From the Manchester Conference in 1945 to the Casablanca Conference in 1961, two times are restored at the Academy of the Kingdom of Morocco, through its chair for African Arts and Literature, to discuss common memory, the independence of the countries of the continent, and the issue of writing and rewriting history.
At the opening of the international conference, Abdeljalil Lahjamri, Secretary of the Academy of the Kingdom of Morocco, said that this intellectual symposium “is a tribute to the memory of African and African women, whose sacrifices have enabled us to meet today,” in order to reconsider and think.
Lahjamari recalled two moments that he considered defining the course of the continent: “the Fifth Pan-African Conference in Manchester in 1945, and the Casablanca Conference in 1961,” adding that “the Casablanca Conference, which was held in 1961 at the invitation of the late King Mohammed V and which included prominent figures from the symbols of African unity,” was considered by Academic Suleiman Bashir Dayan, a member of the Kingdom’s Academy, “a moment of rupture, in the African decision, with the conferences.” The report on the future of Africa outside its soil.”
Sixty-five years after the conference, which was opened by King Mohammed V and attended by presidents including Gamal Abdel Nasser, Ahmed Sekou Toure, Modibo Keita, and Kwame Nkrumah, this intellectual appointment rethinks this moment as a moment for “full African sovereignty, redefining and writing history, and transforming the past into a better future.”
Today, the Secretary of the Academy of the Kingdom of Morocco stressed the role of the desired education in Africa, not only in its didactic aspect; Rather, it is about “developing the dynamic of mutual acquaintance between the citizens of the African continent, and facilitating dialogue between them.”
Eugene Ebodi, coordinator of the Chair of African Arts and Literature at the Academy of the Kingdom of Morocco, stated that this appointment addresses “two major moments in African history: the Manchester Conference in the United Kingdom in Europe, and the Casablanca Conference in Morocco in Africa,” as they are conferences for “memory, participation, and thought around a fundamental problem, which is the path to African freedom and independence.”
Ibodi added that the Casablanca Conference is an important date in African history because in it Africa said what it had to do, with a decision to move forward, and to be the master of its destiny, with its ambition, strength, and unity around basic points. Thus, this return discusses “factions, memories, and leaders,” recalling another important conference held in Manchester less than two decades before this date, “and it was the last conference organized outside Africa.”
For his part, Nigerian writer Wally Okedrian, Secretary-General of the African Writers Association (PAWA), spoke about “the honor of cooperating with the Academy of the Kingdom of Morocco,” in this return to “Writing African Independence from the Manchester Symposium to the White Symposium.”
In this regard, Okedrian invoked “the role of actors, writers, and students in the struggle for “the complete end of colonial rule, the demand for equality, and the right of Africans to determine their future.”
Speaking about the prominent African leaders at that pivotal stage in the history of overthrowing colonialism and the aspiration for a free future, the interventionist stated that “King Mohammed V was a central symbol in the struggle against colonialism. The biographies of such leaders should be written and read among young Africans,” to accommodate the aspiration for “collective dignity through the principle of African unity.”
It is noteworthy that the opening session witnessed the presentation of a video dialogue with Haj Andre Toure, the wife of the late Guinean President Ahmed Sékou Toure. His author, Sansi Kaba Diakite, said, “Recalling history is important; when history is forgotten, it is as if it had not happened.”
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