Pambazaku Press has published Speaking Truth to Power – Pan-African Postcards by Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem,(ISBN-13 9781906387853) to mark the anniversary of his death on Africa Day 2009.
This selection of Dr Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem’s weekly Pan-African Postcards demonstrates his steadfast commitment to Pan-Africanism and his determination to speak truth to power. He was a discerning analyst of developments in the global and Pan-African world and a vociferous believer in the potential of Africa and African people.
This book is a legacy of his political, social, and cultural thought: respect for the capabilities and contribution of women in transforming Africa; penetrating truths directed at African politicians; deliberations on the progress towards African union. He denounces international financial institutions, the G8 and NGOs in Africa with incisive analysis of imperialism’s manifestations and impact. His personality bounces off the page ‘ one can almost hear the passion of his voice, ‘Don’t agonise! Organise!’
The book includes a preface by Salim Ahmed Salim, former Secretary General of the Organisation of Unity, and a foreword by Horace Campbell, Professor of African American Studies and Political Science at Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York.
Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem (1961’2009) was a Rhodes scholar and obtained his D.Phil in Politics from Oxford University. In 1990 he became Coordinator of the Africa Research and Information Bureau and the founding editor of Africa World Review. He co-founded and led Justice Africa’s work, becoming its Executive Director in 2004, and combined this with his role as General Secretary of the Pan-African Movement. He was chair of the Centre for Democracy and Development and of the Pan-African Development Education and Advocacy Programme in Uganda and became the UN Millennium Development Campaign’s Deputy Director in 2006.
His weekly ‘Pan-African Postcard’ was published regularly in Pambazuka News and in several African newspapers. In 2009 he was named African Personality of the year by The Daily Trust in Abuja.
