African Renaissance

Peter Pluddemann, Daryl Braam, Peter Broeder, Guus Extra and Michelle October focus on language policy in schools in relation to language vitality indicators such as language repertoire, choice, proficiency, dominance and preference.
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This work by Dr. Neville Alexander deals with the social, political and economic implications of the intellectualisation of indigenous African languages and suggests a long-term, large-scale and systematic strategy for effecting this core aspect of the revitalisation of Africa. PRAESA Occasional Papers No. 13. [Full Text Article, pdf, 195 Kb]

Prof. Kum’a Ndumbe III’s article on “Stopping intellectual genocide in African universities” has been published in Catalan in the journal “Cataluna Esperantisto”, No 344, Oktobro-Decembro 2007, pp. 19-23. [Full Text Article]

Prince Kum’a Ndumbe III, a poet and playwright, believes Africa needs a renaissance and is determined to make it happen. Listen to the podcast by Deutsche Welle World, in English. [DW-World]

Kwame Opoku argues for the restitution of stolen cultural and religious objects from Africa. He states: “The African demand for the return of the stolen cultural objects will not disappear for many of these objects are expressions of the deepest feelings of a way of life, an understanding of the universe and religious expressions.” [Full Text Article, pdf]

Paper presented by Dr. Neville Alexander at the South African Embassy in Berlin on the 20th November 2007. One of the main points of his presentation was: How do we assist in the decolonisation of the mind of the billions of people who are held in thrall by the demonstrable “superiority” of the global languages as propagated and prioritised by their own ruling groups and strata? [Full Text Article, pdf]

Listen to a lecture by Martin Bernal on “Black Athena” delivered at the University of Witwatersrand, 7 June 2006, hosted by the Constitution of Public Intellectual Life Research Project in association with the University of the Witwatersrand. (more…)

By Paul Tiyambe Zeleza. Speech given at the Launch of Kwame Nkrumah Chair in African Studies, Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana, Legon, September 21, 2007. Ghana holds a special place in our collective Pan-African imagination. [Full Article]

Article by Francis B. Nyamnjoh. The idea of writing a paper on Barbie democracy came to me from reflections on the idea of ‘The Market’ and the sort of socio-political institutions this model has tended to inspire. [Zeleza.com]

Existe-t-il un lien entre la langue, le statut d’esclavage, de dépendance ou de liberté d’un peuple et sa capacité de développement? Le Prince Kum’a Ndumbe III s’en explique dans cet article et présente en même temps les méthodes d’approche que la fondation AfricAvenir a essayé de mettre en application. (more…)

This week, to coincide with civil society meetings being launched in Accra, Ghana, in the run up to the African Union (AU) Summit on Continental Government, we publish a special issue of Pambazuka News. Given the large number of articles and issues addressed, there will be three parts. [Pambazuka]

Article by Mukoma Ngugi, published in >>zmag.org. The overall question is this: How can we have a Pan-Africanism from below? One that is owned not by leaders, but by the people themselves? [Full Text, html]

Par Elikia M’Bokolo. Politique étrangère 3-4/2000. L’histoire de l’Afrique au XXe siècle semble encore aujourd’hui, à plus d’un titre, toujours à faire. Dans un monde où domine la vision des grandes puissances et des institutions qui en ont émané, la place de l’Afrique dans les relations internationales oscille ainsi, presque à défaut, entre la gloire et la tristesse : gloire d’un continent qui a su reconquérir en partie ce dont il avait été dépossédé par la colonisation, tristesse d’une Afrique apparemment souveraine où le meilleur ne l’a que rarement emporté sur le pire. Et pourtant, si la dépossession et la renaissance du continent n’ont cessé d’être mêlées dans un même processus historique de construction de l’indépendance, une Afrique nouvelle se dessine depuis le début des années 80, plus autonome et plus ouverte, mais aussi plus diverse et plus complexe que ne le laissait présager le paysage assez homogène de l’indépendance retrouvée. [Full Text Article, pdf]

The mythological bird, the “Sankofa” is used as a metaphor for Africa. While it is important for the continent to remember the past it is even more important to look to the future and build on the positive aspects of the past, writes Emira Woods. [Full Text Article, Pambazuka]

Conférence par Prince Kum’a Ndumbe III, Professeur des Universités, lors du congrès ‘Linguapax Afrika’: Langues, diversité culturelle et paix en Afrique, Yaoundé, 12-13 décembre 2006. [Full Text Article, pdf]

Renowned Kenyan writer Ngugi wa Thiong’o talks to Robtel Pailey from Pambazuka News about the importance of language and culture. [Audio, MP3, 13 MB]

Wangui wa Goro writes that to talk of the African Renaissance when Africans go without food and die unnecessarily of curable diseases, compels us to ask ourselves who is this renaissance intended for. [Full Text Article, html]

Une rencontre mythique entre deux personnages représentant une Afrique debout. ‘Plume, politique et rébellions panafricaines’ (1985). [Afrikara]

Hervorragender Beitrag zur ‘African Renaissance’ von Birgit Morgenrath, u.a. im Gespräch mit Prof. Kum’ a Ndumbe III., Pitika Ntuli, Dot Keet u.a. [Sendung online hören (RealAudio)] (more…)

by Ali A. Mazrui. Third Lecture, Dubois Centre, Ghana. Our basic thesis in this presentation is that Africa has been central in causing globalization, but marginal in controlling globalization. [Full Text Article, html]