Whether you are in the diaspora or from the diaspora, you have a big role to play in the AfriKili fight. As a matter of fact, the Pan-African dream and the fight for a unified Africa began with great men and women in the diaspora.

There were people like William Edward Burghardt Du Bois (W.E.B. Du Bois), the first African American to obtain his PhD from Harvard and co-founder of the NAACP. Marcus Garvey from Jamaica, founder of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA). Henry Sylvester Williams, the Barrister from Trinidad and Tobago, who in 1900 organized the First Pan-African Conference, held at Westminster Town Hall in London. Aimee Cesaire from Martinique, founder of the Négritude. The list goes on and on.

Brothers and sisters in the diaspora, who were taken out of Africa over 400 hundred years ago, led the fight for African Unity at the end of the 19^th century and beginning of the 20^th century. They began a fight that was later adopted by brothers and sisters on the African continent.

On that note, I am thankful to the generations that came before us and embraced the Pan-African cause, with people like Kwame Nkrumah, Gamal Abdel-Nasser, Sékou Touré, Patrice Lumumba, Madiba Nelson Mandela, Cheikh Anta Diop, Thomas Sankara, etc.

I am also thankful for the great men and women fighting for Pan-Africanism in our current generation. People like Dr. Patrick Loch Otieno Lumumba (known as PLO), Dr. Teophile Obenga (professor emeritus in the Africana Studies Center at San Francisco State University), Dr. Hakim Adi (Professor of the History of Africa and the African Diaspora at the University of Chichester in the UK), Kemi Seba, Felwin Sarr, Dr. Arikana Chihombori Quao, etc. There are too many for me to name all of them.

The revolution and radical changes of the magnitude we are seeking, cannot be done by one person or one movement. It can only be done by a collective effort. Therefore, we must join hands, pool our resources, and aggregate our efforts.

I personally believe that we cannot accomplish anything meaningful until we fight for something that is bigger than ourselves.

So, I am asking you to join the AfriKili movement, the grandiose dream of African unity. Even if you are already part of another movement or leading it, I am asking that we work within a coalition.

Pooling talent from the entire African continent will ensure level of competence not yet seen in the history of the world. Let’s not forget that the African diaspora is far-reaching and has acquired diverse skillsets in different regions of the world. This presents an unprecedented pool of talent that can contribute to raising Africa to unprecedented heights, given the right set of circumstances.

To those who say that our dream of a federal United States of Africa will take too long to materialize, I reply by saying let’s hurry up and start. What is holding us back and what are we afraid of? Let us stop compromising or looking for excuses. The time to start is now!

Some will say that our dream of a federal United States of Africa is too big of a dream and that we should move gradually by focusing on regional organizations. I reply by saying that the continent leaders decided to adopt this gradual approach since the 1960’s and we are still nowhere close to a federal union.

Political leaders that were opposed to the creation of a United States of Africa proposed by Kwame Nkrumah used the gradualism arguments and opted to the creation of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) in 1963, that became the African Union in (AU) in 2002.

Some of these arguments are also used by many current African heads of state who want to focus on strengthening regional organizations like The Southern African Development Community (SADC), Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), East African Community (EAC), etc.

It is true that some of these regional communities have made it easier for their member countries to trade amongst them. However, their respective presidents are still quick to hide behind the veil of sovereignty to justify democratic abuse within their borders, and the masses are still struggling to lift themselves out of poverty.

I contend that our vision of unity cannot be limited to creating regional organizations composed of independent states. The creation of a United States of Africa might not happen overnight, but we must keep that goal in sight as we advocate for reforms across the continent. As the saying goes, we must advance with the end in sight.

Just because the African continent was never united under a federal government does not mean that it cannot happen. Like Albert Einstein said, “Reality is merely an illusion albeit a very persistent one.” We have the power to change our reality if we decide to!

There are many examples of countries that were never united until they adopted new constitutions. The United States of America was never united under a federal nation before ratifying the U.S. Constitution in 1788. China went through 2,000 years of imperial rule with rival dynasties and various warlords, before forming the constitutional Republic of China in 1912. The Russia Federation we know today was created in 1993 after a long history of struggles and unification starting with the Rus’ State in 862, the creation of the Russian Empire in 1721, the creation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in 1922, and the adoption of the 1993 constitution.

As we can see from the examples above, history is full of study cases that the African continent can learn from and iterate to create a United States of Africa. Like Albert Einstein also said, “Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life’s coming attractions.” We can pull this off by dedicating our brain power, blood, sweat and tears into coordinated efforts.

If we get this right, our actions will echo for generations. We will be known as the generation that finally put Africa back on track towards unity and prosperity, towards a United States of Africa.

Whether you were born on the African continent, born in the diaspora, relocated after your birth, or your ancestors were taken out of the continent, you are essential for this to work. I humbly ask you to join the cause! Join the AfriKili movement! Join the AfriKili coalition! Join the fight for a United States of Africa.

Let’s get to work!

AfriKili, African intelligence to build a new Africa!