abolitionmedia<p><strong>ELN: A Look Towards Africa</strong></p><p></p> <span><span class="">In</span> <span class="">Africa</span>, <span class="">tectonic</span> <span class="">movements</span> <span class="">of</span> <span class="">liberation</span> <span class="">and</span> <span class="">decolonization</span> <span class="">are</span> <span class="">again</span> <span class="">being</span> <span class="">felt</span>. <span class="">In</span> <span class="">the</span> <span class="">African</span> <span class="">Sahel</span>, <span class="">Burkina</span> <span class="">Faso</span>, <span class="">Mali</span>, <span class="">Niger</span>, <span class="">Chad</span> <span class="">and</span> <span class="">Senegal</span> <span class="">have</span> <span class="">expelled</span> <span class="">France</span> <span class="">permanently</span>.</span> <span><span class="">On</span> <span class="">the</span> <span class="">continent</span>, <span class="">the</span> <span class="">pan</span>–<span class="">Africanist</span> <span class="">agenda</span> <span class="">of</span> <span class="">the</span> 1960<span class="">s</span> <span class="">is</span> <span class="">being</span> <span class="">revived</span>. <span class="">In</span> <span class="">November</span> 2024, <span class="">the</span> <span class="">historic</span> “<span class="">Conference</span> <span class="">in</span> <span class="">Solidarity</span> <span class="">with</span> <span class="">the</span> <span class="">Peoples</span> <span class="">of</span> <span class="">the</span> <span class="">Sahel</span>” <span class="">was</span> <span class="">held</span> <span class="">in</span> <span class="">Niger</span>, <span class="">organized</span> <span class="">by</span> <span class="">the</span> <span class="">Pan</span> <span class="">African</span> <span class="">Secretariat</span> (<span class="">PAT</span>) <span class="">and</span> <span class="">the</span> <span class="">Organization</span> <span class="">of</span> <span class="">the</span> <span class="">Peoples</span> <span class="">of</span> <span class="">West</span> <span class="">Africa</span> (<span class="">WAPO</span>), <span class="">under</span> <span class="">the</span> <span class="">slogan</span>: “<span class="">For</span> <span class="">anti</span>–<span class="">imperialist</span> <span class="">unity</span>, <span class="">peace</span> <span class="">and</span> <span class="">friendship</span> <span class="">among</span> <span class="">peoples</span>.” <span class="">PAT</span> <span class="">and</span> <span class="">WAPO</span> <span class="">are</span> <span class="">two</span> <span class="">great</span> <span class="">engines</span> <span class="">driving</span> <span class="">the</span> <span class="">pan</span>–<span class="">African</span> <span class="">liberation</span> <span class="">project</span>.</span> <span><span class="">It</span> <span class="">is</span> <span class="">placed</span> <span class="">on</span> <span class="">the</span> <span class="">agenda</span> <span class="">in</span> <span class="">the</span> <span class="">revolutionary</span> <span class="">and</span> <span class="">national</span> <span class="">liberation</span> <span class="">movements</span> <span class="">of</span> <span class="">the</span> <span class="">world</span>, <span class="">calling</span> <span class="">us</span> <span class="">to</span> <span class="">a</span> <span class="">dialogue</span> <span class="">and</span> <span class="">coordination</span> <span class="">with</span> <span class="">this</span> <span class="">African</span> <span class="">libertarian</span> <span class="">reality</span>.</span> <span><span class="">Malcolm</span> <span class="">X</span>, <span class="">on</span> <span class="">his</span> <span class="">trip</span> <span class="">to</span> <span class="">Africa</span> (1964) <span class="">having</span> <span class="">renounced</span> <span class="">the</span> <span class="">Nation</span> <span class="">of</span> <span class="">Islam</span>, <span class="">which</span> <span class="">preached</span> <span class="">black</span> <span class="">nationalism</span>, <span class="">discovered</span> <span class="">affinities</span> <span class="">and</span> <span class="">identities</span> <span class="">with</span> <span class="">revolutionary</span> <span class="">leaders</span>, <span class="">some</span> <span class="">of</span> <span class="">whom</span> <span class="">were</span> <span class="">not</span> <span class="">black</span>, <span class="">such</span> <span class="">as</span> <span class="">Ahmed</span> <span class="">Ben</span> <span class="">Bella</span> <span class="">of</span> <span class="">Algeria</span> <span class="">and</span> <span class="">Gamal</span> <span class="">Abdel</span> <span class="">Nasser</span> <span class="">of</span> <span class="">Egypt</span>. <span class="">By</span> <span class="">finding</span> <span class="">deeper</span> <span class="">identities</span> <span class="">with</span> <span class="">African</span> <span class="">revolutionary</span> <span class="">leaders</span>, <span class="">and</span> <span class="">not</span> <span class="">just</span> <span class="">with</span> <span class="">Black</span> <span class="">Africa</span>, <span class="">he</span> <span class="">further</span> <span class="">sharpened</span> <span class="">contradictions</span> <span class="">with</span> <span class="">the</span> <span class="">Nation</span> <span class="">of</span> <span class="">Islam</span> <span class="">leadership</span>, <span class="">especially</span> <span class="">Elijah</span> <span class="">Muhammed</span>.