ABSTRACT
Owing, in part, to the background of the concept of negritude, African humanism is identified with movements of national independence and with the development of collective African identity. The more political side of African humanism is also referred to as African socialism. The broader base of African humanism and socialism, however, includes the ideological works of Franz Fanon, a particular style of socialism or communalism, and the inspiration of such founding national leaders as Kwame Nkrumah, Julius K.Nyerere, Léopold Senghor, and Kenneth Kuanda. The social and political writings of Nkrumah and Nyerere are of particular importance in formulating the basis for African socialism. Among important philosophical and social concepts are “consciencism,” “negative and positive action” (Nkrumah), “villagization,” ujamaa or “familyhood,” and “education for self-reliance” (Nyerere), and the aspect of “spirituality” in Senghor’s “revised humanism.”1 Both African humanism and socialism were used to underscore the values of a common African heritage and the inherent struggle left to a people who were exploited by colonial powers.
