insightful

I’ve made peace with the fact that we’ll never unite, I no longer see myself as a pan-Africanist, I’m pro-African. I believe continental Africans should focus on building economic, social, political, & global power among ourselves before we ever reach out to non-African black people (and we're still not obligated to do that). I’ve realized how pointless & counterproductive it is for black Africans to keep reaching out & trying to get non-Africans to identify as African when Africans are 1.2+ billion strong, do we not have enough people? Africans make up the majority of the world’s black population, why are we so busy trying to force other groups to claim an African identity? At the end of the day, the lack of respect black people get worldwide comes from Africa’s position, we’re at the bottom of the global hierarchy, things will only improve once Africans understand the power we actually have, but we keep holding ourselves back through insecurity, corruption, and a lack of coordination. We have the numbers, but not the mindset, if we had both, we would be a force to be reckoned with. Imagine if Africans properly used our resources & started turning our minerals into real wealth, Africa would stop being the world's biggest breadbasket & become a global powerhouse instead, other countries would have no choice but to take us seriously & follow our lead; but since we’re not in that position yet, we’re stuck at the bottom still trying to get people who don’t want to associate with us to call themselves African, it’s sad because that posture makes us look desperate, and it comes directly from where we currently stand in the world. We should always defend ourselves against xenophobia & unprovoked hatred, beyond that, the internal affairs of non-African blacks is not really our concern, it doesn’t affect us. Africa’s reality is what shapes how black people are viewed around the world, we are the ones with the power to change whether black people get respect or not, not the other way around. Healthcare, extreme poverty, tribal conflict, religious extremism, hunger, harmful practices like FGM, skin bleaching, weak infrastructure, poor maintenance, & corrupt leadership are all serious problems holding Africa back, we have the ability to deal with these issues. I don’t believe the continent is beyond saving, but it will be if we keep focusing on other black populations that have been separated from us for over 500 years, those communities went through their own ethnogenesis & built their own cultures & traditions from scratch. The gap created by the Trans-Atlantic slave trade is permanent, that’s tragic and painful, but we have to accept it and move forward. Africans will not always get along with each other, and we don’t have to because Europeans don’t either; the difference is that Europeans know how to set their ethnic differences aside when it comes to protecting their broader interests, that’s a big reason Europe has remained powerful, they don’t let old grievances block cooperation or long-term planning. If Africans started thinking the same way, we would be in a much stronger position. Diaspora wars will end once we accept that Africans don't owe non-African black people anything, and non-African black people don't owe Africans anything either.