Pan-African solidarity and the struggle against imperialism are key in advancing the condition of African states and peoples.
This article appeared in Popular Resistance.
The following statement was delivered to the Africa Liberation Day/Palestine Nakba Day broadcast on Tues. May 24, 2022. The event was sponsored by the All-African People’s Revolutionary Party (A-APRP,GC), All-African Women’s Revolutionary Union (GC), the African Awareness Association, Africans on the Move podcast and the National Council of Arab Americans.
We are honored to participate in this annual commemoration of Africa Liberation Day some 59 years after the founding meeting of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) on May 25, 1963, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Much has transpired since 1963 when more than 30 independent African states held this gathering and pledged to work towards the total liberation of the continent and greater unity among governments throughout the region.
Today, the African Union (AU), founded in 2002 in Sirte, Libya, is facing one of the most profound challenges of the post-colonial period. The struggle for the unification of the AU member-states cannot occur absent of the removal of foreign military forces now occupying several geo-political regions.
The United States Africa Command (AFRICOM), French Armed Forces, European Union Forces, NATO, among others are claiming that they are in numerous AU states under the guise of providing military training and assisting in strengthening the overall security apparatuses of these territories. However, since the launching of AFRICOM in February 2008, the instability within numerous African states has worsened.
Most recently, the administration of President Joe Biden has ordered the redeployment of U.S. troops into the Horn of Africa state of Somalia. A conference involving several U.S. governmental agencies was held prior to the redeployment, in Djibouti, where thousands of Pentagon and French troops are based at Camp Lemonnier.
Somalia has been focal point of imperialist intrigue for many decades. The instability in Somalia is compounded by the burgeoning humanitarian crisis in the country due to the drought, which is gripping the country, the worse in six decades. Although these environmental problems are escalating as a result of climate change, the Pentagon is the largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world today.
Therefore, to effectively address the phenomenon of environmental degradation, African people must demand the dismantling of the Pentagon, NATO and its allied military forces across the world. The security issues in Somalia are a by-product of the persistent involvement by the U.S. in the internal affairs of the oil-rich country.
Africa and the Imperialist War in Ukraine
There is much focus on the Russian special military operations in Ukraine which is designed to stave off the expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in Eastern Europe. The collapse of the Soviet Union, the COMECON states and the Socialist Federation of Yugoslavia during the late 1980s and early 1990s emboldened this military alliance formed by Washington in 1949.
There does not appear to be any enthusiasm within the AU member-states related to their participation in the U.S.-engineered war in Ukraine. Many African states abstained from voting on the two resolutions passed by the United Nations General Assembly condemning the Russian Federation. The State of Eritrea in the Horn of Africa was the only government that voted against the first resolution.
Many leaders and mass organizations have explained why they cannot support the imperialist war in Ukraine and that there must be a diplomatic initiative to end the fighting. The Biden administration is continuing the same legacy of imperialist militarism that has plagued the world for more than a century. Among the youth and anti-imperialist working class elements, there is open solidarity with the Russian Federation based upon the aggressive posture of the Ukraine military which is being propped up by the Biden administration.
Among the U.S., progressive, liberal, moderate and conservative political officials, have all lined up behind the pro-NATO operations in Ukraine. $55 billion in direct assistance to the war has been announced. These are resources taken directly from the tax revenues paid by working class and poor people in the U.S. These large-scale expenditures to continue the Ukraine war are desperately needed in the Horn of Africa to address the food deficits and potential famine as well as providing relief to the masses of people in the U.S. suffering from the coronavirus pandemic, its aftermath and the inflationary spiral not seen in more than four decades.
These domestic and foreign policy questions require bold, independent and revolutionary action on the part of African people, the other oppressed nations in the U.S. and the working class as a whole. The organization of the workers and oppressed in the U.S. must be carried out in conjunction with the revolutionary and national democratic forces in operation around the globe. Africa is central to the struggle against imperialism since its origins stem from the advent of the Atlantic slave trade, colonialism and neo-colonialism.
In conclusion, we want to join with other genuinely progressive and revolutionary forces throughout the world to proclaim that Pan-Africanism and Proletarian Internationalism is the only real solution to the monumental social and economic problems engendered by capitalism and imperialism.
Long Live the African Revolution!
Smash NATO and Its Allies!
There is Victory for Us!
Author’s Note
The above statement was delivered to the Africa Liberation Day/Palestine Nakba Day broadcast on Tues. May 24, 2022. The event was sponsored by the All-African People’s Revolutionary Party (A-APRP,GC), All-African Women’s Revolutionary Union (GC), the African Awareness Association, Africans on the Move podcast and the National Council of Arab Americans.
Several organizations addressed the program including Louis Wolf, co-founder and editor of Covert Action magazine; Phil Wilay, Virginia Defenders for Freedom, Justice and Equality; Jihad Abdulmumit, Chairperson of the International Jericho Movement; Simin Royanian, Women for Friendship and Peace in Iran; John Steinbach, Hiroshima Nagasaki Peace Committee; Kweku Lumumba, KOSSA/Haiti; Bilal Sunni Ali, Imam Jamil al-Amin Action Network; Lee Robinson, African Awareness Association and A-APRP (GC); and Anthony Williams, A-APRP (GC). Promotional language for the broadcast said that:
“This year, our ALD/PD programs are being organized for the month of May 2022. There will be various activities and programs taking place during this time. Our theme for year’s program is ‘Unleashing an Offensive of 64 YEARS of African Liberation Day: Intensifying the Revolutionary Struggle Against Capitalism & Imperialism, Zionism & Neo-Colonialism; Forward to Pan-Africanism – One Unified Socialist Africa’, in principled solidarity with the Palestinian revolutionary struggle to liberate all of Palestine from Zionist occupation and control. We are additionally honoring the birthdays of Ho Chi Minh (May 19, 1890) and Malcolm X (May 19, 1925).” A link to the entire program can be found here.
Abayomi Azikiwe is editor of the Pan-African News Wire.
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