1. From: The Black Scholar Page 1 of 23(June 22, 2010) Nkrumah,
African awakening and neo-colonialism: how Black America awakened
Nkrumah and Nkrumah awakened Black America.Source: Nimako, Kwame.
(2010, June 22). Nkrumah, African awakening and neo-colonialism:
how BlackAmerica awakened Nkrumah and Nkrumah awakened Black
America The Free Library. (2010). RetrievedAugust 11, 2011 from
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Nkrumah, African awakening and
neo-colonialism: how Black America...-a0233963294Pan-Africanism has
its beginnings in the liberation struggle of African-Americans,
expressingthe aspirations of Africans and peoples of African
descent. From the first Pan-AfricanConference, held in London in
1900, until the fifth and last Pan-African Conference held
inManchester in 1945, African-Americans provided the main driving
power of the movement. Pan-Africanism then moved to Africa, its
true home, with the holding of the First Conference ofIndependent
African States in Aecra in April 1958, and the All-African Peoples
Conference inDecember the same year.The work of the early pioneers
of Pan-Africanism such as H. Sylvester Williams, Dr. W.E.B. DuBois,
Marcus Garvey, and George Padmore, none of whom were born in
Africa, has become atreasured part of Africas history. It is
significant that two of them, Dr. Du Bois and GeorgePadmore, came
to live in Ghana at my invitation. Dr. Du Bois died, as he wished,
on Africansoil, while working on the Encyclopaedia Africana. George
Padmore became my Adviser onAfrican Affairs, and spent the last
years of his life in Ghana, helping in the revolutionary
strugglefor African unity and socialism.--Kwame Nkrumah,
Introduction to pamphlet, "The Spectre ofBlack Power," 1968
**********Nkrumah, African awakening and neo-colonialism: how Black
America awakened Nkrumah and Nkrumahawakened Black America
2. From: The Black Scholar Page 2 of 23(June 22, 2010)THIS
ESSAY is about how conditions and politics in Black America
influenced African politicsand how conditions and politics in
Africa influenced Black American politics and culture. Agreat
number of these influences were transmitted through, and symbolized
by, KwameNkrumah (1909-1972), Prime Minister of Ghana from 1957 to
1966. The above quotationillustrates and sums up Nkrumahs
indebtedness to Black America and how he sought toreciprocate.
Consideration of the anniversary of Robert L. Allens important
book--BlackAwakening in Capitalist America--provides us with the
opportunity to reflect on the dynamics ofblack life in America
(much more details of which are provided in the book); it enables
us tohighlight many links between Africa and Black America,
including the mutual exchanges of Pan-Africanism, and the central
role of cultural and political symbols in the struggle for
blackliberation. It also remphasizes the need to locate the
struggle for black liberation in a broadnational and international
context--the relationship between racial subordination and
capitalismin the US; and between national subordination and
independence in the post-colonial state. Inthis respect, we can
review common aspects of the struggle for black liberation in both
nations. Ihighlight these issues by providing detailed insights
into the political struggles of Nkrumah togain and maintain
political power in Ghana.NKRUMAH had left Ghana in his mid-twenties
to study in the US at Lincoln University inPennsylvania in the
1930s, where he acquired degrees in Education, Sociology,
Philosophy,Political Science, and Theology. Aside from this he had
been president of the African StudentsOrganization of America and
Canada, vice-president of the West African Students Union inBritain
and co-secretary of the Fifth Pan-African Conference held in
Manchester, England in1945. On the invitation of the United Gold
Coast Convention (UGCC), he returned to Ghana inDecember 1947,
after twelve years absence. Nkrumah became the general-secretary of
theUGCC and transformed it into a mass nationalist movement. Three
months later Nkrumah foundhimself in jail, together with five other
members of the leadership of the UGCC; they becameknown as the Big
Six in Ghana. Their arrest by the colonial authorities was
precipitated by riotsand looting in the big cities of European,
Syrian and Lebanese shops. In turn, the looting wastriggered by the
shooting of an ex-service man, Sergeant Adjetey, and the wounding
of severalothers by a British police officer on 28 February, 1948
in a protest march to the Governorsresidence by ex-servicemen.LET
US RECALL that Nkrumahs arrival coincided with the decline of the
UK as an imperialpower and the continuing ascendancy of the US as a
hegemonic power. Nkrumah was a pioneerin introducing the US to
Africa.The first section of this essay deals with the rise of
modern nationalism in Ghana. This isfollowed by symbols, concepts
and strategies Nkrumah used to awaken Africa in Section Two.Some of
the symbols, concepts and strategies were borrowed from the US in
general and BlackAmerica in particular. As will be discussed below
Nkrumah used the Red Rooster or Cock tosymbolize the African
awakening and the Black Star as the arising and the forward
movement ofAfrica. A third symbol of Nkrumahs African awakening was
the Kente cloth; he elevated theKente cloth to the level of
national cultural symbol. He also wore Kente for his official
portraitas President of Ghana. Note that in the quotation above,
Nkrumah used the concept of African-American before the term became
common usage in Black America. Other concepts thatNkrumah, African
awakening and neo-colonialism: how Black America awakened Nkrumah
and Nkrumahawakened Black America
3. From: The Black Scholar Page 3 of 23(June 22, 2010)Nkrumah
used frequently in the anti-colonial struggle between 1949 and 1957
were the conceptsof positive action and freedom. Though Nkrumah did
not seem to be conscious of how he hadbeen shaped by America, he
had become Americanized when he arrived back in Ghana. Forthose
Ghanaians who were formed by local "tribal" culture and schooled in
the British educationsystem and legal tradition, Nkrumah was a
strange figure. I argue below that Nkrumah wasaware of these
cultural differences but underestimated the resilience of British
colonial cultureand sub-nationalism.The concept most associated
with Nkrumah is "neo-colonialism." This is the issue we deal within
the Third Section. How did he arrive at the concept of
neocolonialism? Nkrumahs notion ofneo-colonialism had three
components. The first is neocolonialism as a consequence of the
statusof an underdeveloped country within the world trade system or
in the periphery of the worldsystem. The second is neocolonialism
as military force; the capacity of countries with imperialambitions
to re-subjugate or overthrow less powerful governments. The third
component isneocolonialism as a form of bribery of local
populations such as "politicians"; especially soldiersand public
servants who act as agents or stooges of imperial powers.In
conclusion I pose and answer the question of what went wrong at
three levels. What wentwrong with Nkrumah? What went with wrong
with Ghana? What went wrong with the Pan-African project? The first
question deals with the overthrow of Nkrumah in a military coup
in1966 and how his overthrow has been explained. Nkrumah himself
felt that his overthrow wasthe result of an imperialist plot and
neo-colonialists in the country. Others have argued that hewas
overthrown because he ran a one-party state. Others argue that he
was not a true socialist. Ifound these explanations too simplistic,
so two decades ago I introduced the concepts of holisticnationalism
and sub-nationalism to explain the forces that worked against
Nkrumahs project. Ithen turn to the implications of Nkrumahs
overthrow to Ghana and the Pan-African project.This paper is only
part of a story; the story of how Nkrumah was awakened by Black
Americaand how he in turn awakened Black America. Let us unfold the
story.Nkrumah and African Awakening: The Dual StruggleTHOSE WHO
SEEK to end violent and oppressive systems and regimes have to
contemplatesurvival, suicide, or genocide. Apparently Nkrumah had
contemplated these scenarios when henoted in 1949 that:There are
two ways to achieve Self-government: either by armed revolution and
violentoverthrow of the existing regime, or by constitutional and
