The Bay Area’s population of Black migrants has increased significantly over the past two decades.  The majority are African immigrants organized in clusters of social, faith, professional and cultural associations.  Despite growing numbers, Black immigrants as a whole remain unseen and unintegrated into mainstream institutions and have fraught relations with African American communities.

 

PAN’s unique approach and response to this has been to mobilize existing community associations of diverse Black migrants by targeting leaders.  While other immigrant-serving organizations use service provision and immigration legal support, PAN, makes impact through collective mobilizations of large sectors of Black immigrant communities.  Through ACF, we host regular forums that convene key individuals to address issues of mutual concern.  It is a critical space for relationship building and strengthening our collective identity.  

 

To ensure the inclusion of all groups, PAN does make a value judgment of whether groups are formed on the basis of national or ethnic identity. We respect and meet groups where they are , without prescribing projections of who they should be or how they should conduct their work.  Using a broad Pan-Africanist lens and working for long term changes, PAN offers groups opportunities to build capacity, strengthen structures and leadership to ensure their self-sustenance and longevity.