African Liberation Day, also known as ALD, was founded in 1958 by Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Haile Selassie 1st and other African Leaders on the occasion of the First Conference of Independent States held in Accra, Ghana and attended by eight independent African states. The 15th of April was declared “African Freedom Day,” to mark each year the onward progress of the liberation movement, and to symbolize the determination of the people of Africa to free themselves from foreign domination and exploitation.
Between 1958 and 1963 the nation/class struggle intensified in Africa and the world. Seventeen countries in Africa won their independence and 1960 was proclaimed the Year of Africa. Further advances were made with the defeat of U.S. imperialism in Asia and the Caribbean. Imperialism responded to this tide of victories by assassinating revolutionary leaders and sending U.S. troops to Viet Nam. On the 25th of May 1963, thirty-one African Heads of state convened a summit meeting to found the Organization of African Unity (OAU). They renamed Africa Freedom Day “African Liberation Day” and changed its date to May 25th.
Today, African Liberation Day is a permanent mass institution in the world-wide Pan-African movement. Many Countries in the Caribbean and around the world use this day to celebrate and commemorate our struggles and achievements, it is used to highlight where we are as a people and to raise the levels of consciousness of the Masses. As a day of work in political education and organisation, it reflects the fact that we have not obtained our freedom, and thus it is a day to reaffirm our commitment to Pan-Africanism, the total liberation and unification of Africa.
This year the Activity will be held at the Sion Hill intersection, the theme of the activity is “I am African- Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow”. The activity will be held on Saturday 25th of May starting at 11:00 and culminating with a small cultural presentation in the Evening from 4:30. The morning segment would see various people displaying their art, craft, food, plants, and seedlings and locally made products and the Afternoon will be the cultural segment, where we will have drumming, modelling, poetry, songs, and speeches etc.
