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of 6

•

Black

a Afro-metropolis:

.

Introduction:

Black

Black Intellectuals

3

Pan-Africa

Internationalisni

Masculinities

Black

Imperial

List

Sounds

List

in

Acknowledgments

‘The

Feminist

and

Black

of

of

Interwar CONTENTS

in

Bibliography

ofAhbreviations

of

Black

the

Imperial

Epilogue

London,

Britain

the

Notes Illustrations

Index

of

Imagination

Political

and

Empire

Black

Development

Internationalists

London

London

and

Interracial

and 395

32.7

138 Empire

310

Empire

London and i.

379 Atlantic

00 vii

i

ix

Cultural

a

xv

a8o

a

Films,

Sex

in of

145

Colonial

the

Horizons at

100

and the

1930S

Associations

the

Heart

Studies

6a in I depictedthe coloniesasspacesofrelativepersonalfreedomforwhite FIVE rshavl desires.The men,includingthe freedomto act on nonnormative Colonial officetookstepsto limit interracialrelationshipsin theyearsbeforethe war, betweenwhite men and “native” but aslong as these liaisonsinvolvedsex BlackMasculinitiesand InterracialSexat women,they reaffirmedthe racialorder of the empirein the bedroom.The theHeart oftheEmpire growthofpredominatelymaleblackpopulationsin urban areasin the British Isles,fillipedby wartime arrivals,brought miscegenationand the fears it conjuredhometo the metropoleat a timewhen the popularityofAmerican culturalimports,manyofwhichwereconnectedto the United States’large blackminority,reachednewheights.Thesexualpotencyattributed to black menin much of this imageryonly exacerbatedanxietiesoverthe state of whitemanhoodprovokedbythe war experience. ‘Theseanxietiessurfacedin the war’simmediateaftermathwith the 1919 I ARGUE IN THE FOREGOING CHAPTERS that interactionin London 2 and the public controversyoverFrance’suse of North and West and intellectual and cultural exchangeamong people of African descent raceriots in the occupationofthe Rhineland.In both cases,commenta embeddedwithin particularspacesofsocialityboth mediatedand facilitated Africanforces blackmen’sdesire,evenpreference,forlighter-skinnedwomen. the movementof news,ideas,texts, and peoplealongintersectingimperial totsassumed London,andelsewhere,crowdsofwhiterioterstargetedmixed- and transatlantic circuits, generatingexpansivenotions of black unity in InLiverpool, lootingand terrorizingthe homesofblackBritons,not responseto globalpoliticaldevelopmentsand a changingimperial system. raceneighborhoods Afro-Caribbeansbut alsoArabsandAsians. Thefollow London,includingmanyof the spacesexaminedin the precedingchapters, onlyAfricansand 3 the in Britain’sleadingleftistnewspaper,the DailyHerald, offerednewpossibilitiesofself-inventionandloveacrossthe colorline.Private ingyear,writing of imperialism and secretary of the pacifist Union of lifeand socialactivitiesbecameanother arenain whichblackmen contested socialist critic D. Morel,who had earlierdenouncedtorture and the limitsplacedon their existenceandexpressedtheir anticolonialism,how DemocraticControl, E. in the Congo under Belgium’sKing LeopoldII, added his everdifferently.Sexbetweenblackmenandwhitewomenwasfarmorecom otheratrocities GermanyoverthepresenceofMoroccanandSenegalese mon in Britain than in the colonies.Interracialrelationshipsvarieddrasti voiceto the outcryin weeks that followed,women’sgroups, representing trade cally, from ephemeral liaisons to lasting partnerships, but most male troops. In the feministconstituencies,and publicationssuchasthe intellectuals,artists, students,and activistsfrom Africaand the Caribbean unionist,socialist,and joinedthe campaign.During his keynoteaddressat a large formedclosetieswith whitewomenduringtheir timein thecity.Thischapter Women’sLeader organizedby the Women’sInternational Leaguefor Peace considersthe intimate asa particularlyfraughtand highlyscrutinizedscene demonstration 17, Morelraisedthe possibilityof“warsofextermina ofself-fashioningand diasporicformationin the imperialmetropolis.’ andFreedomon April two races,”spurredby “the militarisedAfrican,who has In the wakeofthe shatteringeffectsof WorldWar Ion millionsofBritish tionbetweenthe white men in Europe,who has had sexualintercourse men and the simultaneousliberalizationofgenderroles,sensationalistpress shotand bayoneted Europe.”In a statement of support, ReverendJohn coverageand sexualizedrepresentationsof blacknesscirculatingin transat with white women in and Aborigines’Protection Societyechoedthis lanticpopular culture fueledanxietiesabout the potential for and repercus Harris of the Anti-Slavery to the 1910 meeting of the Trade Union Congress sionsof “miscegenation.”The term miscegenationcould connote interracial warning. Delegates receivedcopies Morel’spamphlet TheHorror ontheRhine,andtheLabour sex,interracialmarriage,or the mixed-raceoffspringof such relacionships of Labour Party passedresolutionsagainstthe use of but commentatorsrarelydistinguishedbetweenthesedifferentmeanings.In Partyand Independent TheJamaicanwriter ClaudeMcKay,who spenta the late nineteenth and earlytwentieth centuries,Britonsusuallyassociated Africantroopsin Europe. little year London after the war,was one of the few to challenge interracialsexwith sexuallibertinismin the colonies,and subsequentschol overa in

BLACK MASCULINITIE5 AND INTERRACIAL SE • zol zoo Morel’sparanoid fantasiesof black malesexuality.After the Daily Britons and their fantasiesof black sex. African Herali blackmen as to white oftenarrivedwith refused to publish his lengthy letter, it appeared in SylviaPankjiurst’s .mericans,Afro-Caribbeans,andWestandEastAfricans Workers Dreadnought. “Why,’McKay asked,“all this obscene, sex,monogamy,and how thesewererelatedto mas maniacal verydifferentviewson outburst about the sexvitalityof blackmen in a proletarian paper?” anticolonialpolitics,while most British-born 5Ye culinitY,respectability,and later,herecalled,“Myexperienceofthe Englishconvincedme relationshipsandgrewtipin multieth that prejudj blackswerethe productof interracial against Negroes had becomealmost congenitalamong them. I Makonnen,and KwaineNkrumah spent think the niC enclaves.GeorgePadmore,Ras Anglo-Saxon becomes when it on sex and a constantstream mind morbid turns the life ofcolored yearsin the United Statesbeforemovingto London, people.”The on theRhine, whichwentthrough eight entertainerspassedthrough the city horror editionsbythe ofAfricanAmericanintellectualsand the African springof 192.1, andthe largercampaignthat Morelspearheadedhelpedestab betweenthe 19L0s and 1940S. Men from different parts of 8 relative the lishapattern in whichinterracialsexsignifiedasmuch apoliticalasamoral diasporadiscussedvariationsin racialtaxonomiesand debated threat. as wellas other obstaclesto forginga 4 severityof racismin differentlocales, conversa Sexualitywas the overdeterminedcontext for the negotiation and per unitedfrontagainstempire.When consideringthesequestions,the relationships.The forinanceof blackmasculinityat the heart of the empire.Britonsand black tion frequentlyturned to the topic of sexand personal migrants alike often conceivedof movementbetweenthe coloniesand the prevalenceof interracialrelationshipswithin the city’ssmallblackcommit Bunche merropolein sexualterms and specifically,given the skewedgender ratio nitysurprisedAfricanAmericanvisitors.ThesocialscientistsRalph late i940S, among the latter, in terms of sexbetween black men and white women. andSt.Clair1)rake,whovisitedLondonduringthelate 19305 and While often minimizing the broader significanceof black students’ and respectively,werekeenobserversof the occurrenceof and variousmeanings scholars’intellectualand professionalaccomplishmentsas the workof a tal attributedto variationsin sexualbehaviorand particularlymixed-racecou ented and exceptionalminority,when it cameto their sexualhabitsand the ples.Bunchefound it “interesting”that Padmore,in his estimation“apan threat theyposed,whiteBritonsdissectedtheirbehaviorasindicativeoflarge Africanistand a racialchauvinist,ignoresthe [principle]in . . . his choiceof the Trinidadian colonialpopulationsoreventheirraceasawhole.Thus,in London,an aware [a]woman.” While a student at the LSEin the late 1940S, nessoftheir heightenedvisibilityandpresumedrepresentativenessenveloped sociologist9 Lloyd Braithwaite also began recording the experiencesof blackintellectuals’intimate relationsas muchastheir politicalactivities.A Caribbeanstudentsin Britain,payingcarefulattentionto their personaland didacticeditorialin Vâsà cautionedthat, as“thereallivinglink betweenthe sexualrelationswith white Britons. Dr. Robert ‘WellcsleyCole produced twopeoples,”the WestAfricanstudent’s“behaviourand particular idiosyn unpublishedworks dealing with sexualityor “the problemof sex”among cracies;.. . evenhis reactionto the fairsex;allaremeticulouslyscrutinisedby “modernAfricans,”basedon hisprofessionalexpertiseasaphysicianandhis those around 5him.” In this setting,establishinga privatelifeand, however manyyearsin blackstudent and intellectualcirclesin Britain.’ Makonnen, illusory,a senseof interiorityasa sclfdeterrnining,desiringsubjectbecame andNnamdi Azikiwe0addressedthe topicin C.I..R.James,PeterAbrahams, an act of resistance.In an interviewwith John GibbsSt. Clair Drake, one their autobiographies,memoirs,and other written accountsof their time in “RaceLeader”enumerated“i. Findingfemalecompanionship,”“z.Keeping London.Takenasawhole,this scatteredarchiveformsthe basisofthischap Alive,”and . Having‘privacy”asthe main goalsand biggestchallengesof ter. Sexuality—bothsexualbehaviorand discussionof it—wasone wayto blackmen in Britain. explorethe relationshipbetweenrace,masculinity,and independenceandto Blackmale6intellectualsdevotedconsiderableattention to interracialsex differences.Preciselybecauseits voicepolitical, regional,class,and other and the issuesit raisedin publicdiscourseand privateconversations.Racial consequencesfor anticolonialpoliticsremainedan open and hotlydebated and gender hierarchiesof the British Empire inflected relations between question, it emergedas a particularly charged and volatile arena for the blacksand whitesin London and the waysobservers7 blackness. interpreted them, but articulationof differencewithin aputativeunity of competingconceptionsof blackmasculinityand divergentattempts to rec St. Clair Drake traveledto London to conduct researchfor his doctoral oncilethe personaland the politicaldevelopedas muchin relation to other thesison the blackcommunitiesin Britain’sport cities.He recordedajoke

101 • BLACK MASCULINITIE5 AND INTERRACIAL SEX BLACK MASCULINITIE5 AND INTERRACIAL SEX . 103 group-identity

a Sigmund fact makes “were the ous intellectuals. occasionally about the attitude struggles, colored among draws worth besides African and tell on nies.” contrite contempt” was been approached exploiting tence the our LCP or, Caribbean

number

Jokes

Drake

my

effect

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judge feeling more pleasure that

