Here are 113 quotes by the great man.
Enjoy!
1.
"Besides, political
independence, though worthwhile in itself, is still only a means to the fuller
redemption and realization of a people.”
2.
“When independence has
been gained, positive action requires a new orientation away from the sheer
destruction of colonialism and towards national reconstruction It is indeed in
this address to national reconstruction that positive action faces its gravest
dangers.”
3.
The cajolement, the
wheedlings, the seductions and the Trojan horses of neocolonialism must be stoutly
resisted, for neocolonialism is a latter-day harpy, a monster which entices its
victims with sweet music.”
4.
“Without political unity,
African states can never commit themselves to full economic integration, which
is the only productive form of integration able to develop our great resources
fully for the well-being of the African people as a whole.”
5.
“Furthermore, the lack of
political unity places inter-African economic institutions at the mercy of
powerful, foreign commercial interests, and sooner or later these will use such
institutions as funnels through which to pour money for the continued
exploitation of Africa.”
6.
“The struggle for African
continental union and socialism may be hampered by the enemy WITHIN, - those
who declare their support for the revolution and at the same time, by devious
means, serve and promote the interests of imperialists and neo-colonialists.”
7.
"Examination of
recent events in our history, and of our present condition, reveals the urgent
need for a new strategy to combat imperialist aggression, and this must be
devised on a continental scale.”
8.
"Either we
concentrate our forces for a decisive armed struggle to achieve our objectives,
or we will each fall one by one to the blows of imperialism in its present
stage of open and desperate offensive."
9.
"Psychological
attacks are made through the agency of broadcasting stations like the BBC,
Voice of Germany, and above all, Voice of America, which pursues its
brainwashing mission through newsreels, interviews and other
"informative" programmes at all hours of the day and night, on all
wavelengths and in many languages, including special English.”
10.
“The war of words is
supplemented by written propaganda using a wide range of political devices such
as embassy bulletins, pseudo revolutionary publications, studies on nationalism
and on African socialism, the literature spread by the so-called independent
and liberal publishers, cultural and civic education centres, and other
imperialist subversive organisations.”
11.
" When the target, a
certain country or continent, is sufficiently softened, then the invasion of
evangelist brigades begins, thus perpetuating the centuries old tactic whereby
missionaries prepare the way for guns.”
12.
"In the very early
days of the Christian era, long before England had assumed any importance, long
even before her people had united into a nation, our ancestors had attained a
great empire, which lasted until the eleventh century, when it fell before the
attacks of the Moors of the North.”
13.
"By far the greatest
wrong which the departing colonialists inflicted on us, and which we now
continue to inflict on ourselves in our present state of disunity, was to leave
us divided into economically unviable States which bear no possibility of real
development....”
14.
"...We must unite
for economic viability, first of all, and then to recover our mineral wealth in
Southern Africa, so that our vast resources and capacity for development will
bring prosperity for us and additional benefits for the rest of the world.”
15.
“Common territory,
language and culture may in fact be present in a nation, but the existence of a
nation does not necessarily imply the presence of all three.”
16.
“The community of
economic life is the major feature within a nation, and it is the economy which
holds together the people living in a territory.”
17.
"...I have often
said, the party and the nation are one and the same, namely: the Convention
People's Party is Ghana and is Ghana the Convention People's Party."
18.
"A recent
development in the psychological war is the campaign to convince us that we
cannot govern ourselves, that we are unworthy of genuine independence, and that
foreign tutelage is the only remedy for our wild, warlike and primitive ways.”
19.
Imperialism has done its
utmost to brainwash Africans into thinking that they need the strait-jackets of
colonialism and neocolonialism if they are to be saved from their retrogressive
instincts.”
20.
"And now, the recent
military coups engineered throughout Africa by foreign reactionaries are also
being used to corroborate imperialism's pet theory that the Africans have
shamelessly squandered the golden opportunities of independence, and that they
have plunged their political kingdoms into blood and barbarism.”
21.
"Everywhere, the
more or less covert implication is: Africa needs to be recolonised.
22.
