When Ghana's president, Nana Akufo-Addo, called the African diaspora back to our homeland through 2019's Year Of Return campaign, he revived a centuries-long “Back To Africa” movement.
Our people have been trying to return “home” for generations.
In 1820, the American Colonization Society founded the Republic of Liberia and repatriated more than 15,000 Black people to West Africa. While this white-led effort struggled, our people’s desire to go home was powerful.
Motivated by global Black nationalism, Marcus Garvey established many entities in the 20th century to encourage Black repatriation from the U.S. and Caribbean to Africa.
Although Garvey never made it to the motherland, his shipping company, Black Star Line, helped build the bridge between the continent and diaspora.
There's even a renaissance happening right now. Many Black Americans are moving back to their ancestral homelands or making frequent visits.
And Nigerian-American musician Jidenna has partnered with a modern Back To Africa movement, Birthright AFRICA: "When a group of decentralized people are centralized around an idea,” he said, “this is historically proven to create renaissances … It's happened to every group of people, and I want that for us."
Black people worldwide have many beautiful things in common – including shared experience with white supremacy in a variety of forms. When we connect, share, and exchange, we'll build stronger global Black communities – and have the power to determine our futures!