SUGGESTED READING MATERIALS FOR YOUNG AFRICANISTS:
TOWARDS THE VICTORY OF THE AFRICAN RENAISSANCE
To empower properly to act as conscious activists for the
victory of the African Renaissance, the African youth must learn
the habit and discipline of reading, asking questions and daring
to challenge all supposedly “established truths”. The proposed
book list below should help in this regard.
Book [1] below poses the challenge to us always to understand
that history, even as an ‘academic’ discipline, is about the general
(multi-disciplinary) development of human society. This means
that we must constantly seek to understand human African and
global society in all its elements.
[1] The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte.
by Karl Marx
Written: December 1851 - March 1852
Source: Chapters 1 & 7 are translated by Saul K. Padover from the
German edition of 1869; Chapters 2 through 6 are based on the third
edition, prepared by Engels (1885), as translated and published by
Progress Publishers, Moscow, 1937;
First Published: First issue of Die Revolution, 1852, New York;
Online Version: Marx/Engels Internet Archive (marxists.org) 1995,
1999.
Book [2] tells an evocative story about land dispossession in
Scotland, which parallels land dispossession in South Africa, (and
representative of colonialism in general where such dispossession
took place). This illustrates the inherent ‘functioning’ of capital,
regardless of national boundaries. This emphasises the
international/universal role of ‘capital’ as the central driver of the
process of ‘globalisation’.
[2] The Highland Clearances.
by John Prebble
Paperback, 336 pages
Published May 31st 1969 by Penguin Books Ltd (first published 1963).
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Book [3] – about the ‘African Diaspora’ in Haiti – combines a
definitive account about Africa’s place in the then ‘global
political economy’, the role and place of slavery in this
regard, and, of great importance, the role and struggles of
the Africans once they were integrated in the world
economy, (through the African slaves), in helping to
determine world history and the shape of human society.
(NB: The majority of the slaves who rose in rebellion
successfully to establish the very first Black Republic were
first generation African slaves!)
[3] The Black Jacobins: Toussaint L'Ouverture and the San
Domingo Revolution.
by C.L.R. James
Paperback, 2nd Edition, 448 pages
Published October 23rd 1989 by Vintage (first published 1938)
ISBN 0679724672 (ISBN13: 9780679724674)
Book [4] follows this account immediately, graphically to relate a
contemporary story about Haiti. It tells the story that Haiti, given
its historic place in the centuries-old ‘globalisation’ process, has,
to this day, continued to pay a price for having served in the
vanguard in the struggle to achieve genuine African liberation.
[4] Damming the Flood: Haiti and the Politics of Containment.
by Peter Hallward
Paperback: 512 pages
Publisher: Verso; New Updated Edition (December 27, 2010)
ISBN-10: 1844674665
ISBN-13: 978-1844674664
The preceding books tell stories that principally relate to the rest
of the world, outside of Africa. Book [5] brings us back to Africa. It
tells a story both about the real meaning of the European
colonisation of Africa and the related protracted struggles of the
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African people to defeat the effort to deprive them of their
independence.
[5] Frontiers: The Epic of South Africa's Creation and the Tragedy
of the Xhosa People.
by Noel Mostert
Hardcover, 1355 pages
Published June 23rd 1992 by Knopf (first published January 1st 1992)
ISBN 0679401369 (ISBN13: 9780679401360)
Among others, Book [5] tells an inspiring African story of
resistance to colonialism. However, it also reports the African
defeat in this regard. The historical drama contained in Book [6]
presents a creative-realistic imagination of the continuation of the
anti-colonial struggle detailed in Book [5], in the context of the
African society created in the aftermath of the victory of the
colonial powers. It is an outstanding work of creative ‘fictional
realism’.
[6] God's Bits of Wood.
Ousmane Sembène
Heinemann, 1995 - Fiction
Book [7] relates immediately to the above/foregoing. It tells both
a particular and generic story abut how the dominant world
powers would act and have acted specifically to perpetuate African
dependence, in their interest.
[7] In Search of Enemies: A CIA Story.
by John Stockwell
Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: W. W. Norton; 1st edition (March 17, 1984)
ISBN-10: 0393009262
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It is important that Africans, victims of the machinations
described in Book [7], must understand how those who would
deny us our independence operate. Book [8] provides a vivid
example in this regard, which includes the confirmation of the
constancy of the strategic objectives of the major Western
powers, regardless of which political party is in power.
[8] PRICE OF POWER.
by Seymour Hersh
Paperback, 700 pages
Published May 28th 1984 by Summit Books (NY) (first published 1983)
ISBN 0671506889 (ISBN13: 9780671506889)
All the preceding Books inevitably present us, the Africans, as
‘victims’ of history. This is based on an assertion that has
informed European historiography for a long time that we are
objects rather than makers of history. However, Book [7] presents
a well-argued African case, advanced by the modern African
intelligentsia, that as Africans we have been makers of history. It
is important that as Africans we understand this reality.
[7] Civilization or Barbarism: An Authentic Anthropology.
by Cheikh Anta Diop, Yaa-Lengi Meema Ngemi (Translation)
Paperback, 464 pages
Published April 1st 1991 by Chicago Review Press (first published
January 1st 1991)
ISBN 1556520484 (ISBN13: 9781556520488)
The scientific works carried out by the African intelligentsia as
represented in Book [7] above has been confirmed by some
among the European intelligentsia. Book [8] confirms the
historically vital finding that African thought, etc, is a central
contributor to the evolution of all human society, including
inherited modern thought and practice.
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Thus can we, the Africans, legitimately claim not only that Africa is
the very (generic/genetic) origin of all humanity, but also that we
played our own rightful role in terms of defining human behaviour
in all its important elements.
[8] Black Athena: The Afroasiatic Roots of Classical Civilization
(The Fabrication of Ancient Greece 1785-1985, Volume 1)
Paperback.
by Martin Bernal
Published by: Rutgers University Press
E-ISBN-13: 9780813555331
E-ISBN-10: 0813555337
Page Count: 608
Publication Year: 1987
In the end, all our important studies, as reflected above, which
seek to ‘understand the world’, must empower us to make a
determination about how we must act to change this ‘world’, for
our benefit as Africans. This means that we must understand
ourselves and our own responsibility to ourselves, precisely as
makers of history. Book [9] challenges us to undertake this task,
acting honestly in this regard. Building on this, we have a duty
further to expand our understanding of our reality, ourselves and
our possibilities.
[9] The Wretched of the Earth.
by Frantz Fanon
Grove Press, 1967.
First published: in Great Britain by Macgibbon and Kee in 1965.
The eminent Pan-Africanist, Kwame Nkrumah, speaking for his
generation, made bold to present Africa with many strategic tasks.
These are contained in Book [10] below, all of which we must
examine closely. In this regard, relating to their relevance and
practicality, we must make every effort to understand everything
which would give us the possibility to achieve sustained success.
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[10] Africa Must Unite (New World Paperbacks)
by Kwame Nkrumah
Paperback: 229 pages
Publisher: International Publishers (June 1970)
ISBN-10: 0717802965
Having understood everything we will, based on a study of all the
preceding Books, we must answer and act on the question – what
is to be done to advance the Renaissance of Africa?
Thus will it be possible for us practically to answer the question – what is
our imperative, progressive and people-centred agenda, and what African
forces exist that must lead the quest informed by the all-Africa and mass
demand – Africa Must Unite!
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