Introduction

Most Pan-African historians concur that modern Pan-Africanism commenced with the Pan-African Conference convened in London in 1900. Noting the simultaneity and elasticity of Pan-Africanism, Anthony Bogues importantly noted, “Pan-Africanism has been a major stream in the wide complex of black political thought, touching both the black radical tradition and the more conservative nuances of black political thought.” Indeed, “its apparent elasticity has been accompanied by definitional difficulties.” In the simplest terms, Pan-Africanism is a simultaneously intellectual, cultural, social, political, economic and artistic project that calls for the unification and liberation of all people of African ancestry, both on the African continent and in the African diaspora. Many scholars of Pan-Africanism explore its conceptual interconnections with a plethora of political ideas and social movements, and most of these scholars believe that it is important to make these connections and conduct these explorations without downplaying or diminishing the core principles and cluster of concepts at the heart of the Pan-African tradition.