Africa & the Caribbean: our future is bound together.

Last year, the African Union decided that South Africa should host the first African Union-Caribbean Diaspora Summit in 2008. In preparing for the summit, various regional Diaspora conferences are being held this year in Europe, the Caribbean and the Americas to collate views for the big one in 2008. At the regional conference held in London recently, stirring speeches and papers about African unity and the importance of Africa working together, with its Diaspora spread across the world, brought lumps to many throats. As the African Union meets in Ghana to consider moving African unity to higher levels, New African publishes extracts from some of the speeches and papers given at the London conference.

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The keynote address of the London regional conference was given by Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, South Africa's foreign minister, explaining "why the conference is needed?". Here are extracts:

This conference is part of the preparations in Europe, America, Caribbean and Africa for the ministerial and civil society conferences in October 2007 and eventually the African and African Diaspora Summit in 2008. Thus, this conference is necessary to revive and strengthen the spirit of pan-Africanism and to strengthen and profile the African Diaspora wherever they are to:

* Act in unison in order to deal with the challenges of globalisation.

* Challenge the imbalance of power.

* Ensure the rebirth of the continent. Africans, against all odds, have always scored victories; they have always turned "life into a playground of possibilities". The African rebirth will be moral, peaceful and will lead to a better world.

The conference will have to focus on an action plan that will both accelerate socio-economic development and increase our access to markets, both regionally and internationally.

The people of African descent have to show the world a new world order where diversity is celebrated and harnessed as a collective strength rather than a cause for discrimination. I do believe that indeed those who have suffered and who have been undervalued can create a new beautiful world for all humanity.

The African leadership having arrived at the conclusion that the OAU was no longer adequate to deal with the challenges of today, requested South Africa to host the launch of the African Union 2002. After the launch, the continental body decided to recognise the Diaspora as the Sixth Region of the African Union.

Thereafter, a number of conferences of Africa and the Diaspora intellectuals took place in Trinidad, Senegal and Brazil. These gatherings were an effort to consolidate what was started by the Africans in the Diaspora in 1900, putting the signposts of the journey ahead that we are collectively undertaking to take our destiny in our hands, understanding that our future is bound together.

In 2006, the AU decided that South Africa host the first Summit of Africa and the African Diaspora. This was accepted with humility recalling the sentiment expressed by President Mandela that when South Africa appears on the agenda, it should be to discuss what South Africa's contribution should be to the rebirth of the continent.

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I am happy that since the beginning of time, Africans wherever they have been, whatever they have been, whatever the circumstances, have ensured that they do not find themselves at the Heaven's Gates, unable to account for the lives they had lived. The Africans had always taken for granted the necessity to advance development and contribute to the greater wellbeing of self, society and the environment.

The civilisation that Africans collectively produced were to be reflected in the architecture of the city of One Hundred Gates, the Pyramids of Egypt, the Temples of Ethiopia, the City of Carthage in Tunisia, and the many prehistoric ruins in other parts of Africa, the sculptures of Benin, Ancient Kingdoms of Ghana and Mali, the Makhondis of Mozambique and the rich paintings of Kgalagadi. Africans participated in human development to the greater good of humanity and deliberate subordination of the individual.

We state it as a matter of historical fact and not an act of self praise that Africa enjoyed a golden age of trade, commerce, education, flourishing of the arts and craftsmanship. These contributions were made because we always understood that life was a playground of possibilities, a laboratory of intelligence and freedom and that living is a place of secular miracles.

We carried this belief even when our cities were destroyed as evidenced when Rome ordered the destruction of Carthage, turned such a beautiful city into ruins. And cursing the strong men and women of Africa, they were condemned into slavery in the most cruel and inhuman manner in order to build their capitalist economies in the name of trade.

In the words of the Guyanese scholar, Walter Rodney, in How Europe Underdeveloped Africa: "The process by which captives were obtained on African soil was not trade at all. It was through warfare, trickery, banditry and kidnapping."

It was social violence and destruction, many died on the route and "the massive loss of the African labour force was made more critical because it was composed of the most able-bodied young men and young women."

Africans on the continent and the Diaspora shared a common bond of suffering; they also together celebrated the victories against their enslavers and oppressors--albeit shortlived.

They inspired each other in the celebrated victory in Haiti in 1804 with the establishment of the first black republic, the Battle of Isandlwana in 1879 that saw the mighty army of the British empire vanquished, the Battle of Adwa in 1896 where the Italians suffered humiliating defeat by the Ethiopians. These are some of the instances that inspired Africans towards their liberation and led to powerful cultural movements and bonds such as Ethiopianism and later Rastafarianism.

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It was in London in 1900 that the early stirrings of pan-African unity took place when the Trinidadian barrister, Henry Sylvester Williams, organised the first meeting of the Pan-African Congress. The legendary W. E. B. Du Bois in his address, "To the Nations of the World", made his famous statement:

"In the metropolis of the modern world, in this the closing year of the 19th century, there has been assembled a congress of men and women of African blood, to deliberate solemnly upon the present situation and outlook of the darker races of mankind. The problem of the 20th century is the problem of the colour line, the question as to how far differences of race--which show themselves chiefly in the colour of the skin and the texture of the hair--will thereafter be made the basis of denying to over half the world the right of sharing, to utmost ability, the opportunities and privileges of modern civilisation."

