KWAME TURE: AFRICAN UNITY COMING SOON

On 29 June 1941, Stockley Carmichael was born in Trinidad before moving to the US at the age of 11. There, he would grow to become a revolutionary figure. In 1968, Carmichael adopted the name he is famously known for, Kwame Ture, in honour of his friends and political allies, the great pan-Africans, Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana's founding father and Guinea's Sekou Touré, encompassing his ideals, which connected the struggles of Black people in the US to the continent. 

For Ture, a founding member of the All-African People's Revolutionary Party, a revolution in the diaspora would have to be linked to a revolution - and the sovereignty of Africans - on the continent. 

In this clip, he offers a compelling perspective on the evolution of Pan-Africanism within the broader context of societal development. Drawing on his deep study of history, Ture observed that human societies typically follow a distinct pattern of growth: Beginning as families, expanding into clans and villages, then forming nations, and ultimately organising on a continent-wide scale. 

While this trajectory is common to all peoples, Ture argued that Africa’s path would accelerate significantly due to the disruptive forces of capitalism and colonialism. While imperialism violently interrupted Africa's natural progression, he argues, it also strengthened ‘the force and desire for continental unity.’ 

This week, we celebrate Kwame Ture as one of the greatest Pan-Africanists of the 20th century who left us blueprints on liberation and unity in the ongoing struggle for African self-determination and sovereignty.