This
is the first of a two-part article on the origin and development
of African Liberation Day (ALD) (click
here
to read Part II).
The celebration of African Liberation Day in the United States began in May 1972 in Washington, D.C. More than
60,000 people participated in this historic event.
In
1973, ALD was decentralized and Chicago
sponsored its first ALD celebration in May of that year.
Since that time, we have celebrated ALD in various ways,
with parades, rallies, and cultural programs.
From
the 1980s through 1997, the NBUF Chicago Chapter sponsored
African Liberation Day / ALD on the Westside, where we marched
down Madison
Street and culminated with a rally and cultural program
in Garfield
Park. These ALD events have been
very successful and we have been honored to sponsor them.
Other groups are now sponsoring African Liberation Day celebrations
and activities throughout the United
States.
African
Liberation Day has become an institution throughout the
African world. It is a day when all people of African ancestry
should come together. Whether you were born in Ghana, Nigeria,
Liberia, Kenya, Ethiopia, South Africa, Mozambique, Zimbabwe,
Haiti, Jamaica, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Belize, Bahia,
Canada, Cuba, Trinidad, Puerto Rico, Paris, or Chicago,
as long as you are Black, you are an African, with a common
heritage, and a common set of conditions.
As
we prepare to participate in the upcoming weekend of events
and activities, we must always remember the origin and development
of African Liberation Day. Our ancestor, Kwame Ture, explained,
“ALD was founded by Kwame Nkrumah on the occasion of the
First Conference of Independent States held in Accra, Ghana
and attended by eight independent states. The 15th of April
was declared African Freedom Day to mark each year, the
onward process of the liberation movement, and to symbolize
the determination of the people of Africa
to free themselves from foreign domination and exploitation.”
Further,
the AAPRP (All-African People’s Revolutionary Party) points
out:
“On
the 25th of May 1963, 31 African heads of state convened
a summit meeting to found the Organization of African Unity.
They proclaimed May 25th as ALD and called for mass demonstrations
and manifestations in every comer of Africa and the African Diaspora.”
The
idea of ALD has its origins in the long history of African
people, to break free of the yoke of European domination
and white supremacy. This is a time in which we emphasize
our oneness as a people with a common past, common set of
problems, and a common future.
The
capturing of millions of African people, who were placed
in slavery and introduced into the western hemisphere as
property and commodities, is the backdrop upon which we
commemorate African Liberation Day.
It
was the slave trade industry of the fifteenth, sixteenth,
and seventeenth-centuries involving Britain, France, Portugal,
Spain, Belgium, and Germany that served as the foundation
for these western powers and provided them the margin of
profit in getting the greatest return from their investment.
The western world still seeks to keep Africa
and African people worldwide in bondage, so they can continue
to maximize the greatest return from their initial investment.
After
chattel slavery was abolished in England
and the United
States, the slave trade industry began
to wind down. The former slave-trading nations found themselves
no longer needing slaves, but yet stumbled upon the other
natural resources of Africa. They began
to fight each other over the gold, diamonds, and other mineral
and plant resources they were discovering.
This
resulted in the calling of the Berlin Conference in 1884,
where the European powers united to divide the continent
of Africa among themselves. It has
been discussed, historically, that those who control Africa,
control the world. Therefore, the Berlin Conference was
a crowning blow in African history. The results of this
conference led to the carving up of Africa so that France, Britain,
Portugal,
Spain, Belgium,
and Germany
controlled separate territories throughout the continent.
This became known as the colonial period in African history.
The colonial period in Africa, just as the enslavement of
African people captured and brought to North America, had
a devastating impact on Africa and
African people. It was not until the early 1950s that the
first African country gained political independence in the
movement to reclaim Africa. That country
was Ghana,
under the leadership of Kwame Nkrumah, who led the Ghanaian
people in their fight against British colonialism.
I
will continue the discussion of the origin and development
of African Liberation Day in my next column. Many groups
around the country and the world where African people reside
will be hosting ALD Celebrations this year. Don’t forget
to support African Liberation Day activities in your area
of the world.
BlackCommentator.com
Columnist, Conrad W. Worrill, PhD, is the National Chairman Emeritus
of the National Black United Front (NBUF). Click
here
to contact Dr. Worrill.
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