AFRICAN INTELLECTUALISM - WERE TO FROM HERE

Intelligence
Is a most complex practical property of mind, integrating numerous mental abilities, such as the capacities to reason, plan and solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend ideas and language and learn. Wikipedia, Encyclopedia

Intellectualism

Is the quittance of human life, identity, culture, expression, appearance and idiom, it is not a farce or a charade of written text or well read speeches, it is not confined to encrypted notes or poetic gestures.

An intellectual
Is a person who uses his or her intellect to study, reflect, speculate on, or ask and answer questions with regard to a variety of different ideas.

Gramci in his Prison Notebooks argues that the notion of ‘intellectuals’ as a distinct social category in men are potentially intellectuals in the sense of having an intellect and using it, but not all are intellectuals by social function. Intellectuals in the functional sense fall into two groups. In the first place there are the “traditional” professional intellectuals, literary, scientific and so on, whose position in the interstices of society has a certain inter-class aura about it but derives ultimately from past and present class relations and conceals an attachment to various historical class formations. Secondly, there are the “organic” intellectuals the thinking and organising element of a particular fundamental-social class. These organic intellectuals are distinguished less by their profession, which may be any job characteristic of their class, than by their function in directing the ideas and aspirations of the class to which they organically belong.

Risorgimento’s views are that intellectuals play a mediation function in the struggle of class forces in a political struggle. The working class, like the bourgeoisie before it, is capable of developing from within its ranks its own organic intellectuals, and the function of the political party, whether mass or vanguard, is that of channelling the activity of these organic intellectuals and providing a link between the class and certain sections of the traditional intelligentsia. The organic intellectuals of the working class are defined on the one hand by their role in production and in the organisation of work and on the other by their “directive” political role, focused on the Party. It is through this assumption of conscious responsibility, aided by absorption of ideas and personnel from the more advanced bourgeois intellectual strata that the proletariat can escape from defensive corporatism and economism and advance towards hegemony.

Noam, Chomsky. 1967 argues that there are broadly, three modern definitions at work in discussions about intellectuals. Firstly, 'intellectuals' as those deeply involved in ideas, books, the life of the mind. Secondly, and here largely arising from Marxist 'intellectuals' as that recognisable occupational class consisting of lecturers, teachers, lawyers, journalists, and suchlike. Thirdly, cultural "intellectuals", being those of notable expertise in culture and the arts, expertise which allows them some cultural authority, and who then use that authority to speak in public on other matters.

Intellectuals have been viewed as a distinct social class often significantly contributing to the formation and phrasing of ideas, they are both creators and critics of ideology. (Furedi, Frank. 2004). I beg to differ with this assertion, as intellectuals are cannot be distict from societal order least their intellect be put under question, even the traditional intellectual must have a basic understanding of the environment of his specialised study.THE AFRICAN INTELLETUAL The elementary flaw in the beckoning of African Intellectualism is undue glorification awarded to castigatory academics, which provide relic manifestations of theoretic explanations and preponderances of intellectualism. Sono, T (1994) writes in his thesis, “Dilemmas of African intellectuals in Africa. Political and cultural constraints”, that to even talk about African intellectuals and intellectualism is to grant such a non existing appendage a favour, he bases his argument on a framework of Western rationalism which in his phobic view is the epitome of ranking intellectualism. Odera Oruka, (1991) however dismisses such mislead utterances as ignorant and fixated on formative formulations of intellectualism in Africa. He points out that African intellectualism on its own is netted on ethonophilosophy profoundly found in Africa, he also insist that intellectualism in not prescribed by written text alone but that oral culture is also a form of critical philosophy.The issue at hand then becomes the need to reclaim and redefine African intellectualism at the ideological level, creating protuberance of twined notions of the real African basis of intellectualism therefore an inauguration of African combat at an ideological and philosophical level.It is a known fact that much of the insecurities and lack of clarity about the status and agenda of African intellectuals relates to the lack of dialogue between themselves and the lack of connectedness. African intellectuals spend most of their time trying to earn points and approval from white intellectuals. There are few forums exclusively for African intellectuals to encourage thought and exchange of ideas. The other issue facing African intellectuals is the ‘linchpin …academic legitimation and placement, the individual certification and positioning take priority over content, orientation and quality intellectual output. There is a lack of questioning of the intellectual paradigms; this has proven to be an inescapable dilemma for most African intellectuals. Most if not all black intellectual have to pass through white bourgeois academy or its black imitators before capturing any intellectual grounds. There is however visible negritude towards African formulated concepts celebrated world wide, but these alone do not solidify or connote intellect.The absence of African voices in academy also puts to question the role of African intellectualism, Africans are physically absent from institutions of Higher Learning in the country and continent and in the literature that recommends and prescribes academic programmes. The greatest deficit is that African languages like African culture have been confined to the periphery of the academy. Epistemologies have however lead to post colonial knowledge production, wherein factories of Africans are producing African identities and cultures beyond colonial subjugation, these are transformative realms which challenge Western rationalism and dismiss it as further colonialisation of minds and thoughts of African intellectuals. The late Claude Ake noted that most African intellectuals are a replica and carbon copy of faint western intellectualism with no imputes on Africa.