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brazenness in presiding

accurately, had

as

104

winter

ours

accord

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such in women

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onteur als

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strictures

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105

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masculinity, cooperation. colonies ances. people entered lived

ices, liness affection,

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tion only descent

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Makonnen

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individuals’ for relationships at

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Relations wanted

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Public

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colonial degraded exploitation

Britain,

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personae

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women,

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INTERRACIAL ways

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Only

nature

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part,

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friendships manner

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attenuated of

Britons

aspirations,

partners. morning

degrading

Many

regrets.”7

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by

black students

political its

and

metropolis,

I

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during projections

sexual to them These

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of

people,

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and

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that night. he

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“dubious used rite

white.”6

on

the

that men

effects and good. men is

Perceived

Z07 political

relationships, intellectuals,

World their

a agitators

Negro

commerce. them. no They some

individuals of

interracial social symbol we

assistance, I

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with

interracial of

from

thought virtue.”

passage,

of join

of

should

of connec

African white

do

clubs

black busi

some black Like

Most War

club

black lone serv

their

alli

the had

as

fre

not go quiet then have said colonized radicals.” sented, that Africa Britain empire literally.

tion male other, sibilities At recursive form were and upon male norms homosexual colonial and partnerships, black and dependency,

around

A

the

to

overbearing “Englishman the

on.”’8 to

knocked

to

they and

activist-intellectual

set

sexuality

the

and

male did

Drake,

displacing

and as lay

express

same

these

never

pragmatic

SPECTERS

struggle

and

The

of

process

says

Bill

geography

wholly

and with

Antipathy zo8 from

beneath

served

loss

rhetorical

intellectuals

colonial

and

cricketer

entailinents

rime,

figures,

to

Schwarz

you

like

“You

instituted • colonizer.

political,

were

the

1917—but of

himseW

BLACK

white

at

ofseWdefinition

talk

imposed

black

don’t

to

down

mixed-race life

black

the

girls

the

its

American

of

not

toward

official, manage

OF of

on

and,

tropes

liberal

IMPERIAL

imperial

women

remarks,

in

reiteration desire

MASCI3LJNJTJES

want

and the

women

and regional,

‘She’s male as

antimiscegenation the solely During

BLACK

of

London and

upon

in

a

the

corruption

profound the

thought

interracial

1948,

said, recurred one

the Negroes

veneer.

in

partnership,

the

boys

autonomy.

anticolonial

became

a

center agent

the

“the

them.

metropolis.

black

from London,

embodiment

hand, within one

and

president

‘Leave

MALE contradictions

in

of

came

activist-intellectuals’

METROPOLIS

most

all

To

of

general,

these

but

evening man’s

investment Black to in

a politics—discursively class

of

sex

black

was and

means

AND

most

the

fool

over her

the

black

threatened

If

resonant to

SEXUALITY

was

which

tropes agitators:

of

differences

The woman.’ these O.K.,

laws—as, men

context

to

position

writings alone,’

iNTERRACIAL

with

here liberation

would the

Britons,

widespread

chat,

of

of

men

a

ideal

a feminized referenced

helped

LCP, expressing

in

aberrant

of

but

registered

and

their perverse

frontier

by

Padmore

the

of the

the

She daily lead

themselves

of the

where and

for

the powerful

the Learie saw

within

Englishman

women—even racial took

inversion

the maintain

creations,

was

IN

and black

to

novel conversations

example,

bedroom

life

figures that

of

imperial

SEX

Africa,

them

this

self-sacrificing

a

THE

new

in

marked

shape and

Constantine,

told all”

categories

transcended Yank

their

and

they

condensed

erotic white

pimp;

concern.

within

of

to

forms between

at

the

of

Bunche

neither

in

on

would gender

in

South

reflect

ranks. repre

order; keeps could

times

from

black

anti-

rela pos

men

the

the the

the

of

it,

of of

political

tiOfllSt as had courting children were many West

ment,” depicted tain”—others,

into interracial Coloured 1cm’ professor “the News

the dent

said attorney student

presiding is racialism,” it a prejudices

damages

only “the color

individuals.20

Office

Schwarz

white

‘Throughout

it

in

stepped

As landlady’s

is

sole in

prostitutes

to

becoming us

“for

counterpart.

Indians

observers two

of

measures.

a

line;

interracial

England’.

or

have

divisions,

and

all

slur

girl without

who the

danger,

cause

them

charged, whom

of7oo.

the

simply

of

judge men

sex

an explains, had

he

out

BLACK

World an should on

in died

the

seduction through

innate

concluded, and for

daughters

of

the

as

been

array

a who of

insisted including

other

and

prostitutes Drake

punitive expressed

individuals and

white friends

hostility”

later.” sex inspiring .

“innocents

place, a

While

the interwar

seduced . .

MASCULINITIES publicized

be

except

ride, .

introduced,” social on

live

had feeling

increasingly of

the

“occasional instances,

no

seduced

met

girl

other “three of

that

The

the

in with

occurred

in perverts off

innocent actions “but

fault

his

his for “misfits”—”whether

prominent

a toward an her and

“maintained

period,

this

sexually

of and

“indifferent

pair range

the

them.”

in

babies.”

interested

daughter,

those

regret Patrick alien

no

imagined

race

by

of

“by

a

case

‘mortal

only

blow

directed met

he

then

became the

one

their accidents”

a

seeking

in

of

black

victims

miscegenation

representing

person and

country.”

African

AND

implicitly

active

“the

that

policing

London.”’9

In

can white government at

Heather’s

at

In

liberals,

intimidated

own

Norah, colour,

stoutly a

parties danger’

either

men to

figures:

the

INTERRACIAL

locale

a

“what the

blind

dance,

at

woman

‘pleasure source

of

or

of

women

students

black ...

racial (i.e.,

fall

“Far from

another

without

strategies

endorsed

these

case,

was

gold and

himself

who that

belonged

in

might

suit

Fines himself who

socialists,

the

and of

mixed-race

of

fears

be men

wittingly

pride

Britain,

the

deported

Dublin,”

whatever 1948,

concern attracted there

diggers turbulent

from

gave into

active most against

who

it

the ...

colour.”

a and

be

colonies.

from who

and continued

to

this

reputation

SEX

of

as

would

student,

the birth

nowhere.”

an was

remaining

are

the

physical

confinement

Britons

a

outspoken black

a

other

view

and

bent

transgressed

or

for a

white . as

appeal

me

children)

British lonely

way

(“repatriated”) always

to fact

no

Nigerian

Although

Z09 liaisons,

unwittingly

Drake to

the An

be

to

black

in

feminists, ‘race

man on

interven

we

twin

Heather’s

that to

to

man

believed

advocate

punish

assessing ‘enticed

Colonial

English

African

to

While

getting

taking

tabloid

focus,

look

main

so

noted,

prob

racists

who

men

racial were

there

boys

were the

that stu

the by

the

at andphilanthropicdo-goodersaliketendedto conflatethepoliticalchallenge ingly0utsp01 and criticalpositionofthe union’s membership.His accusa to the empirethat the blackpresencein Londonpresentedwith the possjbfl tionprecipitateda requestfor ScotlandYard’sassistance.Theinspectordis ity of interracialsexand intermarriage.Working under the auspicesof the patchedto observethe WASUHouse reported that “Africangirlshad been ASAPS beforethe First World War, ReverendJohn Harris championeda seenOCCaSiOl’Lallyvisitingthe Hostel during the daytime,but nonewasseen hostelor residentialclubforblacksojournersto mitigateboth. After thewar, atnightor in the earlymorning eitherenteringor leaving.No whitewomen asheadof the Committee forthe WelfareofAfricansin Europe,he focused hadbeenreported in connectionwith the Hostel.”I)isapprovalof relation its effortson Africanstudents,who,he believed,“pickup all the worstside shipsbetweenblackmenandwhitewomenwassocommon,heaverred,“that of our politicaland sociallifeand return to the Coloniesand Dependencies ifwhitewomenhad beenseentherethe neighborswouldcertainlyhaveconi in anything but a helpfulspirit.”He led a delegationthat visitedthe Home plainedto the police.” Nevertheless,theLondonMetropolitanPolicemain OfficeinJuly 1936 to expressconcernoversexualrelationshipsbetweenblack tained“continuous’2 observation”of the hostelfrom io:oo P.M. to 12.:30 A.M. men and white women.Harris proposed the gradualrepatriation of black throughtheweekend.A total of twenty-ninewhitewomenvisitedthe hostel seamenin Britain and suggestedchat“stepsmight be found for raisingthe during the following three nights—twelve,three, and fourteen, respec standard”oftheir mixed-raceoffspring“tothat ofthe whiteracesrather than tively—”allof whom then exited the premisesby midnight.” The police leavethem to drift down to that ofthe black.”AsBushremarks,“Controlof inspectoralso noted the popularity of the WASU’sregulardances:“I was sexualitythus becamean important adjunct to ‘empire strengthening.” informedby a BoroughCouncil employeethat anyonecouldgain accessto Accusationsof sexualdeviancecould havenegativerepercussionson indi the dancing on payment of 6d on the 23door.” If confirmed,Cummings’s viduals’career prospects and on black organizations’relations2 with the accusationwouldhaveundermined the WASU’stenuousrelationshipwith Colonial Office,Britishphilanthropicgroups,and contacts’ such as Harris; ReverendHarris, whoseendorsementof their fund-raisingcampaignto pur anysupportthat had beenforthcomingfor institutionslikethe WASUhos chasea permanent home was crucial to its success.The preponderanceof tel andAggreyHousedisappearedwheneitherthe toneofpoliticaldiscourse whitewomenamongvisitorsto the hostel,especiallyforthe WASU’sdances, or the natureofsocialintercoursewithin them seemedto takeamorethreat continuedto concerncolonialofficialsin the months ahead.Accusationsof eningturn. sexualimproprietyand complaintsaboutconditionsat the hostelreaffirmed The WASU House prohibited femalevisitorsafter midnight and even officials’suspicionsregardingthe disreputablemanagementof the WASU unmarried WestAfricanwomenfrom stayingovernightunlessthe hostel’s hostel and, by extension, the inadvisability of self-governmentin West matron waspresent,but thepopularityof the union’sfortnightlydancesand Africa.One memberof the Colonial Officereported,“1paid a visit to the other socialfunctionsraisedsuspicion.With the union engagedin apublic hostelabout a month ago.It wasin a disgustinglydirty condition.... I am ity and fund-raisingcampaignto secureafreeholdproperty,in August 1937, awarethat they havelittle moneyat their disposalbut they might makean Mr. Mathias of the Colonial Officerelayeda recentconversationwith Ivor effortto makethe placelookrespectable.”Another officialunderlinedthese Cummings,the secretaryofthe trusteesofAggreyHouse,that “confirmed” lastwordsand scribbled“evenif it isn’t!”in the 24margin. While the WASU his long-standingsuspicions.Cummings “toldhim ... that two Africans, celebrateditsheadquartersand hostelasthe productofAfricaninitiativeand who had been residingat AggreyHouse, recentlyabsentedthemselvesone interracialcooperation,colonialofficialsdisparagedit asthe instantiationof night”because“theyhad mettwo girls,and that astheycouldnot take them Africanbackwardnessand sexualwantonness. to Aggrey House, they had spent the night with them at W.A.S.U.” A short time after this episode,AggreyHouse becameembroiledin a Cummings was the British-bornson of a SierraLeoneanphysicianand a publicsexscandalthat culminated on May3, 2940, in its closurefor a time white woman from Yorkshire,and his aspersionsagainst the WASU may and the expulsionofitsmostradicalmembers.To the chagrinofCummings, havebeen relatedto the strainedrelationshipand competitionbetweenthe the board of trustees (chairedby Mr. Fletcherof the Friends’Society),and WASUandAggreyHouseforlimitedsourcesoffinancialsupport.Theyalso former supportersof the initiative such as Hanns Vischerand Dr. Harold reflectedthe distancebetweenhis moderatereformiststanceand the increas Moody,AggreyHouse had becomean unofficialheadquartersfor a small

