Declaration for Africa Day
El CLACSO Working Group Afro-descendants and counter-hegemonic proposalsThe Nelson Mandela Chair and the undersigned Afro organizations and networks do not want to overlook a date like that of May 25th, which commemorates Africa Day. A single day is not enough to represent how much the peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean, and the world in general, owe to this continent. African blood runs through our veins and in our Latin American and Caribbean identities; just as much African blood was spilled on our lands as a result of centuries of exploitation and the trafficking of enslaved Africans during the processes of European colonialism.
Africa was never far away for many Africans "forced into exile" by the slave trade, a legacy that materialized in a resistance to forgetting, an act of heroism and resilience, aimed at preserving their original cultural codes. This is why we retain so much of that continent in our culture, religion, ways of life, linguistic expressions, and practices of resistance. However, we have yet to repay our debt to Africa. It is not simply a matter of recognizing its legacy and its influence on our practices, but rather of contributing to placing Africa in universal history, and above all, in its rightful place. As Ki-Zerbo aptly stated, African history has frequently been masked, camouflaged, distorted, and mutilated. It has been reconstructed with an image of barbarism, backwardness, contempt, misery, and chaos, ignoring its strength. Hence the need to reconstruct memory and rewrite African history.
The African continent is once again grappling with a pandemic, this time one with a major international impact. African countries, besieged by COVID-19, are implementing successful preventative isolation policies to date, aiming to reduce infections and avert a catastrophe on the continent. As Africa commemorates its liberation, it surpassed 100.000 confirmed cases of coronavirus, although only six of the continent's 54 countries have registered more than 5.000 cases. A total of 100.114 people have been infected with coronavirus in Africa, of whom 3.077 have died and 38.599 have recovered, according to data compiled by the World Health Organization (WHO) and Johns Hopkins University. The figures also reveal that the number of infections doubled in 15 days, a rate lower than that observed in other regions.
The country most affected by the pandemic is South Africa, with 19.137 cases, 369 deaths, and 8.950 patients discharged. Projections from its health authorities anticipate that, in the most pessimistic scenario, the coronavirus will have caused nearly 50.000 deaths and some 3,6 million detected infections by November. Egypt has the second-highest number of cases, but the highest number of COVID-19 deaths in Africa, with 15.003 positive cases and 696 fatalities, according to the EFE news agency. It is followed by Algeria (7.728 cases and 575 deaths), Morocco (7.211 cases and 196 deaths), and, in sub-Saharan Africa, the populous Nigeria (7.016 cases and 211 deaths).
The African Union's management of the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in most countries on the continent being praised by the international community for their swift response to the crisis, despite their vulnerable healthcare systems. This was achieved thanks to the African Union's ability to develop an early, joint strategy to address the pandemic, something not seen on all continents. Western capitalism has failed to generate successful joint strategies.
The importance lies in the commitment to subvert hegemonic paradigms and exclusionary perspectives. We advocate for decolonizing views of African peoples, which would mean valuing and reclaiming their local, national, and regional histories. In this sense, it is urgent to influence the shift in curricular paradigms and the treatment of African issues in Latin American and Caribbean educational systems, based on respect for and recognition of Africa's values and contributions. This also includes the contribution of Maroon pedagogies, as pedagogical practices that allow for the preservation of Africa's original cultural codes, in order to help eliminate colonial denigration and dismissal. This allows us to see ourselves and others from the perspective of the Global South, rather than through the lens of the hegemonic North. All these actions are aimed at the recognition, social justice, and development of Afro-descendant peoples, as proclaimed within the framework of the International Decade for People of African Descent.
Therefore, we emphasize that our actions align with South-South Cooperation, understanding that from the perspective of so-called developing countries—and despite the fact that global wealth resides in our territories, still exploited by new forms of colonialism—we are committed to a fraternal bond based on equality. We recognize that historical events have separated us, but that the shared roots that unite us strive for our reconciliation.
Signatories:
CLACSO Working Group on Afro-descendants and counter-hegemonic proposals
Nelson Mandela Chair (Cuba)
Association of Afro-Latin American and Caribbean Researchers – AINALC
Carioca Network of Black Ethnoeducators (Brazil)
Xangó Group (Argentina)
Afro-Latin American Studies Collective (Uruguay)
Afro-Mexican Museum Petra Morga (Mexico)
National Network of Afro-Mexican Youth (Mexico)
Afro-Mexican organization Mano Amiga de la Costa Chica AC (Mexico)
AfroStética Project (Cuba)
The Cimarron Project (Cuba)
Atinukés Collective about the thoughts of Black women (Brazil)
Afro-Latin American Women's Gathering -TEMA (Argentina)
Art and Action (Mexico)
Latin American Network of Studies on Teaching Work
Organized National Common Network of Dominican Citizens – Recognized (Dominican Republic)
Havana, May 25, 2020
CLACSO Working Group
Afro-descendants and counter-hegemonic proposals
This statement expresses the position of the Working Group on Afro-descendants and counter-hegemonic proposals and not necessarily that of the centers and institutions that make up the CLACSO international network, its Steering Committee or its Executive Secretariat.
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