In confronting the inequalities in modern-day African countries, French’s discussion panel challenges multiple assumptions on the history of African countries since Colonial occupation. While the argument French makes about Pan-Africanism is not necessarily a modern movement, French successfully reiterates the power of Pan-Africanism in modern-day discourse by tackling the glaring issue of economic inequality between African countries in the Global South and the former Western Powers that formerly governed them.
French’s analysis on postcolonialism shifts a perspective on how youth perception of history can be eschewed or disregarded in the face of modern issues. This is reminiscent of Historical amnesia, wherein the inadequacies that impact modern-day youth, such as inflation and housing crises, are isolated as the primary issue of focus whilst the historical injustices, such as the extractive colonial economic practices that French writes on, are relegated as a separate situation that happened in the past without considering the ethics of how it affects present-day power dynamics between the Global South and the West. This speaks to French’s argument as a whole
One of French’s key examples which demonstrates the importance of the African economy to European powers and the vitality of why when their economies plummet or suffer from inflation or dropped prices affects Western European powers which necessitate their economies off of extracted resources from African Nations. This is well exemplified by Dr. French’s criticism of the British Empire’s rule over its former territories such as Sudan, which emphasizes a one-sided dependency in postcolonial power dynamics.
Overall, while Dr. French’s talk is an excellent introduction to Pan-Africanism, it also successfully incites curiosity for listeners to read more and foster their opinions, cultivating modern discourse on Pan-Africanism.
-Lucas Reid