>Is there something about Caribbean life or "upbringing" that
>breeds Pan Africanist thinking, or is it just coincidence?
>The more I read about great Pan Africanists, it hit me that
>many of them were/are of West Indian.
>
>Marcus Mosiah Garvey--Jamaica
>Henry Sylvester Williams--Trinidad
>Edward Wilmot Blyden--St. Thomas or St. Kitts (I can't recall
>which)
>Claude McCay--Jamaica
>C. L. R. James--Trinidad
>
>Malcolm X's mother was from Grenada, Louis Farrakhan's father
>was Jamaican and his mother was from St. Kitts; and keep in
>mind to that many other Black people here in the U.S. who
>were/are active in the movement are of West Indian descent.
>
>Is this just coincidence?

It might be, especially given the political and cultural climate of the west indies in 2005.

But going with your idea, what you do have in many cases, is that "foreign" negros on American soil, benefit from their foreigness. It offsets their "blackness".

The British system educates black folks better. (and even when you aren't educated there - chances are your parents are familiar with how things are supposed to be)

That allows them to excel over Blacks in the states.

Add in the funny accents, and that's some distance from a regular negro.

What plays into the pan-afrikanism, is the fact that most of the WI is not majority white like America is, and the islands are smaller.

Now you've got people growing up, fairly more educated than American blacks, seeing a sea of black and only specks of white - they could formulate a pan-afrikan idea with more ease than the typical Afro-American.

one
k. orr