[align=center]PAN-AFRICANISM REDEFINED--WHO IS AN AFRICAN?

BY HOREN TUDU

EDITED BY RUNOKO RASHIDI[/align]
[align=left]One must be cautious and thoughtful regarding the
usage of the term "African" as applied towards a broad
variety of sovereign ethnic groups found across all
corners of the globe. For each possesses distinctive
notions and designations of one's own humanity. Let us
consider the origins of mankind and its unrelenting
sequence of campaigns for survival, conquest and
self-determination. Can it truly be valid and just to
label a wide spectrum of ethnicities and nationalities
based on what many critics of African-centered
scholarship have dismissed as an unscrupulous
association of those exhibiting melanin content beyond
some arbitrary threshold of hue? More generally, who
is an African and why? This is a complex and rather
subtle issue that is yet to be resolved, for the mere
definitions are subjects of profound deliberation in
themselves.

We begin this brief discourse by first stating all
human beings derive from a common source in Africa.
This is an undisputed fact that provides a logical
starting point in the chronology of humanity's
narrative. From an evolutionary biologist's
perspective, precise genetic markers tell a fastidious
tale of man's fragmentation into the diverse
phenotypes we see today­1,2. Furthermore many scholars
have speculated that it is specifically man's
distinguishing trait of skin-color that has become the
perverse obsession of those with recessive traits to
subjugate and destroy humanity's robust melanin
containing masses.3

Therefore, one can naively divide mankind into two
major categories. Present amongst the earth are the
nomadic peoples and the indigenous peoples. Indigenous
peoples are the settled inhabitants of a particular
location before the modern establishment of
nation-states. Typically most indigenous groups can
trace their origins in the form of myths and legends
to the prehistoric dispersal of humans out of Africa.4
In terms of culture, indigenous groups live
harmoniously with nature and live in accord with
psychologically balanced familiar interactions,
epitomized by the respect and emphasis of the role of
women. Most importantly, indigenous groups share the
common practice of sustainable development, utilizing
natural resources in dynamic equilibrium and allowing
for a lifestyle that can virtually perpetuate
endlessly on a large timescale. Some notable examples
are the Santhals of Bangladesh, the Zulu of South
Africa, and the Koori of Australia.

On the other hand, the nomadic communities stem from
harsher climates, allowing for a permanent
restlessness and a culture rooted in pathology, having
an admiration for military virtues and the
exploitation of natural resources. Having more
ferocious stamina and bestial bravery than cultural
attainments, being the first of many historically
recognized groups to seek control and domination of
others, establishing one group superior and the other
inferior3. Having raped and plundered indigenous
people for centuries, a vicious culture of misogyny
and sociological imbalance has been the nomadic
legacy, conflicting with humanity's very essence.
Consequently, to find unanimity in one's own humanity
as exhibited by the indigenous people fits the true
definition of an African. It is an inclusive category
rather that a separatist ideology and ultimately its
politics manifests itself in modern form as
Pan-Africanism.

Pan Africanism today can be thought of analogously in
terms of a popular children's fable. A drifting
soldier traverses a shanty village occupied by
famished families on the brink of survival. He decides
to take a rest stop and declares to the village-folk
that he will make a great soup by boiling a cauldron
of water containing only a mere glistening stone.
Although everyone in the village is welcome to join
him, the village-folk are initially unconvinced but
shortly after bring small contributions: a head of
lettuce, pounds of potatoes, pieces of meat, and much
more. Towards the end, the cauldron was overflowing
with enough hearty soup to feed everyone in the
village for weeks. Thus, the moral of this fable is
that simple cooperation can produce significant
achievements, even from meager, seemingly marginal
contributions. As a perfect analogy to this children's
fable, most black populations throughout the world are
so engaged in their individual struggles, that a
pervasive cynical outlook prevents any effective
attempts at worldwide social, political, and economic
unity.

Moreover, a large share of the African-centered
establishment are unaware of the independent rise of
black nationalism from within the Indian Sub-Continent
extending back to the last decade, pioneered by
Periyar Ramasamy, Kancha Illiah, Uthaya Naidu, Dr. K.
Jamanadas, V.T. Rajshekar, Runoko Rashidi, and Hadwa
Dom.

The uncertain extension of camaraderie directed
towards the Dalits and Adivasis results from the
limited interaction with South Asians restricted to
the upper caste Hindu, Sikh, and Pakistani immigrants
of the major cities. This brown Caucasoid community
has candidly expressed anti-black, anti-African
sentiments and a seemingly obstinate fondness for the
Anglo-Americans and Europeans. The former and the
latter often reinforce one another as the cultural
foundations of Hinduism or Brahmanism, encompassing a
broader framework of identities held by the South
Asian Diaspora, irrespective of religious beliefs.5

At present, international travel is a rare experience
amongst most Dalits and Adivasis. Accordingly, the
direct collaboration with their counterparts in
America has been the major obstacle for South Asian
Pan-Africanists. On the other hand, recent
advancements in technology have brought forth
optimism. The Internet has blossomed into an
inexpensive but efficient medium of communication and
information dissemination. It has performed a crucial
role in the unification of the world's fragmented,
oppressed, and destitute masses of Blacks. In spite of
this perceptual communications barrier, Pan-Africanism
must be redefined to include the Dalits and Adivasis.
This is an essential adjustment to accommodate recent
changes in South Asia's political environment, for
there are close to 300 million Blacks in South Asia
alone. The motivation arises from the preceding
fable's premise, that the transnational, cooperative
efforts of the world's African populace can produce
monumental achievements.

Modern Pan-Africanism was pioneered in the western
hemisphere; conceived and developed by the celebrated,
Jamaican born intellectual, Marcus Garvey. His unique
brilliance identified a leading factor responsible for
the destruction of classical Black civilization and
the emergence of global Indo-European tyranny. This
being that most indigenous communities suffer from the
absence of a collective political identity that binds
them to the efforts of the others. This disconnection
of one's identity and race has contributed to decline
of the African Diaspora. The European and
Anglo-American orchestrated interethnic conflicts from
within the African continent along with the ubiquitous
deterioration of African health, economic regression,
and infrastructural stagnation, have produced disaster
and confusion upon scores of post-colonial African
nations.

It is an appalling reality that without exception,
within every nation across the globe, African people
occupy the lowest rungs of the socio-economic
hierarchy. Given the widespread severity of the
problem, the continued existence of the global African
presence relies heavily upon the practice of one
logical principle: Blacks worldwide must stay united
as one people. As the Dalit author, Hadwa Dom has
pleaded, "From the US South to South Africa to South
India, Blacks have been oppressed by white races. More
understanding of our common racial bonds is necessary
for our survival."5

In the 19th century the Black Tasmanians experienced a
near complete case of genocide. The Agta Negritos of
the Phillipines, the Nicobarese, and perhaps even the
Australian Aboriginals are waning into extinction.
Today, in the United States, the African Americans
have been shaped into a permanent underclass by the
machine of institutionalized racism. It is evident,
that the Redefinition of Pan-Africanism is the need of
the hour.

References

1) Michael J. Bamshad, Steve E. Olson "Does Race
Exist?", Scientific American, December, 2003.

2) A. Sjalander, R.Birgander, N.Saha. L.Beckman, G.
Beckman. "p53 polymorphisms and haplotypes show
distinct differences between major ethnic groups".
Human Heredity 1996 vol.46: 41-8.

3) Welsing, Frances. THE ISIS (YSSIS) PAPERS. Third
World Press, 1991.

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"I have a vision of the future, and I see before
me a picture of a redeemed Africa, ...":
The Future As I See It by Marcus Garvey
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