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Blaxit

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Blaxit is a social movement that promotes the repatriation of Black/African Americans from the United States and Europe to Africa. The term now includes all people of African heritage who desire to move to Africa for many reasons, including new economic growth opportunities and cultural reasons. Combined with African countries which are now seeking to gain skilled and educated migrants, a growing movement has been formed, with the Ghanaian president Nana Akufo-Addo declared that 2019 was the "Year of Return" and in accordance with his declaration, he made immigration to Ghana easier for members of African diaspora communities.[1]

Unofficial logo of Blaxit movement

With more African countries now granting citizenship to people of African descent who want to claim nationality, including Sierra Leone, Rwanda, Benin and Zambia. Benin are moving to grant citizenship to anyone who can prove their ancestry to Africa.[2]

The term Blaxit was coined in the wake of Brexit by the academic, journalist, and human rights consultant Dr. Ulysses Burley III. The term combines Black and Exit to form Blaxit in the same manner that Brexit describes the British Exit from the European Union.[3][4][5][6][7][8]

History

The nation of Liberia was formed in response to the racism which emancipated Black Americans were subjected to in the 1820s.[1] Historian Kevin K. Gaines said around 15,000 emancipated and freeborn American Blacks emigrated between the 1820s and the Civil War period and beyond.[1] Other Black Americans emigrated to Canada, which had been a "beacon of freedom" for Black Americans from the time of the Revolutionary War (see: Black Loyalists), with hundreds of fugitive enslaved people emigrating by 1830 and more emigrating after the 1850 passage of the Fugitive Slave Act.[1] Prominent abolitionist Mary Ann Shadd emigrated to Canada and encouraged other African Americans to emigrate.[1]

In the early 1900s, many Black actors, artists and writers emigrated to Europe, they emigrated to Europe in an attempt to pursue opportunities which did not exist in the US.[1] Ira Aldridge pursued his acting career in Europe because he had a limited number of opportunities in the US.[1]

During World War I, when many Black Americans experienced life in other countries for the first time, many of them decided to remain in France, according to Gaines "where they were treated with respect."[1] Gaines said that this experience lead to the creation of an African-American expatriate community in Paris and other large French cities.[1] In this period Jazz music was introduced to France by James Reese Europe, who had headed the Harlem Hellfighters military band.[1] Josephine Baker found recognition in Paris and later became a French citizen.[1] James Baldwin described his experience in Paris, contrasting them favorably to those in the US.[1] Richard Wright also moved to Paris, and Langston Hughes for a time lived in London.[5] Nina Simone lived in France and several African countries.[5] Paul Robeson testified to the House Committee on Un-American Activities by stating that in Russia, "I felt for the first time like a full human being."[5]

After World War II, when Ghana became the first sub-Saharan colonized African nation to gain independence in 1957, the country became attractive to US Blacks who wanted to visit it for purposes of travel and emigration.[1] Maya Angelou and W.E.B. Dubois moved there.[1]

 
Pan-African Flag

Pan-Africanism movement, starting in 1897, grew in the 1950's postcolonial world as a movement that aims to encourage and strengthen bonds of solidarity between the diasporas of African ancestry. Pan-African thought influenced the establishment of the Organisation of African Unity (now the African Union) in 1963. One of the biggest goals that the African Union has set for the continent in the 21st century is improving long-term economic growth. Major steps have been taken to address this issue particularly with the creation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA).

In 2019, the Ghanaian president Nana Akufo-Addo declared that 2019 was the "Year of Return" and in accordance with his declaration, he made immigration to Ghana easier for members of African diaspora communities.[1] In June 2020, Ghana Minister of Tourism Barbara Oteng Gyasi encouraged Black Americans to emigrate, saying "Africa is waiting for you".[1]

Sierra Leone has established a path to citizenship for members of African diaspora communities. With the aid of DNA tests, this path to citizenship allows people with African heritage to relocate to Africa.

