Library:Position and Strategy Towards the Reparations and Repatriation Movements

Since the inception of the All-African People’s Revolutionary Party (A-A.P.R.P.), Pan-Africanism has spread throughout the Pan-African World to the point where even reactionaries must involve themselves in some aspect of Pan-African work. Thus, the internal dynamism of our entire struggle will soon be limited to the domain of Pan-Africanism between the People’s class and the anti-People’s class, between revolution and reform. This last aspect between revolution and reform must be properly understood. We are stating that reform in Pan-Africanism is now a brake on Pan-Africanism. We are stating this only for Pan-Africanism, which since the 5th Pan-African Congress (PAC) in Manchester, England, [15-21 October 1945], contested the dominant position of reform and proposed in action to reduce it to negligible quantity.

In recent times reform Pan-Africanist organizations have come into existence. The African American Summit is a clear example. Strategically we cannot attack them all to the same degree, but we must have clear strategy and reduce them to negligible quantity.

The OAU, a reformist Pan-African organization, created some years ago, [28 June 1992], the Group of Eminent Persons on Reparations. It called on Africans in Africa and the Diaspora to set up national committees for reparations. The cry of reparation is not a new one. Many so called revolutionary African organizations have been doing much propaganda and organizational work around the issue. Unlike the African American Summit, the reparation movement seeks to intoxicate the masses.

Life cannot be purchased, is central to an African tradition. Life was usually exchanged for life. If someone was killed, a kinsperson from the accused was sent to replace. Reparations are legal. It did not arise from African culture. Germany admitted its guilt in the Portuguese aggression against Guinea on November 22, 1970. Germany posed the solution of reparations; the Democratic Party of Guinea (PDG) informed them that it was out of African culture. Germany decided to build some projects on their own in Guinea, like a film studio, etc.

A-A.P.R.P. has close relations with the Rastafarian movement. In the early 70’s all the Rastafarian movements invited A-A.P.R.P. to Jamaica to spend time with them in serious discussion, serious reasoning. Lamin Jangha and Kwame Ture represented the Party. One of the areas of reasoning was the difference between reparations and repatriation. The Rastafarian movement and the A-A.P.R.P. find harmony in the primacy of Africa, thus within Nkrumahism-Toureism repatriation finds ideological harmony.

Most preaching reparations are running from Repatriation!

This question of reparations in no way advances our disorganized masses. Reparations, if only to benefit the masses, can be handled only by an organized community. To call for reparations in the face of a disorganized community, whose anti-People’s class is the most corrupt in the world, is calling only for more divisions.

Reparations in no way confront imperialism! And even after receiving reparations, the exploitative system remains intact. Maybe the reparation movement can become eternal!

At the 7th Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC) in Kampala, Uganda, [April 1994], many tried to make the call for reparations dominant. Here they want to push back Pan-Africanism. Since the 5th PAC, we have stopped appeals to our oppressors and called for the organization of the masses as the only solution.

The A-A.P.R.P. is concerned with political conquest, at this time. There is no way reparations can help a weak and divided People achieve political power. Political and economic power can be achieved by an oppressed People only through STRUGGLE!

At this point, A-A.P.R.P. strategy is not to attack the reparation movement publicly. We will not participate in any of its programs, even when the masses are fully intoxicated. Our public response shall be that we are organizing our people and there are many forces working on reparations.

A-A.P.R.P. will begin now to attack reform ONLY within Pan-Africanism. A-A.P.R.P. will not attack at this time any other reformer or other reform program; but we must now begin to attack reform within Pan-Africanism without pity and without mercy.

Ready for the Revolution!