"the ECOSOCC process appears as the major unifying factor we have been looking for"
- Dr. Tajudeen Abdul Raheem, General-Secretary of the Pan African Movement, Kampala (Uganda) and Co-Director of Justice Africa, April 7, 2005
“This will be a test to see if the Diaspora can work together in one accord to achieve a specific measurable outcome”
-Siphiwe Baleka, after CONSULTATIVE MEETING HELD WITH CHAIR OF WORKING GROUP ON INDIGENOUS POPULATIONS AND MINORITIES IN AFRICA that launched the African Diaspora Assembly Provisional 6th Region Elections, October 22, 2024
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The African Diaspora as the 6th Region of the African Union can only be united when the following legacy organizations agree to form an “Assembly” in 2025 in order to present a United Front and speak with One Voice during the African Union themed year “Justice for Africans and People of African Descent Through Reparations”:
UNIA, EWF, OAAU (RNA), CPAN, AU6thREC, SRDC, AUADS, CABO, SOAD, AU6RUSA, AU6RGlobal, AFRIDU, and ADDI
Since there is no legal framework for the inclusion of the 6th Region’s 20 representatives to take their seats in the AU ECOSOCC 4th General Assembly during the African Union themed year, then the following calendar of events for the first half of the year takes on great significance as it will be the main occasions for the African Diaspora to give meaningful input during the conversations concerning reparations.
March 15: AU ECOSOCC Town Hall Meeting -
April 14: 4th Session of UN PFPAD
May: ACHPR-AU ECOSOCC Roundtable - CSO Repatriation & Citizenship Reports
May 23-25: TAI/Vatican Reparations Symposium
June: Pan AfricanLawyers Union (PALU) Annual Conference
July AU Mid-term Meeting: - Diaspora Legal Framework
On November 6, 2024, the RESOLUTION IN PREPARATION FOR THE AU THEME FOR 2025 “JUSTICE FOR AFRICANS AND PEOPLE OF AFRICAN DESCENT THROUGH REPARATIONS” THROUGH CONSULTATIONS ON AFRO DESCENDANTS, INDIGENOUS/ETHNIC ANCESTRY, REPARATIONS & THE 6TH REGION - ACHPR/Res.616 (LXXXI) 2024 “Urges the African Diaspora organizations to establish an appropriate process for determining modalities for elections and elect twenty (20) CSOs to the AU ECOSOCC General Assembly, in conformity with Article 5 (3) of the States of AU ECOSOCC, and to cooperate with the African Commission, AU ECOSSOC, the AU Member States and other relevant stakeholders to make the AU Theme of the Year 2025 a success.”
It is imperative, if we the people of the 6th Region, wish to have maximum inpact, that we follow the advice given at the 81st Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) to
“Hold a truly representative gathering of the African Diaspora, hash it out amongst yourself, and come to the Roundtable with your 20 representatives.
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How can we do this when there are so many organizations claiming to be THE representative of the African Diaspora? Let’s review:
UNIVERSAL NEGRO IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION (UNIA)
July 15, 1914: UNIA established to United the African Diaspora with the African Continent. In an article entitled "The Negro's Greatest Enemy", published in Current History (September 1923), Marcus Garvey explained the origin of the organization's name:
“Where did the name of the organization come from? It was while speaking to a West Indian Negro who was a passenger with me from Southampton, who was returning home to the West Indies from Basutoland with his Basuto wife, I further learned of the horrors of native life in Africa. He related to me in conversation such horrible and pitiable tales that my heart bled within me. Retiring from the conversation to my cabin, all day and the following night I pondered over the subject matter of that conversation, and at midnight, lying flat on my back, the vision and thought came to me that I should name the organization the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities (Imperial) League. Such a name I thought would embrace the purpose of all black humanity. Thus to the world a name was born, a movement created, and a man became known.”
In 1921, Garvey recorded a message in a New York studio explaining the object of the UNIA.
“Fellow citizens of Africa, I greet you in the name of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League of the World. You may ask, “what organization is that?” It is for me to inform you that the Universal Negro Improvement Association is an organization that seeks to unite, into one solid body, the four hundred million Negroes in the world. To link up the fifty million Negroes in the United States of America, with the twenty million Negroes of the West Indies, the forty million Negroes of South and Central America, with the two hundred and eighty million Negroes of Africa, for the purpose of bettering our industrial, commercial, educational, social, and political conditions.
As you are aware, the world in which we live today is divided into separate race groups and distinct nationalities. Each race and each nationality is endeavoring to work out its own destiny, to the exclusion of other races and other nationalities. We hear the cry of “England for the Englishman,” of “France for the Frenchman,” of “Germany for the German,” of “Ireland for the Irish,” of “Palestine for the Jew,” of “Japan for the Japanese,” of “China for the Chinese.”
