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138-471: According to legend, the song was used by a conductor of the Underground Railroad , called Peg Leg Joe , to guide some fugitive slaves, and many of the lyrics are simply cartographic directions to advise the runaways on their escape route. While the song may possibly refer to some lost fragment of history, the origin and context remain a mystery. A more recent source challenges the claim that

276-587: A "beacon of African and Third-World militancy," and would come to inspire fights against colonialism around the world. The festival attracted thousands from African states and the African Diaspora, including the Black Panthers. It represented the application of the tenets of the Algerian revolution to the rest of Africa and symbolized the reshaping of the definition of pan-African identity under

414-611: A Mexican port from New Orleans , Louisiana and Galveston, Texas . There were some who transported cotton to Brownsville, Texas on wagons and then crossed into Mexico at Matamoros . Sometimes someone would come 'long and try to get us to run up north and be free. We used to laugh at that. —Former slave Felix Haywood, interviewed in 1937 for the federal Slave Narrative Project. Many traveled through North Carolina, Arkansas, Alabama, Louisiana, or Mississippi toward Texas and ultimately Mexico. People fled slavery from Indian Territory (now Oklahoma). Black Seminoles traveled on

552-500: A charred bullfrog. Other runaways escaped into the swamps to wash off their scent. Most escapes occurred at night when the runaways could hide under the cover of darkness. Another method freedom seekers used to prevent capture was carrying forged free passes. During slavery, free Blacks showed proof of their freedom by carrying a pass that proved they were free. Free Blacks and enslaved people created forged free passes for freedom seekers as they traveled through slave states. Despite

690-540: A destination where they were able to remain free." It was known as a railroad, using rail terminology such as stations and conductors, because that was the transportation system in use at the time. The Underground Railroad did not have a headquarters or governing body, nor were there published guides, maps, pamphlets, or even newspaper articles. It consisted of meeting points, secret routes, transportation, and safe houses , all of them maintained by abolitionist sympathizers and communicated by word of mouth , although there

828-508: A fiercer psychological energy and political assertion ... that would unsettle social and political (power) structures...in the Americas". Advocates of pan-Africanism—i.e. "pan-Africans" or "pan-Africanists"—often champion socialist principles and tend to be opposed to external political and economic involvement on the continent. Critics accuse the ideology of homogenizing the experience of people of African ancestry. They also point to

966-701: A forged passport from a Kentucky judge. The Spanish refused to return them back to the United States. More freedom seekers traveled through Texas the following year. Enslaved people were emancipated by crossing the border from the United States into Mexico, which was a Spanish colony into the nineteenth century. In the United States, enslaved people were considered property. That meant that they did not have rights to marry and they could be sold away from their partners. They also did not have rights to fight inhumane and cruel punishment. In New Spain , fugitive slaves were recognized as humans. They were allowed to join

1104-676: A former slave, were agents on the Underground Railroad and helped other slaves escape from slavery crossing the Mississippi River. Routes were often purposely indirect to confuse pursuers. Most escapes were by individuals or small groups; occasionally, there were mass escapes, such as with the Pearl incident . The journey was often considered particularly difficult and dangerous for women or children. Children were sometimes hard to keep quiet or were unable to keep up with

1242-743: A gender-conscious strand of Pan-Africanism that was focused on the realities faced by African-American women, separate from those of African-American men. Both Moore and Abubakari were prominent members of the Universal Association of Ethiopian Women in Louisiana, which engaged in anti-colonial activities, welfare rights, and Pan-Africanist activism. In 1972, Moore was a featured speaker at the All-Africa Women's Conference in Dar es Salaam where she encouraged solidarity among women across

1380-438: A government raid conducted in response to her son Fela Kuti's activism, led to her being thrown from a second storey window. She died from her injuries in 1978. Since the onset of the digital revolution, the internet and other similar media have facilitated the growth of many core pan-African principles by strengthening and increasing connections between people across the diaspora. Although internet penetration rates remain below

1518-411: A group. In addition, enslaved women were rarely allowed to leave the plantation, making it harder for them to escape in the same ways that men could. Although escaping was harder for women, some women were successful. One of the most famous and successful conductors (people who secretly traveled into slave states to rescue those seeking freedom) was Harriet Tubman , a woman who escaped slavery. Due to

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1656-547: A message was sent to the next station to let the station master know the escapees were on their way. They would stop at the so-called "stations" or "depots" during the day and rest. The stations were often located in basements, barns, churches, or in hiding places in caves. The resting spots where the freedom seekers could sleep and eat were given the code names "stations" and "depots", which were held by "station masters". "Stockholders" gave money or supplies for assistance. Using biblical references, fugitives referred to Canada as

1794-557: A part of the foodways of Black Americans called soul food . The majority of freedom seekers that escaped from slavery did not have help from an abolitionist. Although there are stories of black and white abolitionists helping freedom seekers escape from slavery, many escapes were unaided. Other Underground Railroad escape routes for freedom seekers were maroon communities . Maroon communities were hidden places, such as wetlands or marshes, where escaped slaves established their own independent communities. Examples of maroon communities in

1932-494: A political activist approach to pan-Africanism as he championed the "quest for regional integration of the whole of the African continent". This period represented a "golden age of high pan-African ambitions"; the continent had experienced revolution and decolonization from Western powers and the narrative of rebirth and solidarity had gained momentum within the pan-African movement. Nkrumah's pan-African principles intended for

2070-566: A religious pan-Africanist worldview appeared in the form of Ethiopianism . In London , the Sons of Africa was a political group addressed by Quobna Ottobah Cugoano in the 1791 edition of his book Thoughts and Sentiments on the Evil of Slavery . The group addressed meetings and organised letter-writing campaigns, published campaigning material and visited parliament . They wrote to figures such as Granville Sharp , William Pitt and other members of

2208-584: A route from Natchitoches, Louisiana to Monclova , Mexico in 2010 that is roughly the southern Underground Railroad path. It is also believed that El Camino Real de los Tejas was a path for freedom. It was made a National Historic Trail by President George W. Bush in 2004. Some journeyed on their own without assistance, and others were helped by people along the southern Underground Railroad. Assistance included guidance, directions, shelter, and supplies. Black people, black and white couples, and anti-slavery German immigrants provided support, but most of

2346-789: A single " race " or otherwise sharing cultural unity. Pan-Africanism posits a sense of a shared historical fate for Africans in the Americas , the West Indies , and on the continent, itself centered on the Atlantic trade in slaves, African slavery , and European imperialism . Pan-African thought influenced the establishment of the Organisation of African Unity (since succeeded by the African Union ) in 1963. The African Union Commission has its seat in Addis Ababa and

