Our Time PressThe Local Paper with the Global View

By Jeffery Kazembe Batts
IG: @kazbatts
African people around the world are suffering. Pan-African unity has been suggested as a possible solution to the problems affecting the people. There is a lack of consensus on this philosophy and tactic. Can we people of African ancestry, build together? In the mix are historical and cultural perspectives and new ideas from emerging organizations that downplay prioritizing Africa.

In June 2021, Nhlanhla “Lux” Dlamini, also Nhlanhla Mohlauli, founded Operation Dudula in Soweto. It is a South African nationalist movement and political party that advocates for the removal of undocumented and documented foreign nationals, often linking migration to local social issues. “Dudula” means “force out” or “knock down” in Zulu, reflecting its goal to expel immigrants. has been linked with violently threatening and targeting both documented and undocumented foreigners.

The South African High Court ruled that Operation Dudula’s actions are unlawful and unconstitutional, affirming that only police and immigration officers may request identity documents. The organization has since registered as a political party.

Lack of Pan-African unity prevails in the Caribbean. Targeting Haitian immigrants became widespread during the second term of the Dominican president, Luis Abinader, whose government imposed the new quota in October 2024, when 15 measures to “combat illegal immigration and guarantee national sovereignty” were announced.

Under pressure to meet a weekly deportation quota of 10,000, the Dominican Republic’s general directorate of migration (DGM) is now pushing into bateyes, where impoverished Haitian sugarcane workers live. Raids are increasing, and even people born in the Dominican Republic – with documents or not – are being rounded up and deported, flagrantly disregarding laws, according to human rights organizations. This intensified enforcement comes during a rise in nationalist sentiment.

Most Dominicans – 59% – believe that immigration harms the country, well above the regional average for negative views towards migrants.

Although the African Union is headquartered in Addis Ababa, many Ethiopians do not identify as African. Patriotism is common among Ethiopians. Many feel their country has great cultural depth and wealth in comparison to other African nations. Somewhat problematically, Ethiopia has been organized as an ‘ethnic federation’ since 1995.

This means that the country’s states are divided on an ethnic basis, with most people living in the region or zone where their ethnicity is the majority. For example, most Oromos live in the Oromia region, Amharas live in the Amhara region, and so forth.

The idea behind this state system was to allow ethnic groups more political autonomy. However, after thirty years, this ethnic identity has created more sectarian conflict on the ground. Nonetheless, most people living in central Ethiopia prefer to identify as simply “Ethiopian” but are still required to associate with an ethnic identity.

Habesha is commonly used as a unifying word to describe the unique cultural identity of the region, regardless of ethnicity or tribe. The Habesha identity is often considered emblematic of Ethiopia’s distinctiveness within Africa. Having never been fully colonized, Ethiopia is somewhat of a cultural anomaly on the continent. The term African is rarely their first identity.

All is not lost, as a Pan-African reality is being built in West Africa. On January 28, 2024, the three nations composing the Alliance of Sahel States announced their withdrawal from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Then, on February 15, a meeting of the Alliance member countries was held in Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso), which laid the foundations for the creation of a confederation of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.

On March 6, the Alliance also announced the formation of a joint anti-terrorist force and in May it finalized the draft treaty creating the Confederation of the Alliance, with the aim of completing the draft text relating to the institutionalization and operationalization of the Alliance of Sahel States. Recently, on July 6, 2024, the first summit of the Alliance of Sahel States was held in Niamey, Niger, which saw the adoption of the Treaty establishing the Confederation of Sahel States and which also addressed issues and challenges common to the three countries, including security and defense, terrorism, and economic issues.

To start this new year of 2026 in a display of cultural solidarity, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger have joined forces to produce a musical comedy titled A Sahel Vigil, using art as a space for dialogue, memory, and reflection on the region’s pressing security challenges. On stage in Ouagadougou, actors from the three nations—each severely tested by violence—merged theater, dance, and music into a performance intended to foster hope, love, tolerance, peace, and social cohesion.

Here in NYC and across the United States, Black Solidarity Coalitions believing in Pan-Africanism are active. Simultaneously, organized groups are challenging the fundamental principles of Black / African unity exposed by leaders like Malcolm X and Marcus Garvey. Foundational Black American (FBA) and American Descendants of Slavery (ADOS) (FBA) refer to a lineage of Black people in the U.S. whose ancestry traces back to the enslaved people brought to America, distinct from recent African immigrants.

To the members of these two growing organizations, the issue is lineage and specific ancestral history within the U.S., not just being Black in America. They distinguish themselves from African immigrants. arguing the term “African American” blurs their unique experience, though the concept is debated and seen as divisive by many.

Solidarity and shared purpose by nation-states are growing in West Africa while also being culturally challenged in Ethiopia and on the island of Hispaniola (Haiti & Dominican Republic). New organizations that are against migration and not prioritizing African / Black unity are growing in prominence in South Africa and the United States. The concept of Pan-Africanism is alive in some areas and challenged in other places. In 2026 more strategizing and bold actions are needed so that Pan-Africanism can grow and positively impact the world.