We of the Universal Negro Improvement Association are raising the cry of “Africa for the Africans,” those at home and those abroad. There are 400 million Africans in the world who have Negro blood coursing through their veins, and we believe that the time has come to unite these 400 million people toward the one common purpose of bettering their condition.
The great problem of the Negro for the last 500 years has been that of disunity. No one or no organization ever succeeded in uniting the Negro race.
But within the last four years, the Universal Negro Improvement Association has worked wonders. It is bringing together in one fold four million organized Negroes who are scattered in all parts of the world. Here in the 48 States of the American Union, all the West Indies islands, and the countries of South and Central America and Africa. These four million people are working to convert the rest of the four hundred million that are all over the world, and it is for this purpose, that we are asking you to join our land and to do the best you can to help us to bring about an emancipated race.
If anything praiseworthy is to be done, it must be done through unity, and it is for that reason that the Universal Negro Improvement Association calls upon every Negro in the United States to rally to this standard. We want to unite the Negro race in this country. We want every Negro to work for one common object, that of building a nation of his own on the great continent of Africa. That all Negroes all over the world are working for the establishment of a government in Africa means that it will be realized in another few years.
We want the moral and financial support of every Negro to make this dream a possibility. Our race, this organization, has established itself in Nigeria, West Africa, and it endeavors to do all possible to develop that Negro country to become a great industrial and commercial commonwealth.
Pioneers have been sent by this organization to Nigeria, and they are now laying the foundations upon which the four hundred million Negroes of the world will build. If you believe that the Negro has a soul, if you believe that the Negro is a man, if you believe the Negro was endowed with the senses commonly given to other men by the Creator, then you must acknowledge that what other men have done, Negroes can do. We want to build up cities, nations, governments, industries of our own in Africa, so that we will be able to have a chance to rise from the lowest to the highest position in the African Commonwealth. [Source: Marcus Garvey, “Explanation of the Objects of the Universal Negro Improvement Association” (1921), Marcus Garvey and the UNIA Papers Project at the University of California, Los Angeles. Available online via History Matters (http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5124).]”
At the First International Convention of Negro Peoples of the World, held in 1920 at Madison Square Garden the governing body adopted the red, black, and green flag as its ensign, and Rabbi Arnold Ford’s song “Ethiopia” became the “Universal Ethiopian Anthem,” which the UNIA constitution required be sung at every gathering. Following Garvey’s arrest in 1923 orchestrated by the black bourgeoisie’s Garvey Must Go! Campaign - perhaps the greatest case of betrayal and disunity in the history of the African Diaspora -the UNIA lost much of its internal cohesion.
The disunity of treachery of that sabotaged the UNIA has become a curse to the black people in the west. Today, if you google “Universal Negro Improvement Association website”, you get the following two websites:
The Official UNIA is led by The Honorable Senghor J. Baye Elected to 10th President - General. It lists eigteen active “divisions” or chapters in six countries However, https://unia-aclgovernment.com/ also claims to be the “Official” website of the UNIA. It lists Michael Duncan as the 10th President General and Raymond Dugue as the 1st Assistant President General. It also lists eigteen division in six countries.
https://www.unia-acl.org/
https://unia-aclgovernment.com/divisions/
How will the UNIA resolve their internal disunity?
[Siphiwe Note: Towards the end of his life, Marcus Garvey formed th Course on African Philosophy. General Charles L James of Gary Indiana was the valedictorian of the original graduates of Marcus Garvey’s School of African Philosophy in 1937. General Charles James then taught Shaka Barak, founder and President of the Marcus Garvey Institute who then became my teacher and mentor in the late 1990’s]
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ETHIOPIAN WORLD FEDERATION (EWF)
August 25, 1937: EWF established to unite the “Black People of the West”. If you Google the “Ethiopian World Federation”, it shows two websites:
https://ethiopianworldfederation.org/
According to the “Official Website of the Ethiopian World Federation” onAugust 25, 1937 Dr. Melaku E. Bayen merges all pro-Ethiopian organizations into a new Ethiopian World Federation, Incorporated with Local #1 International Headquarters in New York. The Ethiopian World Federation, Incorporated adopts Rabbi Ford’s “Ethiopia Awaken” as its Anthem. Dr. Lorenzo H. King, Pastor of St. Mark’s Methodist Church in Harlem, was elected the Federation’s First President. The Ethiopian World Federation, Incorporated assumed official control of all fund-raising activities in the United States, only a limited percentage of even these modest contributions seems to have reached its proper destination. [Note: Dr. Martin Luther King Sr. was in charge of the Georgia Baptist Convention’s fundraising for Ethiopia at the time]. The Organization was first formed and created to remedy a situation of fraud that existed at time in which certain black “embezelers and racheteers” were attempting to take advantage of African American sympathyfor the Ethiopian people during the war. These criminals were giving the public the false impression that they were collecting contributions, donations and other funds for Ethiopia’s defense however, they were stealing the monies for their personal gain. On the other hand there were some responsibble individuals, groups and organizations who may have engaged in fauty business practices and mismanaged funds. . . .[However], on February 22, 1996 Ronald Pennycooke, Orville Morris and Albert Smith incorporate two (2) separate entities both with very similar name as the original Federation to mislead and defraud Pro-Ethiopian Black People of America. Their group have been giving the public the false impression that they are the “Federation” and are accused of collecting contributions, donations and other funds for Ethiopia but were actually stealing the monies for their personal gain. . . . These criminals along with their group were taken to Court by Lynval Samuel another individual who is also not a member which resulted in the ultimate chaos because both parties were not members of The Ethiopian World Federation, Incorporated in 1937 and had no authority or right to act for or on behalf of the Federation. . . . .
