Caribbean Intellectual Traditions Caribbean Studies Pan Africanism Objectives

Caribbean Intellectual Traditions Caribbean Studies

Pan Africanism: Objectives • • African unity Black consciousness Black self esteem Black empowerment Social justice Economic liberation Liberation of Africa

Impact of Pan Africanism • Political consciousness – Political ideologies; ills of capitalism; embracing socialism and communism. • Back to Africa movement • Civil Rights movement in American and African Diaspora: Impact of Martin Luther King; Malcolm X and Marcus Garvey. • Quest for social mobility through education

Impact of Pan Africanism cont’ • Movement towards independence – anticolonialist fervor • Movement towards African unity – Marcus Garvey’s UNIA • Black expressions: Religion (Rastafarianism); music (Reggae and calypso).

Negritude: objectives • Recover black pride • Recover black dignity from white intellectual assaults – white philosophers, theologians had stigmatised Africana and blacks: Belief that Africans were uneducated, barbaric, violent, uncivilized and ‘good for nothing’.

Impact of Negritude • Restoration of black pride and dignity through poetry, literature and entertainment, e. g. movies • Black consciousness

Marxist theory: Objectives • • • Social Justice Egalitarianism Anti-capitalist/ imperialist Nationalism Centralized authority Revolution to overthrow the ruling class by the masses • Ultimate objective was worker paradise

Impact of Marxist theory on the Caribbean • Move to create welfare states: Cuba, Jamaica, Guyana, and Grenada • Focus on provision of free social services such as health and education • Class struggle • Political and ideological consciousness • Impact of the cold war and resistance to neo-colonialism of USA, IMF and WB • Political tribalism

Caribbean personalities and Marxism • • Manley – Jamaica CLR James – T & T Fidel Castro – Cuba Forbes Burnham – Guyana Maurice Bishop – Grenada Trevor Monroe – Jamaica Sir Walter Rodney ( How Europe Underdeveloped Africa) - Guyana