This is the conclusion of a two part article
discussing the origin and development of African Liberation Day (ALD).
The month of May is very important in the
worldwide African Liberation Movement. During this month, throughout the
African World Community, African Liberation Day (ALD) is celebrated.
In Chicago, this historic occasion will be commemorated by a weekend of
African Liberation Day events, activities, and an African market on May
19th and 20th. This celebration will take place at The Legacy Theater located
at 12952 South Western Avenue.
On Friday evening May 19th we pay tribute
to the 75th Anniversary of the birth of Malcolm X beginning at 6:00 p.m.
On Saturday, May 20th there will be a special showing of the
movie Sankofa at 12:00 p.m. Dr. Leonard Jeffries of New York will be our
keynote speaker beginning at 3:00 p.m. and on Saturday evening Kwame Steve
Cobb, Chavunduka, Maggie Brown, Michael Ross, Keith M. Kelly, Sherrie Scott,
and others will perform. Show time begins at 7:00 p.m.
It is important that African Liberation
Day (ALD) be a vehicle to continue to highlight the problems, challenges
and the future of African people everywhere. The challenges facing
Africa and African people worldwide require that we remain dedicated to
the cause of Africa's redemption and liberation. One way we can continue
to showcase that dedication is to actively participate in all of the African
Liberation Day (ALD) activities in Chicago on Friday, May 19th
and Saturday, May 20, 2000.
The colonial period in Africa, just as
the enslavement of African people captured and brought to North America,
had a devastating impact on Africa and African people. African people did
not sit idly by. Just as we resisted our slave circumstances in America,
African people resisted their colonial condition. Pan-African meetings
were called to plot strategy to end colonial rule. The Garvey movement
and the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) galvanized African
people worldwide to embrace the idea of African independence under One
God, One Aim and One Destiny. The Garvey period in our history, more
than any other era, laid the foundation for what we now call African Liberation
Day.
African people began waging a battle to
reclaim their lands. This has been a long and bitter struggle. Resistance
to white supremacy and colonial domination took many shapes and forms.
The Pan-African meetings (1900-1945) provided a mechanism for a small group
of African leaders to plan and plot strategy for African freedom. The Garvey
movement of the 1920's brought the idea of African freedom and independence
to the masses of our people around the world. "Africa for the Africans
- At Home and Abroad," was a slogan that captured the spirit of African
people. This slogan gave a clear understanding of who we are as a people
and what we should be struggling for.
It was not until the early 1950's that
the first African country gained political independence in the movement
to reclaim Africa. That country was Ghana under the leadership of
Kwame Nkrumah who led the Ghanian people to their fight against British
colonialism. Shortly after this successful defeat of the British,
Sekou Toure led the people of Guinea towards their independence from French
colonialism. Right on the heels of this victory was the victory of Patrice
Lumumba and the people of the Congo who won the battle, for a brief moment,
against Belgium.
This independence movement sparked an onslaught
of African people reclaiming their territories and led to the formation
of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) in May 1963. (This is why we
celebrate ALD in May). It is interesting to note that the Civil Rights
movement in this country was sparked in Montgomery at approximately the
same time the independence movement turned from Civil Rights in the mid
1960's to Black Power. The re-identification with Africa and African people,
became a predominate discussion in the Black Liberation Movement during
the late 1960's and early 1970's.
The call for support of our brothers and
sisters fighting against the Portuguese in Angola, Mozambique and Guinea-Bissau
led to the formation of the African Liberation Day held in the country
on May 27, 1972 that attracted over 60,000 African people. African
Liberation Day has become an institution in America since that time. African
Liberation Day is a day when all Black people should come together. As
I have emphasized many times before, whether you were born in Ghana, Nigeria,
Liberia, Kenya, Ethiopia, South Africa, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Alabama,
Georgia, or on 47th Street in Chicago, as long as you are Black you are
an African with a common heritage and a common set of conditions. We must
continue to fight against racism and white supremacy wherever African people
live in the world.
The National Black United Front / NBUF,
Chicago Chapter, in conjunction with the Conscious Music Coalition, are
the sponsors of this weekend of African Liberation Day 2000 events, activities,
and African market on May 19th and 20th. For more information call: 708-389-9929,
773-268-7500, ext. 144, 773-667-7578, or708-293-0925.