THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Saturday 22nd March 2014 As I currently read the section in Hakim Adis Pan Africanism and Communism on Wallace-Johnson and the West African Youth League (pages 356 - 364), I ponder over the current situation of African people and what we can learn from Wallace-Johnson, and others like him, whose overwhelming thirst for freedom, fairness and justice led to a life dedicated to struggling for and with ordinary people. I was first came across Wallace-Johnson when I lived in Sierra Leone, and have always consider that his contribution to the struggle has been significantly overlooked by today’s Pan Africanists (as has the contribution of many others) so I am pleased that Hakim Adi has made considerable mention of him in his book. Wallace-Johnson was amongst the ninety plus delegates who attended the Fifth Pan African Congress held in Manchester, England, the United Kingdom, from 15th to 21st October 1945. Born in Freetown, Sierra Leone to a poor Krio family, Wallace-Johnson did not limit his political activism to his country of birth, but agitated for the rights of African people throughout the British West African colonies and beyond. As Hakim Adi points out, Wallace-Johnson began his political activities in the Gold Coast, in November 1933, with a widespread campaign to win support for the nine Scottsboro boys, ostensibly carried out on behalf of the NWA, for which he was arrested. Wallace-Johnson went on to organise the West African Youth League (WAYL) which played a significant role in agitating amongst the population of the Gold Coast in support of Ethiopia following its invasion by fascist Italy. In October 1935, together with the Ex-Servicemens Union, it held a rally at which over a thousand people gathered at the Palladium in Accra. So today my thoughts focus on how I and others who say we are committed to social justice and call ourselves Pan Africanists, must continue to learn from history and remember, as the WAYL pointed out, that only a united movement would save [us] from the disastrous effect of capitalist exploitation and imperialist exploitation. The image is a statute of Isaac Theophilus Akunna Wallace-Johnson.
Posted on: Sat, 22 Mar 2014 14:17:04 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015