Negro Digest - Freedom Archives

strength may be collected . We need
some spot whence such an influence
may go forth in behalf of the
race . . . . We need to collect the
scattered forces of the race, and
there is no rallying ground more
favorable than Africa .
"An African nationality is our
great need . We should not content
ourselves with living among other
races simply by their permission or
their endurance ."
Our school, therefore, begins to
extricate our people from the
American nation and focus them
on the development of an African
nation . This requires :
1) A knowledge of the African
past and a commitment to
the African future .
2 ) The development of the scientific
and technical skills
that will be important to the
capacity to deal meaninb
fully with the resources within
the African world .
3 ) The development of language
skills (Important in
order to communicate with
in the African world and also
in order to broaden the
range of available information
) .
4 ) Travel to the African continent,
in particular, and,
more generally, to the vari
ous parts of the African
world .
5 ) That the educational process
not be allowed to be contained
within any single
physical facility . There is a
teaching responsibility to be
directed towards meeting the
educational needs of the
community .
6) A special concern is given to
the ways and means of communicating
varying kinds
and amounts of information
within the African community
; whether it be from
IvTOrthwest Washington to
Southeast Washington, or
from New York to Nairobi,
or from Texas to Trinidad .
7) Physical fitness and training
be an important concern . We
must understand that
strength in body is as important
as strength in mind,
and that there is a relationship
between the two .
Let us, finally, repeat that the
fundamental task before us is that
of building a nation which will
be responsive to the needs and interests
of all African peoples . We
must begin now to integrate the
vast body of skills that exist among
African peoples into the work of
nation-building . We must put our
total being into this task, with total
commitment to the estab:ishment
of independence for African people
.
(For additional articles dealing with educational projects theories related
to the Black University, see the index .)
NEGRO DIGEST March 1970 47