The London School of Economics and Political Science ‘What we put in black and white’: George Padmore and the practice of anti-imperial politics Leslie Elaine James A thesis submitted to the Department of International History of the London School of Economics for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, London, April 2012 1 Declaration I certify that the thesis I have presented for examination for the MPhil/PhD degree of the London School of Economics and Political Science is solely my own work other than where I have clearly indicated that it is the work of others (in which case the extent of any work carried out jointly by me and any other person is clearly identified in it). The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. Quotation from it is permitted, provided that full acknowledgement is made. This thesis may not be reproduced without my prior written consent. I warrant that this authorisation does not, to the best of my belief, infringe the rights of any third party. I declare that my thesis consists of 99, 687 words. I have followed the Chicago Manual of Style, 16 th edition for referencing, with the exception of the use of single quotation marks in the British style. 2 Abstract This thesis offers a new interpretation of the life and importance of George Padmore (1903-1959). Padmore was one of the most well-known ‘black communists’ in the 1930s. He became a major nexus for anti-colonial resistance in London between 1935- 1957 and one of the foremost political thinkers behind the pan-African movement. Through an analysis of his writing and his networks this thesis argues that Padmore engaged in a permanent state of political activity, guided by a practice of ‘pragmatic anti-imperialism.’ By tracing his journalism in West African and West Indian colonies, it shows that Padmore’s influence was far more extensive than previously imagined. This study begins from the hypothesis that the pragmatism of Padmore’s politics can only be demonstrated by examining his whole life, and thus takes the form of a biography. Taking Padmore’s pragmatism as a starting point, the forms in which he was understood and labeled by others are fundamental to this study since they demonstrate the extent to which Padmore was willing to compromise and ‘play the game’ of imperial politics, and they show the boundaries of the field in which he operated. Overall, this thesis aims to contribute to a deeper understanding of race and non-violent resistance in anti-imperial politics in the first half of the twentieth century by focusing upon the role of a mobile, life-long activist from the diaspora who attacked the moral basis of late colonial rule from within. 3 Table of Contents Abstract 3 Table of Contents 4 List of Figures 6 List of Abbreviations 7 Acknowledgements 8 A Note on Terminology 11 Introduction 13 Fitting the pieces together Chapter One 35 From Trinidad to the United States, 1903-1927 Chapter Two 65 An Education: Pragmatism, betrayal, and friendship, 1929-1934 Chapter Three 98 The most completely political Negro: Marxism, Pan-Africanism, and Padmore’s re-establishment, 1935-1939 Chapter Four 129 ‘The long, long night is over’: A War of Opportunity? Chapter Five 158 ‘Playing the Russian Game’: George Padmore and the labeling of African resistance as Soviet Propaganda, 1946-50 Chapter Six 185 ‘The Chattering Negroes’: the demands of leadership and the politics of friendship in the era of Padmore the ‘outsider,’ 1950-1956 Chapter Seven 218 Ghana, Death, and the Afterlife, 1957-1959 Conclusion 251 Appendix One: Newspaper and Journal articles by George Padmore 266 Bibliography 314 4 Figure 1: Headshot of George Padmore, circa 1942. © Independent Labour Publications. 5 List of Figures Figure 1: Headshot of George Padmore. 5 New Leader , 27 June 1942. © Independent Labour Publications Figure 2: Marriage of George Padmore and Julia Semper 49 From George Padmore Collection, The Alma Jordan Library, University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus, Trinidad and Tobago. Volume II. Figure 3: Image used in many issues of the Negro Worker. 73 From Negro Worker, vol 5, no. 6-7 (June-July 1933). © British Library Board Mic.A.17483 Figure 4: Padmore and Nkrumah in Ghana, date unknown. 205 From George Padmore Research Library, Accra, Ghana. George Padmore Photo Album. Figure 5: Padmore (standing, centre) at CPP rally in Togoland, 222 date unknown. From George Padmore Research Library, Accra, Ghana. George Padmore Photo Album. Figure 6: Dorothy Padmore and Ghana delegation with Padmore’s ashes in 236 London, 28 September 1959. From George Padmore Research Library, Accra, Ghana. George Padmore Photo Album. Figure 7: Burial ceremony at Christiansborg Castle, Accra 241 From George Padmore Research Library, Accra, Ghana. George Padmore Photo Album. 