2484-616: A southwestern route from Florida into Mexico. Going overland meant that the last 150 miles or so were traversed through the difficult and extremely hot terrain of the Nueces Strip located between the Nueces River and the Rio Grande . There was little shade and a lack of potable water in this brush country. Escapees were more likely to survive the trip if they had a horse and a gun. The National Park Service identified

2622-718: A time. Free and enslaved black men occupied as mariners (sailors) helped enslaved people escape from slavery by providing a ride on their ship, providing information on the safest and best escape routes, and safe locations on land, and locations of trusted people for assistance. Enslaved African-American mariners had information about slave revolts occurring in the Caribbean, and relayed this news to enslaved people they had contact with in American ports. Free and enslaved African-American mariners assisted Harriet Tubman in her rescue missions. Black mariners provided to her information about

2760-613: A union between the Independent African states upon a recognition of their commonality (i.e. suppression under imperialism). Pan-Africanism under Nkrumah evolved past the assumptions of a racially exclusive movement associated with black Africa, and adopted a political discourse of regional unity In April 1958, Nkrumah hosted the first All-African Peoples' Conference (AAPC) in Accra , Ghana. This Conference invited delegates of political movements and major political leaders. With

2898-747: A vague program for a "New Africa," modeled on the New Negro Movement articulated by Alain Locke . Outside his writings, Azikiwe actively participated in pan-African politics, promulgating intellectually, in person around the Black Atlantic from West Africa and the Caribbean to the United States and western Europe . The Fifth Pan-African Congress was a significant gathering, which brought together anti-colonial activists from

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3036-671: A wide framework for legislation across Africa. Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti (FRK) was born in 1900 and studied in England in 1922. She returned to her home town of Abeokuta , in the Ogun state region of Nigeria , where she began her extensive work in Nigerian and international activism. Her achievements were unprecedented: being the first woman with a top-ranking position in a leading political party (the National Council of Nigeria and

3174-603: Is a tri-color flag consisting of three equal horizontal bands of (from top-down) red , black and green . The UNIA formally adopted it on August 13, 1920, during its month-long convention at Madison Square Garden in New York . Variations of the pan-African colours have been applied to create flags in various countries and territories in Africa and the Americas to represent Black Nationalist ideologies. Among these are

3312-468: Is also a report of a numeric code used to encrypt messages. Participants generally organized in small, independent groups; this helped to maintain secrecy. People escaping enslavement would move north along the route from one way station to the next. "Conductors" on the railroad came from various backgrounds and included free-born blacks , white abolitionists, the formerly enslaved (either escaped or manumitted ), and Native Americans. Believing that slavery

3450-403: Is seen as an endeavour to return to what is deemed by its proponents as singular, traditional African concepts about culture, society, and values. Examples of this include Léopold Sédar Senghor 's Négritude movement, and Mobutu Sese Seko 's view of Authenticité . An important theme running through much pan-Africanist literature concerns the historical links between different countries on

3588-413: Is vital to economic, social, and political progress, it aims to "unify and uplift" people of African ancestry. At its core, pan-Africanism is a belief that "African people, both on the continent and in the diaspora , share not merely a common history, but a common destiny." Pan-Africanist intellectual, cultural, and political movements tend to view all Africans and descendants of Africans as belonging to

3726-495: The Journal of Popular Culture . Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was used by freedom seekers from slavery in the United States and was generally an organized network of secret routes and safe houses. Enslaved Africans and African Americans escaped from slavery as early as the 16th century and many of their escapes were unaided, but the network of safe houses operated by agents generally known as

3864-466: The Canada–U.S. border . Freedom seekers (runaway slaves) foraged, fished, and hunted for food on their journey to freedom on the Underground Railroad. With these ingredients, they prepared one-pot meals (stews), a West African cooking method. Enslaved and free Black people left food outside their front doors to provide nourishment to the freedom seekers. The meals created on the Underground Railroad became

4002-536: The Detroit River . Thomas Downing was a free Black man in New York and operated his Oyster restaurant as a stop on the Underground Railroad. Freedom seekers (runaway slaves) escaping slavery and seeking freedom hid in the basement of Downing's restaurant. Enslaved people helped freedom seekers escape from slavery. Arnold Gragstone was enslaved and helped runaways escape from slavery by guiding them across

4140-696: The Fifth Pan-African Congress . Amy Jacques Garvey used her platform to spread Pan-Africanism globally and used her position as editor for the Negro World to write a column called "Our Women and what they think", dedicated to black women. Claudia Jones was another pan-Africanist. In order to fight against racism towards black people in Britain, Jones set up the West Indian Gazette , which sought to cover topics such as

4278-675: The Great Cypress Swamp in southern Sussex County, Delaware . African Americans escaping slavery were able to hide in swamps, and the water washed off the scent of enslaved runaways making it difficult for dogs to track their scent. As early as the 18th centuries, mixed blood communities formed. In Maryland , freedom seekers escaped to Shawnee villages located along the Potomac River . Slaveholders in Virginia and Maryland filed numerous complaints and court petitions against

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4416-554: The Mexican–American War of the 1840s, captured and returned fleeing enslaved people to their slaveholders. The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 made it a criminal act to aid fleeing escaping enslaved people in free states . Similarly, the United States government wanted to enact a treaty with Mexico so that they would help capture and return bonds-people. Mexico, however, continued their practice to allow anyone that crossed their borders to be free. Slave catchers continued to cross

4554-594: The Mississippi River near St. Louis, Missouri to the free state of Illinois. To assist with the escape were white antislavery activists and an African American guide from Illinois named "Freeman." However, the escape was not successful because word of the escape reached police agents and slave catchers who waited across the river on the Illinois shore. Breckenridge, Burrows and Meachum were arrested. Prior to this escape attempt, Mary Meachum and her husband John,

4692-585: The Ohio River for their freedom. William Still , sometimes called "The Father of the Underground Railroad", helped hundreds of slaves escape (as many as 60 a month), sometimes hiding them in his Philadelphia home. He kept careful records, including short biographies of the people, that contained frequent railway metaphors. He maintained correspondence with many of them, often acting as a middleman in communications between people who had escaped slavery and those left behind. He later published these accounts in

