Untrapping the Soul of Fanon: Culture, Consciousness and the Future of Pan-Africanism
This essay uses the occasion of the 50 th anniversary since Frantz Fanon’s transition to ref lect upon the implications of his thought and praxis to the contemporary evolution of PanAfricanism. The notion of a Fanonian Pan-Africanis m is central to the conceptual and theoretical framework for this analysis. It assume s that Fanonian thought contained within it many of the fundamental elements that have defined Pan-Africanist thinking for generations. I also explore Fanon’s practical connections to Pan-A fricanist formations across the African Diaspora. The essay’s main contribution is to refle ct on how these dimensions of Fanon’s ideas and work might inform our understanding of the rela tionship between, on the one hand, selfawareness and cultural consciousness and, on the ot her hand, Pan-African consciousness and the present-day politics of Pan-African unity.