110 • BLACK MASCULINITIES AND INTERRACIAL SEX BLACK MASCULINITIES AND INTERRACiAL SEX • ix! cadreof African and Caribbeanmen with communistties,includingPeter the nlid-194os,as a metropolitanexpressionofthe turn to colonialdevelop Blackmanand Desmond Buckle,who dominated the AggreyHouse com ment, a system of the British Council hostels and the Colonial Office 25mittee. The Colonial Office issued a statement to the Ministry of AdvisoryCommittee on the Welfare of Colonial Peoplesin the United Informationthat outlineditsversionofthe eventsleadingto the rift between KingdomsupersededAggreyHouse,oncethe modelforthe strategyofindi the trusteesandthe committee.“Oneofthe students,”the statementalleged, rectrulevis-à-viscolonialstudentsin Britain. “introduceda prostitute [originally‘woman’)into the Club House and was In the imperialmetropolis,the questionsof where,how,and with whom requested to resign his membership.”When the individual in question blackmen fromthe coloniessocializedand had sexualrelationswerealways appealedto havehis membershipreinstated,the AggreyHouse committee political.As Stolerargues,discoursesof colonialsexuality“wereproductive endorsedthe request,but the trusteesrefusedto allowit, considering“the ofclassand racialpower,not merereflectionsof them,”linking “subversion matter to be seriousand symptomaticof the generallyunhelpful attitude of to perversion,racialpurity to conjugalwhite endogamy,and thus colonial the House Committee.”“No doubt,”the missivecontinued,“the members politicsto the managementof29sex.” Londonofferedmoreopportunitiesfor of the House Committee ... will probablyemphasizethe political rather blackmenfromthe coloniesto forminterracialpersonalrelationshipsand to than the moralissue,”but “thepoint onwhichthe conflicthascometo ahead engagein transcolonial agitation,heightening the need to contain both. For is.. . not in the fieldofpolitics,althoughthe trusteesareveryworriedabout colonial officials,missionaries,and other Britons engagedin race relations 26that.” Anticipating the circulation of “incorrectversions”of the dispute work, accusationsof sexualimproprietyregisteredtheir anxietyabout the beyondthe metropole,officialssentlettersto the governorsofBritain’scob- limits of their influence and control over colonial subjectsas black men fliesin West Africa and the Caribbean. “Certain membersof the House movedacrossthe empireand fromcolonyto metropole,while,theyclaimed, Committee of AggreyHouse . . . havein the opinion of the Trusteesintro demonstratingthe necessityof their interventions. duced an undesirablepolitical and socialtone into the Club House. The Many Africans and Caribbeans perceivedmore behind white Britons’ Trusteeshavenot felt ableto take anyactionon thesegrounds,but recently interest in their cause than progressivepolitics or benevolentintentions, the HouseCommittee,whoareallAfricansor menofAfricandescent,came whether these parties wereBritishpoliticiansor feministand leftist allies. into open conflictwith the Trusteesin connectionwith the expulsionof a Makonnen linked the tendencyamongsomeblackmen to viewsexwith a studentmemberonthe groundsthat heintroducedaprostituteinto the Club whitewoman as an inherentlytransgressiveact to the fetishizationof black 27House.” In earlyMay,theconservativeEveningStandardreportedthe story malebodies.He characterizedthelatterasan intrinsicpart ofthe racialorder under the headline “‘Moral Issue’Closes Club.” The communist Daily of aglobalimperialsystem,callingit “socialseximperialism,”and suggested Workerhowever,claimed“thatthe realpurposeisto makewayforan organi that manyBritons’interestin colonialissuesremainedlimitedto “thisfasci sationwhichwill be semi-officialand will regulatethe selectionof students nation with blacksex.”Drake noted that “observersof both racesare apt to who cometo Britain, alsokeepinga closewatchon them in this country.” make cynical statements of the followingsort: ‘Thosewomen just hang Moodysuggestedthat the trusteescedecontrolto the LCP.In theend, the aroundWASU and the Caribbean Club to find themselvesa coloredman,’ boardoftrusteesand,behindthe scenes,the ColonialOfficeusedthe dispute or ‘Racerelationsworkisjust a cover-up.They’reall aftersomethingelse,’or to expelthe radicalson the committee.In lateJuly1940, the ColonialOffice That whole crowdis rotten!’”A “veryprominent West Indian male,who liaisonforcolonialstudents,J.L.Keith,reportedthat the trustees,facingthe spentmuchofhis timein racerelationsactivity,”showedDrakealetterfrom threat oflegalaction,had decidedto return the members’subscriptionsand a white man and commented,“I usuallydestroythis man’sletters.He’sone intended to reopenAggreyHouse,but onlyon the condition of “excluding of thesewhite men who gets a lot of pleasureout of this business(i.e.race those who havecausedthe recent 28trouble.” Colonialofficialsconsistently relations activity).”The letter’srecipient “went on to name a number of conflatedthe reputeddeviantsexualityand “subversive”tendenciesof these prominent Englishmenin the fieldsof public affairsand letters whom he blackmen in vaguereferencesto the “undesirablepoliticaland socialtone” claimed‘like coloredwomen’”and “onevery prominent individual”who atAggreyHouse,onlyto assertthat the disputecenteredon amoralissue.In madea habit ofvisiting“Sohoand the East End wherethere arepretty half

liz • BLACK MAscULINIrIEs AND INTERRACIAL SEX BLACK MASCULINITIES AND INTERRACIAL SEX • 113 castewomenso he couldpinch them on the behind and get a sensationout rumorsabout rampant homosexualitywithin the upperechelonsof British of it.” Theexistenceof variousformsof whitepatronage—andthe fact that societycoalescedin the myth of a “homosexualclique”within the Colonial 1)0thindividualsand blackpressuregroupsoftendependedon thein—exac Officeand British government.Many of the blackmen whom Drake met erbatedblackintellectuals’suspicionsthat “perversion”motivatedeventheir insisted“that no coloredman couldget ahead unlesshe wereinductedinto whitefriendsand 30allies. The sexualbehaviorof blackmen was neither limited to nor discussed Afro-Caribbeanand Africanmen deployedthe trope of the homosexual solelyin connectionwith heterosex.As discussedin chapter , Soho’snight cliqueto critique the empire’sracial hierarchy.1)rakeconcludedthat the clubsservedasoutpostsfor sexualnonconformistsaswellasthe city’sblack “factsofthe matterarenot important Forsociologicalanalysisupon one level, denizens.Same-sexrelationshipsundoubtedlydevelopedbetweenblackand forthis ‘mythofthe homosexualclique’whethertherewasoneor not served white men in Britain, though their prevalenceis impossibleto ascertain to explain ... eventsabout which the gossiperscould not securecomplete today.For known or suspectedhomosexualssuch as the African American factualknowledge,and alsoactedasvehiclefordischargingsomeratherdeep singerJohnPayneor theBarhadianDr. CecilBelfieldClarke,sexualorienta seatedhostilitiestowardthe governmentagencyin 34question.” Yet,aswith tionwasnot abarrierto participationin blackorganizationsand movements. the joke about the Africanpimp, blackmen wieldedthe myth not only to Clarke practicedmedicinein Southwarkfor nearlyfiftyyearsbetween the voicetheir frustrations and to highlight the contradiction between the 19Z05 and 196os,caringfor manyofLondon’sblackresidents.He wasa sup Britishrhetoricof fairplayand their personalexperiences,but alsoto ques porter ofthe WASUand afoundingmemberofthe LCP.During hisfamily’s tion the motivesand behaviorof some of their peers and to diffrentiate stayin London,Bunche’syoungdaughterfellill,and Kenyattareferredhim resistanceto fromcomplicitywith the imperialstatusquo. to Clarke.When Abrahamsarrivedin Londonin 1940, Padmorewasrecov Bythe 19505, both the blackpimnpand the mythofthe homosexualclique ering from throat surgeryto remedyan ailment that nearlycost him his werewell-establisheddevicesfor representingthe growingblackpresencein voice.Clarkeeitherconductedthe surgeryor referredPadmoreto atrustwor and sexualcounterculruresof the 35metropolis. Returning from Europe to thy colleague,and oversawhisrecoveryafterthe operation. LondonafterWorld‘WarII, the writerCohn Maclnnesbecameahabituéof Somewhite observersclaimedthat blackshad3 a predilectionfor homo the haunts of peopleof African descent.He developeda loveof jazz and sexualbehavior.A twenty-three-year-oldsuhwarden’ at an international stu Africanmusicaswellasclosepersonaltiesto blackartists antiintellectuals, dents’club in London who respondedto MassObservation’s1939 question and cruisedSoho’sclubs“forsexualliaisonswith Caribbeanmen.”Thefirst naireon “Race”describedb]ackmen as“friendly,intelligent,with their great twonovelsofhis LondonTrilogy,city ofSades () andAbsoluteBeginners failing,in many,beingwomenand often.,. homosexuality,a failingwhich (1959), revolvearound thesesubterraneanclubs,and the blacksubculturesof is verymuch encouragedand panderedto by the sort ofwhite womenthey whichtheywereapart, in the postwarmetropolis.TheTrinidadianphotog 32meet.” Bycontrast,somestudentsand intellectualsfromthe coloniescom rapherand filmmakerHorace Ové recalledMacinnesas “thefirstwhite to plainedthat whitemensoughtout blackmenasloversand offeredassistance speakhonestlyto blacks,asan equal,”but othersweremoremeasuredin their with the expectationof sexin return. “Certain important public officials,” appraisalof his racial politics. “Though he fought courageouslyfor their Drakenoted,“wereconstantlyaccusedof‘havingtheircoloredboys,’and one rights,”Daniel Farson noted, “he could he as condescendingto the black was belabored continuouslyon the chargeof givinghis highest favorsto peoplehe befriendedas the worst type of Englishcolonialbigot.”Francis likelyyoung African students.”He heard similarstoriesfrom a fewwhites Wyndham suggested that Maclnnes’s interest in Africans and Afro involvedin racerelationsactivity.He “wasquite surprised”whena “promi Caribbeanswaslargely“anthropological,”reflectinga tendencyto look “at nent Britishchurchwomanexclairn[ed]bitterly,“Weconverttheseboysout people,not individualistically,but as representativeof this or that.”In sum, inAfricaandtry to teachthemhowto beChristiangentlemenand then they asJohn McLeodexplains,Maclnnes“discoveredin popularculturalactivity comeoverhere and find that the bestwayto getwhat they want is to climb in postwar London the potential for envisagingsocialchangein the city... into some government official’sbed!’”Among black male intellectuals, rand]awayofcontestingprejudiccandviolence,”but “therewasanotherside