“The fact that Africa has
advanced politically more quickly than any other continent in the world is
ignored.”
23.
"Countrymen, the
task ahead is great indeed, and heavy is the responsibility; and yet it is a
noble and glorious challenge - a challenge which calls for the courage to
dream, the courage to believe, the courage to dare, the courage to do, the
courage to envision, the courage to fight, the courage to work, the courage to
achieve - to achieve the highest excellence and the fullest greatness of man. Dare
we ask for more in life?"
24.
"What other
countries have taken three hundred years or more to achieve, a once dependent
territory must try to accomplish in a generation if it is to survive.”
25.
"Something in the
nature of an economic revolution is required.”
26.
“Our development has been
held back for too long by the colonial-type economy.”
27.
“We need to reorganize
entirely, so that each country can specialize in producing the goods and crops
for which it is best suited."
28.
"We have the
blessing of the wealth of our vast resources, the power of our talents and the
potentialities of our people.”
29.
Let us grasp now the
opportunities before us and meet the challenge to our survival. "
30.
"We shall measure
our progress by the improvement in the health of our people; by the number of
children in school, and by the quality of their education; by the availability
of water and electricity in our towns and villages, and by the happiness which
our people take in being able to manage their own affairs.”
31.
“The welfare of our people
is our chief pride, and it is by this that my Government will ask to be
judged."
32.
"The initiative of
Ghanaian businessmen will not be cramped, but we must take steps to see that it
is channeled towards desirable social ends and is not expended in the
exploitation of the community.”
33.
“The Government will
encourage Ghanaian businessmen to join with each other in co-operative forms of
organization.”
34.
"We welcome foreign
investment provided that there are no strings attached to it, and also provided
that it fits in with our plans for national development and our socialist
policy.”
35.
“And we insist that
foreign investment should not interfere or meddle with the political life of
our country.”
36.
"It is said, of
course that we have no capital, no industrial skill, no communications, no
internal markets, and that we cannot even agree among ourselves how best to
utilize our resources for our own social needs. Yet all the stock exchanges in
the world are pre-occupied with Africa's gold, diamonds, uranium, platinum, copper
and iron ores.”
37.
Our CAPITAL flows out in
streams to irrigate the whole system of Western economy.”
38.
“Fifty-two per cent of
the gold in Fort Knox at this moment, where the USA stores its bullion, is
believed to have originated from OUR shores.”
39.
“Africa provides more
than 60 per cent of the world's gold.”
40.
“A great deal of the
uranium for nuclear power, of copper for electronics, of titanium for
supersonic projectiles, of iron and steel for heavy industries, of other
minerals and raw materials for lighter industries - the basic economic might of
the foreign Powers - comes from OUR continent.”
41.
"Experts have
estimated that the Congo Basin alone can produce enough food crops to satisfy
the requirements of nearly HALF the population of the whole world and here we
sit talking about regionalism, talking about gradualism, talking about step by
step.”
42.
“Are you afraid to tackle
the bull by the horn?"
43.
"No independent
African State today by itself has a chance to follow an INDEPENDENT course of
economic development, and many of us who have tried to do this have been almost
ruined or have had to return to the fold of the former colonial rulers.”
44.
“The first step towards
our cohesive economy would be a unified monetary zone, with, initially, an
agreed common parity for our currencies.”
45.
“When we find that the
arrangement of a fixed common parity is working successfully, there would seem
to be NO reason for not instituting one common currency and a single bank of
issue."
46.
"While we are
assuring our stability by a COMMON DEFENCE system, and our economy is being
orientated beyond foreign control by a COMMON CURRENCY, MONETARY ZONE and
CENTRAL BANK OF ISSUE, we can investigate the resources of our continent.”
47.
We can begin to ascertain
whether in reality we are the richest, and not, as we have been TAUGHT to
BELIEVE, the poorest among the continents.
48.
“We can determine whether
we possess the largest potential in hydroelectric power, and whether we can
harness it and other sources of energy to our OWN INDUSTRIES.”
49.
We can proceed to PLAN
our industrialization on a CONTINENTAL SCALE, and to build up a COMMON MARKET…”
50.
