Africa Day
Posted May 7th, 2008 by Addisalem
African Liberation Day
Mwaura Kaara
May 6, 2008
On April 15, 1958, in the city of Accra, Ghana, African leaders and political activists gathered at the first Conference of Independent African States. This conference was attended by representatives of the governments of Ethiopia, Ghana, Liberia, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia, The United Arab Republic (which was the federation of Egypt and Syria) and representatives of the National Liberation Front of Algeria and the Union of the Peoples of Cameroon. This conference was significant in that it represented the first Pan-African Conference held on African soil.
The Conference called for the founding of African Freedom Day, a day to "mark each year the onward progress of the liberation movement, and to symbolize the determination of the People of Africa to free themselves from foreign domination and exploitation."
Between 1958 and 1963 the nation/class struggle intensified in Africa and the world. Seventeen countries in Africa won their independence and 1960 was proclaimed the Year of Africa. Further advances were also made with the defeat of U.S. imperialism in Asia and the Caribbean.
On the 25th of May 1963, the First Conference of Independent African States was held in the city of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Thirty-two leaders of independent African states attended this meeting and it is at this historic meeting that the leaders founded the Organization of African Unity (OAU). They renamed Africa Freedom Day "African Liberation Day" and changed its date to May 25th. By then more than two thirds of the continent had achieved independence from colonial rule.
African Liberation Day (ALD) emerged out of the conscious struggle of African People against oppression. It marks the onward progress of the liberation movement in Africa, and symbolizes the determination of the people of Africa to free themselves from foreign domination and exploitation". This important, historic event has been observed and institutionalized in various places worldwide, every year since its inception.
Though ALD began on the continent of Africa, people of African descent and their allies celebrate ALD throughout the world. It has become an expression of African peoples' self-determination, and solidarity with other progressive struggles. This year is the 50th anniversary of ALD.
May 25th 2008 marks 50 years of the celebration of Africa Liberation Day and the founding of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) now African Union (AU). The African Liberation Day emerged out of the conscious struggle of African people against oppression and is celebrated every year to mark the onward process of the liberation movement and to symbolize the determination of the people of Africa to free themselves from foreign domination and exploitation.
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Time to celebrate our differences
What is missing in our road to freedom is the lack of understanding and respect for other ways of life. For some reason we have found demeaning each other and labeling things we don't understand as wrong acceptable.
Instead of celebrating when we were "liberated" and calling our forefathers "heroes" lets become the "heroes" and celebrate and embrace our diversity.
It is we who make history useless!!
A people without roots a people in limbo. The roots pretty much define who we are; where we are from; and where we are going. This is what we define as history.
In essence we are beings because we can put our history into perspective,learn from it and build where need be, this juistifies to our mobility and our socialisation.
How then can the history, that accords to us the aspirations of self determination be useless. We might not all agree on the thought and methodology of the comrades before us, but the question of Unity in Africa and emanicipation from any form of opression was their guiding light, and it is for that we commemorate the African Liberation Day.
We therefore cannot afford to be ignorant and dismissive of the energies put to highlighting the African question, and at the same time pride to want to belong to a Pan African agenda and highlight the quest for a free Africa.
African Liberation Day reminds us that the struggle is protracted, we have won many battles, but the war is far from over. We respect and acknowlegde the effort and energies put to this cause, some sealed by blood, and it is on this we build and forge our engagement with a clarity of who our enemy is.
We therefore cannot manage to dismiss, who we are and what we are, that is clearly defined by our history.
good history though useless
thanx for reminding us this potential history. but do you think this matters to we young african? did africa forced independence or it was time to change from direct to indirect colonialism through imperialism. I think Africa is now facing colonialists acts from the black colonisers. we need to revist our history
if this guys known as africa liberators, led the movenment to liberate africa, why did they fail to unite the liberated africa? why didnt the bother to fight fo economic as well as culture independence?
we failed to join contries even those which the colonial territory borders clossed through the people of same background.
we need new true independence now