Pan-Africanism : panafricanism?

Simunyaa ... i just read your story, The Colour Of My Skin, thank you for sharing it with us. Very nicely written.

We have a thread titled, What is Pan-Africanism? You may want to read it to get an idea of how some here define the term.

You say ... "what do u understand when u hear "panafricanism"? all blacks united? change ur mind!" ...

After reading your story and the comment above, am i understanding properly ... that you want Black people to change their minds about the term and allow it to embrace those White people that were born in Africa (or all White people)?

How do you define "panafricanism," since you were born / raised in Africa and are White?

Please share your thoughts with us and thanks again for joining us!

:heart:

Destee
 
I fail to see why reading "The Colour of my Skin" should force PanAfricanist to re-evaluation the principles or purpose of PanAfricanism. As I have to disagree with sister Destee's opinion that the piece was well written. Quite the opposite, I found the piece lacking in a clear purpose. That is unless your purpose is to say that since there were whites who fought against apartheid, black nationalist movements have no purpose. If that is your belief you are wrong. Just as white involvement in the Civil Rights Movement in America did not change the need for "Black Power".

PanAfricanism calls on blacks throughout the Diaspora to unite because of our shared heritage, history, and culture. This defination in and of itself excludes white involvement. Also since you have stated that you don't know what it is like to live as a black person in a white country....you really are not qualified to tell black people how they should classify themselves (or who they should identify themselves). That is actually very presumptious of you (kinda like me as a man telling a woman I know what childbirth is like). If you really want to learn about black people (I personally am suspicious about white people who frequent black venues), I suggest you listen/read to what is being said.
 
simunyaa...Welcome to our Forums. :) If you are who you describe yourself to be, it takes courage to come to an afrocentric website, where the obvious majority of sentiments expressed here are afrocentric, and describe personal feelings about what it's like to be White living in an African nation where some Black citizens dislike you because of the color of your skin. I'm glad that you took the time to come and share your thoughts and pose your question.

I read your short story. It's one that sounds so familiar to a Black person--anywhere on this globe. All the reader had to do was to reverse the roles of your main character and make him a boy/man or a girl/woman with Black skin, and it immediately reflects a history rife with hatred and abominable treatment simply because of the color of their skin.

I don't think I would be totally wrong to suggest that the story of Blacks being in your shoes pre-dates your personal experience by a few years, don't you agree? And, I'm sure this comes as no surprise either--it's still happening. What amazes me is that having witnessed it first-hand, you still see a need to question how and why conscious Black people define Panafricanism the way they do?

I'm not an insensitive person simunyaa so I felt the pain and understood the struggle of the person you wrote about. However, like I wrote earlier, it's all too familiar to many of us here because we're usually the one's in your shoes. Many of us can write a story like that about walking or driving the streets in America today. Without question, no one should be judged or stereotyped because they were born looking a certain way.

Did anyone ever ask us how we felt about being raped, murdered and poisoned with diseases by people who didn't see or care about us as human beings, but only wanted what was ours -- natural and human resources -- for their own personal gain?

Surely you can see that as rational as one might try to be and think how beautiful life would be without such despotism, the historical and present day facts make it impossible to ignore that although there may be a few, most white people have NOT achieved that level of understanding and empathy yet.

Why do you think that a growing number of Black people around the world are joining together to fight racism and oppression and who do you think they see as their enemy? Do you think it's because they have nothing better to do? You say you've read many of the threads here and they tend to deal with racism a lot. Why do you think that is simunyaa and do you think it's just a figment of a whole group's imagination? Black people may be many things, but color blind and stupid they are not.

I'm empathetic toward your plea for a day where race or the color of one's skin won't matter anymore, but look around you and tell me what you see, and you live in Berlin, Germany?

Finally, I just want to say, to me, Panafricanism is about a united front of Black people around the world fighting back against racism and oppressive dictators that have and still are using it to destroy us and take from us. Simunyaa, if you're being genuine and believe that you're not among those, then I would suggest that you move out the way and make it known by fighting the ones who are--primarily your own people. Panafricanists have it covered on this end, because we already know that a new day IS coming!

Peace!
 
first of all: thanx to all of u for ur reply.

i found ur answer most moving, PANAFRICA. proberbly because i felt the greatest opposition to what i wrote.

u said: "white involvement did not chnge the need for black power." i dont know if i got that one right. but i quite aggee with u that absolutly nothing can substidize the empowerment of black people and that panafricanism is a black movement. however, i dont think that whites must totally excluded from it. it will raise the chance of an violent outrages (like in zimbabwe). if u want to pay everything back done by whites to blacks than u r right in striving for this. however, if u want a world of peace everybodies ideas should be considered by a movement. may those inputs come by blcks, whites, brown, yellow, red or purples with green spots. i can understand u when u r not satisfied with the outcome in south africa. it is neither a "rainbownation" nor did the situation of blacks improve rapitly. but look at zimbabwe: the country is in a terrible condition and the people r suffering more than before the policy against the white farmers started. i am on ur side when u want to take back what is urs. but be careful to prevent a drawback.

u also wote that i should not tell blacks how to classify. did i ever do so? my statement was that i do NOT KNOW what it is like to be black. i cannot say how racism against blacks or whites differ in term of what it means to the individual. here i can only tell u about discussions i had with afrogermans. some were of the oppinion that eg not letting a black into a club is more imoral than beating up a white. i do not want to judge because the issue of history and clective memory is stronger than what i can bring up from my personal and very limited point of view.

u mentioned that u did not find the story well written. and proberbly without knowing u touched my most sensitive point and one of the reasons why i posted my story to this forum: english is not my mother language, i cannot write in english very well. my german? i meet new people, talk to them. and after 15 minutes they will ask me: where r u from? i dont speak my mother's laguage which is portuegees. i speak a few african anguages but none to an extent that i could call it fluent. the country i call home does not accept me as her child. panafrica, were do i belong?
and with this feeling i know i am not alone. there r many, many others. one of my best friends here in germany has a gambian father but has never been to africa. we used to sit down together and discuss who of us is more german and more african. we never found an answer. neither of us is fully at home anywere in the world but she at least have "african blood".

if i want to understand blacks, i have to read and to listen. that's true. but please allow me to also be heared every now and than.



NNQueen,

what a nicely packed but envy reply! i know that many blacks could tell similar stories i just want to brake the "suscription of racial harrassment" to blacks. i think racism against blacks and whites can differ in many ways. but i would like to find out if it is still like that if u brake it down to an individual level. what do u think?

i think i made it clear already that i see a need for change and support the idea of panafricanism so this is cerlainly not "a group's imagination."

u also ask me who the enemy of the panafrican movement is? shouldnt u ask someone who regerds her-/himself as part of it?
two of ur statements i did not understand. firstly: "blacks r not colour blind nor stupid". i agree with u in both cases: a black person is as racist as any human being. but what do u mean by stupid? did i ever give the impression that i think so?
and then u ask me to get out of the way. how do u mean it? in whose way am i standing in ur oppinion?



dear DESTEE,

considering all african whites into the term panafricanism can be dangerous, as u can also see at the replies above. i dont think that most white africans would like it either. all whites sounds much better to me since humankind comes from africa. and with this we would be at a point were ur colour really does not matter anymore. however, for tis we still have a very, very long way to go.

there is one thing still i would like to put forward. u might regard urself as panafrican or not. but i dont think i say anything wrong by the theses that all of u want to be accepted as a equal part of the society in the usa (or whereever u come from). this is what i also whish for.
 

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