The founding of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), now known as the African Union, is observed on 25 May every year.
It was on this day that 17 African countries gained independence from their European colonisers.
Since 1963, 21 more states have joined the African Union. Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe is the current chairman of the African Union.
While Africa Day is only a national holiday in a few African countries, the event is commemorated in at least 30 out of the 32 African countries.
The theme for African Day 2015 is "We are Africa".
Even as #AfricaDay is trending on Twitter, we have complied a list of inspirational quotes, sayings and African proverbs that you can share with your loved ones:
Africa Day 2015 Quotes
- You can't hate the roots of a tree and not hate the tree. You can't hate Africa and not hate yourself. Malcolm X
- The last four or five hundred years of European contact with Africa produced a body of literature that presented Africa in a very bad light and Africans in very lurid terms. The reason for this had to do with the need to justify the slave trade and slavery. Chinua Achebe
- I will not leave South Africa, nor will I surrender. Only through hardship, sacrifice and militant action can freedom be won. The struggle is my life. I will continue fighting for freedom until the end of my days. Nelson Mandela
- All of my life had been spent in the shadow of apartheid. And when South Africa went through its extraordinary change in 1994, it was like having spent a lifetime in a boxing ring with an opponent and suddenly finding yourself in that boxing ring with nobody else and realising you've to take the gloves off and get out, and reinvent yourself. Athol Fugard
- There is no more apartheid in South Africa than in the United States. Malcolm X
- People think that you have to do something huge, like go to Africa and build a school, but you can make a small change in a day. If you change Wednesday, then you change Thursday. Pretty soon it's a week, then a month, then a year. It's bite-size, as opposed to feeling like you have to turn your life inside out to make changes. Hoda Kotb
- Our success educationally, industrially and politically is based upon the protection of a nation founded by ourselves. And the nation can be nowhere else but in Africa. Marcus Garvey
- The black man in Africa had mastered the arts and sciences. He knew the course of the stars in the universe before the man up in Europe knew that the earth wasn't flat. Malcolm X
- With each new day in Africa, a gazelle wakes up knowing he must outrun the fastest lion or perish. At the same time, a lion stirs and stretches, knowing he must outrun the fastest gazelle or starve. It's no different for the human race. Whether you consider yourself a gazelle or a lion, you have to run faster than others to survive. Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum
African Quotes, Proverbs and Sayings
- Wisdom is wealth. Swahili
- Wisdom is like a baobab tree; no one individual can embrace it. Akan proverb
- The fool speaks, the wise man listens. Ethiopian proverb
- Wisdom does not come overnight. Somali proverb
- The heart of the wise man lies quiet like limpid water. Cameroon proverb
- Wisdom is like fire. People take it from others. Hema (DRC) proverb
- Only a wise person can solve a difficult problem. Akan proverb
- Knowledge without wisdom is like water in the sand. ~ Guinean proverb
- In the moment of crisis, the wise build bridges and the foolish build dams. Nigerian proverb
- If you are filled with pride, then you will have no room for wisdom. African proverb
- A wise person will always find a way. Tanzanian proverb
- Nobody is born wise. African proverb
- A man who uses force is afraid of reasoning. Kenyan proverb
- Wisdom is not like money to be tied up and hidden. Akan proverb
- Unity is strength, division is weakness. Swahili proverb
- Sticks in a bundle are unbreakable. Bondei proverb
- It takes a village to raise a child. African proverb
- Cross the river in a crowd and the crocodile won't eat you. African proverb
- Many hands make light work. Haya (Tanzania) proverb
- Where there are many, nothing goes wrong. Swahili proverb
- Two ants do not fail to pull one grasshopper. Tanzanian proverb
- A single bracelet does not jingle. Congolese proverb
- A single stick may smoke, but it will not burn. African proverb
- If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. African proverb
