CIHA blog is pleased to repost a recording of the introductory roundtable of the Pan-African Conversations held September 14, 2023, by the Institute of African Studies (IAS) at the University of Ghana.
In his welcoming remarks, acting director of IAS Dr. Osman Alhassan stated that the event’s theme of “Revitalizing Pan-Africanism in the 21st Century” is already being carried out by the youth as many took the lead in moderating the five workshops: 1) AU and Agenda 2063, 2) Africa and her Diaspora, 3) Women, Gender, and Pan-Africanism, 4) AFTCA and Regional Integration, and 5) Reparations and Repatriations.
In the introductory panel, the speakers touched on the ongoing tensions that must be accounted for to revitalize Pan-Africanism. Namata Serumaga-Musisi of the Economic Fighters League, for example, raised the topic of balancing discourse and action: “We, as the current generation pushing towards African unity, we are living the realities of which we are warned. We are living with the realities Nkrumah told us if we don’t unite.” Dr. Rachel V. Brown of the Every Mikkle Foundation reiterated such a call to action as she told the audience, “We need to get together, and we need to get it together.” Narh Tei-Kumadoe of IAG discussed governing institutions such as the African Union: “While we acknowledge its [African Union] past achievement, we must admit that it has failed at one key thing, the promotion of African consciousness.” And with the call to revitalize the vigor and lived experience of Pan-Africanism, Dr. Cheikh Thiam of Amherst College reminds the audience that decolonization has been an ongoing practice in the continent before it was labeled as such: “What is clear is what the decolonial scholars are articulating for the past 20 years, I think, has always been apparent for people of African descent.”
We look forward to continuing the conversation in Dar es Salaam, Dakar in the coming days and finally at the African Studies Association of Africa (ASAA) in Lubumbashi in October.