4830-972: The Pan-African Parliament has its seat in Midrand , Johannesburg . Pan-Africanism stresses the need for "collective self-reliance". Pan-Africanism exists as a governmental and grassroots objective. Pan-African advocates include leaders such as Toussaint Louverture , Jean-Jacques Dessalines , Henri Christophe , François Duvalier , Aimé Césaire , Haile Selassie , Jomo Kenyatta , Edward Wilmot Blyden , Nnamdi Azikiwe , Patrice Lumumba , Julius Nyerere , Robert Sobukwe , Ahmed Sékou Touré , Kwame Nkrumah , King Sobhuza II , Robert Mugabe , Thomas Sankara , Kwame Ture , Dr. John Pombe Magufuli , Muammar Gaddafi , Walter Rodney , Yoweri Kaguta Museveni , grassroots organizers such as Joseph Robert Love , Marcus Garvey , and Malcolm X , academics such as W. E. B. Du Bois , Anténor Firmin and others in

4968-590: The colonial militia . After King Charles II of Spain proclaimed Spanish Florida a safe haven for escaped slaves from British North America, they began escaping to Florida by the hundreds from as far north as New York . The Spanish established Fort Mose for free Blacks in the St. Augustine area in 1738. In 1806, enslaved people arrived at the Stone Fort in Nacogdoches, Texas seeking freedom. They arrived with

5106-454: The diaspora . Pan-Africanists believe that solidarity will enable the continent to fulfil its potential to independently provide for all its people. Crucially, an all-African alliance would empower African people globally. The realization of the pan-African objective would lead to "power consolidation in Africa", which "would compel a reallocation of global resources, as well as unleashing

5244-680: The trans-Appalachian west . During the colonial ear in New Spain and in the Seminole Nation in Florida, African Americans and Indigenous marriages occurred. Beginning in the 16th century, Spaniards brought enslaved Africans to New Spain , including Mission Nombre de Dios in what would become the city of St. Augustine in Spanish Florida . Over time, free Afro-Spaniards took up various trades and occupations and served in

5382-745: The white abolition movement, as well as King George III and the Prince of Wales , the future George IV . Modern pan-Africanism began around the start of the 20th century. The African Association , later renamed the Pan-African Association, was established around 1897 by Henry Sylvester Williams , who organized the First Pan-African Conference in London in 1900. The Pan-African Congress series of meetings followed 1900's First Pan-African Conference that

5520-526: The " Promised Land " or "Heaven" and the Ohio River , which marked the boundary between slave states and free states , as the " River Jordan ". Although the freedom seekers sometimes traveled on boat or train, they usually traveled on foot or by wagon, sometimes lying down, covered with hay or similar products, in groups of one to three escapees. Some groups were considerably larger. Abolitionist Charles Turner Torrey and his colleagues rented horses and wagons and often transported as many as 15 or 20 people at

5658-569: The "emancipation of the Continent; thus, a fight against colonial pressures on South Africa was declared and the full support of the FLN struggle in Algeria, against French colonial rule". Tom Mboya , a Kenyan trade unionist and anti-colonial activist, also attended this conference. This visit inspired him to increase the pace of political activity aimed at agitating for Kenya's independence. In

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5796-642: The "founding mother of Pan-Africanism". Jeanne Martin Cissé was instrumental in the independence of Guinea and in bringing African women's rights to the forefront of the colonial debate, for example influencing Guinea's protection of women's rights enshrined in its constitution. Central to Cissé's work was the idea that the UN could provide an international framework that would protect African girls and women from issues such as forced marriage . In response to rapidly increasing birth rates, while in government, she stressed

5934-415: The "passengers" were not sent on the usual train, but rather via Reading, Pennsylvania . In this case, the authorities were tricked into going to the regular location (station) in an attempt to intercept the runaways, while Still met them at the correct station and guided them to safety. They eventually escaped either further north or to Canada, where slavery had been abolished during the 1830s. To reduce

6072-581: The African Union continues to view this policy as a major step toward its goal of continent wide solidarity and integration. Although in an era of globalization and increased connectivity, challenges continue to persist that undermine the African Union's goal of continent wide solidarity. Many of these challenges have persisted for decades with some including inconsistent treaty implementation, ineffective governance and continued involvement from foreign economic superpowers amongst others. Influence from

6210-643: The African continent and the Diaspora . Women such as Amy Ashwood Garvey and Amy Jacques Garvey helped to organise the Congress meeting and played a crucial role in the conferences. With the independence of Ghana in March 1957, Kwame Nkrumah was elected as the first Prime Minister and President of the State. Nkrumah emerged as a major advocate for the unity of Independent Africa. The Ghanaian President embodied

6348-615: The African liberation movements opposing apartheid and fighting Portuguese colonialism. In search of a united voice, in 1963 at an African Summit conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 32 African states met and established the Organisation of African Unity (OAU). The creation of the OAU Charter took place at this Summit and defines a coordinated "effort to raise the standard of living of member States and defend their sovereignty" by supporting freedom fighters and decolonisation. Thus,

6486-710: The All-African Peoples' Organisation (AAPO) had increased with the inclusion of the "Algerian Provisional Government (as they had not yet won independence), Cameroun, Guinea, Nigeria , Somalia and the United Arab Republic ". The Conference highlighted diverging ideologies within the movement, as Nkrumah's call for a political and economic union between the Independent African States gained little agreement. The disagreements following 1960 gave rise to two rival factions within

6624-403: The Americas and Europe . Pan-Africanism can be said to have its origins in the struggles of the African people against enslavement and colonization and this struggle may be traced back to the first resistance on slave ships—rebellions and suicides—through the constant plantation and colonial uprisings and the "Back to Africa" movements of the 19th century. Based on the belief that unity

6762-630: The Cameroons), the first woman to drive a car in Nigeria, and the first African woman to travel to the Eastern Bloc, visiting China and Russia during the Cold War . Her son, Fela Kuti , became a world-renowned musician and founder of the genre called Afrobeat , a political musical movement that was intensely Pan-African. Scholars who study the life of FRK and her son conclusively agree that she

6900-817: The Catholic Church and marry. They also were protected from inhumane and cruel punishment. During the War of 1812 , U.S. Army general Andrew Jackson invaded Spanish Florida in part because enslaved people had run away from plantations in the Carolinas and Georgia to Florida. Some of the runaways joined the Black Seminoles who later moved to Mexico. However, Mexico sent mixed signals on its position against slavery. Sometimes it allowed enslaved people to be returned to slavery and it allowed Americans to move into Spanish territorial property in order to populate

