THE GLOBAL AFRICAN COMMUNITY
T R A V E L N O T E S
A PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE ON THE SEARCH FOR AFRICAN PEOPLE IN THE PACIFIC ISLANDS
DEDICATED TO JOEL AUGUSTUS ROGERS AND JOHN HENRIK CLARKE
Part 2
IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF FORERUNNERSI had wanted to journey to Fiji for a long time. Indeed, there are few places in the world that I don't want to visit, particularly since I see myself, in the mold of the great Joel Augustus Rogers and John Henrik Clarke, as something of a detective in search of African people. Those of us with an African consciousness and who consider ourselves Pan-Africanists talk about and dream all the time of uniting the African family of humankind. Traditionally this dream has revolved around the Africans in Africa itself, together with the Africans in the Western Hemisphere and Europe. I would like to think that a large part of my own contribution to the vision of Pan-Africanism has been to help expand the Pan-African dream to include the Black people of Asia, Australia and the Pacific Islands. It should be clear to all of us by now that in order to unite the African family, we must first know exactly where the family is and aggressively seek out that family and reconnect with it. We absolutely must trace the routes of those Africans who long ago left home, find out precisely where they went, what they have done and what they are doing now, and clearly ascertain what is their consciousness of Africa. This is a part of our sacred mission to make African people whole again..
On a personal note, I had been to Hawaii numerous times and once to Australia, but I had never actually been to the South Pacific itself and so it was really something of a fantasy realized or vision come true. I was really excited about the prospects. By the time I got to Hawaii, however, all I had was a plane ticket, a little money, a credit card and loads of good intentions. I was traveling alone. Well, after talking to a travel agent in Hawaii it wasn't hard to get hotel accommodations and after a lengthy slide-lecture presentation at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, with great excitement but still encumbered with fatigue, I was finally on my way, via a six hour flight on Air Pacific, to the South Pacific!
The University of Hawaii lecture itself focussed on the Dalits or Black Untouchables of India. These brothers and sisters are the most oppressed people on earth, bar none. It was an appropriate parting lecture in that almost half the population of Fiji is of Indian origin, and it is with some sadness that I report my impression that, in general, just like Trinidad and Guyana (where I visited last year), and even in the United States, that among African people and Indians (even the blackest Indians), there is a very uneasy, almost antagonistic relationship. The Indians tend to have a strong "Indian first" mentality. On a more positive note, although Indians control the government, I can say that the Fijians told me that they control their army, the police and 83% of the land.
Fiji was only the twentieth country that I've visited. For many I know that this is no big deal but I intend to do better. The illustrious John G. Jackson, now an Ancestor, once told me that historian J.A. Rogers, one of my idols, had traveled to sixty countries. Sister Sibyl Williams-Clarke, the widow of the great John Henrik Clarke, recently informed me that Dr. Clarke had traveled to every country in Africa except South Africa and traveled extensively in Asia, Europe, Central America, South America and the Caribbean. On a personal note, inspired by professor Jackson's and sister Sibyl's revelations, with all due respect and with the blessings of our African Ancestors, my goal is to travel to at least sixty-five. I've always thought that each generation should extend the contributions of our Ancestors because we have their great contributions to to build on. I believe that Joel Augustus Rogers and John Henrik Clarke were two of the greatest Africans of the twentieth century and that the work that we do exalts them all the more.
End of part 2
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Revised: November 04, 2000.
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