2002 The Lion Of Judah Society and EWF membership verify, authenticate and confirm with the The New York State, Division of Corporations that there are four (4) corporations with a very similar name to The Ethiopian World Federation, Incorporated on August 25, 1937 Name which are called:
1. The Ethiopian World Federation Local Number One, Inc. on February 22, 1996 by Ronald Pennycooke, Orville Morris and Albert Smith with DOS Process Address 656 East 53rd St., Brooklyn, NY 11203
2. The Ethiopian World Federation, Local Number One, Incorporated on February 22, 1996 by Ronald Pennycooke, Orville Morris and Albert Smith with DOS Process Address 656 East 53rd St., Brooklyn, NY 11203
3. Ethiopian World Federation Local #10 Inc., Abbatinnant Ethiopia on February 8, 2001 by Ingrid with DOS Process Address 385 Webster Avenue, Rochester, NY 14609
4. The Ethiopian World Federation Local Number 12 Incorporated on April 9, 2001 by Ms. Joan Henry with DOS Process Address 15 Acacia Ave., Hempstead, NY 11550
The Lion Of Judah Society and EWF membership verify, authenticate and confirm with the The California Secretary of State, Division of Corporations that there are three (3) corporations with a very similar name to The Ethiopian World Federation, Incorporated on August 25, 1937 Name which are called:
1. The Ethiopian World Federation, Local Number Two, Incorporated Melchizedek Order on April 25, 2000 by Francis Xavier Poleon with DOS Process Address 422 E. 41st Street, Los Angeles, CA 90008
2. The Ethiopian World Federation, Melchizedek Local Number Twenty Three, Incorporated on October 3, 2003 by Carey Toliver with DOS Process Address 4096 Piedmont Ave., #335, Oakland, CA 94611
3. The Ethiopian World Federation Local Number Twenty Five, Incorporated on June 6, 2003 by Jerri Jheto with DOS Process Address 2136 1/2 W. Jefferson Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90018 and mailing address same as the #1 above.
The Lion Of Judah Society and EWF membership verify, authenticate and confirm verify, authenticate and confirm with the The Pennsylvania Department of State, Division of Corporations that there is one (1) corporation with a very similar name to The Ethiopian World Federation, Incorporated on August 25, 1937 Name which is called:
1. The Ethiopian World Federation, Inc. Local9 on August 13, 1999 by Ras Alula Gabre Selassie, Princess Sweda-Key-I-Da R Brisco and Kenneth Nicholson with DOS Process Address 1609 Cecil B Moore, PO Box 42852, Philadelphia, PA 19123
The Lion Of Judah Society and EWF membership verify, authenticate and confirm with the The Washington Secretary of State, Division of Corporations that there is one (1) corporation with a very similar name to The Ethiopian World Federation, Incorporated on August 25, 1937 Name which is called:
1. The Ethiopian World Federation Emperor Yekuno Amlak Local Number Sixteen on August 11, 2003
by John Douglas with DOS Process Address 3615 2nd Ave., Apt. A, Seattle, WA 98107
The Lion Of Judah Society and EWF membership verify, authenticate and confirm with the The Virginia State Corporations Commission that there is one (1) corporation with a very similar name to The Ethiopian World Federation, Incorporated on August 25, 1937 Name which is called:
1. The Ethiopian World Federation, Melchizedek Order Local Number Eighteen, Incorporated on March 23, 2004 by Bernard Lake, Pauline Morrison, Schannon Chandler, Daniel Allen, Ray Edwards, Nneka Eni and Linwood Fields with DOS Process Address 617 W. 35th Street, Norfolk, VA 23508
2003 The Lion Of Judah Society and EWF membership verify, authenticate and inform the Pro-Ethiopian, Afro-American Communities Worldwide and the general public about Ronald Pennycooke, Orville Morris and Albert Smith as well as the many similarly named entities which they aided and abetted as co-accomplices and co-conspirators in an incorporation scam and scandal in order to continue their illegal activities in the ‘Federation Name’.