7038-570: The Congress to discuss the logistics of such a movement. The pre-existing Pan African Women's Organisation primarily consisted of the wives of heads of states, ministers, and other high-ranking women. In the United States , the term is closely associated with Afrocentrism , an ideology of African-American identity politics that emerged during the civil rights movement of the 1960s to 1970s. Although Pan-Africanism called for unity between all those of African ancestry, it missed out almost half of these people by overlooking women's contribution. In

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7176-566: The Mexican military. Pan-Africanism Pan-Africanism is a worldwide movement that aims to encourage and strengthen bonds of solidarity between all indigenous peoples and diasporas of African ancestry . Based on a common goal dating back to the Atlantic slave trade , the movement extends beyond continental Africans with a substantial support base among the African diaspora in

7314-727: The Niagara River and connected New York to Canada. Enslaved runaways used the bridge to escape their bondage, and Harriet Tubman used the bridge to take freedom seekers into Canada. Those traveling via the New York Adirondacks , sometimes via Black communities like Timbuctoo, New York , entered Canada via Ogdensburg , on the St. Lawrence River , or on Lake Champlain ( Joshua Young assisted). The western route, used by John Brown among others, led from Missouri west to free Kansas and north to free Iowa, then east via Chicago to

7452-557: The North hid freedom seekers in their churches and homes. Historian Cheryl Janifer Laroche explained in her book, Free Black Communities and the Underground Railroad The Geography of Resistance that: "Blacks, enslaved and free, operated as the main actors in the central drama that was the Underground Railroad." Laroche further explained how some authors center white abolitionists and white people involved in

7590-412: The North, where the Americans would then establish cotton plantations, bringing enslaved people to work the land. In 1829, Mexican president Vicente Guerrero (who was a mixed race black man) formally abolished slavery in Mexico. Freedom seekers from Southern plantations in the Deep South , particularly from Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas, escaped slavery and headed for Mexico. At that time, Texas

7728-399: The Ottawa. In Upper Sandusky , Wyandot people allowed a maroon community of freedom seekers in their lands called Negro Town for four decades. In the 18th and 19th centuries in areas around the Chesapeake Bay and Delaware , Nanticoke people hid freedom seekers in their villages. The Nanticoke people lived in small villages near the Pocomoke River ; the river rises in several forks in

7866-576: The Panama route. Slaveholders used the Panama route to reach California. In Panama slavery was illegal and Black Panamanians encouraged enslaved people from the United States to escape into the local city of Panama. Freedom seekers created methods to throw off the slave catchers ' bloodhounds from tracking their scent. One method was using a combination of hot pepper, lard, and vinegar on their shoes. In North Carolina freedom seekers put turpentine on their shoes to prevent slave catchers' dogs from tracking their scents, in Texas escapees used paste made from

8004-419: The Sanniquellie Declaration outlining the principles for the achievement of the unity of Independent African States whilst maintaining a national identity and autonomous constitutional structure. The Declaration called for a revised understanding of Pan-Africanism and the uniting of the independent states. In 1960, the second All-African Peoples' Conference was held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The membership of

8142-447: The Shawnee and Nanticoke for hiding freedom seekers in their villages. Odawa people also accepted freedom seekers into their villages. The Odawa transferred the runaways to the Ojibwe who escorted them to Canada. Some enslaved people who escaped slavery and fled to Native American villages stayed in their communities. White pioneers who traveled to Kentucky and the Ohio Territory saw " Black Shawnees " living with Indigenous people in

8280-448: The South African political situation both through literature and speeches resonated with the British liberal intelligentsia. Kinloch frequently made efforts to engage in dialogue with activist groups in England. She spoke at Newcastle, York and Manchester for the Aborigines Protection Society which led to a resolution being passed that demanded the British government to end racial oppression in South Africa. Kinloch's detailed accounts of

8418-412: The States, of unity and anti-Imperialism. Frantz Fanon , journalist , freedom fighter and a member of the Algerian FLN party attended the conference as a delegate for Algeria . Considering the armed struggle of the FLN against French colonial rule, the Conference attendees agreed to support the struggle of those States under colonial oppression. This encouraged the commitment of direct involvement in

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8556-465: The Texas Runaway Slave Project at Stephen F. Austin State University . Advertisements were placed in newspapers offering rewards for the return of their "property". Slave catchers traveled through Mexico. There were Black Seminoles , or Los Mascogos who lived in northern Mexico who provided armed resistance. Sam Houston , president of the Republic of Texas , was the slaveholder to Tom who ran away. He headed to Texas and once there he enlisted in

8694-447: The Underground Railroad began to organize in the 1780s among Abolitionist Societies in the North . It ran north and grew steadily until the Emancipation Proclamation was signed in 1863 by President Abraham Lincoln . The escapees sought primarily to escape into free states , and from there to Canada. The network, primarily the work of free and enslaved African Americans, was assisted by abolitionists and others sympathetic to

8832-400: The United States between 1672 and 1864. The history of maroons showed how the enslaved resisted enslavement by living in free independent settlements. Historical archeologist Dan Sayer says that historians downplay the importance of maroon settlements and place valor in white involvement in the Underground Railroad, which he argues shows a racial bias, indicating a "...reluctance to acknowledge

8970-557: The United States by slave hunters. Freedom seekers that were taken on ferries to Mexican ports were aided by Mexican ship captains, one of whom was caught in Louisiana and indicted for helping enslaved people escape. Knowing the repercussions of running away or being caught helping someone runaway, people were careful to cover their tracks, and public and personal records about fugitive slaves are scarce. In greater supply are records by people who promoted slavery or attempted to catch fugitive slaves. More than 2,500 escapes are documented by

9108-419: The United States include the Black Seminole communities in Florida, as well as groups that lived in the Great Dismal Swamp in Virginia and in the Okefenokee swamp of Georgia and Florida, among others. In the 1780s, Louisiana had a maroon community in the bayous of Saint Malo . The leader of the Saint Malo maroon community was Jean Saint Malo , a freedom seeker who escaped to live among other runaways in

9246-402: The United States, the United Kingdom and France continues to remain while new countries such as China are increasingly becoming involved politically and economically on the continent with many referring to this era as a "new scramble for Africa". As originally conceived by Henry Sylvester Williams (although some historians credit the idea to Edward Wilmot Blyden ), pan-Africanism referred to

9384-501: The Wom'n's International League for Peace and Freedom. She also became embroiled in the politics of Ghana, where she became a friend of the leading African voice on Pan Africanism and president of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah , who credited her 'with being an inspiration to the Ghana Women's Association.' One of her most notable contributions was the formation of the Abeokuta Ladies Club - this was a collective of Nigerian market women, whose powerful economic position in Abeokuta sought to influence

