Africans Are Rising
Today when a person is born with black skin, there is a heavy determinism related to their skin tone that diminishes their life expectancy, their access to quality education, food, and healthcare as well as their access to justice, peace, and dignity.
Their likelihood to face violence in the course of their life and the possibility of living in poverty is much higher solely based on the fact that they are African. Over the years, black people have composed the majority of people who have faced famine and malnutrition and being in detention..
To be African on or outside of the continent is to live under the constant pressure to prove one’s humanity, intelligence, beauty, and worthiness while struggling to get a slice of happiness. To be black means it’s more likely to be incarcerated and subjected to police brutality.
This is far from being a new phenomenon. There is a history. There are systemic processes that allow this to happen and it is time for a change.
From slavery to colonisation to neocolonialism, we can find a thread of racist dehumanization which leads to children being called “too black” even by black people themselves.
There are parallels between racism and sexism. For example, how black people internalise racism and often, for their own survival, appeal white supremacy to get a little share of respect.
The largest concentration of African people is on the African continent followed by Brazil. However Africans are scattered all over the world and encounter afrophobia in Asia and Europe as well as in the Americas and Oceania.
Africans Rising for Justice, Peace, and Dignity is a movement built by Africans for Africans to rise above centuries of domination and subjugation to push forward the work of Pan-African liberation. Our chosen day of collective action is May 25th, a day when we stand together connected through our struggles wherever we are. This is for Africans to hear each other, but also for the whole world to hear us as a united people.
We choose to be in solidarity with each other. We want people in Ghana to stand in front of the Brazilian embassy when black people in Brazil rise up for their rights. We need black people in Germany to manifest solidarity with Ugandan people as they face severe consequences from the Museveni government.
We believe in uniting Africans working for change in different ways. We must think together on the best ways to move forward and to steer the world towards acknowledging and respecting us and our lives. Finally, we are working to document and learn from each other’s struggles and history. Collectively, we can make serious positive change and build a movement of Africans Rising for Justice, Peace and Dignity.
Coumba Toure