In 2003, I became involve with the EWF and by 2004, I was deeply involved in resolving the split between the various factions. See EWF Update, November 2, 2004. Today, there is still
https://theethiopianworldfederation.org/
How will the EWF resolve their internal disunity?
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ORGANIZATION OF AFRO AMERICAN UNITY (OAAU) AND THE PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF NEW AFRIKA.
June 28, 1964: OAAU Established. On June 28, 1964, six weeks after Malcolm’s return to New York from Africa his previous trip to Africa, he announced the formation of the Organization of Afro-American Unity (OAARU). “It was formed in my living room,” remembers John Henrik Clarke.
“I was the one who got the constitution from the Organization of African Unity in order to model our constitution after it. Malcolm’s joy was that we could match up [our constitution with the African one]; we could find parallels between the African situation and the African-American situation – that plus a whole lot of other things we agreed with that had nothing to do with religion, because we agreed with the basic struggle. We agreed on self-reliance, about what people would have to do, and that an ethnic community was really a small nation and that you need everything within that community that goes into a small nation, including a person who would take care of the labor, the defense, employment, morality, spirituality . . . . “ (David Gallen, As They Knew Him, p.79-80).
At the founding rally of the OAAU, Malcolm X said,
“I–Establishment.
“The Organization of Afro American Unity shall include all people of African descent in the Western Hemisphere, as well as our brothers and sisters on the African continent. Which means anyone of African descent, with African blood, can become a member of the Organization of Afro American Unity, and also any one of our brothers and sisters from the African continent. Because not only it is an organization of Afro American unity meaning that we are trying to unite our people in the West, but it’s an organization of Afro American unity in the sense that we want to unite all of our people who are in North America, South America, and Central America with our people on the African continent. We must unite together in order to go forward together. Africa will not go forward any faster than we will and we will not go forward any faster than Africa will. We have one destiny and we’ve had one past.”
According to Max Stanford on Malcolm X and the Revolutionary Action Movement:
“Malcolm said the purpose of the OAAU was to bring independence to people of African descent in the western hemisphere; first in the United States fighting against enemies by every means necessary. He said the motto of the OAAU was freedom, justice and equality by any means necessary. He said the purpose of the OAAU was to unite all persons of African descent into one united force and when this is done in the western hemisphere to unite with Africans on the motherland on the continent of Africa.”
[Siphiwe Note: Dr YN Kly recorded 80 tapes with Malcolm X that became the basis of The Black Book: The True Political Philosophy of Malcolm X. Not incidentally, Dr. Kly became the Chairman of the Canadian branch of the OAAU. Later, Dr. Y. N. Kly, Dr. Yvonne King and Dr. Charles Knox founded The International Human Rights Association of American Minorities (IHRAAM) as an International NGO in Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations since 1993. It was founded in 1985 at The Hague Academy of International Law in the Netherlands by African American law students . It was incorporated in 1988 in the United States,in 1996 in London, and in 1997 in Canada. In 1997, while living at the Nkrumah Washington Community Learning Center in Chicago, I became a student of Dr. Kly.]
After Malcolm X’s assasination, his followers formed the Malcolm X society and convened the National Black Government Conference in Detroit Michigan and on March 31, 1968, declared the Independenc of the Republic of New Afrika (RNA) and formed its Provisional Government (PGRNA)., thus becoming the successor to Malcolm’s OAAU.
PG-RNA CABINET IN 1968:
1st President: Robert F. Williams (1925-1996) : He was in China 1966 to May 1968; Tanzania, May 1968 to Sept. 1969. 1st Vice President: Gaidi Obadele (Atty. Milton R. Henry) 2nd Vice President: Betty Shabazz (1934-1997) Minister of Information: Imari A. Obadele (Richard Bullock Henry) Minister of Health and Welfare: Queen Mother Moore (1899-1997) Minister of Education: Herman Ferguson Minister of State and Foreign Affairs: William Grant Minister of Defense: H. Rap Brown (now, Jalil Al Amin): He was also Minister of Justice for BPP in May 4, 1968 issue of The Black Panther. Co-Ministers of Culture: Imamu Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones), Maulana Karenga and Nana Oserjiman Adefumi Minister of Justice: Joan Franklin Minister of Finance: Raymond Willis Treasurer: Obaboa Owolo (Ed Bradley) Minister without Portfolio or Special Ambassador: Muhammad Ahmed (Maxwell Stanford).