legitimate non-violent methods. Inother words, either by armed
might or by moral pressure. For instance, Britain prevented the
twoGerman attempts to enslave her by armed might, while India
liquidated British Imperialism thereby moral pressure. We believe
that we can achieve Self-government even now by constitutionalmeans
without resort to any violence. (Nkrumah 1973: 6)Nkrumah, African
awakening and neo-colonialism: how Black America awakened Nkrumah
and Nkrumahawakened Black America
4. From: The Black Scholar Page 4 of 23(June 22, 2010)NKRUMAHS
African awakening was a project with a dual struggle. On the one
hand he had todeal with the internal Ghanaian/African political and
cultural configurations to get his messageacross; but he needed to
succeed in Ghana before he could succeed in Africa. On the other
hand,in the absence of armed insurrection, he had to convey a
message that could de-legitimize Britishand colonial rule. The dual
struggle had to be dealt with simultaneously in the context
ofGhanaian/African nationalism.With regard to Ghanaian political
and cultural configuration it should be noted that modernGhanaian
nationalism emerged after the collapse of primary resistance in the
face of colonialonslaught. The collapse of primary resistance gave
rise to the formal colonization of the coastalregion of Ghana at
the end of the nineteenth century. The first modern nationalist
"movement,"the Aborigines Rights Protection Society (ARPS), was
formed in 1896 by a group of Ghanaianintelligentsia in coalition
with native rulers in the coastal area of the country. The
immediateobjective of the ARPS was to counter attempts by the
British to expropriate Fante lands, throughthe introduction of a
Lands Bill (1897), designed to transmute what the British
colonialauthorities considered as "tribal or family holdings into
individual ownership" (Nimako 1991:18).AFTER successfully
preventing the British from expropriating Fante lands, and flowing
fromthat, Ghanaian lands, the ARPS became conservative. By the
1930s the ARPS had becomedormant and was superseded by the United
Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) in 1947. Like theformation of the
ARPS, the force behind the formation of the UGCC was primarily
economic,but its instruments were political. According to the
initiator of the UGCC, George Grant, aGhanaian timber merchant, the
formation of the UGCC was a consequence of the colonialpolitics of
exclusion and discrimination. As Grant put it:We were not being
treated right; we were not getting the licenses for import of
goods.... At onetime we had the Aborigines Rights Protection
Society who were taking care of the country. Lateron, they were
pushed out and there was the Provincial Council of Chiefs ... The
chiefs go to theCouncil and approve loans without submitting them
to the merchants and tradesmen in thecountry. Thereby we keep on
losing. (Watson Commission, Ibid.)To this effect, Grant gathered
forty Ghanaians, mostly British-trained lawyers, who convergedon
the coastal town of Saltpond in April 1947 to discuss how Britain
could transfer self-government to them or other Ghanaians. This led
to the formation of the UGCC in August 1947.The United Gold Coast
Convention (UGCC) pledged itself:To ensure that by all legitimate
and constitutional means the direction and control of
governmentshould pass into the hands of the people and their chiefs
in the shortest possible time. (WatsonCommission 1948)For the
record, this UGCC statement was a repudiation of the notion of
indirect rule; the essenceNkrumah, African awakening and
neo-colonialism: how Black America awakened Nkrumah and
Nkrumahawakened Black America
5. From: The Black Scholar Page 5 of 23(June 22, 2010)of
indirect rule was that the British colonial authorities ruled their
colonies through local andtraditional rulers, be they Raj, Sultans,
Kings or Chiefs. The problem was how to translate thosewishes into
political outcome. The forty Ghanaians, however, realized that they
did not possessadequate skills and strategies. Subsequently, the
UGCC executive committee, on therecommendation of Ako Adjei, a UGCC
member who had studied with Nkrumah in the USA,decided to invite
Nkrumah, who had made a name for himself as an
anti-colonialist/imperialistagitator in the US and Britain, to
return to Ghana to help shape the social and political forces inthe
country that were beyond the control of Ghanaian intelligentsia at
that point in history.RECALL that Marx has made us understand that
people make history but they do not do sosimply as they please or
under conditions of their own creation. People make history
underconditions they encounter. The conditions Nkrumah encountered
in December 1947 were generaldiscontent in society occasioned by
high inflation and post-World War II economic stress andshortages
of commodities. However, whereas Grant, a businessman, viewed the
social andeconomic conditions in the country in the context of
racial discrimination, Nii Bonne, a sub-chiefin Accra (the capital
city of Ghana), viewed the same in the context of economic
exploitation.Thus, unlike Grant, who gathered Ghanaian
intelligentsia to discuss transfer of power, Bonnearticulated his
grievances through protests in the streets and a boycott campaign.
Since colonialrule was also a racialized project, racially
discriminatory practices, political and economicprotest also became
a form of "racialized protest." This became apparent when Bonne was
saidto have told a crowd in one of his boycott campaigns on 26
January 1948:"... This cloth [wax block print] sold by the white
man at eighty-four shillings per piece and soldat the black market
for six pounds per piece cost the white man about forty shillings
landed herein these days. If the white man sells it at fifty
shillings he would gain ten shillings he collects aprofit more than
the print cost him. Is the white man not cunning taking away your
money fornothing?"The people will reply, yes, the white man is
stealing our money by tricks. Nii Bonne will thensay, Dont buy
anything from the white mans stores and dont allow your fellow
countrymen tobuy. If they do, swear the oath of the Omanhene [i.e.,
the paramount chief] on them....." (WatsonCommission, in Nimako
1991: 44)Recall that Bonnes boycott campaign took place one month
after the arrival of Nkrumah inGhana. Though the disorder,
disturbances and lootings that followed the boycott campaign
werenot the making of the UGCC leadership, they were blamed for it
and arrested by the colonialauthorities. The arrest of the UGCC
leadership, who became known by Ghanaians as the Big Sixwhile in
jail for two weeks, tested their resolve.Their arrest by the
colonial authorities was precipitated by riots and looting in the
big cities ofEuropean, Syrian and Lebanese shops. In turn, the
looting was triggered by the shooting of anex-service man, Sergeant
Adjetey, and the wounding of several others by a British police
officeron 28 February, 1948 in a protest march to the Governors
residence by ex-servicemen.THE WATSON COMMISSION, which was called
into being to investigate the causes of theNkrumah, African
awakening and neo-colonialism: how Black America awakened Nkrumah
and Nkrumahawakened Black America
6. From: The Black Scholar Page 6 of 23(June 22,
2010)disturbances and recommend reforms in the colonial
administration, also took the opportunity toassess the leadership
of the UGCC, especially J.B. Danquah, the chairman, and Nkrumah,
thesecretary-general, of UGCC. With regard to the former, the
commission reported that:Dr. Danquah might be described as the
doyen of Gold Coast [Ghana] politicians. He has foundedor has been
connected with most political movements since his adolescence. He
is a member ofthe Legislative Council and but for the accident of
birth might have been a most notable chief.He is a man of great
intelligence but suffers from a disease not unknown to
politiciansthroughout the ages and recognized by the generic name
of expediency." (Watson Commission,Ibid.)With regard to latter, the
Watson Commission reported that Nkrumah:Appears while in Britain to
have had Communist affiliations and to have become imbued with
aCommunist ideology which only political expediency has blurred. In
London he was identifiedparticularly with the West African National
Secretariat, a body which still exists. It appears to bethe
precursor of a Union of West African Soviet Socialist Republics.