9522-451: The antislavery movement as the main factors for freedom seekers escapes and overlook the important role of free Black communities. In addition, author Diane Miller states: "Traditionally, historians have overlooked the agency of African Americans in their own quest for freedom by portraying the Underground Railroad as an organized effort by white religious groups, often Quakers, to aid 'helpless' slaves." Historian Larry Gara argues that many of

9660-407: The article from memory as closely as he could. Members of the Underground Railroad often used specific terms, based on the metaphor of the railway. For example: The Big Dipper (whose "bowl" points to the North Star ) was known as the drinkin' gourd . The Railroad was often known as the "freedom train" or "Gospel train", which headed towards "Heaven" or "the Promised Land", i.e., Canada. For

9798-438: The best escape routes and helped her on her rescue missions. In New Bedford, Massachusetts , freedom seekers stowed away on ships leaving the docks with the assistance of Black and white crewmembers and hid in the ships' cargoes during their journey to freedom. Enslaved people living near rivers escaped on boats and canoes. In 1855, Mary Meachum , a free Black woman, attempted to help eight or nine slaves escape from slavery on

9936-404: The biggest sites where this production is taking place. In July 2015, Botswana satirical writer and speaker Siyanda Mohutsiwa posed a question on her Twitter account that led to the creation of the hashtag #IfAfricaWasABar. After one week, more than 60,000 tweets with the hashtag were created, which allowed users on the platform to grapple with a vision of widespread African interaction throughout

10074-574: The book The Underground Railroad: Authentic Narratives and First-Hand Accounts (1872), a valuable resource for historians to understand how the system worked and learn about individual ingenuity in escapes. According to Still, messages were often encoded so that they could be understood only by those active in the railroad. For example, the following message, "I have sent via at two o'clock four large hams and two small hams", indicated that four adults and two children were sent by train from Harrisburg to Philadelphia. The additional word via indicated that

10212-520: The book Pan-Africanism History: Political Figures from Africa and the Diaspora since 1787, it mentioned forty Pan-Africanists, of which only three were women. Due to the lack of representation paid to women in Pan- Africanism, Clenora Hudson-Weems coined the term Africana Womanism in the 1980s, which is an ideology that specifically focuses on black women's achievements and gains, similar to

10350-554: The campus and the community the richness, vibrance, diversity, and vitality of African, African American, and Caribbean cultures" and to "presenting students and the community with an Afrocentric analysis" of anti-Black racism . Syracuse University also offers a master's degree in Pan African Studies . One of the earliest flags used to represent pan-Africanism is the UNIA (Universal Negro Improvement Association) flag,

10488-510: The cause of the escapees . The enslaved people who risked capture and those who aided them are also collectively referred to as the passengers and conductors of the Railroad, respectively. Various other routes led to Mexico, where slavery had been abolished, and to islands in the Caribbean that were not part of the slave trade. An earlier escape route running south toward Florida , then a Spanish possession (except 1763–1783), existed from

10626-638: The city's free Black community, and also hid on other steamboats leaving Alabama that were headed further northward into free territories and free states. In 1852, a law was passed by the Alabama legislature to reduce the number of freedom seekers escaping on boats. The law penalized slaveholders and captains of vessels if they allowed enslaved people on board without a pass. Alabama freedom seekers also made canoes to escape. Freedom seekers escaped from their enslavers in Panama on boats heading for California by way of

10764-565: The colonial policy which destroyed their ability to make money and remain independent. By the 1940s, more than 20,000 women had a membership. She changed the name to the Abeokuta Women's Union , marking the movement towards direct activism. For example, in November 1947, she was responsible for organising demonstrations that as many as 10,000 women participated. She continued to organise for women's rights all her life until in 1977, when

10902-533: The common experience of colonialism. The Festival further strengthened the standing of Algeria's President Boumediene in Africa and the Third World. After the death of Kwame Nkrumah in 1972, Muammar Gaddafi assumed the mantle of leader of the Pan-Africanist movement and became the most outspoken advocate of African Unity, like Nkrumah before him – for the advent of a "United States of Africa". It

11040-491: The compound premised upon the exploitation of black South Africans, such as the practice of making hundreds of black miners attend work naked to ensure diamonds were not being stolen. Kinloch wrote two articles in 1896, after moving to Britain in 1895, for the society named "The Recognition of the Brotherhood of Man", which was well received and earned her high praise from the editors. Her experiences and clear articulation of

11178-407: The continent and demanded the inclusion of African American women into the conversation, emphasising that they too were committed to liberating Africa. In the Caribbean, Peggy Antrobus lobbied policymakers to highlight that Caribbean women were the poorest in the Caribbean and that UNICEF was the first international organization to draw attention to the negative impact of structural adjustment on

11316-599: The continent and the benefits of cooperation as a way of resisting imperialism and colonialism. Some universities went as far as creating "Departments of Pan-African Studies" in the late 1960s. This includes the California State University , where that department was founded in 1969 as a direct reaction to the civil rights movement , and is today dedicated to "teaching students about the African World Experience", to "demonstrate to

11454-415: The continent that together have a GDP of upwards of US$ 2.5 trillion. The emergence of COVID-19 has delayed its implementation but in the long term, the African Union hopes that the agreement will spur industrialization, substantially boost trade, and contribute to increasing economic integration throughout the continent. The African Union has also sought to make changes on policies involving movement within

11592-593: The continent. Nigerian artist Burna boy 's guiding philosophy is Pan-Africanism, as he firmly believes in rebuilding bridges with the African Diaspora, viewing Africa as the Mother Continent and birthplace of humankind. The intersection between the digital media revolution and pan-Africanism has also had implications for the education sector. Pan-African organizations have used the internet and digital media to produce educational content for both children and adults in an effort to improve learning outcomes across

11730-465: The continent. Similar to the current agreement in the European Union , the African Union proposed a free movement policy that would allow residents of countries in the union to move throughout the continent freely and participate in economic endeavors in other countries. The majority of countries have not formally signed off on the agreement and others are critical of the prospects of success but

11868-543: The continent. The most popular is Ubongo which is Africa's largest manufacturer of educational content for children and uses shows such as Akil and Me to help Africa's youth improve literacy outcomes. The results have been widespread with Ubongo claiming that 24 million children have displayed enhanced learning outcomes and a study in Tanzania finding an association between improved mathematics skills and children consuming Ubongo's content. Pan-African thought influenced

