Dr. John Henrik Clarke informed us that; “if we can’t run a candy store in Harlem, we can’t run an economy in Africa.“ So we can’t wait to reach Africa’s shores before we engage in Revolution, Statecraft, Institution Building, and Pan-African Unification.
My main issue with Blacks in the US is returning to Africa is that they generally return there seeking to escape the ravages of White Domination, instead of returning to continue and advance the Liberation Struggle. Too many Blacks from the West arrive in Africa (and the Caribbean) and behave just like the Whites; using their Western Status and Resources to take advantage of the suppressed economic conditions of Africa and the rest of the 3rd World. That shit ain’t cool.
African is not a playground or sanctuary, not even for the African Diaspora. It is a land under neocolonial oppression that needs its people to Struggle relentlessly for its total and permanent liberation.
Also, many “conscious” Blacks in the West return to Africa as “saviors,” or “leaders” instead of student, workers, and followers of those who’ve been there building long before they arrived.
If an African of the Diaspora returns home to Africa to better contribute to the Liberation of all Africans, both at home and abroad; and they subordinate their agendas to the Pan-Africans/Revolutionist who precede them; I’m all for it.
On the other hand, I see the dispersal of Africans across the globe as (potential) assets to Africa and African Liberation, if we coordinated our efforts and rallied around common agendas and tactics, then there would be no place on earth where Africans couldn’t dwell without power and dignity.
A global system of oppression requires a global liberation struggle; that’s unavoidable. We don’t have to be in Africa to fight for Africa; we can be anywhere on the globe and advance the interest of Africa and Africans.
Like Speech said “Africa is inside me,” Africa follows us everywhere. Or like Che said; “the guerrilla carries his nation in the soil between his toes.” We left Africa, but Africa never left us; so where our feet rest and our power is exerted, that’s Africa; from an ideological standpoint.