114 . BLACK MASCULINITIES AND INTERRACIAL SEX BLACK MASCULINITIES ANT) INTERRACIAL SEX • 115 to Maclnnes’s benign interest in black men which tended towards someten in all—featuredMonoluluplayinghimself;and in 1936, he became negrophilia regardingthem aseithersexualobjectsor noblesavages.” thefirstblackmanto appearon Britishtelevision.He keptcompanywith the Maclnnes’sfiction replicatesthe contradictionsof his personal life and richandthepoor,conservativesandsocialists,andregaledcrowdsat Speaker’s politics.In CityofSpades,he consistentlylocatesthe utopianpotential fora Corner in Hyde Park with his unique mix of lowcomedyand anticolonial new socialorder—and,paradoxically,foreclosesthat possibility—through politicseverySundayfor decades.Buncheheardhim speak“in all his glory interracialsex.TheyoungwhitehomosexualAlfyBongofrequentsthe city’s andplumage”at the LabourParty’sMayDaydemonstrationin 1937. He was blackclubsandopenlydeclaresnot onlyhispreferenceforblackmenbut also a visiblepresenceat multiple coronations,and the staunchlyconservative his desireto beblack.Blackpimping,rich and influentialwhite men lusting LordDerbymentoredhim in the equestrianarts.“AllBritainwastouched,” afterblackmen,and the courtroomconvergelatein the novelwhenthewhite Appiahrecalled,“whenBritishTelevisionshowedthe prince,for a change, prostitute Dorothy files fraudulent pandering charges against the West dressedin tailsand tophat, majesticallymarching”in Derby’sfuneralproces AfricanJohnnyFortune.DespiteMaclnnes’scandidportrait ofwhiteracism sion in 1948. ValWilmer recalledthe spectacleof Monolulu“husking[for] and fantasiesof blacksexuality,in the end,not onlydoesCityofSpadesrep cinema queues” in Piccadillyas “part of the generalpanoramaof streetlife” resenttrue interracialloveasimpossible,but the white charactersattribute in the 37metropolis. the hopelessnessof suchrelationshipsto the innate qualitiesofAfricanmen BornPeterCarl McKayon the islandofSt.Croix,Monolulumigratedto who do not “understand”lovein the Europeansense.Maclnnes and other Britainin 1902.. He movedfrom one menial-laborjob to the next for a year bohemianwritersin Britainhelpedpopularizethe wordponceasa synonym beforelandingaspot in the chorusofIn .Dahomey,the firstall-blackmusical for pimp, but in the decadesthat followed,the term came to refer also to stagedin the WestEnd. Afterthe showclosed,Monolulutraveledin Europe effeminatemen and homosexuals,blurring the line betweentheseformsof as an itinerant entertainer, “eating fire in a travellingcircus, working in illicitsexuality.Likesomuchelsein (post)imperialBritishculture,the slang Germanyasa modeland boxingin France,pretendingto be an operasinger expressionindexed the spectralpresenceof black male bodies as desiring in Russia,and becominga fortune-tellerin Italy.”He spentmuch ofWorld subjectsandobjectsofdesire,alternatelyexploitingandexploitedbydegraded WarTina Germaninternment campoutsideBerlin.He returnedto London specimensofwhite femininityand 36masculinity. afterwardand beganworkingwith an Irish tipster.As he learnedthe trade, he alsodevelopedhis own unique style,adaptingelementsfrom blackand minstrel stage performers and borrowing his signature refrain, “I gotta AMONG BLACK MEN horse,”from a soapboxevangelical.Monolulupeddled his tips at the track andfromhis stallin the EastEnd’sbustlingPetticoatLanemarket.In 192.0, Theambivalencemanifestedin thejokeaboutthe Africanpimp extendedto he reputedlywon £8,ooo on an unheraldedhorseat the Derby,but his suc real-lifeindividualswho seizedthe potentialfor reinventionand profit from cessand popularitywereduemoreto his carefullycraftedexoticimagethan Britons’growingfascinationwith commercializedrepresentationsof black his ability to pick winners. In the 1930S, Regal-Zonophonereleaseda live ness.Ras PrinceMonoluluwasarguablyLondon’smost recognizableblack recordingof a typicalmonologuein whichMonolulurepeatedlycontrasted resident from the 1920S until his death in 1965.As StephenBourne notes, the characteristicsofblacksand whites,includingtheir sexualand marriage “Monolulu, [the pianist and singer]Leslie‘Hutch’ Hutchinson and Paul practices,to differentiatehimselffromwhite competitorsand sportswriters. Robesonwereamongthe mostfamousblackmenin Britain.”JosephAppiah One of Monolulu’scircularsfrom the late 194os featured a satiricalpoem recalledthat “PrinceMonoluluwastruly the darling of all Britain and the that concluded: friendofthe great.”Twodifferentsetsoftobaccotradingcardsissuedin 1938 Puntersalwaysstudyform featuredthe famous“Abyssinian”racetracktipsterin his colorfulsilkrobes, TheBookietakesthemoney? embroideredwaistcoat,breeches,and crownofred,white,and bluefeathers. BlackmanforLuck, Fromthe 19305 onward,nearlyeveryBritishfilmwith ahorse-racingscene— WhitemanforPluck.

• BLACK MASCULINITIES AND INTERRACIAL SEX BLACK MASCULINITIES AND INTERRACIAL SEX • I7 Asliwood Garvey, Chris Braithwaite, and Arnold Ward at an Monoluluwasalso renownedand, at times,finedfor hisjokesat Speakers’ James African Friends of Ethiopia rally in Trafalgar Sqitare on Corner. “He knew the rulesof the Corner relatingto dirty jokes,”Appiah Interflati01al 2.5, 1935, waving an Ethiopian flagand the Union Jack before the explained,“andyet,occasionally,when his funds werelow,he would invite August of onlookers.A month later,he wasarrestedat an IAFE demonstra arrest by telling an unadorneddirty joke.”As a matter of course,the court crowd in HydePark“forusingindecentexpressions.”Nearlyallofthe Sojourn gaveMonoluluaminor fine,but “allhis friends,greatand small,wouldsend don migrantswho producedmemoirsor other written accountsof their in their contributions which, in the end, alwaysexceededthe fine by one ersand London mentioned him, and those who lived in London invariably hundred pounds at the minimum.” The press unknowingly acted as his time in that newcomers and visitingsightseerspaya visitto his soap accomplicein this profitableschemebyreportinghis38arrests. recommended in Hyde Park. According to Appiah, Monolulu “remainedforyearsthe Monolulu’ssuccessspawnedanumberofimitators.In the early193os, the box adornment and attraction in that famouscorner of London.” He SierraLeoneanErnestMarkesurvivedon earningsfromgamblingandvari capital the “old Maestro”with introducinghim to the Sundaycrowdsin ous graft schemes.He reinenihered,“Thereused to be quite a number of credited HydePark. Monolululent “mehis soapboxand his vastaudiencefor a few colouredmen. . . graftingthe marketsand racecourses.”Both theJamaican eachSunday,sothat I might put the caseforcolonialfreedom He BigMorris and the NigerianPeterJackson(akaPrinceZalemka)mimicked hours gatherthe crowdand an hour later he wouldintroduce me as a little the styleof his “oldpal the greatPrinceMonolulu.”Morris“dressedexactly would with a special message.”Bunche frst encountered Monolulu while likeMonolulu”and “copiedeveryitem”ofhis costume,“eventhe horseshoe brother strollingthrough the park on Easter Sunday 1937. In his diary, he noted the around his neck and the ‘I got an ‘orse’cry.”Marke also remembered presenceof “amiserablelooking anti-Semite and Fascist”amongthe “soap- “ProfessorE.B. Knight, the great Abyssinianherbalist,”who wasactually as as a haired, loudlyornamented, but witty and highly from Demerara.Althoughhe “had neverbeen in anypart of Africa,”when boxers” well “wooly blackamoor,” who he later learned was Monolulu. When “hewasn’timmaculatelydressedin Westernclotheshewasdressedin expen entertaining Bunche and his wife, Ruth, hosted a group of Africans and Caribbeans for siveAfrican robes; that was part of his gimmick.”According to Marke, a later,Padmore “tickled”them with his description of Monolulu Knight believed“he neverwouldhavebeen half as successfulif the public tea month and promised to take Ralph to see him and Marcus Garvey at Speaker’s had known that hewasfromthe Western World.. . he had to presenthim Corner, In February 1948, Drake met him while working alone in the office selfas a son of nature.”In neither notoriety nor longevitydid any of these encounter, the organization’sgeneral secretary, “characters”approachMonolulu,who reinventedhimself as an Ethiopian of the LCP. Even before this M.E.Joseph-Mitchell,had expressed“howembarrassed prince againstthe backdropof the Italian invasionof the African 39nation. the Trinidadian Dr. when the Princehad been present,‘acting In the imperialmetropolis,eventhe most absurdandpuerileracialstere hewasat one ofthe [LCP’sldances told Drake, “claimsto he an Ethiopian, otypescouldbeappropriatedforalternativepurposes.London’sself-anointed like a clown.’”Monolulu, Mitchell everybodyknows darkywasborn in the West Indies.And that “Ethiopian”prince madehis livingand famethrough a highlystylizedself- although that Mitchell’s presentationthat simultaneouslyexploitedand cateredto Britishracialfan costumeofhis ismore likethe Red Indians than anyEthiopian’s.” from Monolulu masked a deep familiarity and tasies.Monolulu’sperformancesat the track and in HydeParkblendedpoli public distancing of himself history of collaboration,evena certain begrudging respect. tics,humor,and what the anthropologistUlf Hannerz terms “streetcorner 41 London, spent much of mythmaking.” Aside from personal profit, Appiah believedthat he uscd Like most men of African descent in Monolulu women, and in 1931, he married the actress entertainment and evenbawdyracialcaricaturesto “subtlyeducatehis ever- his life in the company of white personae, wasmoreaudaciousand growing[Britishjaudienceon the evilsof race-baiting.’ Few,if any,blurred NellieAdkins. But, befitting his public he contemporarieson the topic.“Thereissometen the line between“racework”and self-aggrandizementto such an extent as outspokenthan most ofhis 4 dency for lower-classNegroes,”Drake noted, “to justify both pimping and Monolulu. ° men are only Despitemanyblackintellectuals’professedembarrassmentat his antics, mistreatment of white women on the grounds that colored recounted one instancein whichMonolulu Monolulu was a regular presencein their circles.He appeared alongside ‘payingthe white man back.” He

