It is more than forty seven years ago that the Federation of black African students in France (FEANF) organised its first seminar in Paris on the relationship between black African literature and politics. The significance of the event came from the fact that literature served as a vehicle for unmasking traitors in Africa. This was also an opportunity for African students to define the role of literature in political struggles and to appreciate correctly and objectively the commitments of African writers in French. At no time was it a question of over emphasising the importance of this type...

The struggle for independence and the unity of African countries was at its peak during the period between 1945 and 1960. These testing times turned out to be the formative years of the young Amady Aly Dieng, and set the stage for an eventful life of commitment and challenges of all sorts for someone who n along with other young African students, many of whom later became leaders of their respective countries n integrated the leadership of student organizations in France, honing his militant skills at the forefront of the intellectual and political struggle for independence and the unity of...

The advent of formal independence in former French colonies in Black Africa meant the dawn of a new era: the struggle against neocolonialism. African students rallying around this struggle became new strangers and targets for expulsion out of France. The French government of the time resorted, therefore, to massive expulsions against their labour and political organizations. The implementation in 1956 of the Loi-cadre Gaston Defferre - meant to divide up Black Africa under French dominion - and the ensuing explosion of the two great AOF and AEF federations along with the cancellation of...