Program of African Studies

by Bengi Rwabuhemba, junior, Northwestern University

As a Freshman, I found the Alliance of African Scholars (AAS) to be one of the few spaces on campus where critical conversations about Africa were happening. There, we debated with each other on a range of topics, engaged in roundtable discussions, and watched and discussed films about the continent. The first event I attended was on the White Savior Industrial Complex, a term coined by the Nigerian writer and photographer, Teju Cole. It was Fall, and four of us gathered in a small room in Kresge and dissected this term together, analyzing what it meant and how it manifested in a range of contexts. One of my favorite events was a roundtable discussion called, “Made in Africa,” where more of us met to discuss the potential for African commodities to be sold and circulated on the global market, stamped, “Made in Africa.” Inspired by these events, I wrote an article for Blackboard magazine highlighting the organization and the discussion that was held. Both a space for radical thought and personal contemplation, AAS also provided room for many of us across different year groups to meet and get to know each other, catch up, and laugh. We formed bonds based on our identities, the pressures of the quarter and the aspirations we had for what we wanted to see on the continent.

The small nature of the group allowed for some inspiring exchanges to be had which followed me into my classes and worked their way into the papers I wrote as I emphasized African case studies, critiqued the dominant European and North American canon, and carefully thought through the relationships between what I was learning and what was happening on the continent.

At the end of my freshman year, AAS leadership was dissolving as most of the board members were going to graduate. Seeing as our numbers were always small and fluctuating, this left us vulnerable in the face of continuity. Afraid that it would cease to exist because of this, I applied to be President. I understood the necessity of a group like this on Northwestern’s campus in mobilizing students to critically engage with Africa, the continent a significant number of us call home. However, even in understanding the necessity to engage, I also recognized that for many African students a paralyzing feeling of disenchantment about the future of the continent is ever-present and consequently influences the way that we engage – or choose not to. As George Lamming put it, “we are made to feel a sense of exile by our inadequacy and our irrelevance of function in a society whose past we can’t alter, and whose future is always beyond us.” But, I would argue that the future is ours and it is being made in the present. Not was nor will be, but is. As we continue to put in the work to try to understand the challenges facing Africa today, we are engaging in the necessary process of thinking through and articulating what we would like the continent to become. History has shown that this becoming will not be easy, but if we can commit ourselves daily to the radical hope definitive of fighting for the world as it should be, all can never be lost.

As the new leadership was announced, the world was overtaken by a deadly virus. With many of us scattered and confused, AAS did not continue for a year. This hiatus gave me some time to think about what I wanted to achieve during my time as President as I reflected on the positive experiences I had had as a member of the club. Thinking more about the sentiment of disenchantment that I was committed to working against, I made the decision to rename the organization to the Pan-African Students’ Union (PASU). I was inspired by the long history of Pan-Africanism and what it was able to achieve, and drawn to the hope that it was able to instill in Black people all over the world during the dark and violent histories of colonialism and slavery. I thought about what it would mean to intentionally curate a space where union members could draw wisdom from Pan-African intellectuals of the past and present, but also hope that efforts like ours are not in vain; the needle still moves and the arc still bends. Another important factor that inspired the name change was the reality of diaspora. I wanted PASU to be a space for the full range of Black students on Northwestern’s campus because the reality is that there are many of us who call Africa, Europe, North/South America or the Caribbean home and still believe strongly in and advocate for Black liberation worldwide, the main component of Pan-Africanism. Logistically, I wanted to formalize our operation processes as a student organization. In other words, I wanted to work together with my team to grow and stabilize our numbers by ensuring that people at Northwestern knew about PASU through stronger marketing and communication, more frequent event offerings open to undergraduate and graduate students alike, and partnerships with departments that aligned with our vision. When we relaunched the organization in the Fall, it was all systems go.

Ubuntu Union Values established at the first PASU meeting in the Fall.

It was a mission to achieve everything we had intended in our first quarter and lessons were definitely learned, but for me it was incredible to see the organization grow and gain recognition on Northwestern’s campus. The biweekly roundtable discussions we held at the Herskovits Library of African Studies brought together a range of students with diverse personal and academic backgrounds which enriched the conversations we had. We also developed a shared Drive for all union members where we could keep track of the readings we set; it is my hope that this will grow to serve as an intellectual toolkit for all of us as we clarify our stances. In addition, the team established a biweekly newsletter where we share thoughts and questions that emerged during our discussions, a helpful medium to map the trajectory of our consciousness.

An exciting partnership that PASU formed in the Fall was with the African Students’ Association at the University of Notre Dame. Together, we are co-organizing the second edition of the Pan-African Youth Conference, an initiative that seeks to foster a common understanding and diagnosis of Africa’s challenges among students from across the world who are committed to the development of Africa. I was a participant at the inauguration of the Conference last March, and it was inspiring to be with 90 students from over twenty-five different countries as we engaged in a critical examination of Africa’s present condition while reflecting on the past. The 2022 Conference is set to take place this March on the 26^th and 27^th as we explore the theme, “Which Way, Africa?” It has brought me so much joy to see all of this take shape, and it has been an affirmation of how the revolution is indeed ours.

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To read more about the Pan-African Students’ Conference, please follow this link.