The Centre for the Advancement of Scholarship (CAS) at the University of Pretoria (UP) recently launched a collection of 38 essays on Pan-Africanism authored by 37 prominent African, Afro-Caribbean and African-American scholars, and edited by Professor Adekeye Adebajo, a senior research fellow at the CAS.

The book was launched on Africa Day in commemoration of the 20^th anniversary of the founding of the African Union.

Titled The Pan-African Pantheon: Prophets, Poets and Philosophers, the book explores the idea of Pan-Africanism through some of the key figures that pioneered it, and is a unique contribution to the literature on the subject. “It contextualises the debate and [goes on to explain] how Pan-Africanism was a reaction against slavery and colonialism,” said Prof Adebajo during the launch of the publication.

The essay collection consists of eight parts, and details the roots and routes of Pan-Africanism. It also offers an overview of the politicians, activists, social scientists, philosophers, literary scholars and musical activists who championed the ideology.  

The book explores the idea of Pan-Africanism through some of the key figures that pioneered it.

The authors were selected based on their scholarly contributions to Pan-Africanist literature. “We wanted to make sure that we had diversity in terms of gender and contributions from various regions such as the Caribbean, the US, Europe, Africa and the diaspora,” Prof Adebajo said. “We commissioned scholars like Barney Pityana, former Vice-Chancellor of the University of South Africa, who went to school with Steve Biko at Lovedale and contributed to shaping Black Consciousness. We also included American author Aldon D Morris, who wrote the recent biography about WEB Du Bois, the ‘father of Pan-Africanism’, and we asked Hilary Beckles, the most eminent historian in the Caribbean who is writing on slavery, to write a chapter about reparation.”

During the event, Prof Adebajo spoke of the importance of the concept of Pan-Africanism in South Africa, pointing out that when former President Thabo Mbeki came back from exile after two decades, he found that black South Africans did not know Africa and that many of their reference points were Western, which is unsurprising because of apartheid and the effects of so-called Bantu education. “The whole idea of the African Renaissance [an idea that Mbeki promoted during his governance] was to convince South Africa of its African identity,” Prof Adebajo said. “It is critical to teach people not just about African history – they have to learn to celebrate it rather than simply see it as an area of darkness, chaos, conflict and disease, which are stereotypes [communicated] by both the South African and Western media.”

Prof Adebajo hopes that the book will be read by interested members of the public and by students. “We want students to read it as part of transforming the curriculum,” he said. “Also, it’s important that Africans in the Caribbean and America have a book that is academically rigorous and policy relevant, written by African, Afro-Caribbean and African-American authors. In addition, we want policymakers at the African Union, European Union and in the US to read the book.”

The Pan-African Pantheon: Prophets, Poets and Philosophers can be ordered online through Jacana Media.