"Common Continental
Planning for the Industrial and Agricultural Development of Africa is a vital
necessity."
51.
"So many blessings
flow from our unity, so many disasters must follow our continued disunity, that
our failure today will not be attributed by posterity only to faulty reasoning
and lack of courage, but to our CAPITULATION before the forces of
neocolonialism and imperialism."
52.
"The hour of history
which has brought us to this assembly is a revolutionary hour. It is a hour of
decision.
53.
“For the first time, the
economic imperialism which menaces us is itself challenged by THE IRRESISTIBLE
WILL OF OUR PEOPLE."
54.
"The masses of the
people of Africa are crying for unity."
55.
"It is this popular
determination that must move us on to a Union of Independent African
States."
56.
"Africa cannot be
validly treated merely as the space in which Europe swelled up.”
57.
“If African history is
interpreted in terms of the interests of European merchandise and capital,
missionaries and administrators, it is no wonder that African nationalism is in
the forms it takes regarded as a perversion and neo- colonialism as a virtue.”
58.
"In the new African
renaissance, we place great emphasis on the presentation of history.
59.
“Our history needs to be
written as the history of our society, not as the story of European
adventures.”
60.
“African society must be
treated as enjoying its own integrity; its history must be a mirror of that
society, and the European contact must find its place in this history only as
an African experience, even if as a crucial one.”
61.
“African history can come
to guide and direct African action. African history can thus become a pointer
at the ideology which should guide and direct African reconstruction.”
62.
"In Africa where so
many different kinds of political, social and economic conditions exist it is
not an easy task to generalise on political and socio-economic patterns.”
63.
“There is no part of the
continent which has not known oppression and exploitation, and no part which
remains outside the processes of the African Revolution."
64.
"How much more
effective would our efforts have been if we had spoken with the one voice of
Africa's millions.”
65.
“With all our minerals
and waterpower and fertile lands, is it not a cause for shame that we remain
poor and content to plead for aid from the very people who have robbed us of
our riches in the past?”
66.
How can Egypt,
strategically situated as is it, combat the imperialism and neocolonialism and
solve the pressing and urgent problems of the Middle East unless it has the
backing of a Union Government of Africa?”
67.
Only a Union Government
can assist in the solution of the problems of the Middle East, including the
Palestinian question."
68.
"...the problem is
how to obtain capital investment and still keep it under sufficient control to
prevent exploitation; and how to preserve integrity and sovereignty without
crippling economic or political ties to any country, bloc or system"
69.
“Capitalism is but the gentlemen's
method of slavery.”
70.
"The foreign firms
who exploit our resources long ago saw the strength to be gained from acting on
a Pan-African scale.”
71.
“By means of interlocking
directorships, cross-shareholdings and other devices, groups of apparently
different companies have formed, in fact, one enormous capitalist monopoly.”
72.
“The only effective way
to challenge this economic empire and to recover possession of our heritage, is
for us also to act on a Pan-African basis, through a Union Government."
73.
"In the modern
world, the race struggle has become part of the class struggle. In other words,
wherever there is a race problem it has become linked with the class struggle.”
74.
“As time passed, it was
thought necessary to justify the exploitation and oppression of African
workers, the myth of racial inferiority was developed and spread.”
75.
"For the vast
majority of mankind the most urgent problem is not war, or communism, or the
cost of living, or taxation. It is hunger.”
76.
"In the era of
neocolonialism, under-development is still attributed not to exploitation but
to inferiority, and racial undertones remain closely interwoven with the class
struggle.”
77.
"It is only the
ending of capitalism, colonialism, imperialism and neocolonialism and the
attainment of world communism that can provide the conditions under which the
RACE question can finally be abolished and eliminated.”
78.
I am not African because I was born in Africa but because Africa
was born in me.”
79.
“We face neither East nor West; We face forward”
80.
“The forces that unite us are intrinsic and greater than the
superimposed influences that keep us apart.”
81.
“Action without thought is empty. Thought without action is
blind.”
82.
