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Date: Tue, 2 May 1995 12:59:32 PCTReply-To: H-NET List for World
History Sender: H-NET List for World History From: "Daniel A.
Segal" Organization: Pitzer CollegeSubject: Africa in the World
conf. England, Oct 1995To: Multiple recipients of list H-WORLD
The 1945 Pan-African Congress and itsAftermathThe Manchester
Civic Celebration, October 13th to 15th,1995By Simon
Katzenellenbogen2 May 1995The Fifth Pan-African Congress, held in
Manchester in 1945, now belongs to world history.Dubois, Padmore,
Appiah, Nkrumah, Kenyatta - all were outstanding delegates. Seen
inretrospect, the Pan- African Congress has won the reputation of a
pace-maker fordecolonization in Africa and in the British West
Indies. It marked a significant advance inthe participation of
workers in the Pan African cause. It demanded an end to colonial
ruleand an end to racial discrimination, while it carried forward
the broad struggle againstimperialism, for human rights and
equality of economic opportunity. The Pan-AfricanCongress manifesto
itself positioned the political and economic demands of the
Congresswithin a new world context of international co-operation,
arising from `the grim ordeal ofthe war of liberation against
Fascism'.
The fiftieth anniversary, coming in October 1995, calls for a
major civic celebration atManchester. This celebration is to
commemorate the global importance of the Fifth Pan-African
Congress. It is also to recognise what has too long been ignored -
the contributionmade by the people and the city of Manchester, most
prominently by the city's people ofAfrican and Afro-Caribbean
origins.
Plans for this civic celebration promise a great variety of
public events. Some will be part ofa conference including keynote
addresses, workshops and public debates at ManchesterTown Hall.
Others, will take place at the city's universities, colleges and
museums, includeexhibitions, a research project of archival and
oral history, and a wide range of community-based activities. Still
others will be artistic events performed at leisure and cultural
centres.All, taken as a whole, will illuminate the visions and the
realities of Pan-Africanism in thepresent, no less than in the
past.
An effort will be made to strike a balance, representing
artistic, popular and intellectualmovements, both in the continent
and also across the far flung African diaspora in the
widerworld.
At the heart of the conference titled, Pan-African Directions,
will be sessions with papersdistributed in advance. Some will
recall the themes of the Fifth Congress sessions, whichwere: `The
Colour Problem in Britain'; `Imperialism in North and West Africa';
`Oppressionin South Africa'; `Ethiopia and the Black Republics';
`The Problem in the Caribbean';`Women in the West Indies'.
These issues are still with us. Conscious of that, we plan
sessions on: The Diaspora, Pan-Africanism and Liberation Movements,
Racism and Black People in Britain, Women in theStruggle, Trade
Unions, and Pan-Africanism approaching the Twenty-First Century.
This isnot intended to be merely an academic meeting, but rather to
involve as wide a range ofpeople as possible. Less formal sessions
will debate many of the same themes in workshopscentered on panel
discussions, but without formal papers. Our overall concern is
tounderstand the past, reflect on the present, and consider the
future of Pan- Africanism.
For further information, contact:
Simon KatzenellenbogenDepartment of History Tel: 44
(0)161-275-3112University of Manchester Fax: 44
(0)161-275-3098Oxford Road e-mail: [email protected], M13
9PLUnited Kingdom
