Welcome to the 32nd issue of The Funambulist. For once, we curated and coordinated its editorial line amongst the three of us (Caroline Honorien, Margarida Waco, and Léopold Lambert) in order to combine our perspectives on the topic.

Pan-Africanism is an issue dedicated to a political project that “maps onto Blackness” (Denise Ferreira da Silva) between the African Continent, the Afro Diaspora, and beyond; a project that can serve as a force and a reference for all people struggling against colonialism or neocolonialism. We begin its history with the Haitian Revolution (Annette Joseph-Gabriel), which strongly influenced the imaginary of those who, from Harlem to Accra to Dar es Salaam, have designed the dream of a political union (Amzat Boukari-Yabara). The struggle against European colonialism materialized Continental solidarity when it was not happening at the very core of the Empire itself (Ana Naomi de Sousa & Sónia Vaz Borges), while cultural and political festivals such as Panaf ’69 in Algiers (Sophia Azeb) or Festac ’77 in Lagos (Ntone Edjabe) ceremonialized it. Yet, Pan-Africanism is not a project of the past: it is fundamentally a project of the present and the future. Reading the Continent through its cities rather than its states can constitute one way to approach it (AbouMaliq Simone); another consists in strategizing towards an African federal state (Joao Gabriel). In the same spirit, we wanted to conclude the issue with a manifesto for Pan-African futures (Namata Serumaga-Musisi), which dialogues with the beautiful and vibrant cover drawn for us by Maya Mihindou.

As usual, our News from the Fronts section that opens each issue and complements the main dossier, includes articles reflecting on ongoing struggles. In this issue, Public Works Studio reports on the hardships experienced by the most precarious residents of Beirut after the August 4 explosion, and Arinjoy Sen applies a spatial politics reading to Hindu nationalist policies in India.

Editors-in-Chief: Léopold Lambert, Margarida Nzuzi Waco, and Caroline Honorien
Intern: Amel Hadj-Hassen
Contributing Copy Editor: Carol Que

 

INDEX ///

COVER | PAN-AFRICANISM
Maya Mihindou

— NEWS FROM THE FRONTS ///

2 | AFTER THE BEIRUT EXPLOSION, THE HARDSHIPS OF THE MOST PRECARIOUS CITY RESIDENTS
Public Works Studio

5 | RESISTING A SAFFRON SPATIALITY: INDIA’S ETHNOCRATIC SPATIAL POLITICS
Arinjoy Sen

— MAIN /// PAN-AFRICANISM

9 | INTRODUCTION
Margarida Nzuzi Waco, Caroline Honorien, & Léopold Lambert

12 | MAPPING PAN-AFRICANISM ONTO BLACKNESS: THE CONTINENT, THE DIASPORA, AND BEYOND
Denise Ferreira da Silva

18 | THE HAITIAN REVOLUTION IN PAN AFRICANIST THOUGHT
Annette Joseph-Gabriel

22 | PAN-AFRICAN RISING IN HARLEM, ACCRA, DAR ES SALAAM: CONNECTING PLACES, EXPANDING STRUGGLES
Amzat Boukari-Yabara

28 | PAN-AFRICAN PERFORMANCE AND POSSIBILITY IN NORTH AFRICA: LESSONS FROM ALGIERS 1969
Sophia Azeb

34 | THE HOUSE OF THE STUDENTS OF THE EMPIRE
Ana Naomi de Sousa & Sónia Vaz Borges

40 | REPRODUCING FESTAC ‘77: A SECRET AMONG A FAMILY OF MILLIONS
Ntone Edjabe (and Kwanele Sosibo)

46 | CITIES AS HINGE: THE MECHANICS OF A PAN AFRICAN DREAM
AbdouMaliq Simone

52 | DISTURBING THE ORDER: A 21ST CENTURY APPROACH TO AN AFRICAN FEDERAL STATE
Joao Gabriel

56 | ON UNITY AND RESISTANCE: A PEOPLE’S LOVE LETTER TO THE BIRTHPLACE OF THE SPIRIT OF RESISTANCE
Namata Serumaga-Musisi