(Watson Commission,Ibid.)In plain language this implied that
Danquah should not be taken seriously but the colonialauthorities
ought to keep a watchful eye on Nkrumah. And they did.In the final
analysis, the majority of the UGCC leadership kept distance from
the agitation andactions of the masses, whereas Nkrumah supported
it. Not only did the prison experience drive awedge in the UGCC
leadership, but also, after their release from jail, Nkrumah
transformed theUGCC into a mass movement and radicalized it. On
this score, it is important to note that thefirst trade union
organization, the Gold Coast Railway Union (GCRU), was registered
in 1943and became active in 1947--the same year that the UGCC was
formed. The radicalization of theUGCC went hand in hand with the
radicalization of the trade union.THESE RADICAL developments
contributed to a split in the leadership of the UGCC;subsequently
Nkrumah resigned from the UGCC and formed a new movement or party,
theConvention Peoples Party (CPP). The formation of the CPP brought
Nkrumahs dual struggleinto sharp focus. On the one hand Nkrumahs
resignation from the UGCC to form his ownpolitical party, the CPP,
laid the foundations for party politics in Ghana. Viewed in this
context,Nkrumah was the first person to form a political party in
Ghana, as opposed to a nationalistmovement, and thus introduced
democratic politics in the country, and perhaps in Africa.However
by siding with the masses, Nkrumah committed what Amilcar Cabral
later referred toas class suicide. Class suicide constitutes the
betrayal of ones class and the embracing of lesscomfort and
sacrifice in the name of anti-colonial struggle. Of the six members
of the UGCCexecutive committee, only one, Ako Adjei, joined
Nkrumahs party, the CPP.On the other hand, the formation of the CPP
also meant that political and social discontent insociety could be
channeled through the CPP. In other words, the masses sought
leadership andfound it in Nkrumah. From there on, the rest of the
UGCC executive members becameNkrumah, African awakening and
neo-colonialism: how Black America awakened Nkrumah and
Nkrumahawakened Black America
7. From: The Black Scholar Page 7 of 23(June 22, 2010)Nkrumahs
political opponents throughout his life; this in turn has clouded
Ghanaian politicalculture ever since. However, viewed in the
context of modern Ghanaian nationalism, the ARPSwas overtaken by
the UGCC. When the UGCC became radicalized and was overtaken two
yearslater by Kwame Nkrumahs CPP in 1949, the labor movement also
became radicalized (Nimako2002).IT SHOULD BE mentioned that the
remaining UGCC leadership viewed Nkrumahs move asreckless, a
betrayal, and opportunistic. Reckless because of the fear and
awareness that theBritish colonial authorities had the capacity to
unleash violence, or even genocide on Ghanaiansin the context of
colonial adage; when persuasion fails, force must apply. Thus the
UGCCleadership felt vindicated when Nkrumah was arrested, for the
second time, in 1950 and jailedfor nine months for engineering a
general strike.The remaining UGCC leadership alleged betrayal
because Nkrumah decided to commit classsuicide and thus disturbed
the cohesion of the intelligentsia, which assumed the British
colonialauthorities would hand over power to them because they had
asked for it. Nkrumah was alsoaccused of opportunism because their
understanding had been that he was invited to help them togain
political power but not to take political power himself, as later
happened.This was compounded by the fact that though the leadership
of the UGCC remained coherent, itscapacity to appeal to voters
remained marginal. This was all the more so since Nkrumah won
alandslide election victory in 1951 against the UGCC when he was in
jail. To be precise, of thethirty-eight seats made available by the
colonial authorities for political contest, the CPP wonthirty-four
seats; the UGCC won two seats and Togoland Congress (TC) two seats.
Nkrumahwas subsequently released from jail in to
formself-government," that is, to share theadministration of the
country with the British colonial authorities to prepare the
grounds forformal political independence.AFTER THE DEFEAT of the
UGCC in the 1951 election, the UGCC disintegrated, and re-emerged
as the Ghana Congress Party (GCP) under new leadership. Kofi Busia,
who had justearned a doctorate degree in sociology, became the
leader of the GCP. Like the old members ofthe UGCC, Busia assumed
that the GCP was morally and intellectually superior to the
CPP.Thus, in announcing the formation of the GCP, Busia
stated:"Congress [GCP] will show the country the right way. It will
meet the CPP squarely and defeat it... We cannot sit down and allow
our country to be so run and ruined by men who think ofthemselves
only and who compromise principles without the least compunction
... Of course theCongress means business. We cannot allow this
fooling and thieving to go on any longer or elsewe are all doomed.
The great array of intellectual giants behind the party, the
response of thechiefs and farmers and the joy and support of the
thinking man at the birth of Congress giveevidence to the strength
of the new party. This Ghana must be saved from a one, arty evil,
theevil of dictatorship." (Emphasis added, quoted from Austin 1964:
in Nimako 2002: 54-55)Not only did Busia imply that there was only
one political party (CPP) in Ghana at that point intime but also in
response to the success of the CPP, other political groupings
emerged. On thisscore the CPP had a demonstration effect on how
political parties should be formed in Ghana; byNkrumah, African
awakening and neo-colonialism: how Black America awakened Nkrumah
and Nkrumahawakened Black America
8. From: The Black Scholar Page 8 of 23(June 22, 2010)the
mid-1950s there were five variants of Ghanaian nationalism. The
remaining members of theUGCC became members of the political
groupings that emerged to oppose the CPP.FOR THE RECORD, the
process of British colonization shaped and conditioned the pattern
ofnationalism(s). In a span of fifty years four areas (i.e.,
coastal, central, northern, and eastern)were colonized
successively; these regions became administratively known as the
Colony(coastal) Ashanti (central) Northern Territories (northern)
and Trans-Volta Togoland (eastern).This historical process gave
rise to regional social formations, which in turn became
newpolitical and cultural configurations. Thus, in response to
colonization, five nationalismsemerged. We have classified Nkrumahs
version of nationalism as "holistic," because it was theonly truly
national party and the other four regionally-based groupings we
classify as "sub-nationalism" (Nimako 1991). What was the
ideological divide between holistic nationalism andsub-nationalism?
For the sake of conserving space, let us present the ideological
divide betweenholistic nationalism and sub-nationalism in a
typology as follows:Major Structural Features of Holistic
Nationalists andSub-nationalistsHOLISTIC NATIONALISTS
SUB-NATIONALISTS1. British colonial rule as 1. Holistic nationalist
rule as the object of opposition the object of opposition2. Strong
belief in equal 2. Strong belief in social opportunity and social
stratification and social transformation and reform social
transformation3. Strong belief in Pan- 3. Non-belief in
Pan-Africanism Africanism and solidarity and solidarity between
between colonized and colonized and oppressed oppressed peoples
peoples4. Mass politicization and 4. Primordial relations as
education as the basis the basis of political of political
mobilization mobilizationSub-nationalism became the internal
component of Nkrumahs dual struggle, whereas colonialrule and
domination became the external component. Nkrumah was viewed by
both UGCC andthe colonial authorities as someone who was disturbing
the tranquillity of colonial society, towhich he replied: "we
prefer freedom in danger to servitude in tranquillity."At the
broader level of political culture, sub-nationalism followed the
pattern of BritishNkrumah, African awakening and neo-colonialism:
how Black America awakened Nkrumah and Nkrumahawakened Black
America
9. From: The Black Scholar Page 9 of 23(June 22,
2010)colonization, and holistic nationalism followed the
construction and development of the colonialstate. The colonial
state, which was the outcome of complex world trade and political
relations aswell as (British) military occupation of the country,
became the thread that held the(geographical) regions together. In
a similar vein, holistic nationalism became the thread thatheld
Ghanaians together by uniting them in their resistance and
opposition to British rule,irrespective of class and ethnic
background. Unlike holistic nationalists (whose focus ofopposition
was British colonial rule), the primary target for the opposition
of the subnationalistswas actually the holistic nationalists. Just
as the emergence of holistic nationalism presupposedthe existence
of British domination, so did the existence of subnationalism
presuppose Britishdomination and the spectre or even the very
existence of holistic nationalism.THE EXISTENCE of various
nationalisms also gave rise to a relative diffusion of
politicalpower in society. Thus, around 1950, the probability that
any of the three organized politicalforces in question (i.e., the
colonial authorities, holistic nationalists and subnationalists)
couldcarry out its own wishes in isolation was relatively low. The
ability of any one of the politicalactors to dominate the political
arena depended on a conscious and/or unconscious alliance oftwo of
the forces, in opposition to a third party. The power of the
colonial authorities dependedon their control of the colonial state
machinery, namely, the civil service, the police service,
thejudiciary, and the armed forces. The power of the holistic
nationalists was based on their abilityto galvanize the masses
(including organized labor) into action, thereby making the
countryungovernable by the colonial authorities.The power of the
holistic nationalists was not only constrained by the colonial
state, but also bysub-nationalism. The power of the
sub-nationalists rested on an alliance between a large sectionof
the intelligentsia and the native rulers, and their subsequent
non-cooperation with holisticnationalists, which in turn undermined
the legitimacy of the holistic nationalists rule. A case inpoint is
the refusal to accept election results, as the statement of Busia
above demonstrates.But in concrete terms, how did Nkrumah awaken,
galvanize and mobilized Ghanaians to endBritish colonial rule? Let
us answer this question in the following section.Symbols and
Concepts of Nkrumahs African AwakeningPOLITICS requires symbols.