</span> <span><span class="">Then</span> <span class="">Malcolm</span> <span class="">X</span> <span class="">would</span> <span class="">profess</span> <span class="">his</span> <span class="">identity</span> <span class="">and</span> <span class="">admiration</span> <span class="">for</span> <span class="">revolutionary</span> <span class="">leaders</span> <span class="">of</span> <span class="">Our</span> <span class="">America</span>, <span class="">such</span> <span class="">as</span> <span class="">Fidel</span> <span class="">Castro</span> <span class="">and</span> <span class="">Ché</span> <span class="">Guevara</span>, <span class="">questioning</span> <span class="">whether</span> <span class="">the</span> <span class="">strategic</span> <span class="">thing</span> <span class="">was</span> “<span class="">being</span> <span class="">black</span>” <span class="">or</span> “<span class="">being</span> <span class="">revolutionary</span>.”</span> <span><span class="">This</span> <span class="">dilemma</span> <span class="">persists</span> <span class="">today</span> <span class="">for</span> <span class="">the</span> <span class="">Afro</span>–<span class="">Colombian</span> <span class="">movement</span>, <span class="">a</span> <span class="">powerful</span> <span class="">force</span> <span class="">for</span> <span class="">emancipation</span> <span class="">and</span> <span class="">transformation</span> <span class="">in</span> <span class="">Colombia</span>, <span class="">which</span> <span class="">has</span> <span class="">managed</span> <span class="">to</span> <span class="">significantly</span> <span class="">influence</span> <span class="">the</span> <span class="">nation’s</span> <span class="">political</span> <span class="">agenda</span>. <span class="">Certainly</span>, <span class="">the</span> <span class="">project</span> <span class="">of</span> <span class="">emancipation</span> <span class="">in</span> <span class="">America</span> <span class="">is</span> <span class="">inconceivable</span> <span class="">and</span> <span class="">becomes</span> <span class="">unviable</span> <span class="">without</span> <span class="">black</span> <span class="">and</span> <span class="">indigenous</span> <span class="">liberation</span>. <span class="">That</span> <span class="">is</span> <span class="">why</span> <span class="">we</span> <span class="">should</span> <span class="">turn</span> <span class="">our</span> <span class="">gaze</span> <span class="">to</span> <span class="">Africa</span>.</span> <span class=""><span>However</span></span><span>, </span><span class=""><span>on</span></span> <span class=""><span>France’s</span></span> <span class=""><span>two</span></span> <span class=""><span>visits</span></span> <span class=""><span>to</span></span> <span class=""><span>Africa</span></span><span>, </span><span class=""><span>he</span></span> <span class=""><span>failed</span></span> <span class=""><span>to</span></span> <span class=""><span>engage</span></span> <span class=""><span>in</span></span> <span class=""><span>dialogue</span></span> <span class=""><span>with</span></span> <span class=""><span>the</span></span> <span class=""><span>ongoing</span></span> <span class=""><span>African</span></span> <span class=""><span>liberation</span></span> <span class=""><span>organizations</span></span> <span class=""><span>and</span></span> <span class=""><span>processes</span></span><span>. </span><span class=""><span>In</span></span> <span class=""><span>Ghana</span></span> <span class=""><span>he</span></span> <span class=""><span>met</span></span> <span class=""><span>with</span></span> <span class=""><span>the</span></span> <span class=""><span>president</span></span> <span class=""><span>who</span></span> <span class=""><span>openly</span></span> <span class=""><span>promotes</span></span> <span class=""><span>the</span></span> <span class=""><span>conspiracy</span></span> <span class=""><span>against</span></span> <span class=""><span>the</span></span> <span class=""><span>countries</span></span> <span class=""><span>of</span></span> <span class=""><span>the</span></span> <span class=""><span>African</span></span> <span class=""><span>Sahel</span></span><span>. </span><span class=""><span>He</span></span> <span class=""><span>also</span></span> <span class=""><span>appeared</span></span> <span class=""><span>at</span></span> <span class=""><span>a</span></span> <span