The once colonized and subordinate people of China and India have made substantial breakaways from European and North American hegemony, and are well on the way to establishing strong and autonomous pan-Chinese and pan-Indian civilizations.
As a result, people of Indian and Chinese descent all over the world now hold their heads high and exhibit a self-assurance and dignity that would have been hard to imagine 30 years ago.
Well, what about the African and African-descended people of this world? What are we – the people of continental Africa and the Caribbean, the African Americans and the Afro-Latinos – doing to establish our pan-African civilization and to enhance our prospects of leading lives of dignity and material well-being?
Clearly, not nearly enough is being done, but there are a few points of light that need to be acknowledged. One such point of light is the effort currently being made by the African Union (AU) to reach out to and deepen the relationship between Africa and the people and nations of the African diaspora.
At present, the AU is immersed in planning an historic African Diaspora Summit scheduled to be held in South Africa in the year 2012. And Mr David Comissiong, president of the People’s Empowerment Party, returned to Barbados last Friday, after having attended a two-day AU meeting in Pretoria, South Africa, and has reported that arrangements for the 2012 summit are advancing smoothly.
Indeed, Mr Comissiong was able to report that he contributed the following six ideas for consideration by the AU’s heads of government:
(1) The 2012 African Diaspora Summit should be conceived of, among other things, as a germination exercise for the establishment of a “pan-African League or bloc of nations”, comprising the countries of Africa and the Caribbean, as well as those Latin American nations that possess large populations of African descent.
(2) The AU should move with haste to propose the establishment of an “economic partnership agreement (EPA)” with CARICOM – an EPA that will establish Africa CARICOM relations at a much deeper level than our relations with the European Union.
(3) The AU should collaborate with CARICOM and other diaspora nations in creating a common pan-African studies course (and accompanying educational materials) to be instituted in all of the primary and secondary schools of Africa, the Caribbean and other regions of the diaspora.
(4) The AU should revive, adopt and carry on the impressive work started by its predecessor the OAU on the issue of reparations, including the revival of the “Group of Eminent Persons on Reparations”, and the establishment of an AU Reparations Commission.
(5) The AU was advised to propose to CARICOM that both organizations should adopt a principle that would oblige all African nations to ensure the presence and participation of Caribbean artistes and intellectuals in their national events and festivals, and all CARICOM nations to include continental African artistes and intellectuals in their events and festivals.
(6) There should be a removal of visa requirements between the member nations of the AU and CARICOM.
Mr Comissiong also reported that the AU Planning Committee acknowledged the importance and historical significance of Barbados’ Commission For Pan-African Affairs.
