When We Move, We Move Together: Pan Afrikanism & Diasporic Relations - 5/10/2021

 Conversation Overview

Pan Afrikanism can be traced back to the first Afrikan migration outside of Afrika; its political organizational origins can be traced to the first Pan Afrikan Congress organized by W.E.B DuBois in London 1900. As a theory, Pan Afrikanism seeks to focus on the historical-cultural forces that connect the Afrikan Diaspora. Some of the greatest intellectuals in the Black radical tradition from W.E.B DuBois, Franz Fanon, and Malcolm X evolved to embrace a Pan Afrikan ideology. Pan Afrikanism as an objective is a unifying and liberating project that seeks to shape the future of the Afrikan Diaspora. We will explore this concept and uncover the desires and potentialities of a Pan Afrikan future. Please join Amiri Mahnzili, Aliki Godi & Dr. Tavengwa Gwekwerere for a Messy Conversation entitled When We Move, We Move Together.

Amiri Mahnzili is a Professor of Pan Afrikan Studies at California State University Los Angeles and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Cultural studies with a certificate in Africana studies at Claremont Graduate University. Mahnzili's research focuses on Ante-Modernity Indigenous Afrikan Epistemologies, Critical Pedagogy, Anti-Colonial Theory, and Pan-Africanism and the study of the African Diaspora. Mahnzili holds an M. Ed. A degree focused in Interdisciplinary Studies (Education-Ethnic Studies) from California State University-Los Angeles. Mahnzili conducts Rites-of-Passage Manhood training for young men ages 10-17 through the Akoma Unity Center in San Bernardino, CA, and TEACH Academy of Technology Junior High School in Los Angeles, CA.

Aliki Godi, M.P.A., is a graduate of the Colin L. Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership at the City College of New York and a lifelong student of Pan-Afrikanism. She also holds a Communications degree from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and is a sales & marketing professional. Born in Kampala, Uganda, Aliki immigrated to the United States in her early teens after living in refugee camps in South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Dr. Tavengwa Gwekwerere, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pan-African Studies at California State University, Los Angeles, USA, and a Senior Research Fellow in the Department of African Languages at the University of South Africa. He received the Ph.D. in African Literature and Critical Theory at the University of South Africa and MA and BA at the University of Zimbabwe. Prior to joining California State University, Los Angeles, Dr. Gwekwerere taught in the Department of African Languages and Literatures at the University of Zimbabwe and is an erstwhile Visiting Professor in the Department of African and African-American Studies at the University of Oklahoma. He has published in the Journal of Black Studies, Western Journal of Black Studies, African Identities and South African Journal of African Languages, among other peer-reviewed journals. His research interests revolve around literary and literary-critical discourses on Pan-Africanism, Afrocentricity, Afrotriumphalism, Afrofuturism and African Reconstruction.