Selections from Global African History Speeches
Black Past
Speeches delivered by people of African ancestry around the world which have contributed to the shaping of Global African history. These speeches serve as a starting point for much more inclusive descriptions and discussions that appear in other sources.
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Black Past · 1 December 1972
In a speech before the Scandinavian Institute for African Affairs, Uppsala, Sweden, in December, 1972, Mangosuthu Gatsha Buthelezi, then the Chief Executive Officer of the KwaZulu Territorial Authority, describes his …
Black Past · 14 February 1971
Sese Seko Ngbendu Waza Banga Mobutu, originally known as Joseph Desire Mobutu, served as Patrice Lumumba’s private secretary before being appointed Chief of Staff and second in command of the …
Black Past · 7 February 1970
Samora Machel, the leader of the Mozambique Liberation Front and first president of independent Mozambique (1975-1986), was a Marxist-Leninist. In his speech, given in Maputo, the capital, on February 7, …
Black Past · 3 February 1969
In a speech celebrating the life of Dr. Eduardo Mondlane, leader the Mozambican Liberation Front (FRELIMO) who was assassinated by Portuguese agents on February 3, 1969, Amilcar Cabral, leader of …
Black Past · 1 April 1968
By 1968 the freedom struggle for Namibia was a two year old guerilla war against South African control of the region. That struggle was directed by the Southwest African People’s …
Black Past · 13 July 1966
In 1966 Julius Kambarage Nyerere was President of the Republic of Tanzania. When President Kenneth Kaunda of neighboring Zambia became the first Chancellor of the University of Zambia when it …
Black Past · 1 January 1966
In 1966 Amilcar Cabral was the Secretary-General and President of the War Council of the P.A.I. G. C. (African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde). In January …
Black Past · 15 May 1964
In 1963 Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe was selected as the first President of Nigeria. The following year he gave a public lecture on the benefits of tribalism in forging national unity …
Black Past · 1 November 1963
On November 17, 1948 the University of Ibadan became the first modern institution of higher education in Nigeria when it began as an external college of the University of London. …
Black Past · 1 June 1963
Es’kia Mphahlele was a South African writer, professor, and political activist who was critical of the nation’s apartheid regime. He subsequently spent twenty years in exile from South Africa between …