Nkrumah and the Pan-African Centered Perspective

Nkrumah's Speeches

Nkrumah's most significant presentations for the development of the Pan-African Centered Perspective and Afrocentric methods were:

1."Come down to Earth," delivered at the University College in Accra, Ghana, at the launching of the Convention People's Party Students' Union (CPPSU), June 5, 1960 (Nkrumah 1997a);
2."Africa's challenge," delivered to the Parliament House in Accra, Ghana, on August 6, 1960 (Nkrumah 1997a);
3."Ghana Republic is born," delivered in Accra, Ghana, on July 1, 1960 (Nkrumah 1997a);
4."The voice of Africa: the opening of the Ghana External Broadcasting Service," delivered on October 27, 1961 in Accra, Ghana (Nkrumah 1997b);
5."Flower of learning (1): At his installation as first Chancellor of the University of Ghana, during the inauguration of the University," delivered on November 25, 1961 at the University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana (Nkrumah 1997b);
6."Flower of learning (2): At his installation as first Chancellor of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and technology, during the inauguration of the University," delivered on November 29, 1961 at the University of Science and Technology, Accra, Ghana. (Nkrumah 1997b);
7."Step to freedom: Nationalists' Conference of African Freedom Fighters," delivered on June 4, 1962 in Accra, Ghana (Nkrumah 1997c);
8."Africa's glorious past: Opening of the First International Congress of Africanists," delivered on December 12, 1962 in Accra Ghana (Nkrumah 1997c);
9."Opening of the Institute of African Studies," delivered in Legon, Ghana, on October 25, 1963 (Nkrumah 1997e);
10."EAP Editorial Board First Annual Meeting" delivered on September 24, 1964; (Editorial Board of the Encyclopedia Africana)

The presentations mentioned above were addressed to students, the Ghanaian government, freedom fighters, Africanist scholars, journalists, university officials and the mass of citizens in Ghana. The intent in all of them was to guide agency along a certain trajectory. The themes of African centeredness and praxis were consistent throughout. The presentation to the EAP Editorial Board actually called for an "Afro-centric" interpretation of African history and of the social and cultural institutions of the African and people of African descent" (Nkrumah September 24, 1964).

Operational Presentations

Operational presentations gave a more focused view on the strategy Nkrumah proposed. To grasp the strategic and tactical approach to developing the agency of the Ghanaian population, it was necessary to review the following key documents and speeches by Nkrumah and found in Revolutionary Path and in Obeng's compilation:

1."Constitution of the Convention Peoples Party," (1973c) outlining the general organization and rules of the CPP;
2."Dawn Broadcast," (1997b) a 1961 broadcast to the general populous decrying corruption and dissension especially in the CPP;
3."Work and Happiness: Ghana's Seven-Year Development Plan," (1997c) a 1962 broadcast to the general Ghanaian population about upcoming development plans; and
4."Blue Print of our goal: Launching the Seven-Year Development plan," (1997d) a 1964 detailed presentation of the plan to the National Assembly of Ghana.

Nkrumah's presentations to the Conference of Independent African States and to the first three Organization of African Unity summits are also inspected. Other significant presentations and documents are referred to but in the main, the above-mentioned works are the most significant in highlighting Nkrumah's developmental strategy for African agency in Ghana.

Ideological Presentations

The Spark was a significant publication in this area as well as in the area of Nkrumahist philosophy and strategy. Serving as a direct vehicle for Nkrumah's ideological cadre, this bi-weekly publication began in 1963 and continued until the 1966 coup de tat. The Spark offered debates on the proper approach to deliver empowering knowledge within Ghana's institutions of higher education. It also challenged various perspectives that surfaced in the published works of scholars and activists of the time and attempted to locate them.

Afrocentric Presentations

Another important presentation that was made available to me was delivered over the Internet. The speech is the one that Nkrumah gave to the Editorial Board of the Encyclopedia Africans on 9 September 21. It explained the importance of using Afro-centric research on one hand and avoiding certain terminology that was perceived as debilitating [1] on the other.

[1] The word Negro fell into this category. Nkrumah detested it youth.