ALL POWER TO THE PEOPLE
PAN-AFRICAN ARTISTS PLEDGE
Coal, oil and gas have spelled disaster for our continent — fuelling violent conflicts, militarised territories, ecological pillaging, debt crises, human rights violations, legacies of oil spills, underdevelopment, energy poverty, contaminated waterways, choking air pollution, rare disease and injustice. The pursuit of universal energy access through fossil fuel expansion has been a dangerously profitable fallacy.
Africa is home to 600 million people living without electricity access and nearly one billion people inhaling toxic fumes everyday from a lack of clean cooking — making our continent the biggest energy poverty hotspot in the world.
We know a different future is possible. And the voices, movements, sounds and power of artists across our continent are essential to get there.
Africa is endowed with more renewable energy potential from the sun, wind and water than anywhere else on Earth. Africa has the potential to meet the continent’s energy needs hundreds of times over and become a renewable energy powerhouse for the continent and the world.
ABOUT US
All Power To The People — Pan-African Artists Collective is a collaborative artivism project between Africans Rising, the Africa Just Transition Network and the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative.
For our namesake, we take inspiration from the Black Power movement in terms of building collective people power and our right to energy sovereignty across Africa. We invite multidisciplinary artists to join our growing voices to demand justice for our continent.
OUR COLLECTIVE DEMANDS
End new coal, oil and gas exploration and expansion
Fairly phase out existing fossil fuel infrastructure
Fund a fair and fast transition to a people-centered, renewable-powered future grounded in justice
End energy poverty and deliver 100% clean renewable energy access for all
Climate reparations and ecological remediation for all communities and ecosystems pillaged by fossil fuel extraction
Endorse the call for a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty
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THE ROLE OF THE ARTIST IS TO MAKE THE REVOLUTION IRRESISTIBLE
Toni Cade Bambara
We need artists to help make these collective demands a reality. In this transformation, art is indispensable. Art is what moves us, imagines new worlds, and makes them possible. We wholeheartedly believe in art as a necessary element of our lives and of our activism.
Are you a Pan-African or Afrodiasporic artist? Do you believe that we need a new future for our beloved continent? Do you want to join your voice to the chorus of artists calling for All Power to the People?
Then we welcome you to make the Pan-African Artists Pledge in support of the six collective demands of All Power to the People.