KWAME NKRUMAH: AN ICON OF PAN-AFRICANISM

The anticipation, fear and excitement that the then Gold Coast citizens had can be felt in Kwame Nkrumah’s words when he spoke. Ghana was free. Free from colonialism, ready to take on the world. But what of the man who had pioneered this country’s independence, making it the first African country to achieve independence? Who exactly was this man commanding the attention of millions of Ghanaians on that defining day of March 6 1957:

‘Seeing you in this… It doesn’t matter how far my eyes go, I can see that you are here in your millions. And my last warning to you is that you are to stand firm behind us so that we can prove to the world that when the African is given a chance, he can show the world that he is somebody!’

We often hear of pioneers of Pan–Africanism, its fathers and originators. It is commonly forgotten what the original meaning is, and the impact and necessity it has on the continent. Pan-Africanist ideals emerged in the late nineteenth century in response to European colonisation and exploitation of the African continent. These destructive beliefs in turn gave birth to intensified forms of racism, the likes of which Pan-Africanism sought to eliminate.

Minkah Makalani of Rutgers University