END THE CONFUSION! DESTROY THE LIES! WE ARE AFRICANS PERIOD!

Our common enemy, capitalism/imperialism, is a very crafty adversary whose chief weapon lies in controlling our thinking. Through creating this confusion, the enemy misdirects our energies, corrupts our sense of responsibility to serving our People, and ultimately gears us to view reality through its eyes rather than our own. It is in fact this distorted view of reality which lay at the root of our People’s worldwide identity crisis. All Peoples identify themselves by a common history, a common culture, and a common land base. Africans however, have been trained to base their identity on the artificially created colonial territories manufactured by their oppressors. Our identities, and with them, our loyalties and thinking, become narrowly limited to a “Jamaican”, a “Haitian”, or an “African-American” nationality. The same holds true for practically all the present-day African “nations” – territories created for Europeans, created by Europeans, and created in Europe. Irrespective of the courageous struggles and overwhelming accomplishments achieved within these territories by our People, and the rightful pride we should have of such struggles, these artificial colonial identities have been imposed, and therefore represent our enemy, not us. A free People are never defined by someone else – they define themselves.

Africans have a rich and glorious, yet unknown and concealed history prior to our contact with Europe. However the way we identify ourselves dismisses this history and gives the appearance that we owe our very existence to this outside contact. Thus an “African-American” begins his or her history in slavery, in the same way a “Nigerian” begins his or her history in colonization. Also, identifying ourselves in this manner often leads to micro-nationalism, where we view the “part” as being more important than the “whole”. The enemy’s tactic of “divide and rule” thus becomes strengthened while we Africans, scattered, suffering, and disunited, trudge along hand to mouth, with earnest yet unrealizable ambitions of making meaningful, sustained progress within the very territories created for the sole purpose of maintaining our continuous exploitation while creating wealth and power for our enemy. To overcome these crippling obstacles, a new identity must emerge. A new personality must define who we are as a People. A forceful and dynamic REVOLUTIONARY AFRICAN PERSONALITY must be established and concretized throughout every village, street corner, church, mosque, or university where there is an African. Only this Revolutionary African Personality will allow us to see ourselves as ONE AFRICAN PEOPLE, STRUGGLING AGAINST ONE COMMON ENEMY, IN PURSUIT OF ONE COMMON GOAL – ONE UNIFIED SOCIALIST AFRICA & WORLDWIDE UNITY AMONG AFRICAN PEOPLE!

REVOLUTIONARY IDEOLOGY MUST DEFINE OUR IDENTITY!

Our emerging Revolutionary African Personality / Identity will be defined more so by principles, values and an ideological content than by mere blood ancestry or place of birth. Therefore a Fidel Castro, born of Spanish descent, who in the time of African crisis sends military and ongoing medical aid to defend and safeguard Africa, will be more embraced within the African Nation than a Mobutu Sese Sekou – thief, murderer, and imperialist pawn that he was – could ever be, irrespective of his Zairian birth in the heart of Central Africa. Therefore our new revolutionary society will be marked by a new type of human being. We seek to redefine what it means to be “African”. A simple biological identity will no longer suffice. Drawing from the source and rich legacy of our traditional African culture, the emerging Revolutionary African Personality will embody Africa’s core values of collectivism and humanism. Capitalism’s defining and cardinal principle of individualism will find no place within the Revolutionary African Personality, whose dimensions will be broadened by the infusion of revolutionary consciousness. The new and ideologically transformed African will be a skilled, courageous and selfless political fighter, whose allegiance lies solely in advancing the interests of Mother Africa, and all oppressed Peoples struggling for freedom and dignity throughout the world.

“Africa needs a new type of citizen, a dedicated, modest, honest informed woman and man. A woman and man who submerges self in service to the nation and humankind. A woman and man who abhors greed and detests vanity. A new type of woman and man whose humility is their strength and whose integrity is their greatness.” -Kwame Nkrumah

AFRICA MUST BE PRIMARY!

African nationalism, loyalty, and patriotism toward the building of African continental unity, along with securing the unity of African People worldwide, must predominate over all other loyalties. Regardless of where we find ourselves geographically, our primary energies must be geared toward building a strong and unified Africa. Politically, organizationally, and culturally, AFRICA MUST BE PRIMARY!

“The total liberation and the unification of Africa under an All-African socialist government must be the primary objective of all Black revolutionaries throughout the world. It is an objective which, when achieved, will bring about the fulfillment of the aspirations of Africans and people of African descent everywhere.” -Kwame Nkrumah

“Let Africa be our guiding star, our star of destiny” -Marcus Garvey

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Discussion Questions

1] What obstacles does micro-nationalism pose for the political and cultural unification of Africa and African People?

2] How is a People’s identity linked to the knowledge of their history?

3] Why must our People assume an African identity rooted in revolutionary ideology rather than an African identity based merely on blood ancestry or place of birth?

4] Discuss the significance of Africa being our land base / land of origin and the center of our civilization. How does this relate to the Primacy of Africa?

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