Hakim Adi

West Africans in Britain 1900-1960: Nationalism, Pan-Africanism and Communism

Pioneers of student politics and the struggle for self-reliance West-African student organizations in Britain 1923-1930 search for a black united front 1930-1939 the war years 1939-1945 Africanization and radicalization - Cold-War responses 1945-1949 the 1950s - communism and nationalism.

Pan-Africanism and communism: the Comintern, the ‘Negro Question’ and the First International Conference of Negro Workers, Hamburg 1930

Abstract This article charts the history of a now largely forgotten Pan-African gathering, the historic First International Conference of Negro Workers, organised by the Communist International (CI) and held in Hamburg in 1930. The CI had taken an interest in organising Africans and those of African descent in the colonies, and in Europe and the US, from its foundation, but the key factor in developing political work concerned with the ‘Negro Question’ was the founding of the International Trade Union Committee of Negro Workers in 1928 and the activities of black communists. The difficulties experienced in organising the conference in Hamburg suggest that these activists were key to holding this historic event. The Hamburg Conference linked the communist movement with important black trade union and anti-colonial activists in Africa, the Caribbean, the US and Europe and subsequently had a significant influence on the future development of the Pan-African movement.

West African students in Britain, 1900–60: The politics of exile

The number of mainly West African students in Britain steadily increased in this century. After 1920 African students were increasingly influenced by pan‐Africanist ideas and the nationalist movements, as well as radical politics and the experience of racial discrimination in Britain, and they formed various political organisations. The most important was the West African Students’ Union which served as a nationalist pressure group and training ground for many West African student‐politicians until the mid‐1950s. The WASU published a journal, supported nationalist activity in Africa, lobbied the Colonial Office, and resisted attempts by that government department and humanitarian bodies to direct African student political activities in Britain.

African Political Thinkers, Pan-Africanism and the Politics of Exile, c.1850–1970

This essay aims not only to detail the early history of African refugees in Britain but also to look at the political culture, ideas, writings, activities and organisations which African refugees and exiles from Africa and the diaspora developed while they were in Britain, and how this culture influenced wider political culture. It argues that further study of the histories of African migrants in Britain is required not just in order to provide an historical context to more recent concerns with transnational activities and diasporas but because to ignore the existence, struggles and political culture of those of African origin impoverishes and distorts our understanding of British political culture and Britains historical past.

Belonging in Europe

The European myths about identity and nationalism, citizenship and ownership, are the building blocks for Fortress Europe. While the latest wave of African incomers are found washed upon a Sicilian beach when the tide goes out: bloated, breath-less, anonymous.

Combating racism and the issue of reparations

ABSTRACT This paper looks at previous Pan-Africanist attempts to combat the legacy of slavery and colonialism, and concludes that one of the lessons that can be learned from the Africanists of the 20th century is the necessity for unity, internationalism and placing working people at the centre. In terms of the need for the kind of repair that is now required, the paper highlights the continuing impact of Eurocentrism and racism in all its forms. In particular it stresses that the countries of Africa and the Caribbean must reject the so-called ‘universal values of the major powers’ and develop their own political institutions and paths of development, based on their own traditions. There is still the need to reclaim the history and heritage of those who are of African and Caribbean descent, but most importantly to reclaim the sovereignty of the peoples of Africa and the Caribbean. This requires that the people empower themselves, and that they become the decision makers.