Pan-African Conferences, 1900-1953:What Did 'Pan-Africanism' Mean?

The concerns of Pan-Africanists, their philosophies and politics naturally depended on the times they were living in. Nevertheless the call for unity, whether overt or implied has been there for well over a century. This need was perhaps easier to espouse when the proposal was for unity against the imperialist oppressors. Once this was obtained (though it is quite reasonable to argue that it is still there, in new forms), the issue became - and is - far more complex and complicated. Another complication that arose with independence is the whole issue of 'nationalism'. After all, the countries of Africa were created in Berlin by Europeans who ignored existing empires/kingdoms/polities, languages, traditions, religions, cultures: how is a new nation to be created from the plethora of many people's whose histories vis-à-vis each other were often 'problematic'? Or, in the name of African unity, should the boundaries be withdrawn? But then how would you administer - and whom? This paper will examine the meaning of 'pan-Africanism' as espoused at the at the 1900 and 1945 Pan-African Conference, and by the West African National Secretariat, Kwame Nkrumah and George Padmore, until and including pan-African conference in Kumasi in 1953. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]