Pixley ka Isaka Seme

Pixley ka Isaka Seme OLS (c. 1881 – June 1951) was a South African lawyer and a founder and President of the African National Congress. Quotes The brighter day is rising upon Africa. Already I seem to see her chains dissolved, her desert plains red with harvest, her Abyssinia and her Zululand the seats of science and religion, reflecting the glory of the rising sun. He envisioned an Africa liberated from colonial oppression and flourishing through education, religion, commerce, and progress. The regeneration of Africa means that a new and unique civilisation is soon to be added to the world. Seme said that Africa would contribute a distinctive civilization to humanity, rooted in its own values and achievements rather than imitating Europe. The African is not a proletarian in the world of science and art: he has precious creations of his own, of ivory, of copper and of gold, fine plaited willow-ware, and weapons of superior workmanship. Seme rejected colonial claims of African inferiority by highlighting Africa's artistic, scientific, and cultural achievements. The most essential departure of this new civilisation is that it shall be thoroughly spiritual and humanistic—indeed a regeneration moral and eternal. Seme explained that Africa's future civilization should be founded on moral values, spirituality, and human dignity rather than material power alone. The African people, although not a strictly homogeneous race, possess a common fundamental sentiment which is everywhere manifest, crystallising itself into one common controlling idea. From "The Regeneration of Africa," where Seme emphasized the shared identity and destiny of African peoples despite their ethnic and cultural diversity. The demon of racialism, the aberration of the Xhosa-Fingo feud, the animosity that exists between the Zulus and the Tongas, between the Basutos and every other native must be buried and forgotten. We are one people. From Seme's 1911 article "Native Union," in which he appealed for unity among African peoples before the founding of the South African Native National Congress (later the ANC). We have called you to this conference so that we can together devise ways and means of forming our national union for the purpose of creating national unity and defending our rights and privileges. From Seme's keynote address at the founding conference of the South African Native National Congress (later the African National Congress) in Bloemfontein on 8 January 1912. The white people of this country have formed what is known as the Union of South Africa—a union in which we have no voice in the making of laws and no part in their administration. Delivered during Seme's opening address to delegates at the founding of the South African Native National Congress, explaining the need for a united African political organization. We are one people. These divisions, these jealousies, are the cause of all our woes and of all our backwardness and ignorance today. Calling Africans to overcome tribal divisions and unite in pursuit of common political and social goals. The day of great African kingdoms has passed away, but the spirit of the African people remains unconquered. He acknowledged the decline of pre-colonial African kingdoms while expressing confidence in Africa's enduring spirit and future renewal. External links Category:1881 births Category:1951 deaths Category:African National Congress politicians Category:Lawyers from South Africa