12006-426: The difficulties of reconciling current divisions within countries on the continent and within communities in the diaspora . As a philosophy , pan-Africanism represents the aggregation of the historical, cultural, spiritual, artistic, scientific, and philosophical legacies of Africans from past times to the present. Pan-Africanism as an ethical system traces its origins from ancient times, and promotes values that are

12144-667: The end of the American Civil War 500,000 or more African Americans self-emancipated themselves from slavery on the Underground Railroad. Eric Foner wrote that the term "was perhaps first used by a Washington newspaper in 1839, quoting a young slave hoping to escape bondage via a railroad that 'went underground all the way to Boston'". Dr. Robert Clemens Smedley wrote that following slave catchers' failed searches and lost traces of fugitives as far north as Columbia, Pennsylvania , they declared in bewilderment that "there must be an underground railroad somewhere," giving origin to

12282-536: The establishment of the Organisation of African Unity (now the African Union ) in 1963. One of the biggest goals that the African Union has set for the continent in the 21st century is improving long-term economic growth. Major steps have been taken to address this issue particularly with the creation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA). The establishment of this free trade zone connects nations throughout

12420-499: The exception of South Africa, all independent states of the African continent attended: Egypt , Ethiopia , Ghana , Liberia , Libya , Morocco , Tunisia , and Sudan . This conference signified a monumental event in the pan-African movement, as it revealed a political and social union between those considered Arabic states and the black African regions. Further, the Conference espoused a common African Nationalist identity, among

12558-582: The first European colony in the continental United States in South Carolina called San Miguel de Gualdape . The enslaved Africans revolted and historians suggest they escaped to Shakori Indigenous communities. As early as 1689, enslaved Africans fled from the South Carolina Lowcountry to Spanish Florida seeking freedom. The Seminole Nation accepted Gullah runaways (today called Black Seminoles ) into their lands. This

12696-411: The flags of Malawi , Kenya , South Sudan and Saint Kitts and Nevis . Several pan-African organizations and movements have also often employed the emblematic red, black and green tri-color scheme in variety of contexts. Another flag that inspired pan-African groups is the horizontal tricolor of green, yellow and red. This colour combination was originally adopted from the 1897 flag of Ethiopia , and

12834-435: The fugitive slave laws and regulations was a major justification offered for secession . Underground Railroad routes went north to free states and Canada, to the Caribbean, to United States western territories, and to Indian territories . Some fugitive slaves traveled south into Mexico for their freedom. Many escaped by sea, including Ona Judge , who had been enslaved by President George Washington . Some historians view

12972-1004: The fugitive slaves who "rode" the Underground Railroad, many of them considered Canada their final destination. An estimated 30,000 to 40,000 of them settled in Canada, half of whom came between 1850 and 1860. Others settled in free states in the north. Thousands of court cases for fugitive slaves were recorded between the Revolutionary War and the Civil War . Under the original Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 , officials from free states were required to assist slaveholders or their agents who recaptured fugitives, but some state legislatures prohibited this. The law made it easier for slaveholders and slave catchers to capture African Americans and return them to slavery, and in some cases allowed them to enslave free blacks. It also created an eagerness among abolitionists to help enslaved people, resulting in

13110-486: The growth of anti-slavery societies and the Underground Railroad. With heavy lobbying by Southern politicians, the Compromise of 1850 was passed by Congress after the Mexican–American War . It included a more stringent Fugitive Slave Law ; ostensibly, the compromise addressed regional problems by compelling officials of free states to assist slave catchers, granting them immunity to operate in free states. Because

13248-565: The help came from Mexican laborers. So much so that enslavers came to distrust any Mexican, and a law was enacted in Texas that forbade Mexicans from talking to enslaved people. Mexican migrant workers developed relationships with enslaved black workers whom they worked with. They offered guidance, such as what it would be like to cross the border, and empathy. Having realized the ways in which Mexicans were helping enslaved people to escape, slaveholders and residents of Texan towns pushed people out of

13386-522: The help of Northerners to escape. The Underground Railroad benefited greatly from the geography of the U.S.–Canada border: Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and most of New York were separated from Canada by water, over which transport was usually easy to arrange and relatively safe. The main route for freedom seekers from the South led up the Appalachians, Harriet Tubman going via Harpers Ferry , through

13524-573: The highly anti-slavery Western Reserve region of northeastern Ohio to the vast shore of Lake Erie, and then to Canada by boat. A smaller number, traveling by way of New York or New England, went via Syracuse (home of Samuel May ) and Rochester, New York (home of Frederick Douglass ), crossing the Niagara River or Lake Ontario into Canada. By 1848 the Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge had been built—it crossed

13662-588: The importance of family planning and legislated sex education in Guinea's primary schools, despite strong opposition from the Muslim majority population. In an article written in 1979, on the family dynamic in Africa, Cissé makes unprecedented criticisms of the forced role of mothers in brainwashing their daughters to follow prescriptive gender roles. She was also instrumental in the 1968 legislation in Guinea which outlawed polygamy , believing it would effectively combat

13800-462: The international border with Mexico. Pressure between free and slave states deepened as Mexico abolished slavery and western states joined the Union as free states. As more free states were added to the Union, the lesser the influence of slave state representatives in Congress. The Southern Underground Railroad went through slave states, lacking the abolitionist societies and the organized system of

13938-607: The late 17th century until approximately 1790. During the American Civil War , freedom seekers escaped to Union lines in the South to obtain their freedom. One estimate suggests that, by 1850, approximately 100,000 slaves had escaped to freedom via the network. According to former professor of Pan-African studies, J. Blaine Hudson, who was dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Louisville, by

14076-639: The law required sparse documentation to claim a person was a fugitive, slave catchers also kidnapped free blacks , especially children, and sold them into slavery. Southern politicians often exaggerated the number of escaped slaves and often blamed these escapes on Northerners interfering with Southern property rights. The law deprived people suspected of being slaves of the right to defend themselves in court, making it difficult to prove free status. Some Northern states enacted personal liberty laws that made it illegal for public officials to capture or imprison former slaves. The perception that Northern states ignored

14214-492: The melody as coming from Aunty Laura, while the lyrics came from anthologies – probably the Parks version. In 1955, singer Randy Sparks heard the song from an elderly street singer named John Woodum. These lyrics diverged greatly from the Parks and Hays versions and included no geographical information. Sparks later founded The New Christy Minstrels , with whom he recorded a version of the song based on Woodum's lyrics. Two of