class=""><span>press</span></span> <span class=""><span>conference</span></span> <span class=""><span>with</span></span> <span class=""><span>an</span></span> <span class=""><span>Ashanti</span></span> <span class=""><span>chieftain</span></span><span>, </span><span class=""><span>notorious</span></span> <span class=""><span>in</span></span> <span class=""><span>Ghana</span></span> <span class=""><span>for</span></span> <span class=""><span>his</span></span> <span class=""><span>corruption</span></span> <span class=""><span>and</span></span> <span class=""><span>starring</span></span> <span class=""><span>in</span></span> <span class=""><span>politics</span></span><span>. </span><span class=""><span>Socialist</span></span> <span class=""><span>revolutionaries</span></span> <span class=""><span>in</span></span> <span class=""><span>Ghana</span></span> <span class=""><span>watched</span></span> <span class=""><span>with</span></span> <span class=""><span>sadness</span></span> <span class=""><span>that</span></span> <span class=""><span>a</span></span> <span class=""><span>black</span></span> <span class=""><span>leader</span></span> <span class=""><span>from</span></span> <span class=""><span>Latin</span></span> <span class=""><span>America</span></span><span>, </span><span class=""><span>from</span></span> <span class=""><span>a</span></span> <span class=""><span>left</span></span><span>–</span><span class=""><span>wing</span></span> <span class=""><span>party</span></span><span>, </span><span class=""><span>showed</span></span> <span class=""><span>no</span></span> <span class=""><span>affinity</span></span> <span class=""><span>with</span></span> <span class=""><span>the</span></span> <span class=""><span>African</span></span> <span class=""><span>left</span></span><span>.</span> <span><span class="">Black</span> <span class="">identity</span> <span class="">and</span> <span class="">the</span> <span class="">struggle</span> <span class="">against</span> <span class="">structural</span> <span class="">racism</span> <span class="">is</span> <span class="">and</span> <span class="">has</span> <span class="">been</span> <span class="">a</span> <span class="">key</span> <span class="">point</span> <span class="">in</span> <span class="">the</span> <span class="">unity</span> <span class="">building</span> <span class="">of</span> <span class="">the</span> <span class="">African</span> <span class="">American</span> <span class="">diaspora</span>. <span class="">It</span> <span class="">has</span> <span class="">been</span> <span class="">a</span> 500-<span class="">year</span> <span class="">struggle</span>, <span class="">fraught</span> <span class="">with</span> <span class="">unimaginable</span> <span class="">sacrifice</span> <span class="">and</span> <span class="">suffering</span>. <span class="">Black</span> <span class="">identity</span> <span class="">against</span> <span class="">the</span> <span class="">systemic</span> <span class="">racism</span> <span class="">of</span> <span class="">the</span> <span class="">white</span> <span class="">and</span> <span class="">mixed</span> <span class="">world</span> <span class="">is</span> <span class="">legitimate</span> <span class="">and</span> <span class="">necessary</span>.</span> <span><span class="">The</span> <span class="">difficulty</span> <span class="">lies</span> <span class="">in</span> <span class="">the</span> <span class="">fact</span> <span class="">that</span> <span class="">black</span> <span class="">identity</span> <span class="">is</span> <span class="">not</span> <span class="">the</span> <span class="">epicenter</span> <span class="">of</span> <span class="">the</span> <span class="">liberation</span> <span class="">project</span> <span class="">in</span> <span class="">Africa</span>, <span class="">but</span> <span class="">the</span> <span class="">decolonization</span>, <span class="">the</span> <span class="">confrontation</span> <span class="">with</span> <span class="">imperialism</span> <span class="">and</span> <span class="">the</span> <span class="">revolutionary</span> <span class="">transformation</span> <span class="">of</span> <span class="">its</span> <span class="">societies</span>.<span class="">Africa</span> <span class="">is</span> <span class="">not</span> <span class="">a</span> <span class="">monolithic</span> <span class="">continent</span>; <span class="">there</span> <span class="">are</span> <span class="">pro</span>–<span class="">imperialists</span> <span class="">and</span> <span class="">anti</span>–<span class="">imperialists</span>, <span class="">as</span> <span class="">well</span> <span class="">as</span> <span class="">left</span> <span class="">and</span> <span class="">right</span>; <span class="">also</span> <span class="">exploitative</span> <span class="">bourgeois</span> <span class="">and</span> <span class="">exploited</span> <span class="">workers</span>. <span class="">These</span> <span class="">factors</span> <span class="">are</span> <span class="">decisive</span> <span class="">in</span> <span class="">the</span> <span class="">African</span> <span class="">liberation</span> <span class="">struggle</span>.