BLACIr MASCULINITIES AND INTERRACIAL SEX • 2.19 2.18 • BLACK MASCULINITTE5 AND INTERRACIAl. SEX with white womenand their orthodox sexualvirtuosity.”Bycontrast,“the presentgenerationwhichheprofessednot to understand,existedwith equal easebyallianceswith both men and womenand bytheir proficiencyat vari ous forms of unorthodox sexual behavior.”Before Drake left the office, Monoluluextendedan “invitationtovisithim in Sohoandreallylearnsome thing about racerelationsin 42Britain.” What I)rake and Mitchellperceived aseffectsofclassdifference,Monoluluinterpretedasagenerationalshift,but all of them read seicualbehavioras an indicationof the differenceswithin their ranks. Sharedoppressionandacommitmentto blackliberationbroughttogether blackmenwith disparatebackgrounds,beliefs,andpersonalcircumstances. Theyincessantlydebatedthe relationshipbetweenmasculinity,sex,andpoli tics,sometiniesin print but morecommonlyduringprivateconversationsin their homesand other spacesof blackmalesociability.Monoluluused two recurring constructionsof black male sexuality—thosewho exploitedties with white women and those who allowedthemselvesto be exploitedby whites (maleand female)—todifferentiateamong black men in London. distinctions,however,oftenproveddifficultto maintain in the faceof FIGURE ii. Prince Monolulu and his wife, actress Nellie Adkins (August 2.1, 5935). Such Photograph by GeorgeWoodbine for the DailyHerald. Reproducedwith permissionof everydayrealities,and both those who celebratedsexuallibertinism and Scienceand SocietyPictureLibrary. thosewho disavowedit reaffirmedthe equationof resistanceto racismand empirewith autonomousheterosexualmasculinity. Many student sojournersfrom Africaand the Caribbeanassociatedthe “made[thispoint] explicitpublicly.”When a femaleemployeeof ahostelfor metropolenot onlywith educationalandprofessionaladvancementbut also a Kenya Speaker’s they African students took new arrivalfrom to Corner, withthe possibilityofmarryingorhavingsexwithwhitewomen.Sinceinter stoppedto hear the famedprince.Thelatter soonnoticedthe youngAfrican marriagebetweenwhitesandpeopleofAfricandescentremainedrarein the crowd, “said,veryloudly,‘Youin Englishman’scountrynow.He’s in the and colonialCaribbean,Braithwaitenoted, “to manya student,this was ... the been exploitingyou back home.You exploithim now.Exploit him, I say! symbol and badge of success,”and Drake observed that, among “West his Theflabbergastedstudent “hastilyleftthe park leaving Exploit women!” Indiansparticularly,it wasnot [at]all uncommonfor a student to, as it was the womanthere.”Duringtheirinitialmeetingat the LCP’soffice,Monolulu sometimesphrased,‘takehomehim sic]certificateand Englishwifeasevi sharedhis viewson racerelations “Aftera forty-five in LondonwithDrake. dencethat hehad completedhis education.”While somestudentshopedto conversation the Prince,”the believed“it wasquiteunder minute with latter fallin loveand marry,“agoodmanymorewereopposedto it but wereanx whymiddle-class standable Negroesconsideredhim somethingofan embar iousto haveEnglishgirlfriends,”some,accordingto Braithwaite,adopting rassment.”He describedMonoluluas “araconteurofverysmuttyjokestold “astheir slogan‘Lovethem and leave’and another,the morevirulent ‘None with Yet, younger, wordsof Anglo-Saxonbrevityand bluntness.” if respect shallescape.”In the metropole,“intimaterelationsbecamealmosta revolu ableprofessionalslike Mitchell,who was a lawyer,viewedMonolulu with tionary act, a form of personal self-assertion,”that encouraged “a split disgust, the prince was also keen to distinguish himself them. “His from betweentendernessand sexin some.”Makonnenalsonotedthat manyblack ribaldinterpretation racerelationswasessentiallyatheory his of that genera and Indian students“feltit wasa revolutionaryact to gettheir own backon tion coloredmenlivingin Londonhad existedbyvirtue their alliances of of Europebyseducingwhitewomen.”“Ihad to speakabout this in HydePark

2.2.0 • BLACK MASCULINITIES AND INTERRACIAL SEX BLACK MASCULINITIES AND INTERRACIAL SEX • 2.11 “anEnglishgirlwith whomheslept”andaCaribbeanwomanwithwhomhe sustainedamoreplatonicand public43relationship. Formany,seKualrelationswithwhitewomen,if not a“revolutionaryact,” instantiated the possibilitiesfor experimentation and reinventionin the imperialmetropolis,and an ongoingrevisionofselfpresentation, borrowing fromand mixingheterogeneouscultural elementsand imagesof blackness, accompaniedthe political activitiesof African and Afro-Caribbean men. Jomo Kenyatta was unapologeticabout havingmultiple sexualpartners and “had a disarming openness about these relationships.” He believed that African men werepredisposedby their culture to practicepolygamyand ‘! frequentlyexclaimedasmuch.As Murray-Brownputs it, “HewasanAfrican; - the monogamyof the ‘Vestwasan interesting anthropologicalphenomenon, no more.”like most of his peers, Kenyattahad few close friends among Britishmen,who,he thought, “foundit hard to feelrealaffectionfor sucha kNA person,”but he “had a specialappeal” with white women.After a visitwith hisformerpupil in Kenya,then known asJohnstone Kenyatta,in September 1919, the Africa secretary of the Church Missionary Society, Handley Hooper,relayedhisconcernsto GideonMugoofKikuyuCentral Association had been in London for only a few months, FIGURE ii. Prince Monolulu with British seaman in drag on board the RMS Queen Ma?y (KCA). Although Kenyatta (1954). “Prince Monolulu and the Bride,” unknownphotographer. Southampton City Hooperbelievedthat lifein the metropolishad undonethe Christianmorals Archives (OH/MAR io66). and humility inculcatedby the missions.He had forgottenhow “unimpor tant” he wasasa “missionboy”and how“infinitesimal”the concernsof the Kikuyuwere within the British Empire,and “spentmoneyon clothesfor Once,” heremembered,“andattacktheseapparentlyintelligentstudentswho himself and for a young prostitute who lived with him.” Significantly, felt that bygettinga bastardchild they couldsolvethe problemof imperial Hooper penned these wordswhile Kenyatta wasin Moscow,and he linked ism.”Both Braithwaiteand James suggestedthat this mentality was a by the latter’s perverse behavior and arrogance to his new political contacts. productof the colonialexperience.AsJames wrote,“Takeaboyof eighteen, Arthur Ruffell Barlow,who had known Kenyatta for nearly twenty years a colouredboylivingin the colonies,wherethe socialquestion is what we through the Church of Scotland Mission, also noted with surprise his know it is,”and “drophim in London. . . at a criticalage .. whenhe isapt remarkabletransformation. Many of the photographs adorning his room in to believethat sexand a woman are one and the same thing.... It is not Victoria wereof female acquaintances whom he referred to as “interpreters surprisingthat someof the boysget spoilt.”Both African and Caribbean and guides.”Barlowdescribed them as “middle-aged,seriouslooking, plain men also claimedthat white womenweregenerallymore“permissive”and andintellectuals,”not prostitutesas Hooper had 44suggested. felt they could be moresexuallyadventurouswith them. Afro-Caribbeans, Kenyatta’swasa Lifeofnear-constanttransformationandreinvention.His in particular,tended to believethat sexwith womenfromthe Caribbean,by exampleillustratesthe complexnegotiationsinvolvedin the “cultivationof contrast, led inevitablyto marriage.Somemen engagedin ephemeralrela the individual self” in conjunctionwith movementacrosscolonialspaces. tions, often with working-classwomen,whilehavinga steadierrelationship Orphaned as boyaround the ageoften, Kenyattaimbibedthe lessonsofhis with a middle-classwoman,whether blackor white. One Afro-Caribbean paternal grandfather, a Kikuyu healer,beforegoingto ]iveat the Church manwhomBraithwaiceknew“solvedthe problem”byhavingtwogirlfriends, of Scotland Mission in Nairobi at sixteen. In the hustling city,he began

