455:, a "monthly journal of African life, history and thought". He was its publisher and managing editor; the editor was Dinah Stock; Padmore, Kenyatta and Nkrumah were among the associate and contributing editors. The journal sought and attracted articles from and readership in the colonised world as well as the USA. By October 1947, the Belgian Government banned the journal from the "Belgian" Congo; within another few months it was banned by the East African colonial governments as seditious. This loss of readership resulted in the journal's demise in early 1948. Though no copies have remained, it appears that the journal also published news-releases (which reached, for example, the Gold Coast) and a copy of the petition to the United Nations, "Statement on the Denial of Human Rights to Minorities in the Case of Citizens of Negro Descent in the USA". The journal, also funded by Makonnen, was based at 58 Oxford Road.
396:
representatives from the Black world. The principal political organiser of the
Congress was George Padmore, assisted by the recently arrived Francis (Kwame) Nkrumah. In order to maintain continuity with previous Congresses, W.E.B. DuBois, who had called four of them, was invited to chair the Manchester Congress. "One important thing that came out of the Congress", Makonnen believed, was "that the struggle was not to be found in Europe for the majority of us. The old idea that you could do more work for liberation outside Africa was being laid aside". (Pan-Africanism from Within, p. 168) Both Nkrumah and Kenyatta were soon to return to Africa. At the Congress Makonnen had spoken about Ethiopia, supporting its territorial claims on the
329:, which he hoped would be "a reflection of the everyday life and deeds of the African people". He distributed it across Africa and the Americas, but it was hard to collect fees, and in some places bookstores and subscribers were nervous about being seen with what was then, under colonial rule, a publication that critiqued the governance of European powers. The periodical ceased publication the year after it began. During the post-war years, Makonnen worked with members of the Somali Youth League in Britain to improve Somali-Ethiopia relations. Makonnen was one of the last people to see Kenyatta before he left Britain to return to Kenya. Makonnen's political contacts and activities also included work with the
306:. True to his entrepreneurial spirit, he opened four restaurants and an exclusive nightclub, all of which did exceptionally well, especially after the arrival of US, especially African American, troops in the area during the war. He also opened a bookshop which catered to the students at the nearby Manchester University, and eventually owned a number of houses which he let to Black people. The profits from these businesses went towards his political work. The most significant of these efforts was the Fifth Pan African Congress and the allied
176:, also dates from this period. At Cornell, he continued his activities as a champion of the cause of Black people. He learnt from men like the economist, Scott-Nearing and the anthropologist Franz Boas. His brief flirtation with the radical American left during this period, drew in his own words, jocular remarks from Azikiwe and Ugandan Ernest Kalibala, who were also in America around that time. A good number of his generation got their early political education from associations on the left of the political spectrum.
404:
PAF, which maintained old contacts and made new ones with political groups and activists in Africa and the
Caribbean whose concerns were publicised and whose delegations to Britain were helped when possible. The PAF attempted to break down "clannish" and tribal divisions both in Europe and Africa, which Makonnen felt were "obstacles to pan-Africanism" (ibid., p. 190). It also organised many political meetings, for example supporting the
343:, whose 14 August 1937 (and apparently final) issue noted that Makonnen had been among the speakers at a Trafalgar Square meeting regarding the situation in the West Indies, where there was widespread agitation for civil and trade union rights. He also spoke to peace groups, on socialist labour platforms, and to the Left Book Club. By 1938 seemingly enough money had been raised not only to publish a printed monthly paper,
264:
one another, and with "sympathetic" White organisations. Membership of the IASB was restricted to Blacks, but Whites could become associate members. The office of the IASB, which was administered and funded through the efforts of
Makonnen, was a "regular mecca for all revolutionaries from all the colonies and a rendezvous for the Left"; it also provided a place to stay for colonials. " did a colossal job",
291:– an early funder for the IASB – as the first speaker. Monolulu, who earned an occasionally lucrative living as a race-course tipster, had a "kind of Rasputin tone traded in subtle vulgarity of a high order". Makonnen himself is described by Nkrumah as a "gifted speaker". There, and at left-wing and other meetings, Makonnen assiduously sold the IASB's newspaper.