Nkechi Taifa writes in Black Power, Black Lawyer: My Audacious Quest for Justice,
“Brother Imari stressed that we were always a nation, but the formation of the Republic of New Afrika was the first time we sought to create a state structure since the U.S. put down our attempts at self-government during the Civil War. Most people thought that the idea of a state structure was ludicrous because for a long time Black nationalists had only talked about nationhood. ‘However, a nation and a state,’ Brother Imari clarified, ‘are almost the same thing except for two major differences.’ First and foremost, he taught, ‘A nation evolves historically.’ He added, ‘Queen Mother Moore didn’t make us a nation, and neither did the Honarable Elijah Muhammad, or Brother Malcolm X.’
He continued teaching:
‘We know we came from Africa, but from which nation in Africa? Were our ancestors from the Kingdom of Congo, or were they from Ashanti, Dahomey, Angola, Mozambique, or Ghana? We didn’t just come from one particular nation in Africa, but from many different nations. Once we got here, the Europeans made sure that we were separated in order to subjugate us. We were forced to intermingle, so we forgot the languages unique to our particular region. We were forced to speak English in order to communicate with our captors, as well as with each other. The use of the drum as a major form of communication was denied us. Our captors raped our women and they declared that all the children of those sexual assaults were Black.
As some of our ancestors ran away and sought to escape enslavement, they were aided and abetted by Native peoples who knew the lay of the land. Further racial intermingling took place and many Blacks can trace their ancestry to a Cherokkee grandfather or a Seminole grandmother. So for over 200 years,’ Brother Imari continued expounding, ‘we developed as a people and as a nation. A New Afrikan nation. We originated in Africa, but now we have formed a new branch of the Afrikan family, with genes fused from several races, on this side of the Atlantic Ocean. . . . A nation can exist even where there’s not a state. A nation can exist without a government. A nation has all those other things - it’s got people with a common culture. It’s got land and if they don’t occupu that particular land or don’t control it, then you’ve got a liberation struggle on your hands. You’ve got to get control of it.’ “ {Note: here, Imari Obadele is describing both Ethnocide and Ethnogenesis. The miracle of DNA testing did not exist in Imari’s time, but today it allows us to reverse and recovery from the Ethnocide and this does not in anyway negate the ethnogenesis of the New Afrikan]
Nkechi Taifi then continues to describe the onset of the disunity in the RNA:
“There were two major constitutional crises that afflicted the Republic of New Afrika’s Provisional Governemt (PGRNA), neither of wich I was aware of when I joined. They involved what direction the PGRNA would take, and Brother Imari was at the center of both.
The first calamity was a major disagreement and falling out between the two blood brothers, Imari and Gaidi, in 1969 precipitated by the state violence of the New Bethel attack on the first anniversary of the founding of the RNA. Brother Gaidi favored a political organizing approach in the North as the safest and most viable way to achieve their aims. Brother Imari advocated moving the center of the struggle to the South, beginning the necessary building of ‘New Communities.’
There was, however, an overarching legal issue - the terms of the officers elected in the 1968 RNA founding Convention had expired, and a constitution had yet to be adopted to establish guidelines for succession. As a temporary solution, Gidi advocated holding open elections of new officers in Convention; Brother Imari, however, favored a popularly based approch with regionally based elections.
A special tribunal organized for the issue ruled that an election in convention could only occur if 40% of the electorate was represented. Gaidi disagreed with the decision and he, along with others including Queen Mother Moore, resigned, thereby handing Imari, by default, control over the direction of the government . . . .
Barley a year after the RNA’s move to Jackson, MS (1970/71) as accounted earlier, eleven RNA workers including its now President Brother Imari, were arrested and imprisoned on bogus murder and conspiracy charges, as well as ‘waging war against the state of Mississippi,’ a scurrilous charge later dropped. But the fact that the RNA President was incarcerated lay at the root of the 2nd Constitutional Crisis that threatened the nascent Provisional Government.
Did the RNA’s Constitution, the Code of Umoja, equate incarceration with incapacitation and, if not, could the President of the Black Nation carry out his duties behind enemy walls? That was the technical basis for the Crisis. Underlying it, however, was continued buzz and heated debate as to whether the establishment of the Provisional Government itself was premature; this time led by Brother Chokwe Lumumba. . . . Before long, however, the seeds of the ideological conflict percolated and grew.
Our Brother President’s seeming vehemence towards leaders such as Brother Chokwe and others who had differences of opinion surprised me. Brother Imari labeled them ‘liquidators’ because, in his words, they were trying to ‘launch a coup to destroy the popularly elected government.’
Brother Imari, on the other hand, was characterized by Brother Chokwe and other critics as ‘manipulative’ and ‘dictatorial’, and probably other adjectives I was not privy to. This was an unfortunate low point in the Movement. . . .
There were now tow Provisional Government operating, each claiming to be legitimate, sanctioned by the Code of Umoja. Brother Imari was the President of one wing of the split, and Dara Abubakari, a former VIce President and close associate of Queen Mother Moore, was Presiden of the other side.