All political parties use symbols to distinguish themselves
fromother political parties. Nkrumah was a man of symbolism and
concepts and chose his symbolsand concepts consciously and
carefully. Three symbols and three concepts defined NkrumahsAfrican
awakening in the early period of his political life, especially
from the formation of hispolitical party, the CPP in 1949, and the
attainment of Ghanas independence in 1957. The threesymbols were
the Red Rooster or Cock, the Black Star, and the Kente cloth. The
three conceptswere Positive Action, Freedom, and
Self-determination.It is necessary to place the symbolisms in their
proper political context because the first symbol,a red rooster or
cock, which became the symbol of his political party, was meant to
signify awake-up call. Though Ghanaians knew of red rooster or cock
symbolism, Nkrumah gave a newmeaning to it. The red of the cock had
a double meaning; one meaning for Ghanaians, anothermeaning for
international politics and solidarity. For the average Ghanaian red
symbolizesNkrumah, African awakening and neo-colonialism: how Black
America awakened Nkrumah and Nkrumahawakened Black America
10. From: The Black Scholar Page 10 of23(June 22,
2010)seriousness, a danger, a fire, or hotness. For international
solidarity red symbolized leftwingpolitics and international
socialism and communism.Nkrumahs message varied, depending on the
circumstances, but the element of a wake-up callremained. A case in
point is a speech he gave at a rally in the north of the country on
5 March1949 in which he stated:"This country is ours. This land is
ours. It belongs to our chiefs and people. It does not belong
toforeigners, but we dont say that all foreigners should pack up
and go. They can stay as traders,and work with us not us masters
and rulers....."The age of politics of words is gone. This is the
age of politics of action. We dont have guns.We dont have
ammunition to fight anybody. We have a great spirit, a great
national soul whichis manifest in our unity."If we get s.g.
[self-government] well transform the Gold Coast [Ghana] into a
paradise in tenyears. Why should some people in the NTs [Northern
Territories] go naked? I can find no reasonfor it. We can improve
our native looms up here in the NTs in five years under a
government ofthe people, by the people and for the
people...."Wherefore my advice is Seek ye first the political
kingdom, and all things will be added untoyou ..." (Ashanti
Pioneer, March, 1949, quoted here from Fitch and Oppenheimer:
25)This speech has three elements of the holistic nationalist
typology presented above, namely,British colonial rule as object of
opposition, strong belief in equal opportunity and
socialtransformation, and mass education as the basis of political
mobilization.EQUALLY IMPORTANT to note is that Nkrumah informed his
followers that "[T]he age ofpolitics of words is gone. This is the
age of politics of action." To this effect Nkrumah introducedthe
concept of Positive Action. By Positive Action Nkrumah meant "the
adoption of alllegitimate and constitutional means by which we can
cripple the forces of imperialism in thiscountry."He went on to lay
out the strategies of Positive Action in the following terms:The
Weapons of Positive Action are:1). Legitimate political
agitation2). Newspaper and educational campaigns; and3). As a last
resort, the constitutional application of strikes, boycotts, and
non-co-operation basedon the principle of absolute non-violence.
(Emphasis added; Nkrumah 1973: 7)Recall that those who seek to end
a violent and oppressive system and regime have tocontemplate
survival, suicide or genocide. We have emphasized absolute
non-violence to pressNkrumah, African awakening and
neo-colonialism: how Black America awakened Nkrumah and
Nkrumahawakened Black America
11. From: The Black Scholar Page 11 of23(June 22, 2010)this
matter home; Nkrumah was aware of the capacity of the colonial
authorities to unleashviolence to quell an uprising and use such an
incident to prolong colonial rule.It is also important to mention
that the power of the holistic nationalists was not only
constrainedby the colonial state, but also by sub-nationalists. The
power of the sub-nationalists rested on analliance between a large
section of the intelligentsia and native rulers, and their
subsequent non-cooperation with holistic nationalists; this in turn
undermined the legitimacy of the holisticnationalists rule. Whereas
the CPP or holistic nationalists challenged the legitimacy of
colonialrule, some of the former UGCC members, now organized around
regional groupings as sub-nationalists and challenged the
legitimacy of Nkrumah and CPP-led government. Asindependence came
close, sub-nationalists became more militant and violent and sought
to delaythe process. This brings us to the second symbol, the Black
Star.If the Red Rooster or Cock symbolized a wake-up call, the
Black Star symbolized rise-up orAfrican arising and the forward
movement of black people and economic development. It is
anacknowledged fact that the concept of the Black Star and the
symbolism around it originatesfrom Marcus Garvey. Garvey gave a
radical twist to a Black American tradition of his time. InAllens
formulation:Garvey took [Booker T.] Washingtons economic program,
clothed it in militant nationalistrhetoric, and built an
organisation which in its heyday enjoyed the active support of
millions ofblack people. Garvey, a Jamaican by birth, identified
the problem of American Negroes with theproblem of colonialism in
Africa. He believed that until Africa was liberated, there was no
hopefor black people anywhere. He founded his Universal Negro
Improvement Association in 1914in Jamaica with the motto: "One God!
One Aim! One Destiny!" But it was not until Garveyestablished his
group in New Yorks Harlem in 1917 that it began to assume notable
proportions.(Allen 1970: 100)LIKE BOOKER T. WASHINGTON, "Garvey
believed that economic power through ownershipof business could lay
a solid foundation for eventual black salvation" (Allen, Ibid.
101). To thiseffect, among other things, he established the Negro
Factory Corporation and the Black StarSteamship Corporation.Nkrumah
used the Black Star in four ways. First he used it in the national
flag. The Ghanaiannational flag of red, gold, green strips and a
black star in the gold became the official symbol ofGhana as an
independent state and a member of the United Nations. Second,
Nkrumah used theBlack Star as part of Ghanas Coat of Arms. There
are three black stars, two eagles and aninscription, "Freedom and
Justice" in the coat of arms. Not only was the Black Star
borrowedfrom Black America but the eagle was also borrowed from
America. Thirdly, Nkrumah namedthe Ghanaian national shipping line,
the Black Star Line; and he used it as the name of thenational
football club, the Black Star Football Club/Association. Not only
did the Black Starbecome prevalent as a symbol for Africa but also
many African countries adopted the symbol ofblack star in their
national flags. The Black Star thus became one of the major symbols
of howBlack America awakened Nkrumah.The Black Star, as a symbol of
African arising, also became a symbol of progress, socialNkrumah,
African awakening and neo-colonialism: how Black America awakened
Nkrumah and Nkrumahawakened Black America
12. From: The Black Scholar Page 12 of23(June 22,
2010)mobility, and economic development. Through self-government,
the CPP government was notonly able to improve the physical and
social infrastructure of the country but also social mobilitywas
enhanced. Between 1951 and 1961, primary schools enrolment grew by
212 percent; middleschools by 142 percent; secondary schools by 438
percent; teacher training by 138 percent anduniversity enrolment by
479 percent. Similar developments had taken place in the areas of
healthcare, clean water, sanitation, and employment. However, these
developments were dependent onthe prices of primary commodities on
the world market; these were in turn dependent on demandfrom Europe
and North America.By creating the space to administer the country
with the colonial authorities, the CPP formed ade facto alliance
with the colonial authorities against the sub-nationalists. This
was not onlyviewed by sub-nationalists as compromise of "principles
without the least compunction," it alsoobliged the subnationalists
to swallow contempt for the masses and appeal directly to
them.Thus, in one of its appeals, the anti-CPP Newspaper, the
Ashanti Pioneer (of 8 January 1954)reported that:[T]he masses
should be reminded that the CPP entered the Legislative Assembly
[in 1951] astramps in [Northern Territories] smocks. Today, within
barely three years, they are riding not inbuses, not even in taxis,
but in luxurious American saloon cars. A good number of them
havebuilt mansions and go about in tails and toppers. (Quoted in
Austin 1964:212 in Nimako 2002:60)The political irony should not be
overlooked; the "men of substance," who viewed members ofthe CPP as
"the flotsam and jetsam and the popinjays of the country" started
to appeal directly tothe masses. More importantly, they were also
reminding the masses that Nkrumah had not onlyintroduced American
style politics in Ghana but also he had introduced American
consumptionpatterns, including luxurious American saloon cars into
the country. Viewed in this context, theissue of legitimacy became
the basis of political instability. Colonial rule was
consideredillegitimate by both the colonizer and the colonized,
hence the need to transfer power to alegitimate nationalist
government. Sub-nationalists considered the CPP government
illegitimatebecause they viewed members of the CPP as "the flotsam
and jetsam and the popinjays of thecountry." In those days this
implied that they were not educated in British universities.THIS
BRINGS US to the concept of freedom. During the campaigns for
independence, Nkrumahtended to open and end his speech by shouting
the word, Freedom! to which the crowdresponded, Freedom! The
concept of freedom was also taken from Black America. For nowhereis
the concept of freedom used more than Black American intellectual
and cultural tradition.The opponents did not use the word freedom.
