1, 2, 3 - Anti-colonial nationalism, Garvey and Pan-Africanism

Ending external rule

Anti-colonial nationalism claims that the people subjected to colonial government should control their own political future.

The concepts overlap, but a military occupation, a settler colony and economic domination need not work through the same institutions. Ask who makes the decisions and whose interests they serve. An external power can control political appointments, resources or trade while claiming that it benefits the population it rules.

Anti-colonial nationalism rejects colonial rule and seeks to return governance to indigenous peoples. Here, indigenous peoples means peoples with established historical connections to the territory subjected to external domination. The principle is self-determination: they should decide how they are governed. It is not a permission to assume that a colonised territory contains only one culture or that every group agrees on its future.

If you sit in 2027: Issue 3 says governance should return to “the indigenous population”; Issue 4 says “indigenous peoples”. The plural wording helps avoid treating all communities in a territory as one undifferentiated group.

The UN’s account of decolonisation identifies its 1960 declaration as affirming self-determination and calling for an end to colonialism. This is a later institutional expression of the principle, not evidence that every anti-colonial nationalist has the same political programme.

Garvey’s Black pride

Garvey connects pride in Black identity with the capacity to organise and govern collectively.

Black nationalism promotes Black people’s cultural, economic and political independence, together with pride and self-determination. In Garvey’s account, denigration and exclusion can weaken confidence and encourage reliance on institutions controlled by others. Pride counters that subordination: people recognise their worth and develop the confidence to build organisations of their own.

Empowerment is therefore more than personal self-esteem. Cultural independence means valuing Black identity and achievement; economic independence includes organising enterprises and resources; political independence means the ability to act collectively and determine government. Garvey’s African Fundamentalism, preserved by the Marcus Garvey and UNIA Papers Project, links solidarity and self-reliance to collective achievement. The movement’s 1920 declaration records demands for rights and self-government. These are statements of aspirations, not proof that all the aspirations were achieved.

If you sit in 2027: Issue 3 frames Garvey’s pride through the “African race” and beauty in one’s own kind. Issue 4 states Black empowerment, pride, unity and self-determination. Explain the connection between identity and collective independence rather than reproducing racial stereotypes.

If you sit in 2027: Issue 3’s glossary describes Black nationalism as a reaction to white oppression originating in the mid-twentieth century. Garvey’s earlier work demonstrates why that origin claim should not be treated as accurate. Issue 4 defines the idea through cultural, economic and political independence, pride and self-determination; use that accurate meaning in either series.

This view of human nature emphasises the possibility of confidence and collective agency despite oppression. Society supplies solidarity; political institutions and economic organisation make agency practical. Nationalism here can be progressive, seeking improvement by overturning domination, rather than preserving existing authority.

Pan-African unity across borders

Garvey’s Pan-Africanism connects African peoples beyond the territory of any one state.

Pan-Africanism treats African people throughout the world as one people with shared interests and a common cause. The diaspora consists of people of African descent living outside Africa. Garvey’s national community therefore includes populations separated geographically and living under different governments.