A three-judge tribunal was subsequently convened to resolve the constitutional issue. The Code of Umoja was interpreted to equate imprisonment with incapacity. No one is perfect. Even geniuses have flaws. This when it really became clear to me that onew way or another Brother Imari was going to have his way. He ressurected the long defunct Malcolm X Society, renamed it the Malcolm X Party, and used it as the vehicle to hold the constitutionally mandated 1978 and 1980 National Black Elections. Rev Ishakamusa Barashango was appointed Chairman, Baba El Senzengakulu Zulu was Secretary, and I was always the ‘mover and shaker’ to make things happen and get things done.
The National Black Elections for the officers of the Black Nation was conducted by the Central Committee of the Malcolm X Party in 1978 and Imari Abubakari Obadele was elected President by nearly 1,000 votes through the direct popular elections process as provided for in the Code of Umoja. In all honesty, there were questions in my mind as to the wisdom of our street corner elections where people were ignorant as to officers and judges they were electing and their qualifications for the office. But I admired Brother Imani immensely and respected his position.
So who was the real government? The answer depended on who you asked and whom they were aligned with. This is the reason why today’s internet searches on officers of the RNA are sometimes either vague or inconsitent . . . .
After much discussion, debate and endless meetings over the course of several years, a reconciliation government was established in 1984, reuniting leaders of the struggle for independence and land in North America into a single, Provisional Government. The unity government operated with a co-presidency in the persons of Brother Imari Obdele and Sister Dara Abubakari.
‘We need unity,’ urged co-President Dara Abubakari, who resided in New Orleans, LA. ‘We need principled unity first, between Black individuals and organizations inside the Nationalist Movement, and also with Black people who have never heard of or thought about us having our own independent nation. This is the only way we’re going to get our freedom!’ she delcared.
Co-President Imari Obadele agreed and pronounced, ‘This is an historic occasion. It is rare that Black groups who go through times of internal and external upheaval can come together in unity and still forge ahead! We are the first to do this and there are major plans in progress for the future.’
It would be dishonest to imply that everything was perfect after the establishment of the Unity Government. As expressed by African anti-colonialist leader, Amilcar Cabral, ‘Tell no lies, claim no easy victories.’ And the Unity Government surely was no easy victory for either side. Emotions were still somewhat tepid but there was a mutual feeling that we would take the high ground, agree to disagree, ad move forward.
Brother Chokwe and others put their energies into forming the New Afrikan People’s Organization as an additional vehicle in the New Afrikan Independence Movement to mobilize the grassroots. The Provisional Government under the presidency of Brother Imar was solidified and elections every three years continued to be held.”
The disunity within the PGRNA reared its ugly head again around 2014 over elections disputes. This escalated to a climax in 2023 that provoked the conveneing of the New Afrikan Peoples’ Convention at which I made a presentation on the plebiscite. The convention nullified the recent fraudulent elections and established an Interim PGRNA that held a special election in March of 2024 to provide continuity of government. I was also appointed as Minister of Foreign Affairs. This has resulted in a split between the impeached former PGRNA Officers and the current PGRNA government the details of which can be read here. Efforts to resolve the two factions are underway.
How will the PGRNA resolve their internal disunity?
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AFRICAN UNION 6TH REGION
December 2002: The Western Hemisphere African Diaspora Forum (WHADN) held in Washington DC between December 17 and 19, 2002 established the WHADN as the “interface” mechanism between the African Union and the African Diaspora in the Western Hemisphere. [Note: WHADN’s mandate expired after 18 months and it is now defucnt]
February 2003: African Union Article 3q Amendment. The AU had designated the creation of several groupings in various parts of the world to educate people about the AU and the Diaspora, to monitor and record how community-based groups organized themselves, and to be a networking resource for all such community-based organizations. Those new groupings were called the Western Hemispheric African Diasporan Network (WHADN) and the European Hemispheric African Diasporan Network (EHADN) primarily in Europe.
July 2004: ECOSOCC Statute Article 5 Section 3
September 12, 2004: Caribbean Pan African Network (CPAN) established at a meeting in Bridgetown Barbados held at the Commission for Pan African Affairs. It was a joint initiative of the Clement Payne Movement of Barbados, the Emancipation Support Committee of Trinidad and Tobago and the African Union. . . . to engage in a formal institutional relationship with the African Union.
March 29, 2005: Interim ECOSOCC in Addis Ababa decides to include Diaspora as voting members.
December 2005: IRIE/WHADN MoU Establishing the AU 6th Region Education Campaign (AU6thREC)
January 4-10, 2006: AU6thREC/Rastafari All Mansions Summit in Jamaica
March 7, 2006: AU6thREC launched at Howard University.
