Adama Coulibaly | Dynamique Unitaire Panafricaine
Dear Comrades,
The foundation of the resistance, survival, and resilience of Africa, Africans, and people of African descent lies in centuries-old forms of community organisation, most of which have survived several historical tragedies:
• The barbarity of Arab and Western slave deportations, which tore communities apart and imposed degrading conditions and identities on the deportees in order to erase their memory and culture.
• The savage brutality and violence of colonisation, which redrew the geography of Africa like a cake without consulting Africans, separated peoples and communities, despised and trampled on African culture, cosmogony, and religions, while plundering its art objects, which are widely present in Western museums.
• Neo-colonisation, which continued this evil work of dehumanisation, psychological degradation, and mental domination, brilliantly explained by Frantz Fanon in his book ‘Black Skin, White Masks’.
Despite these multifaceted catastrophes, which contributed greatly to the birth and development of capitalism, communities in Africa have managed to survive and have always been a vital reference point and foundation for social organisation, unity of action, and peaceful or armed resistance by patriots, independence activists, pan-Africanists, and sovereignists.
The ‘Maat’ in ancient Egypt, “Ubuntu” in the greater Swahili region and beyond, and the Mandén Charter of 1236 (Mandén Siguikan), which stemmed from the Oath of the Wise Men of 1222, are all based on the same unique humanist philosophy: the sanctity of life―‘all life is life’―to be preserved and respected. Our duty of solidarity and coexistence is natural. This understanding, taught from an early age, guarantees our individual and collective rights to live in an order of peace and harmony. King Ghezo, quoted as a slogan by the FEANF (Federation of Black African Students in France), said: ‘If all the sons of the country came together to plug the holes in the pot with their hands, the country would be saved.’
Capitalism has always needed the labour of slaves and colonised peoples. This was undoubtedly its ‘mistake’ and the ‘luck’ of Africans compared to other peoples who were exterminated by imperialist colonial occupation on other continents. However, we must not minimise the cases of genocide and massacres in Africa, including napalm bombings such as those in Cameroon.
Despite these great historical misfortunes that have caused deep wounds, communities have provided the inspiration and fighters to resist the hordes of slave traders, then colonialists and neocolonialists. Toussaint Louverture in Haiti, Amilcar Cabral in Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde, Ruben Um Nyobé, Félix Moumié, and Ernest Ouandié in Cameroon, Samora Machel in Mozambique―all led armed struggles against colonialism.
It was from within these organised communities that resistance arose and was led.
In certain regions of Burkina Faso and other parts of Africa, some ethnological studies have referred to ‘stateless societies’, such was the importance of communities―truly self-sufficient communes, jealous of their relative independence―a reality that was and still is found in many places.
It is precisely these communes that have preserved African and Afro-descendant identity and culture as a form of survival and resistance alongside the slave master, the brutal coloniser, and the domineering capitalist neo-colonialist.
The Mandén Charter (intangible heritage of humanity since 2009) suggests that all communities deserve respect and consideration, in their linguistic differences and their professional and cultural specialisations, which were self-sufficient. The autonomy of the communities that made up the Mandinka Empire was never questioned. Within communities, mutual aid was the norm in the production process. Agricultural production, for example, which occupied most of the workers, was organised around collective and individual fields, with plots often allocated to women. This form of work organisation did not prevent great prosperity: Mansa Musa, the 10th of the title, who reigned between 1312 and 1337, is considered one of the richest men of all time.
To preserve social peace and prevent conflict, the Sounankouya, or joking kinship, was established by the Mandén Charter. This mechanism for regulating relations between communities still exists today throughout the former Mali Empire’s sphere of influence.
Amilcar Cabral’s PAIGC relied heavily on village communities during the armed liberation struggle against the Portuguese colonial army, rather than on the petty bourgeoisie.
Thomas Sankara’s CNR created the Committees for the Defence of the Revolution as community bases in neighbourhoods, villages, and even workplaces. Sankara also encouraged village communities to better organise the pooling of production tasks, with the slogan ‘produce what we consume, consume what we produce’. Food self-sufficiency was achieved within four years. The women’s economic groups set up at that time contributed greatly to this.
After the genocide in Rwanda, the traditional community courts, the Gacaca, demonstrated their effectiveness and showed the vitality and inventiveness of the communities. After these judgements, new villages were built to accommodate new communities―victims and perpetrators of the genocide who had served their sentences. Forgiveness for the sake of living together sometimes comes at this price: a proven political will after consultation with grassroots communities, based on concepts that these communities understand.
The terrorist conflict in Cabo Delgado was not resolved solely by the military presence of Mozambique, the country concerned, and Rwanda. These two armies and political leaders were able to engage with local communities, convince them to participate in resolving the conflict, and work together to build the conditions for reconstruction and coexistence.
In Burkina Faso, the Volunteers for the Defence of the Fatherland (VDP), set up under the civilian government of Roch Kaboré and continued and expanded by the military powers of MPSR 1 and 2, stem from the same desire to rely on local, communal, and national organisations to defend freedom and the fatherland in danger.
The Commune or nothing demonstrates its relevance through these few examples of resistance, survival, and resilience. More than a slogan, it is a rallying cry―a revolutionary socialist perspective following the example of Venezuela.
Long live the Commune!
Long live militant internationalism!