Diasporic Liberation and African Renaissance, the Challenge of Reggae Music in the 21st Century

Abstract

Since the beginning of the twentieth century, the recurring theme of Pan Africanism has been the Unity of the Continent and Diaspora. The organizers of the momentous 1945 Pan African Congress in London and the Founding Fathers of the Organization of African Unity{O.A.U} were unreservedly propelled by the burning desire to consolidate the unity of the black race as a minimum condition for the continent’s socio-cultural and even political rebirth. It was, therefore, not strange that a cardinal objective of the defunct O.A.U was the maintenance of African Unity. As a continent richly endowed with natural resources and a cockpit of global attention the new millennium, unity becomes a basic denominator for solidarity and peaceful co-existence. This is the main thrust of African Renaissance. Therefore, what challenge does this rebirth pose to Reggae music; this is germane because as a music of protest against inferior stereotypes about Africa, it must readjust itself to the new reality on the continent. With an analytical method, the paper argued that Reggae music must come out of its nostalgic cocoon and address the needs of Africa in the 21st Century. It concludes that Pan African institutions must widen the Pan African discourse for the participation of the civil society including the apostles of Reggae music.