14352-631: The most prominent pan-Africanist in the British West Africa . Then-Colonial Secretary Oliver Stanley called Azikiwe (Zik) "the biggest danger of the lot." Zik drew his inspiration on the pan-African ideas of West Indians and African-Americans such as Edward Wilmot Blyden , W.E.B. Du Bois , and Marcus Garvey , as well as West Africans such as J.E. Casely Hayford and his allies in the National Congress of British West Africa . In his publication "Renascent Africa", he offered

14490-600: The nature of black oppression in Africa was unprecedented for these organisations who rarely had the opportunity to hear first-hand accounts of the African political situation. Now fully engrossed in the British anti-colonial dialogue, she wrote a 19-page pamphlet on the diamond trade in South Africa was in 1897, her views were beginning to become distinctly Pan-African in their calls for an end to continental dehumanisation. Kinloch's main contribution to pan-Africanism however

14628-478: The north. People who spoke out against slavery were subject to mobs, physical assault, and being hanged. There were slave catchers who looked for runaway slaves. There were never more than a few hundred free blacks in Texas, which meant that free blacks did not feel safe in the state. The network to freedom was informal, random, and dangerous. U.S. military forts, established along the Rio Grande border during

14766-480: The ones mentioned below. Pan-Africanism has seen the contribution of numerous female African activists throughout its lifespan, despite the systemic lack of attention paid to them by scholars and male pan-Africanist alike. Amy Jacques Garvey , who founded the international newspaper Negro World , was heavily involved in other Pan-Africanism organisations, such as the anti-colonial and anti-imperialist International African Service Bureau . She also helped organise

14904-611: The pan-African movement: the Casablanca Bloc and the Brazzaville Bloc. In 1962, Algeria gained independence from French colonial rule and Ahmed Ben Bella assumed the Presidency. Ben Bella was a strong advocate for Pan-Africanism and African Unity. Following the FLN's armed struggle for liberation, Ben Bella spoke at the UN and espoused for Independent Africa's role in providing military and financial support to

15042-591: The poor, particularly women. Alice Victoria Alexander Kinloch was born in 1863 in Cape Town , South Africa, before her family moved to Kimberley . The racist and segregated environment shaped her activism on systemic oppression in South Africa. In June 1885 she married Edmund Ndosa Kinloch, a diamond miner who worked at the De Beers mining compound in Kimberley. She witnessed the degrading working conditions of

15180-557: The pre-Congress meeting. This meeting was primarily attended by Ugandan women, who set their own agenda, which was focused on women's issues such as genital mutilation and the protection of young domestic workers from rape and other abuse. Women participants of the Seventh Pan-African Congress moved towards building an agenda for the Pan African Women's Liberation Organisation and met daily during

15318-489: The product of the African civilisations and the struggles against slavery , racism , colonialism , and neocolonialism . Coinciding with numerous New World slave insurrections (hallmarked by the Haitian Revolution ), the end of the 19th century birthed an intercontinental pro-African political movement that sought to unify disparate campaigns in the goal to end oppression. Another important political form of

15456-436: The realities of South African apartheid and decolonisation . Notable male Pan-Africanists, such as Kwame Nkrumah , were influenced by Jones as she incorporated Marxist- Leninist philosophy into Pan-Africanism. In the United States, Audley Moore and Dara Abubakari played a vital role in developing Pan-African thought. These women significantly shaped the ideological and organizational contours of Pan-Africanism, developing

15594-470: The risk of discovery, information about routes and safe havens was passed along by word of mouth, although in 1896 there is a reference to a numerical code used to encrypt messages. Southern newspapers of the day were often filled with pages of notices soliciting information about fugitive slaves and offering sizable rewards for their capture and return. Federal marshals and professional bounty hunters known as slave catchers pursued freedom seekers as far as

15732-484: The risk of infiltration, many people associated with the Underground Railroad knew only their part of the operation and not of the whole scheme. "Conductors" led or transported the "passengers" from station to station. A conductor sometimes pretended to be enslaved to enter a plantation . Once a part of a plantation, the conductor would direct the runaways to the North. Enslaved people traveled at night, about 10–20 miles (16–32 km) to each station. They rested, and then

15870-475: The song helped free anyone from slavery, as no pre-1910 reference to it has ever been found. Follow the Drinking Gourd was collected by H. B. Parks, an entomologist and amateur folklorist , in the 1910s. Parks reported that Peg Leg Joe , an operative of the Underground Railroad , had passed as a laborer and spread the song to different plantations, giving directions for slaves to escape. The song

16008-508: The southern border into Mexico and illegally capture black people and return them to slavery. A group of slave hunters became the Texas Rangers . Thousands of freedom seekers traveled along a network from the southern United States to Texas and ultimately Mexico. Southern enslaved people generally traveled across "unforgiving country" on foot or horseback while pursued by lawmen and slave hunters. Some stowed away on ferries bound for

16146-523: The stars in the Big Dipper line up very closely with and point to Polaris . Polaris is a circumpolar star , and so it is always seen pretty close to the direction of true north. Hence, according to a popular myth, all slaves had to do was look for the Drinking Gourd and follow it to the North Star (Polaris) north to freedom. James Kelley has argued against the historicity of this interpretation in

16284-448: The stories of the Underground Railroad belong in folklore and not history. The actions of real historical figures such as Harriet Tubman, Thomas Garrett , and Levi Coffin are exaggerated, and Northern abolitionists who guided the enslaved to Canada are hailed as the heroes of the Underground Railroad. This narrative minimizes the intelligence and agency of enslaved Black people who liberated themselves, and implies that freedom seekers needed

16422-441: The strength of black resistance and initiative." From colonial America into the 19th century, Indigenous peoples of North America assisted and protected enslaved Africans journey to freedom. However, not all Indigenous communities were accepting of freedom seekers, some of whom they enslaved themselves or returned to their former enslavers. The earliest accounts of escape are from the 16th century. In 1526, Spaniards established

16560-767: The swamps and bayous of Saint Malo. The population of maroons was fifty and the Spanish colonial government broke up the community and on June 19, 1784, Jean Saint Malo was executed. Colonial South Carolina had a number of maroon settlements in its marshland regions in the Lowcountry and near rivers. Maroons in South Carolina fought to maintain their freedom and prevent enslavement in Ashepoo in 1816, Williamsburg County in 1819, Georgetown in 1820, Jacksonborough in 1822, and near Marion in 1861. Historian Herbert Aptheker found evidence that fifty maroon communities existed in

16698-607: The term. Scott Shane wrote that the first documented use of the term was in an article written by Thomas Smallwood in the August 10, 1842, edition of Tocsin of Liberty , an abolitionist newspaper published in Albany. He also wrote that the 1879 book Sketches in the History of the Underground Railroad said the phrase was mentioned in an 1839 Washington newspaper article and that the book's author said 40 years later that he had quoted