Recall that colonial rule was justified by thecolonizers as a
"civilizing mission." Thus in 1954, in arguing his case for
Independence in hismotion for constitutional reform in the
parliament, Nkrumah argued:The right of a people to decide their
own destiny, to make their way in freedom, is not to bemeasured by
the yardstick of color or degree of social development. It is an
inalienable right ofpeoples, which they are powerless to exercise
when forces, stronger than they themselves, bywhatever means, for
whatever reasons, take this right away from them. If there is to be
a criterionNkrumah, African awakening and neo-colonialism: how
Black America awakened Nkrumah and Nkrumahawakened Black
America
13. From: The Black Scholar Page 13 of23(June 22, 2010)of a
peoples preparedness for Self-Government, then I say it is their
readiness to assume theresponsibilities of ruling themselves.....
never in the history of the world has an alien rulergranted
self-rule to a people on a silver platter. (Emphasis added, quoted
from Timothy 1981:122-123, in Nimako, 1991: 62)Constitutional
reform that followed this motion gave rise to an election based on
UniversalSuffrage in 1954 and an expansion of electoral seats to
104, of which the CPP won seventy-two;the sub-nationalists won only
nineteen seats distributed as follows: Northern Peoples Party(NPP)
fifteen, Togoland Congress (TC) three and Ghana Congress Party
(GCP) one; the rest ofthirteen seats went to independent candidates
(eleven) and one each to two religious parties(Nimako, Ibid: 65).
It should be mentioned that Busia, the leader of the GCP won the
one seatfor his party. Just as the 1951 election led to the
disintegration of the UGCC, so did the electionof 1954 lead to the
disintegration of the GCP. Busia joined a new regional formation,
theNational Liberation Movement (NLM), based in the Ashanti region,
and became its leader.DEMANDS from the sub-nationalists groupings,
led by Busia, for a federal constitution, asopposed to the existing
unitary constitution, to minimize the power of the CPP, backed
byviolence, led the colonial authorities to organize another
election in 1956. However, it did notchange the results; the CPP
won seventy-two seats out of 104; three sub-nationalists
groupingswon in total thirty seats and distributed as follows:
Northern Peoples Party (NPP) fifteen,National Liberation Movement
(NLM) twelve, Togoland Congress (TC) three and one seat eachfor two
religious parties. Thus two years after the above Nkrumah motion,
and nine years afterhis return to Ghana, Britain decided to end her
colonial rule in Ghana and handed over the affairsof the country to
the CPP government. It was this state of affairs that led the then
BritishGovernor, Sir Arden-Clarke, to conclude at a given
historical juncture:Nkrumah and his party had the mass of the
people behind them and there was no other party withappreciable
public support to which one could turn. Without Nkrumah, the
Constitution wouldbe stillborn and if nothing came of all the
hopes, aspirations and concrete proposals for a greatermeasure of
self-government, there would no longer be any faith in the good
intentions of theBritish Government and the Gold Coast [i.e.,
Ghana] would be plunged into disorders, violenceand bloodshed.
(quoted from Austin 1964, 150, in Nimako, 1991: 79)What the
governors statement implied was that Ghana was a de facto
"one-party state" in 1956.The CPP had won successive elections in
1951, 1954 and 1956 to prepare the grounds for thecountrys
independence on 6 March 1957.In response to the observations of the
British Governor, at a ceremonial banquet on the eve of
thedeparture of Sir Arden-Clarke, Nkrumah stated that:"Much credit
has quite properly been accorded to [the Governor] in the press and
elsewhere forthe attainment of our independence. I am happy that
this is so for without him our struggle wouldhave been a far more
bitter one, a more violent one, and one calling for even greater
sacrifices onthe parts of us all. But I know that Sir Charles as an
honest man himself will agreewholeheartedly with me when I say that
when honors are handed out, those who should rank firstand foremost
are the members of the Convention Peoples Party, the pioneers and
theNkrumah, African awakening and neo-colonialism: how Black
America awakened Nkrumah and Nkrumahawakened Black America
14. From: The Black Scholar Page 14 of23(June 22,
2010)footsloggers of the National Independence Movement. And I say
with all emphasis that withoutthe Convention Peoples Party there
could not have been any independence for this country. Forlet it
never be imagined for a moment that our independence was given to
us for the mere asking.Every hour, every precious minute of this
our glorious freedom was fought for relentlessly anduntiringly by
them. We have won independence and founded a modern state. The end
we havereached has been attained at the price of suffering
self-denial and patient work." (Emphasisadded, quoted from James
1977: 153, in Nimako, 1991: 80)LET US give practical meaning to the
polemics between Nkrumah and Arden-Clarke. What arethe practical
meanings of the following statement by Arden-Clarke? "Nkrumah and
his party hadthe mass of the people behind them and there was no
other party with appreciable public supportto which one could
turn." Ghana was a de facto one-party state at the time of
independence in1957. Recall that both the UGCC and the GCP
disintegrated after the 1951 and 1954 electionsrespectively. In a
similar vein the three sub-nationalists groupings, NPP, NLM and TC
merged toform the United Party (UP), with Busia as its leader,
after the 1956 election in opposition to theCPP. But like its
predecessors, the UP also suffered from defections. Thus by 1960,
seventeen ofthe thirty-two opposition members of the parliament had
"crossed carpet" to join the ruling party,the CPP; this brought the
majority of the CPP to eighty-nine and the opposition to
fifteenparliamentary seats. It was against this background that in
1958 Busia, now the leader of thenewly formed United Party (UP),
abandoned his party and parliamentary seat and went into
serf-imposed exile to seek support to overthrow the Nkrumah
government. As we shall see below,since one-party states were then
associated with the Soviet bloc, Nkrumahs regime became apawn in
the Cold War politics.Nkrumah, Self-determination and
Neo-colonialismNKRUMAHS dual struggle was part of a broader
Pan-African movement; thus it did not endwith the achievement of
Ghanas political independence on 6 March 1957. What it
implied,however, was that he needed to succeed in Ghana before he
could succeed in Africa and itsDiaspora. It was against this
background that in his inaugural address on Ghanas independence,he
proclaimed in his now famous statement that "the independence of
Ghana is meaninglessunless it links with the total liberation of
Africa."We noted in his formulation above that:[U]ntil the fifth
and last Pan-African Conference held in Manchester in 1945,
African-Americansprovided the main driving power of the
[Pan-African] movement. Pan-Africanism then moved toAfrica, its
true home, with the holding of the First Conference of Independent
African States inAccra in April 1958, and the All-African Peoples
Conference in December the same year.(Nkrumah 1973)The purpose of
these two conferences was to galvanize African states to support
nationalistmovements and peoples to achieve political independence.
To this effect, the concept of self-determination, stated in the
United Nations Charter, became the equivalent of Positive
Action.The notion of self-determination places emphasis on
collective freedom, namely, freedom fromNkrumah, African awakening
and neo-colonialism: how Black America awakened Nkrumah and
Nkrumahawakened Black America
15. From: The Black Scholar Page 15 of23(June 22, 2010)foreign
control. Until Ghanas independence, most African countries had been
defined andrepresented as property of certain European countries.
The new dual struggle thus implied thecreation of new cultural and
political configurations in Africa and ensuring that
Africansrepresent themselves outside Africa. Thus the process of
national liberation and solidarity alsorequired the re-definition
of Africa. To this effect Nkrumah noted that:With true independence
regained ... a new harmony needs to be forged, a harmony that
willallow the combined presences of traditional Africa, Islamic
Africa and Euro-Christian Africa, sothat this presence is in tune
with the original humanist principles underlying African society.