260:(IAFA), which was chaired by C. L. R. James; one of its leading members was Jomo Kenyatta. After the Italian conquest of Abyssinia, IAFA transformed itself into the International African Service Bureau (IASB), under the chairmanship of Padmore, with Makonnen as "executive and publicity secretary". Makonnen drafted the constitution.
355:
published an article by
Makonnen entitled "A plea for Negro self-government", which analysed the economic systems everywhere and advised "African peoples of the West to aim in political philosophy and corresponding action at the establishment of the complete economic, social and political control of
201:
at a meeting in
Trafalgar Square on the Ethiopian crisis organised by the International African Friends of Ethiopia (IAFE). It was around this time that Mussolini unravelled his designs on Ethiopia that the young Griffiths changed his name to Makonnen, when he was part of a delegation, that included
105:
activities through which he developed his solidarity with the
African cause and laid the foundation for his repute as a gifted speaker. A part-time involvement with the YMCA in soon became a full-time post, which included establishing services for the Black population of the town, including services
443:
Makonnen maintained his involvement with
Ethiopia which had begun with the campaigns against the 1935 invasion. He had helped to organise the exiled Emperor Menelik's retinue. Post-war, he raised funds for the Princess Tsehai Memorial Hospital. In 1946, Makonnen supported the pro-Ethiopia campaigns
439:
which had taken place in
Liverpool. Makonnen himself corresponded with the city's mayor and obtained an interview with the chief constable. Always using his profits to help his fellow Blacks, Makonnen gave £5,000 to the founding of a home for the abandoned children fathered by Black servicemen with
263:
The IASB stood for "the progress and social advancement of
Africans at home and abroad; full economic, political and racial equality; and for self-determination". The Bureau aimed to "co-ordinate and centralize" Black organisations around the world and link them "in closer fraternal relations" with
403:
In mid-1946 Makonnen began to advertise the "Panaf
Service" as "importers and exporters, publishers, booksellers, printers, and manufacturers' representatives", based at his premises at 58 Oxford Road, Manchester, which was also the PAF's home. Profits from these new activities went to finance the
395:
The Pan-African Federation (PAF) was re-formed in Manchester in 1944 under the presidency of Dr Peter Milliard, a politically active physician of British Guianese origins; Makonnen was the secretary. The PAF organised a Pan-African Congress, convened in Manchester in July 1945, with delegates and
514:
In his final years, Makonnen became increasingly perturbed with the general results of independence, especially African unity, which remained elusive. Too often he felt that excessive materialism, pomp and circumstance had become overriding preoccupations of independent Africa. Makonnen died in
415:
The PAF Secretary, after holding a meeting on the issue and consulting widely (for example with Kobina Sekyi of the Aborigines' Rights Protection Society in the Gold Coast, with whom Makonnen and the PAF had a long relationship), sent a memorandum to the United Nations about the appointment of
470:. As he had been very critical of Nkrumah in 1948, because of Nkrumah's pro-communist associates in London, this move either indicated a change of perception, or hopes induced by Padmore's presence there. Makonnen joined Nkrumah and Padmore there and helped to found the
379:
Makonnen also furthered his interests in the cooperative movement by studying at the Co-operative College in 1939–40 and lecturing on the movement to local organisations. For a while he was also a student at Manchester University taking a course in
371:
was as brief as that of its predecessor: the final issue was published in February–March 1939. However, the IASB did not cease publishing: the treasurer raised enough money to continue publishing pamphlets, whose authors included Kenyatta and
106:
to businessmen – and even a brass band for the 60,000 Black workers of the Magnolia Petroleum Company. This resulted in speaking engagements around the US and attendance at YMCA international conferences. At one of these Griffith met