6 List of Abbreviations AAPC All-African People’s Congress ABB African Blood Brotherhood CIAS Conference of Independent African States CPP Convention People’s Party CPUSA Communist Party of the United States of America IASB International African Service Bureau IAFA International African Friends of Abyssinia ILP Independent Labour Party ITUCNW International Trade Union Committee of Negro Workers NMM National Minority Movement NWA Negro Welfare Association LAI League Against Imperialism LCP League of Coloured Peoples 7 Acknowledgements This thesis is a collective achievement. I owe my first debt of gratitude to the people who, over the almost fifty years between Padmore’s death and my initial steps in beginning this project, worked to keep the memory of Padmore alive. Researching the life of George Padmore has not been easy: indeed, it has been my assessment that it has only been possible now because of the decades of thankless efforts by those who tried to undertake such a project but found only scraps. It is through their work that I have been able, with distance, to assemble those scraps together. The two most important individuals to do this were people I never had the honour of meeting: Dorothy Padmore (Pizer) and C.L.R. James. The third individual I have begun to know better. Marika Sherwood opened up her home to me, her decades of archival research, interviews, and contacts so that I could complete this project. Her enthusiasm for this project has been echoed to me over the past three and a half years by many others. My research in Trinidad, in Ghana, in the United States, in Britain, and in Moscow have born witness to the countless number of individuals who have all contributed to a shared project of archiving the life of George Padmore. Their efforts to collect whatever could be collected, to write about Padmore and/or to share their experiences, have made this project possible. My profound apologies go primarily to the fact that I cannot name them all. In terms of researching, writing, and finishing this project, Dr. Joanna Lewis could not have been a better guide. Her critical eye but unwavering support kept me thinking, kept me writing, and (hopefully) writing better. She has helped me to think about the larger implications, while always ensuring Padmore’s personality came through the text. Prof Alan Sked provided helpful guidance in my first year when embarking upon the project of a PhD was new and daunting. I also want to thank Dr. Antony Best for commenting on early draft chapters, as well as Dr. Sujit Sivasundarum and Dr. Joan Pau Rubies. My fellow PhD students in the International History Department of the LSE provided an enthusiastic community and I am grateful for their comments and criticisms to chapter drafts in workshops and seminars. I am particularly grateful for the comraderie, the comments on my writing, and the offer of a place to lay my head in my 8 regular commutes from Oxford to London, to: Dayna Barnes, Emma De-Angelis, Artemy Kalinovsky, Rui Lopes, and Vladimir Unkovski-Korica. I have benefited immensely from a community of scholars in England who have critically read drafts of my work, sat with me on panels at conferences, and challenged my ideas about Padmore and the world in which he worked in 1930s and 1940s Britain. I cannot express how important this intellectual environment has been for me. To Hakim Adi, Christian Hogsbjerg, and Daniel Whittall, I offer my profound thanks. There are a number of individuals who have sat and talked with me at critical moments, and thus spurred my thinking and helped focus my analysis. For this I would like to thank: Prof. Kofi Baku, Prof. Tony Bogues, Jordan Goodman, Prof. John Lonsdale, Dr. Melanie Newton, Prof. Vladimir Shubin, Prof. Odd Arne Westad, and Dr. Leo Zelig. I am grateful to Prof. Ato Quayson for sharing his wisdom, suggesting readings and lines of enquiry, and providing me with a workspace at the University of Toronto, Centre for Diaspora and Transnational Studies during the summer of 2011. I want to thank Carol Polsgrove for her early advice on archives and sources for a study of Padmore, which so quickly set me on the right path. I am grateful to Sue Onslow for connecting me to the Centre for African Studies in Moscow. While in Moscow, I was assisted in every conceivable way by Mary Shemyakina: from securing my housing, to introducing me to the archives, to translating documents. She was incredible. For his expertise in the Padmore archives in Accra, I want to thank Dr. Jeffrey Ahlman. For his support and enthusiasm for the project, and for introducing me to the George Padmore Primary School in Tema and showing me around, I want to thank Dr. Kwame Essein. Sylvia Francois opened her home to me and took expert care of me in Accra, and became another stalwart woman who I owe so much during my research trips.