• 12.1 • BLACK MASCULINITIES AND INTERRACIAL SEX BLACK MASCULINIT1ES AND INTERRAcIAL SEX 113 working in a photographer’sstudio, donning “neatWestern garb” that, as markedlymore radical than their male counterparts,who often altered or Carolyn Martin Shawpoints out, was “a far cry from the leopard skin he abandoned their critical stance in nioments of 50crisis. According to wearson the coverof FacingMount Kenya.”Gradually,as his biographer BraithWaite,“Both working classnien aswell as students claimedthat life Murray-Brownobserves,“theraffishcharacterin safarioutfit gavewayto a wouldhavebeenintolerablewithout the sympatheticattitudeofthewomen.” familyman in plus-foursand sunhelmet,forallthe worldoneofthe tweedy In a letter to the Ti,nesresponding to reader correspondencelinking the sort at the localgolfclub.”He becameincreasinglyinvolvedin anticoloniaj violencein 1919 to white men’s“instinctive” revulsion to relationships politicsand, in 1929, traveledto London to submit a petition for the KCA. betweenblackmenandwhitewomen,the generalsecretaryofthe Societyof Soon after the filmingof SandersoftheRiuet Kenyattaturned a leginjury Peoplesof African Origin, Felix Hercules,wrote: “Allhonour to broad- that forcedhim to usea caneinto an opportunity to embodythe roleof the mindedEnglishwomenwhocan seebehind the skinandbehind the superfi author of FacingMountKenya.Bunchedeemedhim “somethingof an exhi cialdifferencesand recognisethe man inside.”Somecredited their white bitionist”afterseeinghim “walkingaround town with an African spearasa femalecompanionswith actsof genuinecourage,evenat the riskof endan 45cane.’ During hissixteenyearsin Britain,Kenyattarevisedthe stylishdan geringthemselves.“Iwassavedmanymanytimesbywomen,”Markerecalled. dyismofhisyouth to cultivateaself-imageasan “authentic[Africanjnative” “Alot ofwomenusedto wearclogsin thosedays,andtheytookofftheirclogs forhiswhite interlocutorsand blackfriendsand coconspirators. [tobeat the men]and started shouting‘leavehim alone!He hasn’tdoneany Kenyattawashardlyalonein refashioninghimself46 abroador in his close harm!’”“Lookingback,”Abrahamswrote, Padmore“alwaysgot on better attention to his self-presentationamonghis closeinterlocutorsand fellow with the women of the Communist Party than with the men”and “had a travelers.Malcolm Nurse became George Padmore when he entered the higherregardand healthier respectfor the womenof the ‘movement’than international communist movement in the United States, and, like anyother Marxist,blackor white, I havemet.”Appiah alsoacknowledged Monolulu, Thomas Griffiths donned the Ethiopian honorific title and thelitanyofwaysthat Britishwomenaidedblackmenand burgeoninganti- becameT. Ras Makonnen after Italy invadedEthiopia. On first meeting colonialmovements:“Tothe womenof Britain,in particular,weowea spe Makonnen,Bunchedescribedhim as“theatrical,”notingthat he represented cialdebt of gratitudefor their clericalhelp,their comfortingwordsof hope “himselfasAbyssinian”and sporteda goateein homageto Du Bois,whom intimesoffrustrationanddespairand,aboveall,theirloveandhuman affec he admired 47greatly. James and the other Afro-Caribbeans in the IASB tionsofreelygiven,oftenin the faceofoppositionfromfamilies,friendsand “styled”themselvesinternational “Africans.”FrancisNkrumah revertedto workmates.”“Thisrecognitionwas manifestlydemonstrated,”he recalled, his dayname Kwameduring his yearsoutsidethe Gold Coast. Reinvention “whenin 1945 the West AfricanStudents’Union . . . unanimouslyresolved: ofthe selfwasinseparablefromthe elaborationofblackinternationalismand ‘Thatat independenceof each of our countriesof WestAfrica,two monu of efforts“toconfigureand. . . coordinatesubjectpositions-in-process.’In the mentsin goldbe raisedto the eternal honor and memoryof (a)the white 1930S and 1940s, as Hazel Carbyobserves,“anumber48 of maleintellectuals, women of Europe, for making our stay in Europe possibleand (b) the both blackandwhite,createdahistoricaldiscourseofblackmanhood in the Almighty Mosquito, for savingour lands from the settlement of colonial serviceof a revolutionary49politics.’ Theuneasethat Monolulu’spresencein usurpers’!” their midstprovokedin manyblackintellectualsderivedat leastin part from 5 White womenwereat the forefrontofthe Britishcampaignsin defenseof the wayin whichhis anticsnot onlyprofitedfromracialstereotypesbut also ’the ScottsboroBoysand Ethiopia,andwomensuchasNancyCunard,Sylvia highlightedthe centralroleof artificemoregenerallyin fashioningpolitical Pankhurst,Dinah Stock,MaryDownes,andEthelMannincontributedlabor subjectivities. andessentialfinancialassistanceto London-basedblackpressuregroupsand In describing the prevalenceand severityof racism in London, male the menwho led them. DowneshelpedWallace-Johnsonmanagethe affairs sojournersand migrants frequentlydistinguishedbetweenwhite men and ofthe InternationalAfricanServiceBureauand edit itsfirstjournal,African women, depicting the latter as more accepting and sympathetic to their Sentinel.Buncheattendeda “gardenfête”to raisemoneyforEthiopianrefu plight, and many blackactivistsconsideredwhite women on the left to be gees,wherehemetDownes,hersisterMrs.Palmer,Mrs.Napierofthe Friends

1L4 • BLACK MASCULINITIES AND INTERRACIAL SEX BLACK MASCULINITIE5 AND INTERRACIAL SEX • 12.5 ofAbyssinia,andPankhurst;hemadenomentionofwhitemenparticipati necessaryto survivalin I.ontlon.Yet,if many believedthat white in the event,if, indeed, there wereany.Makonnen recalled,“Our contact womenwerelessprejudicedthan their malecounterparts,sexualattraction exclusive.Braithwaitcclaimedthat withwhitegirlswereinvaluable”to theactivitiesofthe Pan-AfricanFederation clalm,andracismwerehardlymutually certain and itsjournal,Pan-4fiuca,in the 194os. “Wedidn’thaveto seekthem out Caribbeanstudents“love[dJto relatestories”ofseducingwornenwhoshowed either,”he added. “Theywould hear us addressingmeetings at Trafalgar signsof racialprejudiceas a meansof “rejectingthe rejectionthrough the Squareor in someoftheLondonhalls,andthey’dcomeroundandaskifthere ‘humiliation’of sexual53experience.” Although someblackmen exploited wasanythingto be done”and “werequite preparedto stealthe stencilsand “thebeliefin the generallygreaterpotencyofthe Negro,”andevensuggested other materialsfrom their offices.”A smallgroupofwhite womenalsohan that the“sexualperformance”ofBritishmenwas“psychologicallyandphysi dled the correspondenceand daily affairs of Nkrumah’s ‘WestAfrican cally”inadequate,othersfelttrapped,sometimesquiteliterally,byEuropean National Secretariatalongside0. AlakijaRenner.Nkrumah wrote, “These discoursesofblackmaleanatomyandsexuality.One eveningduring Bianche’s girls—mostofthem ofgoodclassfamilies—usedto comeand type forhours stayin London,PeterMbiyuKoinangedescribedthe predicamentofoneof on end in the eveningsand they neveraskeda singlepennyfor their work.” theirAfricanfriends.TwoEnglishsisters,Bunchewrotein hisdiary,“moved Isabeland William McGregorRoss,the latter the author of the short book on him and refuseto leave.He hasto sleepwith both 54of’em.” Moreover, Kenyafrom Within (1927) and formerdirectorofpublicworksin the colony, relationshipsto white loversand assistantsin anticolonialpropagandizing, introducedKenyattato the Hampsteadleftistset and organizationssuchas whoweresometimessourcesofhousingand sustenance,fueledanxietiesand the UnionofDemocraticControl,throughwhichhemetI)orothyWoodman. debateoverwhetherintimate tiesconflictedwith a politicalcommitmentto AftermeetingDinah Stockatarallyin May1937,Kenyattamovedinto aroom subjectedhomelands,a connectionthat blackmenfrequentlyrepresentedas in her fiat at i Cranleigh Buildingsnear EtistonStation, the samerow of a heterosexualunion. Were interracial relationshipsan assertionof racial homes where Padrnoreand his partner Dorothy Pizer lived. Stock edited equalityand an exerciseof manlyindependence,evenan inversionof impe Kenyatra’sFacingMount Kenyaand helpedhim get speakingjobswith the rialistracialhierarchies,or did theyultimatelyreproducethe colonialorder? Workers’EducationalAssociation,IndependentLabour Party,and Rotary Atwhatpoint did blackmen’srelationswith whitewomenbecomeaformof Club,AsKenyatta’sbiographerexplains,she“acceptedabsolutelyhisposition decadenceor exploitation?Somefearedthat overrelianceon whitewomen and madeno attempt . . . to seethat heconformedto the whiteliberal’scon transformedblack revolutionariesinto ineffectualdependents.That many ceptof ordered,constitutionaldevelopment.”Stockwasalsothe secretaryof had a girlfriend,fiancée,or wife whom they left behind when they moved theBritishCentreAgainstImperialismandeditoroftheSocialistReview,and abroadraisedfurther questionsaboutthe connectionbetweeninterracialsex, afterWorldWarII, sheorganizedthe activitiesofthe Pan-AfricanFederation masculinity,and politics.Padmore,for example,leftbehind a middle-class, in LondonandservedasmanagingeditorofPanAfrica. Somewomenviewed Afro Trinidadian wifeand their daughterwhenhe embarkedon a careeras theseactivitiesasan extensionoftheircommitmentto feminismor socialism, revolutionarytacticianandanticolonialagitator.Kenyattahad a Kenyanwife or both. Staunchlyindependentin her views,IsabelMcGregorRoss was an when he came to Britain, and in the early 194os, he married an English ardentfeministand committedactivist.Cunardwasa famousiconoclastand woman,Edna Clarke, who bore him a son. After returning to Kenya,he negrophilewho had ties to blackradicalson both sidesof the Atlantic;and marriedtwicemore. While sojournersand migrantsformednew ties over Pizer,a London-bornJewishsocialist.Reflectingon the guidingconvictions seas,other relationsfellbythe wayside;thosewhoeventuallyreturned home of Cunard and Stock,Makonnenwrote, “Werecognizednaturallythat the or proceededelsewherefrom Britain frequentlyleft partners behind (yet dedicationofsomeofthesegirlsto our causewasanexpressionofequalrights again).Therhetoricembracedbysomeblackmaleagitatorsofmanlysacrifice forwomen.One wayofrejectingthe oppressionofmenwasto associatewith for a higher political cause concealedpersonal historiesof loveslost and blacks.. . . But manyofthem wereviciouslyattackedfor52this.” promises55broken. Blackmenreadilyadmittedthat “alliances”with whiteBritons,especially Shapedbydisparateracializedsettingsandpersonaltrajectories,individu white women, could be both pleasurable and useful—and, some even alsgrappledwith theseissuesin their dailylivesin varyingwaysbut neverin

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entered of and

women,

slang.

imported

sides money

the

the

married

pimping even

he

doubts

issues

Drake

frequently autonomy. chaser”

commitments

INTERRACIAL observed,

support he

the encountered

in

with

female

that concluded:

United

in

race.”

of

to in on

A

does the

committed

backgrounds

popular

question connection issue

these

from the

characterize

pimping

the

to of

whole

the

and the

noted

to

them,

a

United

for

suspicions

(Harlem

attract At

commentators

so

racial him

companion rather

implication

white States

part

of

only

“the

words

anxieties referred middle-aged

the

purely

The

the

racism

lexicon,

“Most

use

so that

and

“certain

of

of

landscape

for race States and,

SEX

couple

women

and cynical

reason

who blacks

he

“intellectual” time,

with

both Renaissance... the

among

underwent

and them

for

laughing

about

“American the

could

to

provided by

just

seemingly cases

related

male,

denigrate

incluclii.g

who

imported

being,

persona]

his commu

political

labeling

isolated African seemed parties’

to

he

race

or

expres..

by on

as white

of

their

black

have

were

wife

their

who

had

will

any

but

fre

the

the

to

to

at

as

a

a

elladjusted, ‘dumb.’” relationship Drake, omifleeriflg, male Cyril’s that have ‘cracks’ visions society.58 negotiate money.” gested

their the and “attacking and former 1937, of Makonnen, him. responded

outrage to recalled,

still organized African men How ies

temporary

the African,

get

no

term

and

the

English

highlighted

members holding

Audrey,

a peers’

like

‘You,

dare

Women’s

up protest

aspersions close

that

they

such

of

British

governor

at the

pimping Privately,

people?”

the Chiding

“was this here

black

you, the

this

Dr.

