George Padmore

**George Padmore** (28 June 1903 – 23 September 1959), born **Malcolm Ivan Meredith Nurse**, na he be a leading Pan-Africanist, journalist, den author. Na he lef ein native Trinidad insyd 1924 make he study medicine insyd de United States, wer he sanso join de Communist Party.

From der na he move to de Soviet Union, wer na he be active insyd de party, den dey work on African independence movements. Na he sanso work give de party insyd Germany buh na he lef after de rise of Nazism insyd de 1930s. Insyd 1935, na de official foreign policy of de USSR shift, na Britain den France, colonial powers plus colonies in Africa, dem now be referred "democratic-imperialisms", a lower priority dan de category of "fascist-imperialist" powers, Germany den Japan. Na dis shift fall into direct contradiction plus Padmore ein prioritization of African independence, as na Germany den Japan get no colonies insyd Africa.  Na Padmore break instantly plus d Kremlin, buh na he continue dey support socialism ideologically. Insyd 1939, na de official view san shift, as na e do after 1941, den afterwards.

Na Padmore live for a time insyd France, before he settle insyd London, England, insyd 1934. Toward de end of ein life na he move to Accra, Ghana, wer na he help shape de politics of Kwame Nkrumah den de Convention People's Party.

## Biography

### Early years

Malcolm Ivan Meredith Nurse, dem better know am by ein pseudonym George Padmore, na dem born am on 28 June 1903 insyd Arouca District, Tacarigua, Trinidad, then part of de British West Indies. Na ein paternal great-grandpoppie be an Asante warrior wey na dem take am prisoner wey dem sell am into slavery for Barbados, wer na dem born ein grandpoppie. Na ein poppie, James Hubert Alfonso Nurse, be a local schoolmaster wey na he marry Anna Susanna Symister of Antigua, a naturalist.

Na Nurse attend Tranquillity Intermediate College insyd Port of Spain, before he go St Mary's College for two years (1914 den 1915). Na he transfer to Pamphylian High School, wey he graduate from der insyd 1918. After dat, na he work for chaw years as a reporter plus de Trinidad Publishing Company.

Insyd late 1924, na he travel to de United States make he take up medical studies for Fisk University, a historically black college insyd Tennessee. Na he recently marry, on 10 September dat year, wey ein wifey Julia Semper later go join am insyd America. Na she lef behind dema daughter Blyden, wey na dem born am insyd 1925 (wey she die insyd 2012). According to Nurse ein instruction, na dem name am in honour of de African nationalist Edward Blyden of Liberia. Na Nurse subsequently register for New York University buh soon he transfer to Howard University.

### Communist Party

Na during ein college years insyd de US, Nurse cam be involved plus de Workers (Communist) Party (CPUSA). Wen na he engage insyd party business, he adopt de name George Padmore (wey dey compound de Christian name of ein father-in-law, Constabulary Sergeant-Major George Semper, den de surname of paddie wey na he be ein best man, Errol Padmore).

### Pan-Africanist

Although na he alienate from Stalinism, Padmore remain a socialist. Na he seek new ways make he work for African independence from imperial rule. He relocate to France, wer na Garan Kouyaté be an ally from ein Comintern days, na Padmore begin dey wrep a book: *How Britain Rules Africa*. Plus de help of former American heiress Nancy Cunard, na he find a London agent den, eventually, a publisher (Wishart). Na e publish de book insyd 1936, de year na de publisher cam be Lawrence and Wishart, dem know e be sympathetic to communists. Na publication of books by black men for dat time be rare insyd de United Kingdom. Na a Swiss publisher distribute a German translation insyd Germany.

### Legacy

* After Padmore ein death, na Nkrumah pay tribute to am insyd a radio broadcast: "One day, de whole of Africa go surely be free den united den wen na dem tell de final tale, de significance of George Padmore ein work go be revealed." Insyd de *Pittsburgh Courier*, na George Schuyler say Padmore ein writings be "an inspiration to de men wey na dem dream of a free Africa". Na Padmore ein physician paddie, Cecil Belfield Clarke, wrep de obituary wey run insyd *The Times,* wey dey describe Padmore as a writer wey na he wrep books den study dem. Na Jamaican pan-Africanist den diplomat Dudley Thompson wrep of Padmore insyd a letter to *The Guardian*: "Na he truly be international wey de entire colonial world suffer a loss."
* After a funeral service for a London crematorium, na dem bury Padmore ein ashes for Christiansborg Castle insyd Ghana on 4 October 1959. Na dem broadcast de ceremony insyd de US by NBC television.

* De George Padmore Research Library, insyd de neighbourhood of Ridge, Accra, Ghana, dem name after am. Na Kwame Nkrumah speak for de opening of de building dem dedicate to Padmore as a memorial library on 30 June 1961. Na Nkrumah rank Padmore as "one of de greatest architects of de African liberation movement ... dem dedicate to African union den liberty."

* James, na he relocate to Port of Spain, Trinidad, wrep a series of articles on Padmore for *The Nation*. James sanso begin dey collect material for a biography buh eventually na he produce a slim manuscript per, "Notes on the Life of George Padmore." 

