Amílcar Cabral was ready from day one, never mincing words and forever prepared to fight. The colonizers didn’t stand a chance against him.
He studied in Lisbon, Portugal making his presence and culture known by founding student organizations centered on Black nationalism. Cabral took the knowledge he learned and flipped it on them to help his people.
After traveling through his home country, Guinea-Bissau, for one year surveying its agricultural state, he decided that there was only one way to get independence from Portugal.
Guerilla warfare. Cabral’s anti-colonist views led him to link up with Ghana’s then-president and abolitionist, Kwame Nkrumah. Cabral founded the African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde and Guinea (PAIGC) and established military training camps in Ghana.
PAIGC was built on pan-African principles and Black nationalism. Within a few years, they attacked the Portuguese government before declaring war. Then things got turned upside down.
The PAIGC had reclaimed over 60 percent of Guinea-Bissau in just four years. Then colonizers assassinated Cabral. But because his people were aligned on their mission, Cabral’s murder didn’t stop the movement.
The following year, Guinea was back under Black control.
In this fight, a unified strategy is a MUST in our liberation struggle. We may lose some of our leaders, but we honor their lives and protect the future by sticking to the mission.