Thursday, 25 May 2017 dawned like any other day everywhere on the African continent, with one minor difference, that there was in the air, considerable palpation, tension, anxiety and, energy about fulfilling a promise of the Kilimanjaro Declaration:
‘We commit to mobilising our people in Africa as we launch this Movement on the 25th May 2017, when we deepen the meaning of African Liberation Day and call on all sectors of our society to mobilise and organise events in every African country that will build the momentum towards the genuine liberation of our beautiful continent.’
This promise has been fulfilled.
We can say that with equal measure of humility and confidence that indeed, the promise of the two-hundred and seventy-two initial founders at the Arusha conference in August 2016 that, Africans Rising for Justice, Peace & Dignity, was launched on #25May2017 with a decentralised, people driven launch, connecting struggles and, establishing a Pan-African movement for justice, peace and dignity.
Two thousand volunteers, partners, supporters and friends organised a total of 300 actions & events in 42 countries on the African continent and the Diaspora, to mark the launch of Africans Rising, united by the hashtags #AfricansRising & #25May2017
On the media front, #AfricansRising & #25May2017 was included in at least 200 local & regional, national & international radio, print, television and online channels on African Liberation Day, 25 May 2017.
On Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, SoundCloud, LinkedIn, ThunderClap and www.africans-rising.org #AfricansRising & #25May2017 connected with 10 Million other users to mark the launch of a new Pan-Afrikan movement for justice, peace & dignity.
The promise to launch this movement, differently from what had been done in the past, is manifest – working together, we have succeeded in fulfilling the first promise of the Kilimanjaro Declaration. Now, we keep moving forward together to fulfill the next promise:
‘We are committed to a decentralised, citizen owned future that will build support and solidarity for local struggles, empower local leadership and immerse our activists in grassroots work of building social movements from below and beyond borders.’
Pamoja, In Solidarity,
Muhammed Lamin Saidykhan Kumi Naidoo
Coordinator Launch Director