Oursociety is not the old society, but a new society enlarged by
Islamic and Euro-Christianinfluences. A new emergent ideology is
therefore required, an ideology which can solidify in
aphilosophical statement, but at the same time an ideology which
will not abandon the originalhumanist principle of Africa ... Such
a philosophical statement I propose to name
philosophicalconsciencism. (Nkrumah: 1964)BY RE-DEFINING Africa and
demanding African representation of Africa, it made it possibleto
extend solidarity and speak on behalf of those still living under
colonial control. A case inpoint was Nkrumahs statement on the
anti-colonial struggles in Algeria:The flower of French youth is
being wasted in an attempt to maintain an impossible fiction
thatAlgeria is part of France, while at the same time the youth of
Algeria are forced to give up theirlives in a conflict which could
be settled tomorrow by the application of the principles of
theUnited Nations.... France cannot win a military victory in
Algeria. If she hopes to do so, then herhopes are false and
unrelated to the realities of the situation.... From whatever angle
yon viewthis problem you cannot escape from the fact that Algeria
is African and will always remain so,in the same manner that France
is French. No accident of history, such as has occurred in
Algeriacan ever succeed in turning an inch of African soil into an
extension of any other continent.Colonialism and imperialism cannot
change this basic geographical fact..... Let France and theother
colonial powers face this fact and be guided accordingly. (Nkrumah,
quoted from Mazrui1977: 52)It was certainly true that the Algerian
conflict "could be settled tomorrow by the application ofthe
principles of the United Nations." However, the colonial and
imperial powers did not alwaysadhere to the principles of the
United Nations which they constructed themselves. Thus
thegalvanization of Africans was matched by solidarity between
European states and the US.Underneath the notions of freedom and
self-determination was economic and socialdevelopment. On this
score one of the major obstacles to the Pan-African project was,
and stillis, neo-colonialism. According to Nkrumah:[T]he essence of
neo-colonialism is that the state which is subject to it is, in
theory, independentand has all the outward trappings of
international sovereignty. In reality its economic system andits
political policy is directed from outside. (Nkrumah 1967:
90)NKRUMAHS notion of neo-colonialism had three components. The
first is neocolonialism as aconsequence of the status of an
underdeveloped country within the world trade system or in
theNkrumah, African awakening and neo-colonialism: how Black
America awakened Nkrumah and Nkrumahawakened Black America
16. From: The Black Scholar Page 16 of23(June 22,
2010)periphery of the world system. The second is neocolonialism as
military force; the capacity ofcountries with imperial ambitions to
re-subjugate or overthrow less powerful governmentsdirectly. The
third component is neocolonialism as a form of bribery of local
populations such as"politicians"; especially soldiers and public
servants, who act as agents or stooges of imperialpowers.The
implications of the first, that is peripheral status in the world
system, is that it restrained orplaced limitations on the capacity
of a country like Ghana to generate enough resources for
itsphysical and social infrastructure development; it also
restrained the capacity for a country likeGhana to help other
countries in need. The reverse is true for imperial powers.
Powerfulcountries can place trade sanctions on weak countries; they
can also use "development aid" toblackmail weak countries.Though
major developments in the social sectors had been made, the economy
of Ghanaremained fragile. Thus having attempted to attract foreign
investment from the West for almost adecade without success and
stimulated local groups to become capitalist without tangible
results,a Ghana Government Minister lamented in 1960 that the CPP
government has help "Ghanaianbusinessmen over the last few years
with loans for their capitalist development. Very large sumstoo.
And nearly all of it has been wasted" (Nimako 1991: 89). After
these experiences the CPPgovernment embarked on a state-led capital
accumulation and industrialization project. Informulating this
project a Government document entitled "Work and Happiness"
pronounced:Imperialism-colonialism left Ghana without the
accumulation of capital in private hands whichassisted the Western
World to make its industrial revolution. Only Government can
thereforefind the means to promote those basic services [i.e.
education, health, water and sanitation] andindustries [i.e.
employment] which are essential prerequisites to intensive,
diversified agriculture,speedy industrialization and increased
economic productivity. (Nimako, 1991: 97)Coming, as it were,
against the background of the Cold War and intensified armed
struggle inAfrica, the confrontation between Nkrumahs politics and
the interest of the Western worldbecame stark. The above statement
constituted a communist conspiracy in the eyes of Westernpowers,
especially the US. Which bring us to the second component of
neo-colonialism, namely,the re-subjugation of former colonies by
old and new imperial powers.THE IMPLICATIONS of the second
component are that weak countries could be invaded bypowerful
countries and reverse the achievement of independence and thus
undermine self-determination and collective freedom. Examples
abound to support this position, includinginterventions in Egypt on
the Suez Canal by Britain, France and Israel; and interventions in
Iran,Guatemala and Vietnam by the US (Chomsky 1993).Where direct
intervention is not an option, a third option is invoked, namely,
neo-colonialism asa form of bribery of local populations such as
"politicians"; especially soldiers and publicservants who act as
agents or stooges of imperial powers became the most effective
instrumentagainst the Pan-African project. We speak here of a
project because a project has a beginningand an end. We have noted
that around 1950, the probability that any of the three
organizedpolitical forces in question (i.e. the colonial
authorities, holistic nationalists and sub-nationalists)Nkrumah,
African awakening and neo-colonialism: how Black America awakened
Nkrumah and Nkrumahawakened Black America
17. From: The Black Scholar Page 17 of23(June 22, 2010)could
carry out its own wishes in isolation was relatively low. The
ability of any one of thepolitical actors to dominate the political
arena depended on a conscious and/or unconsciousalliance of two of
the forces, in opposition to a third party.Not only did Busia
advocate against the granting of independence by the British, he
also calledon the US government to "impose sanctions" against Ghana
in order to bring down the Nkrumahregime. Thus after wandering
through Europe for support in vain, Busia found people to listen
tohim in the US. On 3 December 1962 Busia appeared before a
Congressional Committee to pleadfor the overthrow of Nkrumah.To
this effect Senator Thomas J. Dodd led off by stating that Ghana
had become "the mortalenemy of true freedom and independence for
the peoples of Africa and the mortal enemy ofAfrican peace." As
Basil Davidson put it:Dr. Busia could only agree with him. "I
should say," he told the Senator, "that politics isnt mycareer, but
what made me go into politics is the fact that I saw right at the
beginning, as far backas Nkrumahs return, .... That we had there
all the makings, all the ingredients of revolutionarycommunism."
(Davidson 1973: 173)Here was a crooked logic. The African who was
fighting for the freedom and independence ofAfrica was being
accused by an American of being "the mortal enemy of African
peace."IT WOULD BE FOOLISH to infer that Busia could tell the US
government what to do.Nevertheless, with the support of the US,
Nkrumah was overthrown in a bloody militaryoperation by some
Ghanaian soldiers on 24 February 1966 in the name of the
restoration offreedom and democracy. The problem, however, was that
the architects of the coup did not seemto know why they became
involved in the coup. According to one of the coup makers,
MajorA.A. Afrifa:"One of the reasons for my bitterness against
Kwame Nkrumahs rule was that he paid lip-serviceto our membership
of the [British] Commonwealth ... African Unity ... is impossible
to achievewithin our life-time. Organization of African Unity or no
Organization of African Unity, I willclaim my citizenship of Ghana
and of the [British] Commonwealth in any part of the world. Ihave
been trained in the United Kingdom as a soldier, and I am ever
prepared to fight alongsidemy friends in the United Kingdom in the
same way as Canadians and Australians do." (Afrifa inNimako, 1991:
112-113)In other words, Major Afrifa thought he was fighting for
the British whereas he was actuallyfighting for the Americans.
Another planner of the coup, Colonel A.K. Ocran, claimed to
resentthe fact that Nkrumah had terminated the appointment of the
former British Army Chief of Staff,Major General Alexander, after
the latter had expressed his reservations on Ghanas role in
theCongo crisis and opposed the training of Ghanaian military
officers in the Soviet Union. MajorGeneral Alexander also admitted
later that he "often found it very difficult to act on
Nkrumahsorders without feeling the [he] might be hurting British
interests" (Alexander in Nimako:119).What about freedom and
democracy? In the words of Major Afrifa:Nkrumah, African awakening
and neo-colonialism: how Black America awakened Nkrumah and
Nkrumahawakened Black America
18. From: The Black Scholar Page 18 of23(June 22, 2010)"The
irony of the present situation in Ghana is that it is quite
probable that President Nkrumahand the CPP would command the
support of a majority of the electorate, even in genuinely
freeelections. It is a pity that it is not possible to test this
hypothesis." (Afrifa, in Nimako, 1991:118)SINCE BUSIA wanted to be
the leader of Ghana, let us bring him into the equation.
