Oloxala (Fusion of African Descendants): Pan-Africanism

Pan-Africanism is a philosophy, as well as a movement, which seeks to unify both native Africans and those of the African diaspora as part of a "global Afri community".

Pan-African Flag

Edward Wilmot Blyden (1832-1912) is labelled the father of Pan-Africanism. Born in Saint Thomas (Virgin Islands) Jamaica. He was a diplomat, writer and politician in Liberia and Sierra Leone. He is of Igbo descent.

Marcus Mosiah Garvey Jr. (1887-1940) Born St Ann’s Bay, Jamaica. He was a publisher, journalist, enterepeneur & pan-africanist. His inspiration came from Edward Bylden. He believed uniting blacks was the only way to improve their condition. He had many organisations/projects:-

1] Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) Jamaica 1914

2] Negro World Newspaper

3] African Communties (Imperial) League (ACL)

4] People’s Politcal Party

5] In April 1931 he launched the Edelweiss Amusement Company , which he set up to help artists earn their livelihood from their crafts.

6] The Black Star Line was a shipping line incorporated by Garvey it was supposed to involve the transportation of goods and eventually African Americans throughout the African global economy.

MAN KNOW THYSELF

For man to know himself is for him to feel that for him there is no human master. For him Nature is his servant, and whatsoever he wills in Nature, that shall be his reward. If he wills to be a pigmy, a serf or a slave, that shall he be. If he wills to be a real man in possession of the things common to man, then he shall be his own sovereign. When man fails to grasp his authority he sinks to the level of the lower animals, and whatsoever the real man bids him do, even as if it were of the lower animals, that much shall he do. If he says "go." He goes. If he says "come," he comes. By this command he performs the functions of life even as by a similar command the mule, the horse, the cow perform the will of their masters. For the last four hundred years the Negro has been in the position of being commanded even as the lower animals are controlled. Our race has been without a will; without a purpose of its own, for all this length of time.

Because of that we have developed few men who are able to understand the strenuousness of the age in which we live. Where can we find in this race of ours real men. Men of character, men of purpose, men of confidence, men of faith, men who really know themselves? I have come across so many weaklings who profess to be leaders, and in the test I have found them but the slaves of a nobler class. They perform the will of their masters without question. To me, a man has no master but God. Man in his authority is a sovereign lord. As for the individual man, so of the individual race. This feeling makes man so courageous, so bold, as to make it impossible for his brother to intrude upon his rights.

So few of us can understand what it takes to make a man - the man who will never say die; the man who will never give up; the man who will never depend upon others to do for him what he ought to do for himself; the man who will not blame God, who will not blame Nature, who will not blame Fate for his condition; but the man who will go out and make conditions to suit himself. Oh, how disgusting life becomes when on every hand you hear people (who bear your image, who bear your resemblance) telling you that they cannot make it, that Fate is against them, that they cannot get a chance. If 400,000,000 Negroes can only get to know thesmelves, to know that in them is a sovereign power, is an authority that is absolute, then in the next twenty-four hours we would have a new race, we would have a nation, an empire, - resurrected, not from the will of others to see us rise, - but from our own determination to rise, irrespective of what the world thinks.

Speech by Marcus Garvery

Malcolm X (Malcolm Little) (1922=5-1965) born Omaha, Nebraska was a African American minister, public speaker and human rights activist. He has been described as one of the greatest and most influential African Americans in history. He is credited with raising the self-esteem of black Americans and reconnecting them with their African heritage His father Earl was a supporter of Marcus Garvey and president of UNIA division in Omaha. Malcolm X was assassinated 21 Feb. 1965 he was buried in Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York.

Responses to assassination

Reactions to Malcolm X's assassination were varied. Dr. Martin Luther King Jnr sent a telegram to Betty Shabazz, expressing his sadness over "the shocking and tragic assassination of your husband."

While we did not always see eye to eye on methods to solve the race problem, I always had a deep affection for Malcolm and felt that he had a great ability to put his finger on the existence and the root of the problem. He was an eloquent spokesman for his point of view and no one can honestly doubt that Malcolm had a great concern for the problems we face as a race.

Martin Luther

http://delbanella.blogspot.com/2008/11/martin-luther-king-i-have-dream.html

Bob Marley (Robert Nesta Marley) (1945-1981) Born Nine Mile, Saint Ann, Jamaica. Was a musician/song-writer and pan-africanist through music. Bob Marley as not only is he a legend but his music touched peoples hearts and he used his music to fight against racism, cultural imperialism and apartheid, but he also used it to promote love amongst everyone in the world and for people to coalesce . He died of Melanoma in Miami, Florida.