Women in Africa and Pan-Africanism

In the early years of Pan-Africanism, the references to women are scarce. But by the end of the twentieth century and into the twenty-first, women-centered organizations and projects as well as women leaders have increased their activities and gained attention. This chapter focuses on women from the continent and their work in Africa, though recognizing that it is a somewhat artificial line to exclude diaspora women, especially those who moved to Africa to promote Pan-Africanism. It presents individual Africa-born women activists, their involvement in Pan-African organizations, the development of women-centered Pan-African organizations, and the ways they were involved in promoting connections between all women of African descent on the continent and around the world. Women who entered the record for their contributions to Pan-Africanism in the early twentieth century were active in male-dominated organizations and contributed as individual advocates for women and for Pan-Africanist ideals.