People like Marcus Garvey were committed to the celebration of black historical achievements, but were also concerned about linking the Diaspora to the continent. Writers such as George Padmore, later C. L. R. James and even Frantz Fanon contributed immensely to the analysis of the African condition and outlining the circumstances for liberation.

It was, therefore, not surprising that the first country to impose sanctions against Apartheid South Africa was Jamaica, because they had accepted that the African and the African Diaspora needed to act in unison and in solidarity for the freedom of Africans wherever they are.

Of course, the Africans in the continent and in the Diaspora were strengthened by the tireless efforts by persons like Michael Manley, Sir John Compton, lots of personalities and many ordinary people in the Caribbean and the Diaspora.

Of course, having declared the 21st century as the African Century, it is clear that we have to mobilise all people on the continent and the Diaspora because we have to wage a titanic battle, a titanic battle of ideas, a battle against poverty and underdevelopment, a battle for the emancipation of women and empowerment of our youth.

It has to be a battle of ending the margin-alisation of lots of Africans in the Diaspora. It has to be a titanic battle to reclaim our cultural heritage. The fact that it is easier to buy CDs of an African artist in Europe and America than in Africa must come to an end.

The implementation of the programme action of the World Conference Against Racism will need to marshal all our forces in Africa and in the Diaspora. The question of reparations, which should be measures aimed at reversing the devastating consequences of racism and slavery in history must necessarily extend beyond the narrow understanding of reparations as individual financial compensation of victims.

There is no doubt that slavery and apartheid were crimes against humanity. The nature of the damage caused by slavery and colonialism is complex and manifold; it involves the wholesale destruction of peoples and groups, the erosion and in some case theft of social, economic and human capital and the destruction of the social fabric of entire peoples.

Finally, I would like to quote from an unlikely source, a Bahai scholar who wrote about diversity: "Consider the flowers of a garden, it would be said that though different in kind, colour, form and shape, yet, inasmuch as they are refreshed by the waters of one spring, revived by the breath of one wind, invigorated by the rays of one sun, this diversity increases their charm and adds unto their beauty. How unpleasing to the eye if all flowers and plants, the leaves and blossoms, the fruits, the branches and the trees were all the same shape and colour. Diversity of hues, form and shape enriches and adorns the garden and heighten the effect thereof.

I do believe that indeed those who have suffered and who have been undervalued can create a new beautiful world for all humanity."

It was the turn of the foreign minister of Jamaica, G. Anthony Hylton, representing Jamaica and the Caribbean, to respond; and he took no prisoners. Here are extracts:

We gather here today in the heart of one of the countries, in fact the main country, responsible for the Dispersion of African people over the last 500 years. We began yesterday on South African territory, independent South African territory, in that centre of African exploitation--London.

The symbolism of this occasion should not be lost on us. South Africa's independence closed the circle of the establishment of independent states in post-colonial Africa which begun with Ghana--50 years ago this year.

Africa is again politically independent. Africans, and people of African descent everywhere, are again free to plan and to determine their destiny and the destiny of their continent.

The summit in South Africa for which we plan is one of the African Union's responses to the historic 2005 South Africa-African Union-Caribbean Diaspora Conference in Kingston, Jamaica, and before that in Trinidad and Tobago, to, in the words of the organisers, "affirm our identity as one people, because of our common origins".

We compliment the African Union on its decision to carry the process forward at the level of a summit. We commend the South African government, for the leadership it has given to this project from its inception, and its tireless work in organising the series of meetings in Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America, Europe and the USA, as well as its own national consultative conference.

The consultative process, nationally and across the key geographic regions, in preparation for the summit and other initiatives such as the second "Conference of Intellectuals from Africa and the Diaspora" held in Brazil in July 2006, will provide rich sources of materials for political leaders to craft an appropriate plan and strategy going forward.

The summit and the preparatory process provide us with a unique opportunity, at a historic point in time, to reflect on the fundamental purpose of Africa and the Caribbean getting together.

This purpose must be about planning and engendering development; engendering a process of development in these two unique areas of the world, which will provide for the greater rootedness and the restoration of the confidence of the African people.

Our forefathers had such confidence and autonomy over 500 years ago; the pan-Africanists struggled valiantly to restore it at a time of external domination of the continent. But now, with independent states all across the continent of Africa and the Caribbean, we have a unique opportunity to re-establish it and more importantly to sustain it permanently for the future.

That should be one of the goals of our getting together. Achievement will require that our leaders and we as a people ask ourselves the hard questions and take responsibility.

Bob Marley's plea: "Africans must liberate Zimbabwe" must be internalised in our actions and broadened to "Africans must develop Africa". Develop Africa economically, socially, politically and environmentally and provide the opportunity for our people to live in unity, peace and prosperity.

We must create the conditions where our people will not be satisfied and will not be forced, in the words of Marcus Mosiah Garvey, "to drink the dregs of the cup of human progress" since that "will not demonstrate our fitness as a people". We need to create the conditions where they can be equal partners at the table.