16836-482: The thoroughfare's name, the escape network was neither literally underground nor a railroad. (The first literal underground railroad did not exist until 1863 .) According to John Rankin , "It was so called because they who took passage on it disappeared from public view as really as if they had gone into the ground. After the fugitive slaves entered a depot on that road no trace of them could be found. They were secretly passed from one depot to another until they arrived at

16974-425: The town, whipped them in public, or lynched them. Some border officials helped enslaved people crossing into Mexico. In Monclova , Mexico a border official took up a collection in the town for a family in need of food, clothing, and money to continue on their journey south and out of reach of slave hunters. Once they crossed the border, some Mexican authorities helped former enslaved people from being returned to

17112-518: The unity of all continental Africa. During apartheid South Africa there was a Pan Africanist Congress led by Robert Sobukwe that dealt with the oppression of Africans in South Africa under Apartheid rule. Other pan-Africanist organisations include: Garvey 's Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League , TransAfrica and the International People's Democratic Uhuru Movement . Additionally, pan-Africanism

17250-546: The waterways of the South as an important component for freedom seekers to escape as water sources were pathways to freedom. In addition, historians of the Underground Railroad found 200,000 runaway slave advertisements in North American newspapers from the middle of the 1700s until the end of the American Civil War. Freedom seekers in Alabama hid on steamboats heading to Mobile, Alabama in hopes of blending in among

17388-616: The widespread abandonment of families by fathers, thus relieving the physical burden mothers faced in Guinea. On the international level, Cissé was the first African president of the United Nations Security Council in 1972 and succeeded in passing two resolutions, condemning Israel's aggression against Palestine , and Apartheid in South Africa. She also drafted and helped pass the UN Convention on Consent and Minimum Age for Marriage in 1964, which provided

17526-433: The world average, roughly 43 percent of the population of Africa uses the internet and social media with Facebook , Twitter and YouTube being among the most popular social networking sites. The ability to connect with people thousands of miles away has allowed these platforms to become places where people across the continent and diaspora have attempted to manufacture a collective African identity. Twitter has been one of

17664-755: The years following 1958, Accra Conference also marked the establishment of a new foreign policy of non-alignment between the US and USSR, and the will to establish an "African Identity" in global affairs by advocating unity between the African States on international relations. "This would be based on the Bandung Declaration , the Charter of the UN and on loyalty to UN decisions." In 1959, Nkrumah, President Sékou Touré of Guinea and President William Tubman of Liberia met at Sanniquellie and signed

17802-620: Was "contrary to the ethics of Jesus", Christian congregations and clergy played a role, especially the Religious Society of Friends ( Quakers ), Congregationalists , Wesleyan Methodists , and Reformed Presbyterians , as well as the anti-slavery branches of mainstream denominations which entered into schism over the issue, such as the Methodist Episcopal Church and the Baptists . The role of free blacks

17940-476: Was a southern route on the Underground Railroad into Seminole Indian lands that went from Georgia and the Carolinas into Florida. In Northwest Ohio in the 18th and 19th centuries, three Indigenous/Native American nations, the Shawnee , Ottawa, and Wyandot assisted freedom seekers escape from slavery. The Ottawa people accepted and protected runaways in their villages. Other escapees were taken to Fort Malden by

18078-498: Was crucial; without it, there would have been almost no chance for fugitives from slavery to reach freedom safely. The groups of underground railroad "agents" worked in organizations known as vigilance committees . Free Black communities in Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and New York helped freedom seekers escape from slavery. Black Churches were stations on the Underground Railroad, and Black communities in

18216-630: Was held in London. A meeting of the Congress in 1919 in Paris (1st Pan-African Congress), 1921 in London (2nd Pan-African Congress), 1923 in London (3rd Pan-African Congress), 1927 in New York City (4th Pan-African Congress), and 1945 in Manchester (5th Pan-African Congress) advanced the issue of decolonisation in Africa. In the 1930s, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe 's anti-colonial writings from the United States , Accra , and Lagos established him as

18354-699: Was in her co-founding of the African Association in 1897 with lawyers Henry Sylvester Williams and Thomas J. Thompson, where they and 11 or 12 others gathered at the Charing-Cross Mansions hotel in London. Kinloch served as treasurer but in 1898 returned to South Africa with her husband. Two years later, the African Association led the Pan-African Conference, which was widely regarded as the beginning of 20th-century Pan-Africanism. Dr Tshepo Mvulane Moloi calls Kinloch

18492-551: Was not until the Seventh Pan-African Congress in 1994, which was held in Uganda , that women's issues were specifically addressed. For the first time, the Congress was asked to reflect upon the role and needs of women. In order to organise which women's issues would be raised at the Congress, a pre-Congress Women's Meeting was held two days before, to provide a framework that ensured women's voices and concerns were listened to. More than 300 people, 74 percent of whom were women, attended

18630-572: Was part of Mexico. The Texas Revolution , initiated in part to legalize slavery, resulted in the formation of the Republic of Texas in 1836. Following the Battle of San Jacinto , there were some enslaved people who withdrew from the Houston area with the Mexican army, seeing the troops as a means to escape slavery. When Texas joined the Union in 1845, it was a slave state and the Rio Grande became

18768-685: Was published by the Texas Folklore Society in 1928. (The cover spells the title "Foller de Drinkin' Gou'd.") In 1947, Lee Hays , of the Almanac Singers and The Weavers , rearranged Follow the Drinkin' Gourd and published it in the People's Songs Bulletin. Familiar with African-American music and culture, Hays stated that he himself had heard parts of the song from an elderly black woman named Aunty Laura. Hays described

18906-707: Was the formation of the African Liberation Committee (ALC), during the 1963 Summit. Championing the support of liberation movements, was Algeria's President Ben Bella, immediately "donated 100 million francs to its finances and was one of the first countries, of the Organisation to boycott Portuguese and South African goods". In 1969, Algiers hosted the Pan-African Cultural Festival, on July 21 and it continued for eight days. At this moment in history, Algeria stood as

19044-677: Was the main political influence on the Pan-African and political dimension to his music. In 1949, FRK founded and led the Nigerian Women's Union which in 1953 changed its name to the Federation of Nigerian Women's Societies, rallying for inter-regional unity among women's movements in Nigeria. Subsequently, she was courted by international movements for women's rights such as the Women's International Democratic Federation (WIDF) and

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