Busiareturned to Ghana and became an advisor to the military junta;
he persuaded military rulers tohand over government to him, but
through election. Through the logic of Major Afrifa, the CPPwas
banned from participating in the 1969 general election; this made
it possible for Busia andhis newly formed Progress Party (PP) the
win the election. Busia thus formed or became theleader of four
political parties at various times (GCP-1952, NLM-1954, UP-1958,
and PP-1969)before he could win an election, but this was only
possible under the condition that the CPPwould be prevented from
contesting the election. However, twenty-seven months after
Busiaformed his government, another group of soldiers overthrew the
Busia government in January1972. Busia was not protected by the
US.In justifying the military takeover, Colonel Acheampong, the
leader of the coup, made his ownbalance of Nkrumah and Busia in his
first radio speech to announce the coup as follows:"The first
people Busia put his eye on were the armed forces and police. Some
army and policeofficers were dismissed under the pretext of
retirement. Some officers were put in certainpositions to suit the
whim of Busia and his colleagues. Then he started taking from us
the fewamenities and facilities which we in the armed forces and
the police enjoyed even under theNkrumah regime. Having lowered
morale in the armed forces and the police to the extent
thatofficers could not exert any meaningful influence over their
men, so that by this strategy comingtogether to overthrow his
government was to him impossible, he turned his eyes on
thecivilians." (quoted from Bennet 1975: 308, in Nimako, 1991:
144)HERE ARE STRUCTURE and agency at work. Busia focused on the
agency of Nkrumah but heunderestimated the structure Nkrumah put in
place in his attempt to build a post-colonial state.Both Nkrumah
and Busia spent the rest of the lives in exile; Nkrumah in Guinea,
and Busia inBritain.The response of the British lawyer, Geoffrey
Bing, to these political developments in Ghana atthat point in time
was instructive. Bing defended Nkrumah in 1951 against the British
colonialauthorities. When Nkrumah became Prime Minister he invited
Bing to Ghana and appointed himAttorney General. Like Nkrumah, Bing
became a subject of abuse, insults and ridicule insections of the
Western media. In that regard Bing summed up the attitudes of
Westerngovernments and media towards Nkrumah and the African and
African Diaspora struggles in thefollowing words:For NINE years,
from its independence in 1957 to 1966, Ghana was illuminated by the
glare ofworld publicity. Every figure who appeared on its stage
magnified and distorted, almost beyondrecognition. Then suddenly in
February 1966, as a result of a military rebellion, this little
countrywas, so it seemed, cut down to size. Overnight it was
converted into what in fact it had alwaysbeen, a small state on the
West Coast of Africa in no way historically, strategically
oreconomically important to the world. (Bing: 11 in Nimako 1991:
125)Nkrumah, African awakening and neo-colonialism: how Black
America awakened Nkrumah and Nkrumahawakened Black America
19. From: The Black Scholar Page 19 of23(June 22, 2010)THIS WAS
THE SITUATION Ghana found herself and continued to find herself,
after theoverthrow of Nkrumah. Though the institutions which
emerged as a result of Nkrumahsstruggle, such as the African Union,
and the social cohesion in Ghana remained, the role ofGhana as an
innovator of ideas diminished after the overthrow of Nkrumah.Here
was another irony. Let us recall that Nkrumahs arrival coincided
with the decline of theUK as an imperial power and the rise of the
US as a new hegemonic power. Nkrumah was apioneer in introducing
the US to Africa. Equally ironic, if we can call it ironic, is that
Nkrumahachieved political independence for Ghana through moral
pressure but was himself overthrownthrough an armed revolt on the
instigation of the US and the tacit approval of Britain.
However,just as Nkrumah considered neocolonialism as the last stage
of imperialism, so did he considerhis overthrow as part of attempts
to reverse the gains of the anti-colonial and anti-racismstruggles
in the 1950s by former colonial powers. This is all the more so
since the non-violentstruggles by black Americans in the US of
America and that of Africans in Africa, fromAlabama to Sharpeville,
have been met with state violence. In Nkrumahs words, "The
samepower structure which is blocking the efforts of
African-Americans in the US is also nowthrowing road-blocks in
Africas way. Imperialism, neo-colonialism, settler domination
andracialism seek to bring us down and re-subjugate us" (Nkrumah
1973: 42).In response, to and in symbiotic relation to these
developments, armed struggle intensified inAfrica just as Black
Power raged in America. Thus, according to Nkrumah:Black Power is
part of the world rebellion of the oppressed against the oppressor,
of theexploited against the exploiter. It operates throughout the
African continent, in North and SouthAmerica, the Caribbean, where
ever Africans and people of African descent live. It is linked
withthe Pan-African struggle for unity on the African continent,
and with all those who strive toestablish a socialist society.
(Nkrumah 1973: 40)Viewed in this context, theoretically the time
line of organized and co-ordinated Africanstruggles for liberation
is the first Pan-African conference in London in 1900 through
Ghanasindependence in 1957 to the end of Apartheid in South Africa
in 1994.LET US CONCLUDE this section by introducing the third
symbol that Nkrumah introduced toGhanaians and the international
stage: the Kente cloth. The achievement of independencerelegated
the Red Rooster to the background and brought the Black Star, which
we have alreadydiscussed, and the Kente cloth to the fore. Though
known and used in Ghana as luxuriousclothing worn on special
occasions by sections of the country, Nkrumah used the Kente cloth
inhis official portrait and thus elevated it to the level of a
national dress code; he also encouragedparliamentarians to wear the
Kente cloth on the opening of parliament. Since then the Kentecloth
has also been adopted by many Ghanaians as a national dress; the
Kente cloth has also beenadopted and adapted by many black
Americans as an expression of black American Africanity.Thus, via
Nkrumah, not only has the Black Star and Pan-Africanism become a
permanent featureof Black American awakening in Africa, but also
the Kente cloth and the concepts of positiveaction and
neocolonialism entered the lexicon of Black America and the African
Diaspora as partNkrumah, African awakening and neo-colonialism: how
Black America awakened Nkrumah and Nkrumahawakened Black
America
20. From: The Black Scholar Page 20 of23(June 22, 2010)of
African awakening in Black America.Conclusion: Three Things that
Went WrongNKRUMAH has played a major role in forging Pan-African
identity and solidarity. During hisrule many Africans and people of
African descent found refuge in Ghana. For these reasons
theoverthrow of Nkrumah should not be taken lightly because anyone
who embarked on such aproject, as Nkrumah did, should contemplate
survival, suicide and genocide.Survival in this context refers to
strategies to ensure that one can carry ones project through
andlive to see the fruits of ones project. Those who planned the
overthrow of Nkrumah were awarethat his overthrow would have
negative implications for the Pan-African project.The second,
suicide, refers to the sacrifices one has to make to achieve
success. Nkrumahsoverthrow constituted suicide because he
sacrificed too much to keep Pan-Africanism alive. As aresistance
and de-colonization project, Pan-Africanism is one of the most
successful socialmovements (awareness raising and mobilization) in
the twentieth century.But as a transformative and state development
project (consolidation and development), theresults are mixed,
because African states still depend on "development aid" and thus
live underneo-colonialism.The third, genocide, refers to
assassination of the leader or mass murder of the fop lowers by
thedominant group. There were several assassination attempts on the
life of Nkrumah within Ghanaduring his presidency; strangely the
assassination attempts were not resolved. It appeared thatNkrumah
was better protected under British-led police force than under his
leadership.HOWEVER the three problems that Nkrumah failed to
resolve are still unresolved in Africa.This of course poses the
problem of what went wrong.The first problem is that of the
transition from nationalist (liberation) movement to
politicalparties. This is tied to the contradictions between
collective freedom and individual freedom orhuman fights. Generally
the transition from nationalist movement to political party has
beenmisunderstood and mismanaged in Africa. This is partly because
individual freedom has beensubsumed under collective freedom. This
has been a fertile ground for foreign intervention inAfrica.The
second problem is related to consolidation of sovereignty and
development; this in turn istied to security, both food and
physical. Most African states have not succeeded in
adequatelyfeeding their populations; this reinforces
neocolonialism. With regard to physical security,Nkrumah himself
felt that his overthrow was a result of an imperialist plot and
neo-colonialistsin the country. Nkrumahs own reading about his
overthrow can be summed up in this statement:Ghana, on the
threshold of economic independence, and in the vanguard of the
Africanrevolutionary struggle to achieve continental liberation and
unity, was too dangerous an exampleNkrumah, African awakening and
neo-colonialism: how Black America awakened Nkrumah and
Nkrumahawakened Black America
21. From: The Black Scholar Page 21 of23(June 22, 2010)to the
rest of Africa to be allowed to continue under a socialist-directed
government. (Nkrumah1968: 47)This raises some questions: If
imperialism is that strong, why bother to initiate change?