## Works
* *The Life and Struggles of Negro Toilers* (London: Red International of Labour Unions *Magazine for the International Trade Union Committee of Negro Workers*, 1931)
* *Haiti, an American Slave Colony* (Centrizdat, 1931)
* *The Negro Workers and the Imperialist War Intervention in the USSR* (1931)
* *How Britain Rules Africa* (London: Wishart Books, 1936)
* *Africa and World Peace* (Foreword by Sir Stafford Cripps; London: Martin Secker and Warburg Ltd, 1937)
* *Hands Off the Protectorates* (London: International African Service Bureau, 1938)
* Hands off the Colonies! *New Leader*, 25 February 1938 https://www.marxists.org/archive/padmore/1938/hands-off.htm.
* *The White Man's Duty: An Analysis of the Colonial Question in the Light of the Atlantic Charter* (with Nancy Cunard) (London: W. H. Allen & Co., 1942)
* *The Voice of Coloured Labour (Speeches and Reports of Colonial Delegates to the World Trade Union Conference, 1945)* (editor) (Manchester: Panaf Service, 1945)
* *How Russia Transformed Her Colonial Empire: A Challenge to the Imperialist Powers* (in collaboration with Dorothy Pizer) (London: Dennis Dobson, 1946)
* "History of the Pan-African Congress (Colonial and Coloured Unity: A Programme of Action)" (editor) (1947). Reprinted in Hakim Adi and Marika Sherwood, *The 1945 Manchester Pan-African Congress Revisited* (London: New Beacon Books, 1995)
* *Africa: Britain's Third Empire* (London: Dennis Dobson, 1949)
* *The Gold Coast Revolution: The Struggle of an African People from Slavery to Freedom* (London: Dennis Dobson, 1953)
* *Pan-Africanism or Communism? The Coming Struggle for Africa* (Foreword by Richard Wright. London: Dennis Dobson, 1956)

Online ressources available at https://www.marxists.org/archive/padmore/
## References

## Read further
* Baptiste, Fitzroy, and Rupert Lewis (eds.), *George Padmore: Pan-African Revolutionary*. Kingston: Ian Randle Publishers, 2009.  —Essays on Padmore.
* Duodu, Cameron, "George Padmore , Father Of The African Revolution", *Modern Ghana*, 26 August 2017.
* Edwards, Brent Hayes. *The Practice of Diaspora|The Practice of Diaspora: Literature, Translation, and the Rise of Black Internationalism*. Cambridge, MA, and London: Harvard University Press, 2003. 
* Høgsbjerg, Christian. "A forgotten fighter", *International Socialism*, no. 124 (2009).
* Hooker, James Ralph. *Black Revolutionary: George Padmore's Path from Communism to Pan-Africanism*. London: Pall Mall Press, 1967. New York: Frederick A. Praeger, 1967.
* James, Leslie, *George Padmore and Decolonization from Below: Pan-Africanism, the Cold War, and the End of Empire*. Palgrave Macmillan, 2014. 
* James, Leslie. *[https://etheses.lse.ac.uk/399/1/James_What%20we%20put%20in%20black%20and%20white.pdf "What We Put in Black and White"]: George Padmore and the Practice of Anti-Imperial Politics*. PhD Thesis, London School of Economics, 2012.
* Makonnen, Ras. *Pan-Africanism from Within*. Kenneth King (ed.), Nairobi, London, New York: Oxford University Press, 1973.
* Polsgrove, Carol. *Ending British Rule in Africa: Writers in a Common Cause*. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2009. . Reprint 2012, 
* Quest, Matthew. CLR James and George Padmore: Hidden Disputes in The Black Radical Tradition. ROAPE Blog (Review of African Political Economy), January 4, 2024.https://roape.net/2024/01/04/clr-james-and-george-padmore-hidden-disputes-in-the-black-radical-tradition/
* Solomon, Mark. *The Cry was Unity: Communists and African-Americans, 1917–1936*, Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1998. 
* Sonderegger, Arno. "Questioning Diaspora: George Padmore, Colonial Fascism, and the Route to Marxist Pan-Africanism". In: *Africa and Its Historical and Contemporary Diasporas*. Edited by Tunde Adeleke and Arno Sonderegger. Lanham: Lexington Books, 2023, pp.&nbsp;155–182.
* Sonderegger, Arno. "Which Way Africa? Re-Reading George Padmore's Panafricanism or Communism". In: *African Thoughts on Colonial and Neo-Colonial Worlds: Facets of an Intellectual History of Africa*. Edited by Arno Sonderegger. Berlin: Neofelis, 2015, pp.&nbsp;191–202.
* Weiss, Holger. The ITUCNW in the RILU- and CI-Apparatus, 1930-1933. In: *Framing a Radical African Atlantic. African American Agency, West African Intellectuals and the International Trade Union Committee of Negro Workers*. Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2014, Chapter VII. ISBN 978-90-04261631.
* Weiss, Holger. The Radical African Atlantic, 1930-1933: Writing Class, Thinking Race. In: *Framing a Radical African Atlantic. African American Agency, West African Intellectuals and the International Trade Union Committee of Negro Workers*. Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2014, Chapter VIII. ISBN 978-90-04261631.
* Williams, Theo. *Making the Revolution Global: Black Radicalism and the British Socialist Movement before Decolonisation*. London, New York: Verso, 2022.
* Williams, Theo. George Padmore and the Soviet Model of the British Commonwealth. *Modern Intellectual History*, 16/2, 2019: 531-555.

## External links

* George Padmore Internet Archive, Marxists Internet Archive, www.marxists.org./ —Selected writings by Padmore.
* The George Padmore Institute, London. www.georgepadmoreinstitute.org/
* George Padmore collection from Princeton University Library. Special Collections