Pan-Africanism

Paper Summary:

This paper examines how Pan-Africanism is a philosophy or belief that African people have a common bond and share common objectives, aimed ultimately at unifying themselves on their own continent as a dignified race. It points out that the belief has pertained to all black Africans and their descendants in the African continent, including the non-Blacks, and later, those outside the continent. It explores their attempts at expressing a common African personality and coming together as a nation and as one race on their own continent, especially during the period between World War I and World War II.

Outline:
Introduction
Review of Literature
Method
Summary of Findings and Conclusion

From the Paper:

"This source describes Pan-Africanism as a socio-political viewpoint and movement for the unification and uplifting of all Africans within the African Continent and outside or those in African diaspora into one global community. It was first conceived of by Henry Sylvester Williams to cover Africans in the Continent and then later broadened to include those throughout the world. Pan-Africanism started in the West Indies, not Africa, and was coined by Williams for his 1900 Pan-African Congress. The leading and largest pan-African movement in the world is the UNIA-ACL organization, founded by Marcus Garvey, an Afro-Jamaican, in Kingston, Jamaica in 1912. His advocacy spread to the United States, specifically to Harlem, New York where he set up his headquarters in 1914. It re-examines African history from a pro-African perspective rather than from a pro-European's and restores traditional African concepts and culture. Other pan-African organizations are Garvey's Universal Negro Improvement Association-African Communities League, Trans-Africa and the Internal Peoples Democratic Uhuru Movement. It is, however, criticized for ignoring or downplaying cultural and ethnic differences and socio-political circumstances among Black peoples worldwide."

Sample of Sources Used:

• BBC. Between World Wars. BBC World Service, 2006. http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/africa/features/storyofafrica/13chapters.shtml
• Janken, Kenneth R. African American and Francophone Black Intellectuals during the Harlam Renaissance. Questia: Questia Media America, Inc., 2002. http://www.questia.com/PM.qstt?a=0&d=5001340855
• Marable, Manning. Pan-Africanism: Yesterday and Today. Along the Color Line, Nov 1995. http://afgen.com/pan-afri.html
• New Internationalist. A History of Pan-Africanism, Aug 2000. http://www.newint.org/issue326/simply.htm
• Walters, Ronald. Pan-Africanism. MSN Encarta. Pan-Africanism. Microsoft Corporation, 2005. http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_1741500827/Pan-Africanism.html

More papers on Pan-Africanism:

• Research Paper # 94099 : "Pan-Africanism"
• Term Paper # 102665 : "Pan-Africanism"
• Research Paper # 46585 : "Pan-Africanism in Response to Modernity and Post-Colonialism"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: