African nationalism
[2] Originally, African nationalism was based on demands for self-determination and played an important role in forcing the process of decolonisation of Africa (c. 1957–66).
However, the term refers to a broad range of different ideological and political movements and should not be confused with Pan-Africanism which may seek the federation of many or all nation states in Africa.
[4] In its earliest period, it was inspired by African-American and Afro-Caribbean intellectuals from the Back-to-Africa movement who imported nationalist ideals current in Europe and the Americas at the time.
[5] The early African nationalists were elitist and believed in the supremacy of Western culture but sought a greater role for themselves in political decision-making.
[6] They rejected African traditional religions and tribalism as "primitive" and embraced western ideas of Christianity, modernity, and the nation state.
[3] Nationalists leaders struggled to find their own social and national identity following the European influence that controlled the political landscape during the colonial occupation.
In 1943, a prominent organization called the African National Congress Women's League used its branches throughout the continent to build an international campaign.
Though at the time women viewed themselves primarily as mothers and wives, the act of their joining in political organisations illustrated a kind of feminist consciousness.
Her legacy as a leader, speaker, organiser and activist is testimony to the pivotal role played by many uneducated women in spreading a national consciousness, a political awareness and securing independence from British rule in Tanzania.
Explicit use of sexual insult was also central to the powerful Anlu protest of the Cameroon in 1958, where women refused to implement agricultural regulations that would have undermined their farming system.
[19] ‘Ordinary’ women themselves had transformed "traditional" methods for networking and expressing disapproval against individuals, into mechanisms for challenging and unsettling the local colonial administration.
However, although these women contributed to African nationalist politics, they had limited impact as their strategies were concerned with shaming, retaliation, restitution and compensation, and were not directly about radical transformation.
In 1958, he spearheaded the All Party Committee – the purpose of which was for self-governance and to determine the political direction of the Gambia free from European colonialism and neo-colonialism.
Following that demonstration, Cham Joof and his associates Crispin Grey Johnson and M. B. Jones were indicted as "inciting the public to disobey the laws of the land" and charged as political prisoners.