“All the fair brave words spoken about freedom that had been
broadcast to the four corners of the earth took seed and grew where they had
not been intended.”
83.
“Colonialism and its attitudes die hard, like the attitudes of
slavery, whose hangover still dominates behaviour in certain parts of the
Western hemisphere.”
84.
“Before slavery was practised in the New World, there was no
special denigration of Africans.”
85.
“Slavery was not born of racism, rather racism was the
consequence of slavery.”
86.
“Man is regarded in Africa as primarily a spiritual being, a
being endowed originally with a certain inward dignity, integrity, and value.”
87.
“For this end Africa needs a new type of citizen, a dedicated,
modest, honest and informed man.”
88.
“One has only to listen to the cheers of an African audience as
Hollywood’s heroes slaughter red Indians or Asiatics to understand the
effectiveness of this weapon.”
89.
“If by their fruits we shall know them, they must first grow the
fruits.”
90.
“We face neither East nor West; We face forward”
91.
“The People Of Africa Are Crying For Unity”
92.
“The forces that unite us are intrinsic and greater than the
superimposed influences that keep us apart.”
93.
“We must unite now or perish”
94.
“Independence is only the prelude to a new and more involved
struggle for the right to conduct our own economic and social affairs”
95.
“I am in the knowledge that death can never extinguish the torch
which I have lit in Ghana and Africa.”
96.
“Long after I am dead and gone, the light will continue to burn
and be borne aloft, giving light and guidance to all people.”
97.
“Any meaningful humanism must begin from egalitarianism and must
lead to objectively chosen policies for safeguarding and sustaining egalitarianism”
98.
“Africa is one continent, one people, and one nation”
99.
“It is clear that we must find an African solution to our
problems, and that this can only be found in African unity.”
100.
“Divided we are weak; united, Africa could become one of the
greatest forces for good in the world.”
101.
“Those who would judge us merely by the heights we have achieved
would do well to remember the depths from which we started.”
102.
“The forces that unite us are intrinsic and greater than the
superimposed influences that keep us apart.”
103.
“Freedom is not something that one people can bestow on another
as a gift.”
104.
“Countrymen, the task ahead is great indeed, and heavy is the
responsibility; and yet it is a noble and glorious challenge.”
105.
“We all want a United Africa, United not only in our concept of
what unity connotes, but united in our common desire to move forward together
in dealing with all the problems that can best be solved only on a continental
basis.”
106.
“Let
us all remember nothing in the world can be done unless it has the support of
God.”
107.
“Workers are workers, and nationality, race, tribe and religion
are irrelevancies in the struggle to achieve socialism.”
108.
“In Africa there should be no African “alien”. All are
Africans.”
109.
“Colonialism, imperialism and neocolonialism are expressions of
capitalism and of bourgeois economic and political aspirations.”
110.
“Imperialist aggression has expressed itself not only in coups
d’état, but in the assassination of revolutionary leaders, and the setting up
of new intelligence organisations.”
111.
“As long as African States continue to be dependent in any
degree for training, and for arms and supplies on capitalist sources, the African
Revolution is in jeopardy.”
112.
“Historically, professional armies of the capitalist world have
a tradition of suppression of socialist and revolutionary movements.”
113.
“There is little justification for the enormous sums of money
spent on the armies of Africa.”
BONUS
QUOTES
114.
“The border disputes which exist between certain African States,
most of them legacies from the colonial period, are all capable of peaceful
resolution.”
115.
“Inequality can only be ended by the abolition of classes.”
116.
“Workers and peasants may be misled for a time, but as class
consciousness develops the bogus socialists are exposed, and genuine socialist
revolution is made possible.”
117.
“In general, intellectuals with working class origins tend to be
more radical than those from the privileged sectors of society.”
118.
“The total liberation and the unification of Africa under an
All-African socialist government must be the objective of all Black
revolutionaries throughout the world.”
119.
“The core of the Black Revolution is in Africa, and until Africa
is united under a socialist government, the Black man throughout the world
lacks a national home.”
120.
“It is around the African peoples’ struggles for liberation and
unification that African or Black culture will take shape and substance.”
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