April 7-8, 2006: AU6thREC/The Pan African ROUNDTABLE/FORUM in Los Angeles - Dr. David Horne of the PAOC joins AU6thREC - The current Town Hall-Caucus method grew out of this meeting, that included community activists from across the USA and participants from the Caribbean, Central America and the African continent. Shortly after that gathering, the method was validated by electing Representatives in California and in Central America. Currently, it is being used or considered across the United States, in Canada, and in South America. Thus far, it is the only straightforward, practical method being utilized. SRDC ESTABLISHED.
November 8-15, 2006: AU6thREC/ Rastafari All Mansions Inity Summit in Azania (South Africa)
December 7, 2006: AU6thREC/Cabo 12 Annual Summit (Honduras)
March 31, 2007: NY Elects first 6th Region Representatives: Ras E.S.P. McPhearson (EWF) and Elder A. Lumumba Grant (Harlem Activist)
March 31, 2007 Election Results for the African Union 6th Region for New York State http://nkwanta.tripod.com/id10.html?fbclid=IwAR1iDPhno6E_rauS7yslYJ1ihaNiwPL8PM9_bjXxxMUEVlMqDW2CLUqCIlY
May 29, 2007: CIDO nullification letter to AU6thREC. Since that time, WHADN and EHADN were disbanded, and organizations such as SRDC (primarily in North America), the Central American Black Organization or CABO (in Central and Latin America), PerAnkh Smai Tawi and CIPN/MIR (in the US Virgin Islands, Guadeloupe, Martinique and the Caribbean), the Middle East African Diaspora Unity Council or MEADUC (Israel and Middle East) and African Union African Diaspora Sixth Region or AUADS (Europe) have picked up the work of organizing at the local and national levels and advocating for the official inclusion of the Diaspora as the Sixth Region.
2007: AUADS established “The African Union African Diaspora Sixth Region High Council serves as the main governing body for the African Diaspora Sixth Region, to represent the interests and aspirations of the Global African Diaspora.” -
2014: SOAD established. Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, President-in-Office of the African Union gave a mandate to Dr Louis-Georges Tin, chairperson of the CRAN (the French black coalition), to set up the African Diaspora, to “give substance” to the Sixth Region. . . .
“You wished to attract our attention about your project that aims to give substance to the 6th region of the African Union(…). The interview I had with you and the information that we collected about your activities gave me the assurance of the major role the CRAN ca play to contribute to the implementation of the programs of development of our Continent.“ - Since then, with an international team, Dr Louis-Georges Tin has formed a Government . . . In July 2018, during the Summit of the African Union, Dr Louis-Georges Tin launched this initiative : the State of the African Diaspora was born.”
2018: African Diaspora Union (AFRIDU) established
2019: African Unity Sixth Region USA (AU6RUSA) established by Dr. Queen Blessing Itua, Global Empowerment Ambassador and multi-award-winning Nigerian-American Author. In my blog post The AU 6th Region Diaspora Initiative Is Failing Members of The Diaspora Whose Ancestors Were Enslaved in the United Statesfrom November 2019, I stated,
“About a month ago, I started noticing a lot of Facebook post about the African Diaspora Division from a group called the African Unity Sixth Region USA founded by Dr. Queen Blessing Itua, Global Empowerment Ambassador and multi-award-winning Nigerian-American Author. According to their website,
“The African Unity Sixth Region USA Foundation is the official non-profit organization established to mobilize, galvanize, organize and structure the African Diaspora. . . . The AU6RUSA will engage the African Union through regular consultations with CIDO to review the implementation of the Work Program and to establish new areas for cooperation
AU6RUSA ensures that activities align with the African Union Declaration, legacy projects, flagship projects, agenda 2063 within the Work Program of the AU6RUSA. AU6RUSA will work with the CIDO of the African Union.”
According to their 2021 website,
“The African Unity Sixth Region USA Foundation is the official non-profit organization established to mobilize, galvanize, organize and structure the African Diaspora. . . . “
Accordin to their AU6RUSA-OVERIVEW document,
“Mandate - African Union 6th Region USA Foundation Corporation is the official headquarters of the African Union 6th Region in USA. Our mandate is to mobilize and unify all people of African Descent in USA and to elect representatives for USA in the African Union ECOSOCC Assembly.”
2020: On March 12, 2020, the African Diaspora Development Institute (ADDI) was founded by H.E. Ambassador Aricana Chihombori-Quao. According to their website,
“Due to slavery and colonization, Africa and her children on the Continent and abroad are a wounded people and we need healing. ADDI was formed to heal these wounds by reconnecting all people of African Descent with our roots in Africa, The Motherland. We plan to open ADDI offices in all African countries in order to give the African governments easy access to the African Diaspora. Through our extensive database, our hope is that the African governments will gift the African diaspora businesses in collaboration with the businesses on the continent, first right of refusal of all developmental contracts in Africa, national and continental projects.”
