The Pan-African Pantheon: Prophets, Poets, and Philosophers

Description

This collection of lively biographical essays examines historical and contemporary Pan-Africanism as an ideology of emancipation and unity. The volume covers thirty-six major figures, including well-known Pan-Africanists such as W.E.B. Du Bois, Marcus Garvey, Amy Ashwood Garvey, C.L.R. James, George Padmore, Kwame Nkrumah, Frantz Fanon, Steve Biko, and Thabo Mbeki, as well as popular figures not typically identified with mainstream Pan-Africanism such as Maya Angelou, Mariama Ba, Buchi Emecheta, Miriam Makeba, Ruth First, Wangari Maathai, Wole Soyinka, Derek Walcott, V.Y. Mudimbe, Leopold Senghor, Malcolm X, Bob Marley, and Fela Anikulapo-Kuti. The book explores the history and pioneers of the movement; the quest for reparations; politicians; poets; activists, as well as Pan-Africanism in the social sciences, philosophy, literature, and its musical activists. With contributions from a diverse and prominent group of African, Caribbean, and African-American scholars, The Pan-African Pantheon is a comprehensive and diverse introductory reader for specialists and general readers alike. -- .

Adekeye Adebajo is Director of the Institute for Pan-African Thought and Conversation at the University of Johannesburg. He was Executive Director of the Centre for Conflict Resolution (CCR) in Cape Town between 2003 and 2016. Adebajo served on United Nations missions in South Africa, Western Sahara, and Iraq, and was Director of the Africa Programme at the International Peace Institute (IPI) in New York. -- .

Winner of the 2022 ASR Prize for Best Africa-focused Anthology or Edited Collection, sponsored by Cambridge University Press. 'The Pan-African Pantheon, edited by Adekeye Adebajo, provides in one remarkable volume over three dozen well-crafted essays on seminal pan-Africanist thinkers, activists, and organizers. [...] The essays provide original analyses written by scholars from multiple disciplines brought together in a deep investigation of Pan-Africanism's trajectory over the last 150 years.' ASR Prize selection committee 'The volume is impressive with enjoyable and engaging chapters which will be of rich value to newcomers to the area but also rewarding for seasoned followers of Pan-African thought and practice.' William Ackah, Ethnic and Racial Studies (July 2022) 'A major contribution to our understanding of the life and work of key figures in the history of Pan-Africanism, presented by scholars from Africa, the Caribbean, the US and Europe.' Hakim Adi, Professor of the History of Africa and the African Diaspora, University of Chichester 'This volume constitutes a remarkable piece of scholarship, given its conceptualisation, scope of thematic coverage, and fascinating range of eminent African and Diaspora personalities, encompassing the scope and promise for building a new "people-driven Pan-Africanism". This is a volume deserving to be read and re-read, reflected on, widely disseminated and debated - it is indeed a tour de force.' Patrick Gomes, former Secretary-General of the Organisation of African, Caribbean, and Pacific States 'This book makes a unique contribution to the literature on Pan-Africanism. It not only analyses Pan-Africanism as a school of thought, but connects this intellectual thinking to the lived experiences of those who practiced and promoted this worldview. Such a rich interrogation of Pan-Africanism as a school of thought is both timely, and will stand the test of time on bookshelves for years to come.' Krista Johnson, Associate Professor of African Studies, Howard University 'This book is a must-read for students and practitioners interested in the political, socio-economic, and cultural autonomy and self-reliant development of exiled Africans and Africans on the continent.' Kwame Akonor, Associate Professor of Political Science, Seton Hall University 'We must celebrate Adebajo's objective, through this book, to contribute "substantively to efforts to transform curricula", an ongoing exercise in South Africa known as the "decolonisation of education". Journal of Renaissance Studies -- .