Drs. Arikana and Amos Wilson, Pan-Africanists Part of an Ongoing Series – GDN Exclusive

Baba Afam is a Pan-Africanist activist

Sixty years ago, as a sophomore at Fayetteville State University, I was a “bit” player in the Civil Rights Movement (CRM) of the ’60s. Students were aggressively fighting against segregation, discrimination, and for economic equity. Also, during the ’50s and ’60s, colonized African countries were winning their independence from their European colonizers and seeking economic equity. Blacks won critical civil rights victories in the US and liberation in Africa, the Motherland. Sadly, the last sixty years have proven that the worldwide economic exploitation of Black people is alive and well.

Despite setbacks, Blacks in the diaspora and the Motherland continue pursuing economic liberation. This iteration of our struggle for economic justice has unique strengths unavailable during the sixties. Two of those strengths are the current awareness of the past sixty years of exploitation and the fact that we live in a world of instant communication. Another plus is the coalition of activists that recognize the problem and are organizing to end it.

Baba Afam is a Pan-Africanist activist meeting the challenge through his leadership in Strategic Black Empowerment Training (SBET), a Pan-African educational collective. SBET is teaching and promoting the ideas and writings of Dr. Amos Wilson, deceased. Dr. Wilson wrote Blueprint for Black Power and is recognized as one of the most significant Pan-African thinkers since Marcus Garvey. We are grateful that Baba has agreed to become a regular guest on GDN podcasts.

During a recent interview with GDN, Baba, a trained psychologist, he compared Dr. Wilson with former African Union Ambassador to the US, Arikana Chihombori-Quao, MD, as it related to their Pan-African beliefs. Many view Dr. Arikana as the most consequential Black leader worldwide since the Rev. Martin Luther King and Kwame Nkrumah. Baba recognized the need for new student activists to complete the unfinished business of the CRM, economic liberation. He is among many Black leaders, students, and others who recognize the fact that Blacks in the diaspora will not be liberated until Blacks in the motherland are liberated and that to free the body, one must first liberate the mind.

Greater Diversity News (GDN) provides ongoing coverage of the efforts to achieve worldwide economic equity for Africans, defined as persons born in Africa and persons with Africa born in them. The effort is spearheaded by Dr. Arikana, founder of the African Diaspora Development Institute (ADDI). GDN’s coverage, articles, podcast, and live streams will provide context to help our readers clearly understand the centuries-old issue of the economic exploitation of Black people, the meaning of Pan-Africanism, leading Pan-African thinkers, scholarly books, articles and podcasts of past and present leaders. Examples include Dr. Arikana, author of Africa 101; Dr. Amos Wilson, author of Blueprint for Black Power; Marcus Garvey, founder of the Back to Africa and Black Is Beautiful movement,

We will help define student activists’ roles, including their importance to the CRM, strategic support for the Economic Liberation of Africa and the Diaspora (ELA), and ways to institutionalize current issues and activism.

GDN will need support from all who recognize the fact that Blacks are the most disrespected people in the world, and until we are respected in Africa, we will not be respected anywhere else. We will introduce many readers to the Berlin Conference of 1884-1885, redlining, segregation, and The Harvard Report for the Columbia Records Group. Our concerned readers must study the issues we introduce for a better understanding and engagement. We need comments and ideas on our articles and podcasts. The challenge to liberate Africans will be long and difficult. When we surfaced the issue in GDN, we posed the question that everyone should consider as their leading question, “Why does Africa, the richest continent in the world, have the poorest, most disrespected people in the world.”

To achieve economic equity, GDN urges universal support and membership in ADDI. We believe every Black student should be a member of ADDI and an advocate for economic liberation.

GDN holds regular meetings to discuss books and issues related to economic equity. Our meetings are generally open to interested persons. We are discussing From Ghetto to Community by Billy Vance and moving on to The Harvard Report for the Columbia Record Group.

We are building relationships with Black student leaders essential to all we hope to accomplish. We urge Black Student Unions and other organizations to create standing committees for voter rights and economic equity. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) is a component of economic equity.

Our articles and podcasts will feature opinion leaders who are making a difference. Because of the complexities of our challenge, understanding and engagement will be evolutionary. We need volunteer writers, interviewers, and guests to support our project.

To follow GDN’s ongoing coverage of the ELA, please sign up for its free three times weekly eNews publication @ www.greaterdiversity.com, and subscribe to our YouTube podcasts @greaterdiversitynews9210

The following link is to several short interviews GDN conducted at ADDI’s Afro Festival this past September. Our production quality is improving every day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGdYVQIEfys&list=PLyI-jNWKVBMylMNZRL0b-RKDJ9dPSs_Qv