Let us begin by defining both Pan-Africanism and FBA. From there we’ll explore the conflict between the two and examine why this conflict has emerged. Also, I’ll issue a verdict as to which is the correct path as we move forward.
There are two major tenets of Pan-Africanism. The first is that all black people are united by the African bloodline. The second tenet is that members of this race should unite on a global scale to liberate the African diaspora from inhumanity and bigotry.
The energy, the finance, and the intellectual capital that has been used to promote the pan-Africanist movement has largely come from the West, particularly among the FBA. For example, David Walker. An FBA from North Carolina with pan-Africanist leanings. He published a book in 1829 called, Walker’s Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World, but in particular and very expressly to those of the United States of America. The pan-Africanist movement is not centralized, although attempts have been made in the past by activists like Marcus Garvey. Garvey was a Jamaican that was based in the United States. I am a Pan-Africanist.
Over the course of my adult life, I’ve had the opportunity to have lengthy stays in Europe, Asia, and Africa. In every single place I’ve been. A white life is more valuable than a black life in all of those locations, including continental Africa. And a white man’s ice is viewed as being colder than a black man’s ice. Therefore, I have some idea of what Marcus Garvey saw as he traveled between the Americas and Europe. The pan-Africanist goal of black unity is a logical step, and that’s what he saw. This is why Babylon fears a successful Pan Africanist reality.
To get a clear understanding of FBA. I visited a website called Foundational Black Americans at officialfba.com. It does not clearly state who the operator of the site is, but I get the impression that the operators of the site follow the popular FBA movement. FBA is not an organization and there is no designated leader of FBA. According to the site, and I quote, FBA is a lineage based designation that specifically refers to the over 43 million black American who are direct descendants freed men, the formerly enslaved black people who were emancipated in the United States. This lineage represents a unique and unbroken connection to the foundational builders of this nation. Now that would include people like Crispus Attucks, the very first man to die in the American War for Independence from Great Britain. The great 19th century liberator Harriet Tubman would also be included in that lot; baseball legend Jackie Robinson, who integrated baseball, and current congressional member Jasmine Crockett. I am a genetic FDA. There is a glaring problem, however, with the FBA movement, and I’ll address that later.
Both Pan-Africanism and FBA focus on lineage. Pan-Africanism covers a broader geographic and historical canvas, while FBA narrows the lineage to those blacks whose ancestors were in the United States before the abolition of slaves.
The history of Pan-Africanism in Africa is quite ironic. The irony is that the people that have the most to gain from it, such as the continental Africans, are the least likely to adopt it. Throughout the 20th century, African countries achieved de jure independence from their colonial overlords. They carried over their most destructive problems with them into independence. They never shared the cloaks of tribalism, Eurocentrism, and corruption. One example is the economic community of West African states, which was established in 1975. The organization has regressed over the course of the last 50 years and has yielded no fruit as of late. The chair of ECOWAS is the Nigerian president, Bola Tanub. He’s the leader of the organization and he’s run it poorly, just like he’s led his country, extremely poorly. Nigeria, which has the largest population in Africa and is the country’s largest oil producer, is still crippled by rampant corruption, inflation, and security threats. Africa’s former colonizers along with African leaders have poisoned the minds of the Africans and have launched them out into the world at us like little missiles of colonialism but in blackface.
Since slavery was abolished in the United States, it seems like black Americans have put Pan-Africanism into action and we have fought tirelessly for Africans. For example, in 1890, it was an FBA named George Washington Williams that called attention to the gross abuses against Africans in the Congo Free State. It was an FBA led organization named Trans Africa that viewed the anti-apartheid movement that eventually led to the fall of state sanctioned apartheid in South Africa.
If there’s any group that can use some pan Africanism right now, it is the continental Africans. Africans devalue African life and culture in many ways. One of the most telling and heartbreaking is the mutilation that Africans undertake to lighten their skin color. According to Google, the market for cream and lightening creams was $239 million in 2021. And it is expected to eclipse 500 million by 2033. According to the World Health Organization, 70 % of women in Nigeria have used skin lightening cream. Now of all places in which you should be able to be black, Africa is that place! Yet they cling to that old colonial mindset like it’s a bag of fresh Indian hair.
FBAs should fervently oppose pan-Africanism in their country right now. The USA has been the land of opportunity for foreigners from all over the world, especially since the FBAs have made America safe for blacks, reds, browns, yellows, alternative lifestyles, Muslims, and whoever else. The freedoms that they enjoy were achieved on the backs of all the Americans who fought for the country and the FBAs that led the Civil Rights Movement. It is the FBAs that have challenged the USA to respect its own laws. The problem with this scenario is that the blacks, reds, browns, yellows, muslims, etc. come from countries whose culture encourage a rigid racialized hierarchy. These beliefs are firmly planted in their spirits. They hate black. They don’t respect the humanity of the black people in their own countries. Furthermore, because of colonialism and imperialism, many of these folks see themselves as mascots for the Blancos. They should form their own rainbow coalition called Mascot for Mayo. Just look at this map of the countries that have been under European colonial rule. They cursed the gods of their native lands and they have been socialized to prioritize the interests of their colonial masters, even at their own expense.
Right now, the genetic FBAs are shooting themselves in the foot when they promote lax immigration policies or accept no policies at all. For Black America, the fruits yielded by Pan-Africanism have been unidirectional instead of mutually beneficial. FBAs that campaign for millions of these male supremacist foot soldiers to enter the country are politically immature. FBAs have enough work to do against the traditional enemies of humanity. Empowering a rainbow coalition of male supremacists only makes the work more difficult. Our politicians pretend to care about the masses. The economic and social impact of importing droves of anti-black foot soldiers will be the most detrimental to FBAs that are either young or working their way out of poverty.
Historically, FBAs have not had qualms with Caribbean or African people. In general, we have celebrated their differences. Over the years, I’ve realized that the acrimony and contempt has mostly gone in one direction, from Black foreigners to FBAs. When our labor  bears fruit, these foreigners are Black. When it is time to stand up to injustice, they are quieter than a call girl in church service. But that is not the worst of it. If they had quietly accepted the benefits that FBAs earned, FBAs probably would never have said anything. However, that colonial training is just too powerful in their spirits. Instead of love or indifference, they come with malice towards FBAs.
FBAs should not take the disrespectful of  immigrants personally. It is not because FBAs are lazy, violent, or decadent. The countries that they flee are more violent and more deviant than the FBA community. Their problem with you is that they see you as a privileged black. They are envious. They bring that anti-black “mayo supremacist” mindset with them and do their best to undermine the very same people that has always fought for them and continues to fight for them. They bring the same mentality that has ruined their countries and spread it like tuberculosis. They think they are being clever, but they are essentially being two-faced.
I think the FBA movement should be more explicit. To say that it is simply a matter of delineation sells the movement short. There are droves of genetically FBA people that oppose the premise of FBA. One reason for this is their naivete. They are wedded to the notion of a single collective black people. The other reason why genetic FBAs do not support the FBA movement is their allegiance to “mayo nation” and are the Democratic Party. Blacks should definitely split with the Democrats on the issue of immigration and explicitly politicized FBA movement has as much of a right to exist as LULAC, the Anti-Defamation League, or the NAACP. To me, explicit politicization is the obvious next step.
In closing, I’ll say that this particular moment in history, Pan-Africanism is needed in Africa and the Caribbean. However, in America, it is exploited to the detriment of Foundational Black Americans. It is time for Black Americans to get their heads out of their backsides and strategize against the rainbow coalition of male supremacists, particularly those that use God’s gift of melanin as a camouflage to do their colonizers bidding.