Our own Comrade Jabulani Nxumalo, commonly known as Cde Mzala was very passionate about the role of what he termed, ‘revolutionary intellectuals’ and their role in society.
Revolutionary intellectuals are activists. All serious intellectuals (progressive or conservative) understand that intellectual work requires research, study and disciplined effort. But revolutionary intellectuals are also activists. Like the outstanding revolutionary intellectuals before him (Marx, Engels, Lenin, Luxemburg, Gramsci, Mao, Ho Chi Minh, Castro, Che Guevara, Cabral, and many more), Mzala was an intellectual, but also an activist. There needs to be a constant unity of theory and practice. Practice without theory is blind. Theory without the constant test of practice is liable to be dogmatic, formulaic, and just plain wrong.

Revolutionary intellectuals are part of a collective. This activism is not individualistic activism. Mzala's activism was embedded within the organisational structures of a broad national liberation movement. The unity of theory and practice that he fostered was a collective theory and a collective practice. His intellectual activities were, in the first place, interventions in the context of the programmes, the strategies, the key documents, and the internal debates of a movement. And the practice by which he sought to illuminate and critique this collective theory was primarily the collective practice of the movement and its mass base. This is not to say that Mzala never wrote for a wider audience, or never studied other struggles, but his positions and perspectives were always rooted in the collective of the South African liberation movement. Jeremy Cronin sings Mzala’s praises as a devout revolutionary intellectual.

Revolutionary intellectuals are not dogmatic or elitist. The dangers of intellectual dogmatism and elitism are, indeed, real, not least in organisations that regard themselves as vanguard formations. There is always the danger that theory will be used to show-off or bully and intimidate.
Many of us will have had the experience of comrades who quote from the "classics", or use jargon, not to illuminate a point, but to display their "superior" knowledge. We will all be familiar with the dogmatic invoking of an "authority", the unchallengeable word of this or that leader, or of "headquarters" - not to assist a discussion, but to silence debate.
Simply put African intellectualism still has to conquer the space to be noted as an existing surfeit of mental power, based on African notions, launguage, ethonophilosophy and ideology. Let us not be afraid to challenge western intellectualism and create our own. From this early stage, as students let us lead by example by writing papers and formulating ideologies to take Africa forward. I consider myself well read with a capacity to write and be heard, this I will take forward and be a panacea of African intellectualism.

The prowess and ingenuity by which some of our African prenouned intellectuals who departed earth cannot be forgotten, when centuries ago great kingdoms adorned the hills and plains of Vhembe Village, rights Joel Netshitenzhe. This was a representation of the unique African civilisation and intellect. It is important to note that every civilisation has the prerogrative to sustain and advance its plight through knowledge management and knowledge creation. Every day we should reach new hieghts of intellectualisation. In our journey of creation and discovery we should multiply our efforts in sustaining our knowledge through, poetry, music, story telling, paintings lest our history be distroyed by modern day technological advancements. The African writer should put down on paper the experiences of our people, while the African producer puts together on film the bare rationale and emotions of our historic revolutionary struggles.

The skill and originality of Africa’s knowledge base is still to be awarded its due recognition – but this will only happen when Africans begin to qualify and amass knowledge from their own experiences. Lest African knowledge remain a mystery to our children’s children.

Where are African poets and writers, SEK Mqhayi, JJR Jolobe, WB Rhubusane, and others, to write books, prose and daring poetry in our own indigenous cliques, were are the sons of Sontonga to give us melodies which will change the plight of our civilisation.

We applaud the efforts made by some African leaders in creating an Africanised intellectual paradigm. Frantz Fanon, a Caribbean-born medical doctor who joined the freedom struggle of the Algerian people against the French colonial masters, wrote several books that were to become a source of inspiration for freedom fighters in other parts of Africa. Julius Nyerere, the first president of Tanzania is exemplary of a leader who understood the importance of language as Tanzania and Kenya are to date the only countries in Africa whose national language are indigenous languages, in Tanzania, Swahili is the official language although English still plays a role in the public life. Julius Nyerere himself translated into Swahili much work by Shakespear and enthusiastically promoted new literature in Swahili. We can from these experiences learn that the preservation of African intellectualsim should be at the helm of our progression as a continent, we cannot in absentia dominate the thinking and direction of the world. The time to be at the forefront of our own intellectualisation is now.

Other organs such as the Native Club, and philosophies like Negritude, Pan Africanism and Black Consciosness should be applauded for their unembigious stand on the fermentation of African thought, the African Union and Nepad for ensuring African solutions for African challenges.

On the dawn of the age of discovery let us define our cause and create a platform to be heard. Let us teach our history from the origins of our continent, our Arabic name Afriquia to our many different groupings, kingdoms, sultanats and clans. Let us appreciate that Haile Selassie created a religion, Rastafarianism and that queen Sheba and Ashante adorned praise in the power of the African woman. Let imbongi, our praise singers tel the story of how we came about and the prophets that of our future trail.NOTE: intellectualism does not belong to a soul or group of people, it is shaped according to time, space, available tools of analysis and ideological prescriptions amongst others.

I am an intellectual!

I Respite my Crate