
There are a number of pre-requisites before the various ethnicities can come develop an effective collaboration. These are as follows:
Mutual respect for each other
Re-Sanitization or decolonization of the minds
The need to establish a set of universal rituals (based on African spirituality)
Acceptance of differences and similarities that are based on African traditions
Rejecting differences based on our colonization
Reviewing similarities based on our colonization
A Commonly Held Philosophy of Liberation: Afrocentricity
Definition of the critical issues, goals, objectives and strategies
Understanding that everyone is not at the same place, politically, on the issues
Recognizing that our suspicion and distrust is nurtured and can be destroyed
A need to supersede the class struggle
The development of a collective strategy (A return to revised communalism)
A recognition of a whole as being greater than the sum of its parts
Concurrent assaults on the economic, social, and political fronts
Our greatest strength is our diversity. But what is even greater, is what is common, our resilience as a people, our adaptive nature, our love for human life, our belief in people before things, our spirituality. While we have been adaptive under someone elses political and economic will, Africans in the Diaspora have to use that same adaptive quality to further their progressive existence under a political and economic agenda designed for and by Africans.
Suggested Reading
Kwame Nkrumah, 1970, "Class Struggle in Africa" PANAF, London
Eric Williams, 1942, "The Negro in The Caribbean", Greenwood Press, Westport Conn.
Chancellor Williams, 1987, "The Destruction of Black Civilizations", Third World Press, Chicago.
Ivan Van Sertima, 1992, "Great African Thinkers: Chiekh Anta Diop" Transaction Books, Rutgers.
Carter G. Woodson, 1933, "The Mis-education of the Negro", Hakims Publications
John. G. Jackson, 1970, "Introduction to African Civilizations", Citidel Press, NY
Chiekh, Anta Diop, 1987, "Pre-Colonial Black Africa" Lawrence Hill and Company, Conn.
Molefi K. Asante, "Afrocentricity", Africa World Press, 1988
Alan Cobley and Alvin Thompson (Eds.) " The African-Caribbean Connection", Cavehill Campus, University of The West Indies, 1990.
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