a
. . IT DID OT take I for
, idea to emerge from among
the captive sons and daughters
of Africa in America, that
Americ s a ho tile territory
where African people were un-
etcome except slave.
De pite the ruthless attempt
to brainwa hand de-Africanize
African people in America, a
craving for Africa pcrsi ted in
t THE LATTE half of •
his century, it . alto X
part from the civil
riShis Ie rs in stressing he '
pan-African and international
dimensions of the struggle of
African people in. America.
M Icolm con tanlly
reminded us that e might be a
minority in America, but that
we are a majority in the world.
For those who ridiculed the
idea of identifying with Africa,
d
n
I
card aid
•
to
� f eta bou
been accomplished in, r
t area of' r ed ioo
policy f under the
B d n.
Si ce 1983, annual tate
fWlding for our e univer-
. . . creased by SSS7 mil-
lion, or 82 percent. During that
5 period, ioflation,
ed by the Detroit Con­
r Price Index, iDaeased by
0DIy 28 perce . Included in this
funding been the estab-
• of the Research Excel-
lence Fuod hich ha
channeled $129 million to
p ojeas t have put Michigan
the c ling edge of job creat-
economic developme re­
lat�d re earch; the Martin
Luther King/Cae ar
Ch �Z/ROSa PaJ progr
ha
Malcolm bristled "why you left
your mind in Africa".
On the African continent, it
I' Dr. Kwame Nkrumah,
P nt or Ghana, w' mo I
roree Iy projecaed t VISion
ideology or African unity
ncI pan-African m v hJcle
for the liberation, empo er­
ment Ind development of
Africa and the African
di pora. .
With the c II to Blac
Power, Black con ciou ne
and nationalism in the 60' and
70' p n-Africanism gained
certain currency and popularity
among movement ctivi ts.
Leaders like Kwame Ture
(formerly Stokely Carmichael)
of SNCC, Jimmy G rrett of the
Center for Bl ck Education,
o usu S u ai (Ho a
Fuller) of Malcolm X Libera- r
uon University, Ima' u 'Ami I : ,'"
Baraka of the Congres of
African People and countle
others pressed pan-Africanism
and the concept that "we are an
African people" to the forefront
of the Black liberation move-
ment.
THERE WAS A genuine
record
5
come
•
belief during this period that
'pan-Africanism wu e ntial
to the survival and progress of
African people in Africa,
America and throughout the
i �pora.
, This upsurge of pan­
. Africanism prod _ted or-
ganized efforts to provide
'. political and material upport
for Africa.
Orgapization like Pan­
African Skill succe sfully
convinced silled African
Americans to lend i tance to
various initiative, institutions
and enterprises in Africa. .
The Southern African Sup­
port Project (SASP) was ISQ
organized to provide concrete
material support for projects in
southern Africa.
On the politic I front
boycotts were directed 8 U.S.
corporations doing busi e in
southern Africa like Gulf Oil
come the executive Director of
Trans-Africa.
Thi intluenti 1 lobby for
Africa and the Carribean can
al 0 be said to be a product of
this period of p n-Africani t
ascendancy .
Last but not least, African
Liberation Day, an African
American focal point for
e d u c at ion and pol iii ca I
mobilization around' Africa,
w first organized in 1972.
I can still here Owu u
S daukai clo ing his ddres to'
the crowd of 35,000 people in
W hington, D.C. hammering
bome the word , "We are an
African People."
As we enter the dec de of
, the nineties, the question is
whether Pan-Africanism will
once gain urf ce a integral
component of our s rategy for
survival, development nd
progre " . .
(Angola) and Polaroid (South
Afric ).
The Gulf bOYCOIl,·which the
spearheaded by yo�ng man
named Randall Robinson, had
a great impact. Of course Ran- .
dall Robinson would later be-
Ron Daniels serves as
President 0/ the Institute lor
Community Organization and
Development in Youngstown,
Ohio. He may be contacted at
(216) 746-5747.
1 .:., ,
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lU1.I:.enDOl1e,
��l��� ��
Michigan Education Trust
(MET), the first of i kiDd in
the • enab pareDtl to
e a down ymc will
RWU'alIdICC • daiId's .. 0 at
one of Michigan's
·ties. As of today, 50,000
children have been enrolled in
tbe MET program.
Inve tment iD education,
from preschool through higher
educa . represent Governor 1-
B chard' highest priority,
de by the fad that 36
percent of the e b 8
to ed . As 100 ahead,
e will continue to pursue
any policies and make investme
that further enhaace the quality,
accessibility, and affordability.
of Michpn's exceUent system"
of' education.
Shelby Solomon, Director
Management " Budget L