In July of 2022, ADDI solicited for delegates to attend what was originally announced as the African Diaspora Pan African Congress and later as the “9th Pan African Congress” to be held in Harare, Zimbabwe from 14-19, 2022 hosted by the Government of Zimbabwe. According to their solicitation for delegates,
“Since the amendment of the AU constitution, it has been brought to our attention the onus has been left to the African Diaspora to organize and collectively, in a united manner present demands to the African Heads of State as to how we wish to organize and formalize the 6th Region in the same way as the other 5 regions on the continent of Africa. . . .The African Diaspora Pan African Congress will primarily focus on the formalization of the 6th Region.
For this reason I reached out to Her Excellency and offered to help her organize her Congress and was appointed as the Coordinator for the PAC8.1. In my outreach to Pan Africanists, I said,
“As my article highlights, there are contradictions and differences within the African Diaspora. However, this is the moment we must exercise our understanding that unity does not require homogeneity, but it does require solidarity of purpose. “
2023: African Unity Sixth Region Global (AU6RG) established Accordint to their website, AU6RG is “as an extension of the African Union, we serve as the ‘Sixth Region’, uniting people of African descent living outside the African continent….” Their Facebook page describes it as “The premier organization representing all people of African descent with a mission to galvanize, mobilize, unite, and structure the African diaspora.” Their August 31, 2023 Facebook post says,
“African Union Sixth Region Global (AU6RG) and the Economic Community of Africa Sixth Region Canada (ECASRC) are headquartered in Toronto, Canada. Each country globally will formulate their own national diaspora branch under the auspices of AU. The African Union 6th Region Global is the official Pan-African umbrella organization for people of African Descent worldwide. Economic Community of African Sixth Region Canada is the national diaspora body for all civil society organizations in Canada as part of the Regional Economic Community of Africa.”
How will the African Union 6th Region resolve their internal disunity?
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THE RIGHT NOW UNIFICATION MOMENT
Siphiwe Baleka, who started the unification movement with the AU6REC back in 2006 attempted to unify the movement again, this time using the occasion of the ECOSOCC Call for Application for Elections into the 4th Permanent General Assembly, that excluded the AU 6th region and left them with no framework or process under the Article 3(q) Amendment that officially, “invite(s) and encourage(s) the full participation of Africans in the Diaspora in the building of the African Union in its capacity as an important part of our Continent.” Bolstered by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights RESOLUTION IN PREPARATION FOR THE AU THEME FOR 2025 “JUSTICE FOR AFRICANS AND PEOPLE OF AFRICAN DESCENT THROUGH REPARATIONS” THROUGH CONSULTATIONS ON AFRO DESCENDANTS, INDIGENOUS/ETHNIC ANCESTRY, REPARATIONS & THE 6TH REGION - ACHPR/Res.616 (LXXXI) 2024 that
“Calls on the Chairperson of Working Group on Indigenous Populations/Communities and Minorities in Africa and the Chairperson of ECOSSOC to lead this initiative and co-organize the Roundtable in conjunction with associated mechanisms in the Commission [and} Urges the African Diaspora organizations to establish an appropriate process for determining modalities for elections and elect twenty (20) CSOs to the AU ECOSOCC General Assembly, in conformity with Article 5 (3) of the States of AU ECOSOCC, and to cooperate with the African Commission, AU ECOSSOC, the AU Member States and other relevant stakeholders to make the AU Theme of the Year 2025 a success”
Siphiwe called a Town Hall Meeting to launch the Elections Process for African Diaspora Represetnatives. Immediately SOAD, AFRIDU and the Pan African Council endorsed the campaign. The UNIA and EWF, along with the Global Afrikan Congruss UK also endorsed the campaign. Phllip Springer, CEO of ADDI, promised letters of endorsement from ADDI Barbados, ADDI Caribbean and ADDI Global which were drafted but never delivered. Thus, right after the African Diaspora Assembly Elections campaign was launched, SOAD, AFRIDU, UNIA, EWF had united, and ADDI was on the way. Only CPAN, AUADS and AU6RUSA refused to join while and AU6RG had not been contacted. Then, the campaign was hit with a “cease and desist letter” and a “Siphiwe Must Go!” sabotage campaign led by Barbados Ambassador to CARICOM and CPAN leader David Comissiong and Phillip Springer that caused chaos and further disunity. Nevertheless, after meeting with AU ECOSOCC and scheduling a 6th Region Town Hall meeting for EVERYONE, outreach was made again to Comissiong and CPAN and ADDI CEO Phillip Springer, both of whom rejected the good faith effort. Nevertheless, an African Diaspora 6th Region Emergency Ubuntu Reconciliation Meeting was held on Sunday, March 9 and a 6TH REGION SANKOFA UBUNTU COALITION was agreed to. We now ask everyone to
JOIN THE 6TH REGION SANKOFA UNBUNTU COALITION.