Oneinitiates change out of the recognition that change is possible.
But what change is possible?Others have argued that he was
overthrown because he ran a one-party state. This is illogical
andunrelated to the actual political developments that took place.
Others argue that he was not a truesocialist, hence his ouster
signalled the end of an illusion (Fitch & Oppenheimer 1966;
Marable1987). This is also not based on evidence because the reason
Nkrumahs regime did notnationalize anything was because there was
nothing to nationalize. The issues of capitalism andsocialism were
secondary to developments of the period. Of course, if by
capitalism we meanEuropean colonization of Africa, then Africa has
been capitalist for centuries; this in turn meansthat capitalism
cannot be defended. With regard to socialism, nobody knows what it
is, so it neednot detain us here. In sum I found these explanations
too simplistic, so two decades ago Iintroduced the concepts of
holistic nationalism and sub-nationalism to explain the forces
thatworked against Nkrumahs project.The third problem is the
relevance of institutionalized Pan-Africanism for the African
Diasporabeyond memory and belonging. As a social movement and
ideological expression of Africanidentity, Pan-Africanism is one of
the most successful movements in modern history because itachieved
its aim of freedom and self-determination of African peoples
worldwide. People ofAfrica and African descent worldwide now
recognize a shared history. However, African statesabandoned the
African Diaspora after the overthrow of Nkrumah. Thus, as an
institutionalizedproject to foster economic development in Africa,
Pan-Africanism is less successful.Besides, the relatively weak
status and position of the African Diaspora in the imperial
countrieswhere they are citizens implied that they could not
influence their countries or states in relationto positive
developments in Africa. This was compounded by the death of George
Padmore(1903-1959) and W.E.B. Du Bois (1868-1963) and the
alienation of C.R.L. James. This waswhen Nkrumah realized that
Ghana did not have the resources to act as a springboard for
AfricanLiberation, given the counter-revolutionary forces from what
he considered as the imperialistworld and led him to coin the term
neo-colonialism. This does not imply that colonialism isbetter than
neocolonialism.CAN AFRICA, as a continent, do more for its
Diaspora? Here we should revisit our previouswork.The African
Unions renewed interest in Pan-Africanism should be applauded, but
thedeclaration of African Diaspora by the African Union as the
latters sixth region is inadequate,deficient and contradictory; it
is formulated in terms of what the Diaspora can do for Africa
butnot what the African Union and the Diaspora can do for each
other.There should be a better way to integrate institutionalized
Pan-Africanism, which is what theAfrican Union is, and African
Diaspora as civil society and social movement. As a start, themore
than 100 million strong African Diaspora worldwide can be more
useful to the AfricanUnion if the African Union considers the
African Diaspora as a market for "Made in Africa"Nkrumah, African
awakening and neo-colonialism: how Black America awakened Nkrumah
and Nkrumahawakened Black America
22. From: The Black Scholar Page 22 of23(June 22,
2010)products, rather than as a forum to appeal for development
aid.Continental Africa has the land, the natural resources and the
international legal framework toeffect the desired changes.
Africans in the Diaspora may be separated by citizenship but they
areunited by history, memory and "race"; market and cultural forces
can transcend citizenship. Thisis all the more so since history,
memory and culture without production or material base areempty
(Nimako and Small 2009).WHAT CONSIDERATION of Pan-Africanism n the
context of the fortieth anniversary ofAllens important book--Black
Awakening in Capitalist America--tells us is the following. Weare
reminded of the complex links beween black subordination and the
broader political terrainon which struggle must be waged, a terrain
that is extensive in both its national and internationaldimensions.
It reminds us of the complex matrix of variables that must be
considered in efforts toattain black liberation. And a central
feature of this concerns the power of cultural and politicalsymbols
in the struggle for black liberation; it also remphasizes the
importance andindispensability of international connections,
cooperation and collaborations--of the need for acontinued emphasis
on Pan-Africanism as social movement. In the twenty-first century,
many ofthe protagonists have changed, but the struggle and the
obstacles to be overcome remain verysimilar. By comparing Allens
analysis with an analysis of the dyanmics of Nkrumahs struggleswe
extract important lessons for our continuing struggles.Works
CitedAllen, Robert L. (1970). Black Wakening in Capitalist America:
An Analytic History (NewYork: Anchor Books).Arhin, K. (ed.).
(1993). The Life and Work of Kwame Nkrumah (Trenton, NJ: Africa
WorldPress).Chomsky, Noam. (1993). "World Orders, Old and New," in
Facing the Challenge: Responses tothe Report of the South
Commission (Geneva: South Centre) pp. 139-151.Davidson, Basil.
(1973). Black Star: A View of the Life and Times of Kwame
Nkrumah(London: Allen Lane).Fitch, Bob and Oppenheimer, Mary.
(1966). Ghana: End of an Illusion (New York: MonthlyReview Press).
James, C.L.R. (1977). Nkrumah and the Ghana Revolution (London:
Allison andBusby).Marable, Manning. (1987). African & Caribbean
Politics: From Nkrumah to Maurice Bishop(London: Verso).Mazrui, Ali
A. (1977). Africas International Relations: The Diplomacy of
Dependency andChange (London: Heinemann).Nimako, Kwame. (2009).
"Theorizing Black Europe and African Diaspora: Implications
forNkrumah, African awakening and neo-colonialism: how Black
America awakened Nkrumah and Nkrumahawakened Black America
23. From: The Black Scholar Page 23 of23(June 22,
2010)Citizenship, Nativism and Xenophobia" (with Stephen Small), in
Black Europe and the AfricanDiaspora: Blackness in Europe, (eds.)
Darlene Clark Hine, Tricia Danielle Keaton and StephenSmall
(Champaign: University of Illinois Press).--. (2007). "African
Regional Groupings and Emerging Chinese Conglomerates," in Big
Businessand Economic Development: Conglomerates and Economic Groups
in Developing Countries andTransition Economies under
Globalization, (eds.) Barbara Hogenboom and Alex E.
FernandezJilberto (London: Routledge).--. (2002). "Labour and
Ghanas Debt Burden: The Democratization of Dependence," in:
LabourRelations in Development, (eds.) Alex E. Fernandez Jilberto
et al. (London: Routledge).--. (1996). "Power Struggle and
Liberalisation in Ghana," in Liberalization in the DevelopingWorld:
Institutional and Economic Changes in Latin America, Africa and
Asia, (eds.) Alex E.Fernandez Jilberto and Andre Mommen. (London:
Routledge).--. (1991). Economic Change and Political Conflict in
Ghana, 1600-1990 (Amsterdam: ThesisPublishers). Nkrumah, Kwame
(1973). The Struggle Continues (Panaf Books: London).--. (1968).
Dark Days in Ghana (New York: International Publishers).--. (1966).
Challenge of the Congo (London: Panaf Books).--. (1964).
Consciencism: Philosophy and Ideology for Decolonization and
Development withParticular Reference to the African Revolution (New
York: Monthly Review Press).--. (1963). Africa Must Unite (London:
Heinemann).--. (1962). Towards Colonial Freedom: Africa in the War
against Imperialism (London:Heinemann).--. (1959). Ghana: The
Autobiography of Kwame Nkrumah (Edinburgh: Nelson Thomas
andSons).COPYRIGHT 2010 The Black ScholarNkrumah, African awakening
and neo-colonialism: how Black America awakened Nkrumah and
Nkrumahawakened Black America