Established in 2005, the mission of Simmonds Ballentine, LLC is to empower marginalized communities by enhancing the effectiveness and efficiency of organizations and businesses providing services to and/or interfacing with that community.
Their goal was to apply their efforts to the overall cause of Liberty for humanity. Throughout the series and with that singular purpose, men and women of all races came from across the globe to discuss ways to defend the ideal of freedom and empower the African people of the world in a series of Pan-African Congresses.
Held in 1945, the Fifth Pan-African Congress is viewed by many as the most important of the series. It is said to have applied Pan-Africanism to the decolonization movements on the Continent of Africa. The roots of Pan-Africanism grew in the same soil as those of American Independence in the late 1700s. According to Answers.com:
The roots of Pan-Africanism are traceable to the late eighteenth-century writings of westernized Africans expressing the pain and resentment of humiliating encounters with slavery, colonialism, and white supremacy. In 1787 a group of twelve Africans living in England drafted a letter of appreciation to the British philanthropist Granville Sharp for his efforts toward abolition of the international slave trade. One of the drafters, Olaudah Equiano, had traveled widely in Britain's Atlantic empire as a ship's steward, and eventually published his Interesting Narrative, revealing emotional commitments to the universal improvement of the African condition. Ottobah Cugoano, one of Equiano's associates, also issued a pamphlet denouncing slavery, significantly "addressed to the sons of Africa," in 1791.
It was in the same spirit of Liberty that men like Prince Hall fought in the American Revolution. And, it is in this spirit that Simmonds Ballentine, LLC hosts a reception to commemorate the Fifth Pan-African Congress. Our friends from across the spectrum will be present to celebrate the spirit of Liberty and share our commitment to helping others help themselves, while relaxing to the sounds of reggae super band Bambú Station.
