We are celebrating the The All African Women’s Revolutionary Union (A-AWRU) 30th anniversary. The All African Women’s Revolutionary Union is the women’s wing of the All African People’s Revolutionary Party. It was born out of the political and ideological struggle for liberation of all African and all indigenous people over hundreds of years of colonialism, neo-colonialism and imperialism where African women have always played a critical and decisive role. There is no doubt that the birth of the A-AWRU was a logical historical development and consequence of the struggle of our people.
Born November 27, 1980, the masses of women in the A-APRP declared themselves the All-African Women’s Revolutionary Union as the Women’s Wing of the A-APRP.
Our primary objective would be:
- To develop our African women into conscious, effective, revolutionary Nkrumahist–Tureist cadre who would participate fully in the development of the A-APRP.
- Insure that African women struggle jointly with African men for the development and expansion of Pan-Africanism and against all forms of exploitation and oppression, including racism, capitalism, and sexism; and
- Work jointly with revolutionary women and men worldwide through the A-APRP/A-AWRU towards the accomplishment of scientific socialism incorporating the revolutionary principles of egalitarianism and humanism.
Our story is the journey of perseverance of African people through the determination of the African woman. Capitalism with its thorough marginalization of women in the production process has successfully implanted bourgeois philosophy which justifies the extreme exploitation of African women. The result has been under development, a feeling of inferiority, a need to be led, and a belief that one human being by virtue of gender, should determine our destiny collectively. This 30th anniversary of the All-African Women’s Revolutionary Union is a celebration of our fortitude and our commitment, as well as recognition of our potential as Revolutionary African Women!
We proclaim that we have overcome the adversary of struggle against negative images of African women as backwards, negative and angry human beings, overcome attacks by agents and enemies of the movement, overcome the economic and political trials and tribulations that all our people faced and have developed a cadre of revolutionary Pan-Africanist women. We have also influenced positively both the men of the A-APRP and our Pan-African and revolutionary community to expand the notion of unity and respect for women.
The A-AWRU has emerged as one of the few politically sound African Women’s organizations within our movement of Pan-Africanism, and International Socialism and Communism. We have led our world community in championing the equality of women’s leadership within organization. Having held leadership roles within our Central Committee and in every committee and taskforce since our founding, we have lead our women’s organization and our Party to raise critical and often times sensitive ideological, social, cultural and political issues through the call and the implementation of the Social Revolution.
Our Union has proven that African Women represent not just the survivors of triple oppression and exploitation under colonialism and neo colonialism, but we represent the front line of liberation. Our political line has been and continues to be the full engagement of the African women in the African revolution as the key to mass victory over class and national oppression.
It is through consistent political education and organization of our Party that we have championed the liberation of African people in every corner of the Pan-African Diaspora and struggled for justice and liberation throughout the world. We have challenged backwards traditional beliefs, reactionary tendencies found in euro Christian and Islamic systems and called for the new African personality that realizes the necessity for an revolutionary African ideology of equality, humanity and dignity for both the man and the woman arming them with the core principles to win the war against this backwards capitalist system. That ideology is Nkrumahism/Toureism.
And our union has not just fought on the ideological battlefield but we have led our class struggle for Pan-Africanism and Socialism world-wide.
Over the 30 years of revolutionary work and struggle, we have:
- Organized the first Pan-African women’s conference in Europe for our 10th anniversary November 1990. It was held in the historic Manchester England, the place of fifth Pan African Congress led by George Padmore, W.E.B. Dubois and a young Kwame Nkrumah. We held our 20th anniversary Union Conference in Guinea Bissau, West Africa in November 2000. And through the chaos of an attempted coup detat in Bissau at the time of the meeting, our sisters and brothers from Azania South Africa, Guinea, Gambia, Sierra Leone, Britain and the Americas, continued to meet and work and pledged that no reactionary force will stop the unity and liberation of African People!
- Championed and supported the Million Man March, helping organize with the Nation of Islam and spoke on stage in Washington, DC with other world leaders
- Participated in the 7th Pan African congress in 1994 held in Kampala, Uganda.
- We led the campaign against the United States ban to travel to Libya, North Africa by organizing and leading several delegations to Libya in the mid and late 1980s.
- We have led delegations to Cuba, Venezuela, Azania South Africa, Guinea and Ghana.
- We were pioneers in building new A-APRP chapters in West Africa, Azania South Africa, Canada and the Caribbean.
- We organized and have worked with international alliances and brother/sister organizations such as American Indian Movement, Sein Fein, Irish Republican Socialist Party (IRSP), Palistine Liberation Organization (PLO), Pan-Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC), African National Congress (ANC), PAIGC-JAAC of Guinea Bissau just to name a few.
- Our Union supported our people’s struggle for self-determination by partnering in agricultural projects in Guinea Bissau and Ghana in the 1990s. We helped build Africa study programs for our youth and our Miriam Makeba hospital project in the 1980s. We initiated market women’s clothing projects in Sierra Leone and the Gambia, supported schools in Sierra Leone and Ghana and more.
- Since our founding, the Union was responsible for the education and training of our youth through the Young Pioneers Institute and launched the All African Youth Movement in 2008.
We are standing today because of the legacy of those who came before us such as our revolutionary Presidents Kwame Nkrumah and Sekou Toure, our now departed ancestor cadres Kwame Ture, David Brothers, our first Union Coordinator Mawina Kouyate and many others who carried forward the struggle for Pan-Africanism. We are here today because of the vehicle for liberation that they left behind – consistent revolutionary education and organization through the building of the All-African People’s Revolutionary Party. It is only through revolutionary organization and commitment to the liberation and unification of Africa and all her peoples under scientific socialism that we will see the complete and total destruction of capitalism and imperialism.
Only through the full participation of African women in the struggle for the unity and liberation of Africa can we even imagine rebuilding Africa into a complete society where both women, men, youth, the elderly and all those in between know the sweetness of freedom and the fulfillment of Pan Africanism.
We pledge that our continued struggle for Pan-Africanism will give rise to the advancement and full establishment of scientific socialism and thus true freedom and justice for all sovereign nations all over the world. Our guarantee is the organization of the masses of the people and especially, the organization of the woman.
The death of capitalism and imperialism is on the horizon and the A-AWRU looks forward to the next 30 years of revolutionary struggle as we expand our work at home in Africa, throughout the Diaspora in territories where the majority of African people struggle for survival and within the socialist and Pan-African movements. We are determined to see the building of an All-African Women’s Alliance throughout Africa and the building of the All Africa Youth Movement to fulfill the objective of Pan-Africanism.
Forward to the revolutionary contribution of African women in the liberation of Africa and her peoples.
Death to backwards ideologies and formations that hold back the completion of the social revolution.
Africa will be free!
Revolution is our only solution!
The All-African People’s Revolutionary Party and the All-African Women’s Revolutionary Union remain committed to the total liberation and unification of Africa and all her people’s under scientific socialism!
Forward ever
Backwards never!
And the struggle continues-aluta continua
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