The 1958 All-African People’s Conference Explained through the Zone Analysis Theory By Dr. Gnaka Lagoke

Introduction

Pan-Africanism is one area that African academics have shied away from for some time now. For this reason, faculty and students, across the continent, have little understanding of what it really means, and especially, when it started, and for what purpose. It is therefore important that African higher education institutions revisit the issue to place it back on the continental agenda because it is experiencing a resurgence.

Consequently, there is the need to show its importance and the significant contribution it made to African history, especially, the first major 1958 All-African People’s Conference. This has necessitated the attempt to look at the subject through the prism of the Zone Analysis Theory. read more

Commentary – The Unfinished Business of the Pan African Congress

The 9th Pan African Congress: postponed or cancelled?

Many of us at Toward Freedom were disappointed to learn that the long awaited 9th Pan- African Congress, to be held in Lome,Togo on October 29 to November 2, 2024 was postponed…or cancelled. Scant information has been available to clear the air. We are pleased to publish this backgrounder written by Siphiwe Baleka who has studied the history of Pan African Congresses and was closely involved in trying to work thru some of the knots that bedeviled the planning of this Congress.  Siphiwe has been involved with many Pan African groups: the Republic of New Afrika (PGRNA), West Africa Region of the Pan African Federalist Movement (PAFM), NCOBRA to list just a few. You can reach him at: [email protected] read more

Farewell

Image from Toward Freedom’s 60th anniversary celebration in Burlington, VT

Dear TF readers and supporters – 

In the aftermath of World War II, anti-colonial movements spread throughout the world giving rise to the non-aligned movement. At the end of 1952 Bill Lloyd started a newsletter to inform readers in the US about independence movements in Africa and the non-aligned movement in general.  

William B. LLoyd, Jr.
William B. LLoyd, Jr. circa 1990

Called Toward Freedom, Lloyd’s newsletter would evolve over the next 70 years into a print magazine and then a website with the mission to publish international reporting from a grassroots perspective and incisive analysis that exposed government and corporate abuses of power, while supporting movements for universal peace, justice, freedom, the environment, and human rights. read more

Demonstration against Libero Copper in Mocoa, Putumayo. The march was the first initiative of a four-day event called the Festival in Defense of the Mountain, Water and Life in protest of the copper mining project. March 2022 / credit: Antonio Cascio

Mining Struggle in Colombia Raises Questions About Petro-Márquez Government That Rode to Victory with Indigenous & Peasant Support

A Canadian mining company has appeared to move forward on exploring mining possibilities in Colombia's biodiverse Putumayo department, raising questions about the progressive government of Gustavo Petro and Francia Márquez, who won power by promising environmental protection. Natalia Torres Garzon reports. Photos by Antonio Cascio.