The transatlantic slave trade, during which over 10 million Africans were uprooted and dispersed in the Americas, is recognised as one of, if not, the worst violation of human rights in modern history.

The international community designated 25 March 2007 as the International Day for the Commemoration of the 200th Anniversary of the Abolition of the Transatlantic Slave Trade.

The slave trade gave birth to the African Diaspora. The key official objective behind the observance of the bicentennial celebrations was two-fold. On the one hand, it was about educating people about the legacies of slavery which remain throughout Africa and its Diaspora and, on the other hand, to highlight the greatness of our African ancestry in talent, fortitude, brilliance and creativity.

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These are important objectives, but for Africans and African leaders and for us, there must be a deeper significance. One aspect must be how to use this education and cultural reawakening to propel real development in Africa and in independent developing countries such as those in the Caribbean.

A second must be to encourage our leaders and us, as a people, to confront squarely conditions on the continent and in several of our independent countries which have fuelled a movement of Africans and people of African descent over the last 50 years numerically comparable, and in cases, under conditions no less treacherous than the slave trade.

To borrow a phrase from my esteemed colleague, the foreign minister of South Africa, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, we must "take our destiny into our own hands" and create a "new Africa". This as we celebrate with Ghana 50 years of independence.

That, I suggest, is the fundamental process: we must begin to plan and engage. We cannot achieve that objective of creating a new Africa as a divided people however.

We will only create that new Africa, which is our historic destiny, if we heed and put into practice the admonition of Bob Marley:

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  "Africa Unite, Africa Unite/ Unite for the benefit of your people /
Africa Unite / Africa, you're my forefather cornerstone / Unite for the
Africans abroad, Unite for the Africans a yard / Africa Unite."

Unity in Africa requires unity in each of its independent parts. We do not have that today. Yet, that unity in Africa and in its constituent parts is important for the people in Africa; it is important for those in the Diaspora who want to move "right out a Babylon", and, it is important for those in the Diaspora who want to remain in Babylon or in their independent states and make a contribution to African development.

It is a motivating and mobilising condition. We recognise that the AU has begun to take a hold of this process.

The African/Caribbean connection, which is solid and vibrant; the unity, solidarity and hope that we share in confronting the myriad of economic and social challenges faced by our respective regions; and the actions which we agreed in the inaugural South Africa-African Union-Caribbean Diaspora Conference gives us a solid basis on which to advance.

That is the foundation; and the environment is propitious. We must now begin to address governance issues where they militate against the achievement of our fundamental objectives.

The Caribbean Community and Common Market (Caricom) countries have established a single market and are on the way to establishing their single economy. They have recognised that they need to incorporate a dimension to address governance issues. The African Union is in place and the New Partnership for Africa is being strengthened.

The recommendations from the Kingston meeting for an African Caribbean Commission, for observer status to Caricom in the Africa Union and for the Africa Union in Caricom, and for the strengthening of South-South Cooperation, are being pursued.

There are myriad opportunities for working together in the international arena. We already work closely under the umbrella of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group in relation to Europe, the Group of 77 (G77) in the United Nations, the Commonwealth, and the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).

We need now to bring these together and to advance in a more urgent and systematic manner in that process. We need to:

(1) Conceptualise the development of our two regions and how to work in a systematic and sustained manner to achieve their development;

(2) Determine how best to use the Diaspora in that development process bearing in mind for example, that people of African descent from the Caribbean now belong to a region of independent states responsible for their own development, and that Africa itself has been sub-divided into many independent nation states.

(3) Identify opportunities for a common agenda to assist in driving our development, bearing in mind that in the global economy, as currently structured, we are all comparatively weak and near the bottom of the ladder. Competition among ourselves will not get any of us up the ladder.

We must use the preparatory process here in London, in Addis Ababa, in Brasilia, The Bahamas, Brussels, and New York to discuss candidly these fundamental issues even as we discuss practical themes and projects in areas such as cooperation in education, technology and training.

I reiterate that the Diaspora has a vital part to play in any effort for real development in Africa and the Caribbean. The AU must, therefore, be commended for recognising the importance of its Diaspora in the organisation's Constitutive Act.

We also commend the Caribbean for the effort being made at the individual country level and in Caricom to engage the Caribbean Diaspora in our development dialogue and to understand in a structured manner the needs, issues and challenges of our Diaspora communities.

We have to recognise that the vast majority of people in the Diaspora will not necessarily leave their current homes, but are willing to contribute. We have to work with them where they are and modern technology makes this practical and feasible.

Jamaica has evolved a structured arrangement for the involvement of its Diaspora across the world. We have, among other things, a biennial Diaspora conference in Jamaica due next year, a broad-based Diaspora advisory board and have taken the decision to establish a joint select Parliamentary Committee on Diaspora matters.

These complement organised Diaspora committees and groups in major countries with large Jamaican communities such as here in London. They are increasingly becoming a network. We are prepared to share this experience and to learn from others.

I reiterate Caricom's commitment to continued dialogue in the African/Caribbean Diaspora conferences. I remain confident that, together, we can advance our own development.