JANUARY 1, 1804 witnessed a monumental moment in African diasporic history with the birth of the first independent black nation, Haiti. This French Caribbean slave colony defied all the odds defeating the three major European nations (Spain, Britain, and France) in the only successful slave rebellion in the Atlantic world.
This was a pivotal moment in Pan-African unity that hastened ending the iniquitous and inhumane act of slavery. It united Africans born in different parts of the African continent, as well as those born in the Caribbean.
Pan-Africanism can be defined as both an ideology and movement that encourages the solidarity of all African people across the diaspora. It is based on the concept of black unity as a vital component to the economic, social and political progress to ‘unite and uplift’ those of African descent.
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Pan-African activists and organisations such as the African Union, the Pan-African Congress, and the United Negro Improvement Association focused on uniting a global black front to fight racial oppression, colonialism, and neo-colonialism. Two centuries on from the Haitian revolution, Pan-Africanism is still alive.
For some, its focus is on gaining reparations for the trans-Atlantic slave trade and colonialism to people for the African diaspora living in the West and repatriating to Africa (Ghana declared 2019 as “the year of return”).
Pan-Africanism is not perfect. There are valid critiques of its idealistic aims and attempts to homogenise every black person across the globe.
Despite its failures and critiques, it’s hard to ignore the fact that it is still alive and thriving. Amidst the “Diaspora Wars” (the cross-cultural disagreements amongst African diasporic people sharing their grievances) in recent years, let Haiti serve as a beacon to what Pan-African unity can achieve and how powerful we can be as a united front.
One of the most famous pictures of The Haitian Revolution depicts slaughtering of the remaining white French residents by former slaves under the under of General Jean Jacques Dessalines.
Toussaint Louverture was the leader of the only successful slave rebellion in the new world. Trinidadian scholar C.L.R James canonical text The Black Jacobins (1938) depicts the revolt in much detail.
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“There are valid critiques of its idealistic aims and attempts to homogenise every black person across the globe.” this is the crux of it right here.
As a 3rd Gen Sidama Ethiopian, what pan Africanism implies is loss of culture and heritage solely based on black skin. This is what is going to kill this movement. How is someone from West Africa supposed to identify with someone who is not of their culture? The history of the west is different than the history of the East.