Drs. Arikana and Amos Wilson, Pan-Africanists

By Peter Grear, co-publisher

By Peter Grear, co-publisher
Sixty years ago, as a sophomore at Fayetteville State University, I was a player in the Civil
Rights Movement (CRM) of the 60s. Students were aggressively fighting against segregation
and 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-African activist meeting the challenge through his leadership in Strategic
Black Empowerment Training (SBET), a Pan-African educational collective. SBET teaches and
promotes the ideas and writings of Dr. Amos Wilson, who died. 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 Pan-Africans view Dr. Arikana as the most consequential Black
leader worldwide since the Rev. Martin Luther King in America and Kwame Nkrumah in Africa.
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). GDNs 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, Black people 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.

Building relationships with Black student leaders is 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 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 GDNs 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