Mbanefo, race Afro-Caribbean,

BLACK self-interest, with

and

appeared African friends,

who as

woman

Colonial

relation

on

isn’t

and

old meeting

of

and

and

British

the

too

Abyssinian

Moody, meeting Moody

work

War

admitted to

the

liberation

were

was the

a

colonialist

explicitly,

While

the

wished he.

following: of MASCULINITIES speak the

however,

much of

shocking

clique,

was,

of working

American

between

individuals’

in and this

record “to naked

ever woman

She

on empire

Office,

Tanganyika

late

who

of

for, the

not

in

like

still be the

for

“that relations

he

nature

the

cast

has

Society,

as

such 1919.

and

audience they

Moody?

received

boy dedication

Cameron an

in

and Cyril

had

Italo-Ethiopian

me

well ‘Where

him,

black

doggedly. with display everyday

use

LCP

while

a

upon

Nigeria,”

he

unusually

lingo

a

dependence

belonging Donald good

African framed

and

married

evinced

as dependent

manner

was

your

with

confessed

a

turned the

masculinity

AND

as

colored

(1915—1931)

her

writer

so

not

To

with

would

Padmore,”

of

in

not job

along?

much

Comintern, so

much

This

apparatus to

whites.

ability

particularly

INTERRACIAL reflect

such Cameron,

his

racial

college-trained

American

a

he

happy

anxieties

happy about

ugly Padmore, and the

to

married black

males

old

is

critique crisis,

can as

These of relationships on his

the

aspersions

struggle,

a

or when

knows

on

paternalism. Even

and

your

Cameron:

Milton

reflection

Britain!”

white but with and

and

eat,’ own

woman.

intelligence.”

Ibo

not

to

black

cosponsored

the

old

interracial Padmore radicals

regarding

to

the

“Cameron

money

when

the Louis

denigrate well-adjusted

of

or in community,

her,

Nigeria

how anxieties

a

keynote

SEX

people

women lay

be

violent

it,”

people

the white

certainly

‘Milton’s

in

latter

“Milton,”

on

felt

if

This,

“What

they

with

behind

Mbanefo

gendered

to

made

from

frequently •

he

Aggrey

our

According

had 229

that

how sex, are

take

woman.

Still,

directed

speaker

suppression

(t931—i1), didn’t

and interrupted

by

by

did

in

Makonnen

about

whites.

manhood.

missionar

“friendly

dying

used

was

lucky between

have

you the

bringing

she

some

a

couple,

best

care not

one

“other

defame

House

began

racist terms

have

LCP

was

not

sug

the dare

con

and

To

use

you

but

of

his

to of to In

of

to scheme.‘Writingin the J’JegroWorker, he comparedthe plan to segregation ant“boasted”to Drake that he had neversleptwith awhite womanduring asan in the United States,describingit attempt to “setup a littleJim-Crow hissevenyearsin Britain. He wasactivein one of londons blackpressure hostel” in London and Moody as a “sycophant.”Throwing his support groupsand “wassure that an affairwith a white womanwould weakenhis behind the WASU hosteland the union’scampaignagainstAggreyHouse, ieadersMP.”Accordingto Makonnen, “manyof us [were verycarehil in he declaredthat “allself-respectingNegroes,whethertheycomefromAfrica 6socianir1gwith white women;otherwiseyoucouldhaveterriblethingssaid or the West Indies, will boycott this ‘Nigger-lovers’outfit.” Padmore ’5ofthemand ofyourself.”He recalledthat Padmore,in particular,“wasvery recounted the incident between Mbanefo and Cameron to Bunche a few cageyaboutwomen,”adding,“Youcouldneversaythat Georgewasaround daysafter it occurred.ThestoryonlyconfirmedBunche’ssuspicionsregard withthe 62girls.” in Padmore’sview,personalrelationshipshad to be subor ing Moody.After firstmeetingMoodyand his wife,OliveTranter,at their dinated to and serve the political project of African liberation. Indeed, Peckhamhome,hewrote in his diary:“BigJamaicanmarriedto [a]fat ofay. Abrahamsclaimed that Padmore attempted to couplenew arrivals with Smugand thick. No part of a 59fighter.” Bunche ultimatelyrejectedcom whitewomenwhomhesawassuitablepartnersandassistantsin the struggle. munism,whetherof the Stalinistor Trotskyistvariety,aswellasthe radical “‘WhenI first‘net Padmorein 1940 I wasstillDorothy’stenant and heknew blackinternationalismofPadmoreand hisassociates,but both menbelieved her, having met her at various meetings. Even before our marriage he theJamaicanpresidentoftheLCP usedhisstatusasaraceleaderforpersonal approvedof her as a ‘goodcomrade.” “I now realiseon lookingback,”he advancement,compromisinghis politicsand manhood in the process,and continued,“hehad alwayswantedme to bemorethan justDorothy’stenant. citedhis relativelycomfysuburbanlifestylewith hiswhitewifeasevidence. Itwasa form of control,and it workedfor the best part of eight years.”For Suspicionfellparticularlyon thosewith tiesto the ColonialOfficeot other Padmore,a relationshipwith a woman like I)oiothy provided an aide in whitebenefactors.BunchedismissedIvorCummingsasa“métisW.African” propagandisticactivitiesand a source of financial support and domestic and “a terrible poseurand sap,”and Cummings remaineda target of criti labor,while preventingAbrahamsfrom divertinghis energiesin searchof cism,particularlyafterhejoined the ColonialOfficeasawelfareofficerdur other sourcesof femalecompanionshipand sexualsatisfaction.Abrahams ing the war.Likewise,Bunchenoted thatJ. W. de GraftJohnson helda “big sawthis asevidenceof Padmore’sauthoritarian tendencies,aholdoverfrom civilservicejob on [the]GoldCoast,”characterizinghim as“atypicalUncle hisdaysasa communistfunctionarythat nevercompletelylefthim. “Itwas Torn”whowas“flatteredto deathbyallthe invitationshegetsto parties,teas, the ‘Cominternman,’”he wrote, “whowascontemptuouswhenJomo had receptions,etc.”but “fakesreluctanceto go.”During a languagelessonwith toomuchto drink. Or whenKwamewaslatefor a meetingbecauseof some Kenyatta,thepairjokinglygavedeGraftJohnsonaSwahilinickname,which woman.Or when I was too caught up in writing fiction to completean Bunchetranslatedas“whiteman’snigger.” assigned3job.”6AsAdiobserves,LadipoSolankeofthe WASU,whomarried Someblackactivistsbraggedabout°6 their sexualaloofnessor disciplineas a fellowNigerian Christian, “disliked the corrupting influenceof life in evidenceof their autonomyand politicalcommitment, and longtime resi London,and. . . the ‘characteristicfeatures’ofsomeofhisNigerianfriends.” dents and selfconsciousraceleaderscounselednewcomerson the necessity He complainedthat, though they were“polygamousbynature,”they often of sexualrestraint. One Africanwhom Drake met “wasalmost idealizedby practiced“polyandryamongthe whitegirls”in London.Solankelinked the a number of middleclasswomen in church circlesand liberal circles,who “corrupting influence” of the metropolis—specifically,the inversion of invitedhim to their homesfor tea,arrangedspeakingengagementswherehe polygynousmaritalpracticesofAfrican men of the ageof maturity and the couldpick up a little change,and tenderedhim financialassistancewhenhe patriarchalmonogamyof their Christian brethren—to apathy toward the needed it,” but he “madeit a rule”neverto let things proceedfurther or “to fightagainstracismandcolonialrule.LikeMakonnenandPadmore,Solanke seduceanygirlsin thesecircles.”Theman hadhisownapartment,so,instead, believedthat sexualpromiscuityrepresentedaformofcomplicitywithimpe he frequently entertained “somewhatsemi-bohemian/femalecollegestu rialism, not resistance. dents,and an occasionalgirlfrom the left-wingorbit.”Others attempted to In his autobiography,6 Appiahdescribedhow he and other WestAfrican avoidtheseissuesbyabstainingaltogetherfrominterracialsex.One inform- friendshelpedNkrumah adjustto lifein Londonwhenhearrivedin In

130 . BLACK MAScUT.INITIES AND INTERRACIAL SEX BI.ACK MASCULINITIES AND INTERRACIAL SEX • 231 addition to finding him aplaceto live,the “gang”took it upon themselves Nkrumah acknowledgedthe potential for his relationswith women to be t in one wayor another. In repudiating such accusations, undo the effectsofhis time in the United Statesand “decidedthat he needed readas perverse he awhite girlfriend.”Appiah explained: rehearsed a construction of revolutionary black masculinity common to manywould-beliberatorsof Africa.Devotion to the struggleagainstimperi Wehadnoticedthat duringdancesandothersocialactivitiesat the [WASU] alismand a feminized imagining of colonialAfrica necessitatedlimiting, if hostel—ourrealhomefromhome—Nkrumahwas reluctantor too shy to notsexualimpulses,one’semotional attachments and foreclosedthe possibil talk towhitegirlsor to dancewiththemor evento gettoocloseto them.In of maintaining a long-term relationship. The disaggregationof sex and ourhomeat PrimroseGardenstheoldgangwerealwaysreceivingwhitegirl ity and the instrurnentalization of desire for political ends, became acts friendsand,aswasusual,cuddlingthemwhileNkrumahlookedon embar affect, rassedly.Besides,asafull-grownnormalmaleherequiredfemaletouchafter ofwill constituting the anticolonial subject. In this rendering, “Nkrumah dailyexertionofmindandbody.Greaterstillwastheneedtobreakhisdread stands,” in Jean Ailman words, “... as the two-dimensional man: the ofwhitewomenthat theUnitedStateshadinstilledin him. ModerningMan, the RevolutionaryHero.”” Nkrumah and other black radicals constructed the political field as the Nkrumah’s friends soon found an appropriate and willing candidate— terrainofmasculinevirtue. Theirarticulation ofblackmasculinityasdefined “Diana P.,”ayoung,blonde Marxist. The British-born daughter of a Russian byselflessdedication to African liberation glosseddeep tensionswithin and émigré,shewaswellknown to the group of West African agitators through amongblack agitators. Padmore’smeticulous attention to his well-pressed her involvementin anticolonial activism,and confessedher feelingsfor the appearance which a number of his collaboratorsrecalled,beliedhis avowed newcomer to Appiah “with Marxist candor.” “This alliance,”he claimed, politicalethos of self-denial.Although he advanceda theory of anticolonial “did the trick, and soon Kwamecould be seen dancing and chatting with revolutionbased on the black toiling massesin Africa and elsewhere,Drake white girls at our socials;more than that, he looked more relaxed than ever noted,“Padmore,in manyways,revealshis admiration ofBritishinstitutions before.” The “alliance” fit nicely with Padmore’s criteria by providing 65 and customs.” On one occasion, Padmore confessed, “Man, I’m used to Nkrumah with an assistantin anticolonialpropagandizing,companionship, Englishways.I’ll fight to liberate ‘yourpeople’but I ain’tgonna liveunder and a modicum of leisure with minimal distractions. But, in addition, for ‘em.I told Zik [Nnamdi Azikiwe]when he was here,‘Man,I’ll fight to help Appiah, an interracial relationship was a means to reclaim and perform an youthrow the British out, an’ then I’mgonna look for the first boat to get assertiveblack masculinity in the imperial metropolis, to decolonize mind outa 67there.” and body, and, thus, an instrumental step in the evolution of a political Like so many other black activists and intellectuals, Abrahams spent leader.In his own autobiography,Ghana,Nkrumah presentedhimself asthe manya night in the home that Padmore and Dorothy Pizer made together self-sacrificingagentofAfrican liberation. He offeredapragmatic readingof in London; their partnership produced one of the city’smost important his relationswith women in London to defendwhat, he indicated, sometook centersof black sociality and political organizing. Nevertheless,Abrahams for emotionlessor rakish behavioras an act of revolutionarywill: later suggestedthat Padmore’sinstrumentalist perspectiveon relationships with womenwasa convenientrationale concealinga more profound attach Unfortunately,the factthat I enjoywomen’scompanyhasledto agreatdeal ofmisunderstandingfromthosewholookat mylifefromthe outside.I have ment to Britishness. In A Wreathfor Udomo,he fictionalized Padmore as neverwantedto becometoo entangledwith awomanbecauseI knowthat I ThomasLanwood, a tragicfigureof impotent blackmasculinitybeholden to wouldneverbe ableto devoteenoughattentionto her.... I wasafraidtoo, abstract political and economic theories as well as an overbearingEnglish that if I alloweda womanto playtoo importanta part in mylife I would woman,both ofwhich lefthim disconnectedfrom conditionsin the colonies graduallylosesightof roy goal.Fewpeoplehavebeen ableto understand and even the reality of his own situation. Here, Padmore’sprolonged this attitudeof mineand I havebeendescribedbyvariouspeopleasa Don 68 exposure communist international and his dependence on a white Juan, an impotentman and evena eunuch!Thosewhoknowme,however, to the probablyregardmeasaverynormalmanwithprobablymorethan average woman,his longtime partner Pizer,confounded his commitment to African self-discipline. liberation.