Benin lawmakers are evaluating a proposal to grant citizenship by descent to descendants of Africans across the globe. To obtain Beninese citizenship, applicants would be required to provide evidence of their Afro-descendant heritage by official documents, verified testimonies, or DNA testing. Qualified individuals would be issued a three-year Beninese passport as the initial step in the recognition process, granting visa-free access to 63 destinations worldwide.[9]

Reasons

USA Today said "Black Americans, like expatriates of all races and ethnicities, leave the USA temporarily or permanently for different reasons: in search of a better quality of life, for work opportunities, to marry or retire abroad, for tax reasons, for adventure."[5] Kristen West Savali, writing for Essence in January 2020, compared Blaxit to the Great Migration, saying, "it has become increasingly clear that there is no corner of the United States where it is safe to be Black."[7]

Academic Okunini Ọbádélé Kambon moved to Ghana after he was arrested in Chicago.[5] He is involved in a Ghanaian program that encourages descendants of Africans to emigrate.[5] Businesswoman Lakeshia Ford moved to Ghana after a yearlong study abroad there; she says in Ghana "I don't have to think of myself as a Black woman...here I am just a woman."[5]

Tiffanie Drayton, whose family moved from Trinidad and Tobago to the US when she was four, moved back to Trinidad and Tobago in 2013, and she is currently writing a book, Black American Refugee, about Blaxit.[5][1] Drayton said driving her children around the block to get them to sleep in Trinidad and Tobago differed significantly from the same experience in the United States: "In America, your hands are shaking. You're worried about what to say. You're worried about whether you have the right ID. You're just so worried all the time."[5] In 2013, the rapper Mos Def moved to South Africa in an attempt to escape from racism,[5] but in January 2016, he was ordered to leave South Africa because he had illegally stayed in the country by using an expired tourist visa which was given to him back in May 2013,[10] and finally, after he unsuccessfully attempted to extend his stay, he was ordered to leave later that year, and he was also barred from ever returning.[11]

Economic growth of Africa

GDP growth for Africa is expected to average 3.8% and 4.2% in 2024 and 2025. This is higher than projected global averages of 2.9% and 3.2%[12] Africa is home to the world’s youngest and fastest-growing population, burgeoning cities, and bold innovations in everything from fintech to clean energy. With its population expected to nearly double to 2.5 billion people by 2050, the continent presents opportunities for robust growth that harness its rich natural resources and abundant human potential.[13] With the new economic growth of Africa there is now a movement for both people of African heritage and emigrated Africans to return to Africa to take advance of the opportunity.

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is a free trade area encompassing most of Africa. It was established in 2018 by the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, which has 43 parties and another 11 signatories, making it the largest free-trade area by number of member states, after the World Trade Organization, and the largest in population and geographic size, spanning 1.3 billion people across the world's second largest continent.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q "Silence is Not an Option". CNN. Retrieved 2020-10-29.
  2. ^ Mangin, Paul-Emile; Luhan, Wolfgang (2024-03-11). "Non-willigness to lead and social preference". AEA Randomized Controlled Trials. doi:10.1257/rct.13041. Retrieved 2024-06-10.
  3. ^ "About". Ulysses Burley III. Retrieved 2021-06-14.
  4. ^ "Disheartened By Racial Violence In U.S., Inspired By Brexit, He Pondered A 'Blaxit'". NPR.org. Retrieved 2020-10-29.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Hjeld, Kim. "'I'm leaving, and I'm just not coming back': Fed up with racism, Black people head overseas". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2020-10-29.
  6. ^ Sewing, Joy (2020-10-23). "Joy Sewing: Black Americans, fed up with racism, move abroad as 'Blaxit' trends". HoustonChronicle.com. Retrieved 2020-10-29.
  7. ^ a b Savali, Kristen West (26 January 2020). "Is Moving To Another Country The Answer?". Essence. Retrieved 2020-10-29.
  8. ^ Oshindoro, Michael (2019-02-22). "Blaxit and the Romanticization of Africa". Black Issues Conference.
  9. ^ Ikani, John (2024-05-20). "Benin Considers Citizenship For Descendants Of Enslaved Africans". Heritage Times. Retrieved 2024-06-14.
  10. ^ "Rapper Mos Def ordered to leave South Africa in passport row". BBC News. January 16, 2016. Retrieved January 16, 2016.
  11. ^ "Rapper Mos Def allowed to leave South Africa after apology". Reuters. November 22, 2016. Retrieved December 23, 2019.
  12. ^ "Africa dominates list of the world's 20 fastest-growing economies in 2024—African Development Bank says in macroeconomic report". 16 February 2024.
  13. ^ "Reimagining Africa's economic growth | McKinsey". www.mckinsey.com. Retrieved 2024-06-22.
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