</span> <span><span class="">At</span> <span class="">COP</span> 16, <span class="">held</span> <span class="">in</span> <span class="">November</span> 2024 <span class="">in</span> <span class="">Cali</span>, <span class="">there</span> <span class="">was</span> <span class="">a</span> <span class="">clear</span> <span class="">misunderstanding</span> <span class="">between</span> <span class="">the</span> <span class="">Afro</span>–<span class="">Colombian</span> <span class="">movement</span> <span class="">and</span> <span class="">the</span> <span class="">delegates</span> <span class="">from</span> <span class="">African</span> <span class="">countries</span>, <span class="">precisely</span> <span class="">for</span> <span class="">that</span> <span class="">reason</span>: <span class="">black</span> <span class="">identity</span> <span class="">is</span> <span class="">not</span> <span class="">decisive</span> <span class="">in</span> <span class="">the</span> <span class="">African</span> <span class="">struggle</span>, <span class="">as</span> <span class="">it</span> <span class="">is</span> <span class="">taken</span> <span class="">in</span> <span class="">the</span> <span class="">struggles</span> <span class="">of</span> <span class="">our</span> <span class="">America</span>.</span> <span><span class="">Here</span> <span class="">emerges</span> <span class="">the</span> <span class="">debate</span> <span class="">and</span> <span class="">tensions</span> <span class="">that</span> <span class="">have</span> <span class="">existed</span> <span class="">between</span> <span class="">identity</span> <span class="">struggles</span> <span class="">and</span> <span class="">revolutionary</span> <span class="">struggles</span>, <span class="">where</span> <span class="">the</span> <span class="">latter</span> <span class="">focus</span> <span class="">on</span> <span class="">class</span> <span class="">identity</span>, <span class="">between</span> <span class="">exploited</span> <span class="">versus</span> <span class="">exploiter</span>.</span> <span><span class="">The</span> <span class="">unity</span> <span class="">of</span> <span class="">class</span> <span class="">and</span> <span class="">the</span> <span class="">unity</span> <span class="">of</span> <span class="">identity</span> <span class="">need</span> <span class="">not</span> <span class="">quarrel</span>, <span class="">for</span> <span class="">there</span> <span class="">are</span> <span class="">multiple</span> <span class="">points</span> <span class="">of</span> <span class="">encounter</span>. <span class="">The</span> <span class="">meeting</span> <span class="">of</span> <span class="">the</span> <span class="">two</span> <span class="">in</span> <span class="">a</span> <span class="">strategic</span> <span class="">project</span> <span class="">of</span> <span class="">emancipation</span> <span class="">is</span> <span class="">vital</span> <span class="">to</span> <span class="">achieve</span> <span class="">the</span> <span class="">revolutionary</span> <span class="">transformation</span> <span class="">we</span> <span class="">desire</span>.</span> <span><span class="">The</span> <span class="">black</span> <span class="">and</span> <span class="">the</span> <span class="">Indian</span> <span class="">in</span> <span class="">the</span> <span class="">Petro</span> <span class="">government</span> <span class="">are</span> <span class="">interesting</span> <span class="">topics</span> <span class="">for</span> <span class="">a</span> <span class="">current</span> <span class="">debate</span>.</span> <em><strong>Comandante Antonio García</strong></em> Source:<a href="https://eln-voces.net/?p=14390" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"> ELN Voces</a> <p><a href="https://abolitionmedia.noblogs.org/?p=17846" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">abolitionmedia.noblogs.org/?p=</span><span class="invisible">17846</span></a></p><p><a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://abolitionmedia.noblogs.org/tag/africa/" target="_blank">#africa</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://abolitionmedia.noblogs.org/tag/burkina-faso/" target="_blank">#burkinaFaso</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://abolitionmedia.noblogs.org/tag/chad/" target="_blank">#chad</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://abolitionmedia.noblogs.org/tag/decolonization/" target="_blank">#Decolonization</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://abolitionmedia.noblogs.org/tag/mali/" target="_blank">#mali</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://abolitionmedia.noblogs.org/tag/niger/" target="_blank">#niger</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://abolitionmedia.noblogs.org/tag/sahel/" target="_blank">#sahel</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://abolitionmedia.noblogs.org/tag/senegal/" target="_blank">#Senegal</a></p>