FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JULY 19, 2014
THE 8th PAN AFRICAN CONGRESS
PRE-CONGRESS MEETING OF THE NORTH AMERICAN DELEGATION
HOWARD UNIVERSITY BLACKBURN CENTER
SATURDAY, AUGUST 2, 2014, FROM 12 TO 5 PM
Organized by African Studies Department at Howard University and
The International Organizing Committee of the 8thPan African Congress
Pan African organizations and activists from across the United States and Canada are invited to participate in the first North American preparatory meeting for the 8th Pan African Congress to be convened in Accra, Ghana November 4 – 9, 2014 hosted by the Government of Ghana with the support of the African Union. Recognizing the African Union vision of “Peace, Prosperity and Unity,” the theme of the Congress is: “The Pan-African World We Want: Building a People’s Movement for Just, Accountable and Inclusive Structural Transformation.”
The goal of the Pre-congress Meeting is to mobilize Pan African organizations and activists in North America to organize and engage in the process and develop recommendations and strategies for incorporation into the November congress plan of action.
Prof. Horace Campbell, a member of the International Organizing Committee, explained that at the top of the agenda are “ the Global rights of all Africans, the unification of Africa and building on the strengths of the Pan African Women’s Liberation Organization (PAWLO). In addition, questions of infrastructure, climate change, reparations peace and demilitarization will be addressed. Voting by representatives of different organizations and parties is limited to two each for both the Pre-Congress meeting and the actual Congress to be held in Ghana.
Kahinda Otafire, Chairman Pan African Movement, stated “The congress, in keeping with the broad character of all previous congresses, 1900-1994, will be open to all shades of opinion, groups and individuals, in the whole Pan African world. In addition, African governments on the continent and in the Diaspora will participate on an equal footing with all other delegates. The African Union and its organs and institutions as well as regional economic blocs and platforms will also participate”.
Historically, the 8th Pan African Congress represents a direct link within the Pan African movement from the first Congress organized by Henry Sylvester Williams in London in 1900. The last major Congress was held in Kampala in April 1994. The last Secretary General of the Pan African Movement was the late Dr. Tajudeen Abdul Raheem.
– Julialynne Walker