SEX • Z33 Z32. . BLACK MASCULINITIES AND INTERRACIAL SEX BLACK MASCULINITIES AND INTERRACIAL

men’s

tions

revolutionary

and

for have

settles ofEmpire:

to respect

tained women

and

Lanwood

needless

he

“Why looking

Panafrica, Inside

responds

flat-chested

looked

caricature hates

most him woman

ties ‘The land

in whom

Mhendi,

patriot

revolutionaries

do

Abrahams’s

his

singles

sentimentality,”

Upon

leisure.

directs of

it’s

diffrence

that been

it

from

everyday

clearly

imperialism

in

native

the

anti

her

should

for

he

Abrahams

strong;

have

“Panafrica”

an

who

face

to

distractions.

a

constantly

to

leave

his

out

couple’s

of

must

lounge “For

134

him.” impersonal

body:

character

sustaining

completed.”

the

complete

That

him

enough

her

died

in

Pizer.

“Pluralia,”

set

introduced

pan-Africanism

arrival

Mhendi’s

I? lives.

•

novel

the

big in

my

encroachments

the

between

keep

to imperious

BLACK

on

was Or

Lanwood

“She

in

as

the

flat,

When

room,

impersonally modeled

the

dear

nose

he

depiction

had

the

to

Yet

a

is

Lanwood

threatened

based

a

most

alive.

in

is

group

support

long,

reassures

the

piece

game

Cautioned

be

was

dedication

Mhendi

struggle

notable A

MASCULINITIES

produced

shares

friend

London,

Dumbfounded,

penchant

and

Lanwood

Udomo

that

Udomo

Udomo

fight

Wreath

important

And

on

himself

personality tall,

graceful,

complicates

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on

sticking-out

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as

Kenyatta

ofa

writing

neither

and

lectures news

chess.

for

himself.

and

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to

as

without

for

to

his Nkrumah,

an

and

the

for

meets

asks to

to

in

by

for young

undo

white

tall

keep

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comrade,

wrestles

ethical

Paul

relationship

its

and

of

date.

Lanwood’s

Lanwood:

He

young

wants

Mabi

and

Udomo

novel’s

drinking

this

after

about

as

his

the

frank

and

alive and

“A this

this

Feld,

whining

his

doesn’t

Mahi, 7 °

AND

boy.”

settlers,

Udomo

himself

she’d

The

chin;

wife’s

nor

newcomer.

act

man

his

with

the

effeminizing

to

views

African

the

view

ideal girl’s

African

Mary

Feld;

he

correlates

protagonist,

he representation

INTERRACIAL

of attitude

Feld’s

guests any

“stay

in

preserve

supplied

architect

heavily-Jidded

must “ibm’s

must

notes

really

with

most

a

murder

will

self-doubt

from

or

in

and

he

body;

warning

sculptor

thinks,

Lanwood

Mhendi

Feld,

of

self-pity.’”

African

out

power

boyish

tells

leave.

and

collaborators

have do

my

Mary

the

recent

Things

terribly

care

the

of

Lanwood’s

the

without

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only,

what

that.” 7 ’

for

this,”

other

of

influence

unfeminine the

the

Lois,

start.

Michael

“But

fbod

and about

men

Udomo

laughs

“There’s

and

a

luckiest....

Feld,

appearance impersonally.” 69

defending and

SEX

of

book,

as

more

failed

nagging

go

he

the

After

thin.

painter eyes;

Feld

works

the

only?

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awry

Caribbean

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people.

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she

a

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ques

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men.

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time

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sus

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no

he

of

pursuits, white

emotional struggle white

excused Like length

men’s their African

metropolis. a style Britain novel women

“imperial ent negotiated she hook,

a interrupts, the and recounts

them all movement, arrive interjects, “‘You sojourner mised

dependence

embourgeoisiflcation

farce.

physically

In

his

in

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night,

Feld.

personal

alienates

many

to

woman

their

as

crafting

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in know

black politics

most

reaffirms

and

done

and

of

rather

women.

sleep

as

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his

Panafrica,

scripting

Udomo

race.”

Dr.

“someone

whole,

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BLACK

“‘That

one

she

private

nature

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In

intimate

on

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a

and

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with,

Richard

who

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him

personal

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back

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MASCULINITIES

conflates

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is

contemporaries,

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shore

themselves

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autobiographies

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appraisal

in

and

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degree

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Adebhoy

for

treatment London.

and

in

endlessly, always

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disruption

and

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make

second

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up

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representation exposure

..

collective

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the

not

home-boy!”

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of former

.‘“

elites

your

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as

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of

representative

sojourners’

a

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untenable

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movement

reunite

When

understand.’”

mean.

Adehhoy

life

but

of

self-sacrificing

with

Lanwood.

and

their of

AND

including

is

hearts

sleep

British Abrahams

until,

particularly

by

sexuality,

dedicated

and

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proper

and

leading

to

identities

man.

daily “He’s

sexual

You

finding

Mhendi

political, in

INTERRACIAL

white

more

she

memoirs,

Selina,

of distraught,

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situation their

chuckles

black

fully

deracination

women

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and

gender

Because

Lanwood, When

lives,

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the

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which

Selina

women.

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restful.”

to

articulated

him

in

as

native

resolved,

architects

affirms,

Udomo

educational, time

masculinity

those the

burgeoning

African

the

black

Africa.” 72

men

or

of

they

relations

a

“without

Mhendi

male

“That

African

become

asks

female

he

he

demanded

leader

living

black .Panafrica,

SEX

Udomo

with

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of Mhendi

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the

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the

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men Lanwood

with

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Selina,

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women

European

of

resulting

and

metonyms

or

independence

2-35 masses

a humour”

Adebhoy

in

her,”

claimed a]l

the

anticolonial

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the

and

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to

relation

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Lanwood

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degree

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London

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to

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of

if

a a potentialcosts,in both personalandpoliticalterms,ofdependenceonwhite circumstancesin orderto utilizeher energyin the creativetaskofhelpingin women,voicinganxietiesthat hoveredoverall suchrelationships. any wayshe can in our common struggle.”The couplecorrespondedfor a time,and in one heartrending letter, Manley wrote longinglyabout their reunionand pleaded:“Pleasesoonasyouarcsettledsendfor me. . . remem berallthat tookplacebetweenus,nothing canbreakthat veryspecialbond.” The context of empireand the racialgeographyof London politicizedthe In the end, “changedcircumstances”and the anticolonialstruggle inter choiceof sexualpartners and the articu]ationof blackmasculinities.Both ceded.Wehavetheselettersonlybecausecolonialofficialsin the GoldCoast white Britons and men of African descentframed the movementof black seizedthem alongwith copiesof the WANS’sjournal,theNewAfrican, and male bodies to the heart of the empirein terms of sexualpossibilityand other“subversive”materialsamonghis 73belongings. danger,if in differentwaysand for different reasons.The joke about the African pimp and storiesabout a homosexualcliquein the colonialservice and Britishhigh societydrewon sharedexperiences,but in reiteratingthese tropes, black male intellectuals called attention to what divided them as much aswhat linked them, underscoringthe ambivalenceintrinsic to iden tity as an always-unfinishedsocial process. Some African and Afro- Caribbeanmenequatedsexualfreedomorthe exploitationofBritishwomen with anticolonialresistanceand colonialliberation,or embracedthe former in lieu of a fuller realizationof the latter. Others decriedthis behavioras reprehensibleand counterproductiveto their politicalaspirations.In both cases,sexualitywascentralto the reconstitutionofgenderedselvesin opposi tion to empire,and blackmasculinitywasthe presumptivestaginggroundof anticolonialpolitical subjectivity.In responseto representationsof patho logicalblackmanhood,theseseWconsciousrepresentativesofthe raceunder stoodresistanceto empireasprincipallyaquestformanlyindependenceand fashionedthemselvesas selflessagentsof African freedom. However,this limited politicalvisionnot onlyreplicatedthe gendernorms of the existing socialorderbut alsoforeclosedthe possibilityofablackinternationalismnot inherentlymasculinistin its orientationand goals. This model of blackrevolutionarymasculinitydimly reflectedthe com plex realitiesof blackactivist-intellectuals’livesin London, which consist entlythreatened to exposethis idealas a fiction.Most of these men shared their time in London and the battle againstBritishimperialismwith white women.Theself-presentationofmenlikeNkrumah hid ahistoryofdifficult personalchoicesand lovesforsaken.While in London,Nkrumah formeda closerelationshipwith FlorenceManley.Shewas inconsolablein the days after he returned to the Gold Coast in late 1947, but shortly thereafterhis friend and collaboratorBankoleAkpata wrote to Nkrumah: “I know how verymuch she missesyou, but she is now adjustingherselfto the changed

BLACK MASCULINITIES AND INTERRACIAL SEX BLACK MASCULINITIES AND INTERRACIAL SEX • 137