The Pan-African idea and movement grew out of the desire of the Africans to rediscover and recover their identity and heritage and to fight for their liberation from colonialism and racism, thereby restoring their dignity as a people of equal standing with other people in the world. Pan-Africanism is part of a historical process, reflecting particular material conditions.
The Africans emerged into the modern era from African civilisations, through slavery to political emancipation, which provides a platform to address the outstanding issues of their dignity, one of which is cultural rediscovery. The other is the effective control of the economic destiny, by way of agriculture, technology, education, industrialisation and innovation, to create self-sustaining development within the framework of Pan-African unity.
In this trajectory the Pan-African Congress (PAC) series starting in 1900, lead to the Second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture (FESTAC 77), bringing us to the 8th PAC today. Resolutions and papers, representing benchmarks in this historical process should be accessed from the website of the National Youth Council of Namibia (NYCN) www.youthcouncil-namibia.org one of the partners in the convening of the Workshop 7 - 9 December 2010 in Windhoek, Namibia.
This Workshop convened by the Pan-African Strategic and Policy Research Group (PANAFSTRAG), Lagos, Nigeria, the Nigerian High Commission in Namibia (NHC) Windhoek, the Pan-Afrikan Centre of Namibia (PACON) and the National Youth Council of Namibia (NYCN), will focus on five programmatic themes :
· The Pan-Afrikan Centre of Namibia (PACON), as a role model for Africans
· The Pan-African Congresses and their outcomes, their place in the Pan-African trajectory
· The Second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture (FESTAC 77) and its outcomes, held Lagos and Kaduna, Nigeria In 1977
· Keeping our eyes on the ball (2)’, being a paper, towards the convening of the 8 the PAC
· The attainment of economic self-sufficiency within the framework of Pan-African national unity.
Apart from the resource materials available at the NYCN website all invited to present papers by the Convenors of this Workshop, may address bfbankie@gmail.com for any further information they might require.
Abstracts of no more than 200 words related to the five above-mentioned themes should be sent to bfbankie@gmail.com not later than the 21st October 2010. The presenters of those Abstracts which are accepted should submit the first draft of their papers, being approximately 4000 words or more, by the 21st November 2011. By the 26th November those who have submitted papers will be informed if those papers are accepted and, where necessary, they should collect their return air tickets for Windhoek, Namibia.
THE PROCEEDINGS WILL BE PUBLISHED IN BOOK FORM
More information here.
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