474:. Initially in Ghana, he worked with Padmore as an Adviser on African Affairs, subsequently moving to the newly established African Affairs Center as Director. It was in this capacity that he came into contact with Jomo,
275:, which solicited its support for its 1935 petition regarding monopolistic control of cocoa exports. It organised various protest meetings in Trafalgar Square and sent speakers, including Makonnen, as far afield as
489:
in Ghana in 1966 and spent time in prison before his release was secured by Kenyatta, who had been an IASB colleague in Britain. Makonnen then worked for the Kenyan Ministry of Tourism and became a citizen of
245:(IASB) that had formed under George Padmore's leadership. Writing about Makonnen's role in the Bureau, historian Carol Polsgrove presents him as the group's business manager, selling its journal,
133:
during this period, and with them formed the Libyan Institute, where the members "read learned papers on aspects of Africa". Makonnen also listened on the street corners and at other meetings to
494:
in 1969. In Kenya, Makonnen offered counsel and comfort to the South African community exiled there and forged friendships with men like Raboroko, a founding member of PAC and members of the ANC
225:. After about 18 months, Makonnen was deported from Denmark for suggesting that the mustard sold by Denmark to Italy was being used in the manufacture of the mustard gas being used in the
448:, for example for the restoration of Eritrea and Somalia to Ethiopia. At this 19 June meeting he argued that the problems of Africa were "attributable to Europe’s master-race principle".
351:) but also a number of pamphlets which were sold in Britain and sent surreptitiously overseas to colleagues in the West Indies and East and West Africa. In its February–March 1939 issue,
241:, who had then left America and was establishing a name for himself at the Unity Theater in London. Makonnen subsequently settled in London in 1937. He became an active member of the
272:
412:. The PAF set up an Asiatic-African United Front Committee to foster cooperation between all "subject peoples" and attempted to set up a Pan-African Committee in Paris.
256:
in mid-1936, which brought together representatives from North, South, East and West Africa, and the Caribbean. Makonnen naturally also became involved with the
788:
392:, which he wanted to link "with our traditional African form of co-operation", in the hope of replacing the capitalist economy then prevalent among Africans.
423:
The PAF also got involved in the ever-increasing racial tensions in the UK. For example, it – or Makonnen – stood bail for Black seamen accused of mutiny in
121:, with whom he discussed the looming Ethiopian crisis; It was at this time that the former Griffith changed his name to Makonnen. His holidays were spent in
85:
in 1935, Makonnen changed his name to emphasize his African roots. His children are T'Shai R. Makonnen, Desta Makonnen, Lorenzo Makonnen and Sheba Makonnen.
803:
257:
388:
and was even invited to speak at the prestigious County Forum. At about this time he formed the African Co-operative League with Sierra Leonean
656:
540:
435:
to Britain to defend a Jamaican airman accused of murder; The man was later acquitted. In 1948 it demanded a government investigation of the
778:
409:
242:
214:
502:, interviewed Makonnen over nine months and organized the content of the interviews into a book that described Makonnen's political life,
325:
in 1945. He also hosted visitors from Africa and opened a bookstore and a mail-order book service. In 1947 he started a new publication,
458:
Having "no ties with Guyana", and as "all my travelling … was to get knowledge to prepare me for working in the West Indies or Africa."
773:
783:
798:
420:
had not been consulted about it; and Adams had not consulted them about the stance he should take on issues affecting them.
117:, where he briefly studied agriculture and worked in the university's library. Cornell's student body included a number of
471:
381:
405:
226:
82:
793:
173:
110:, who had been a YMCA "missionary" in South Africa; this meeting was likely Griffith's introduction to Africa.
416:
Barbadian Grantley Adams to the Trusteeship Council. Makonnen questioned the UN about the appointment, as the
164:. Makonnen was actively engaged in the raging debates of those days on the comparative merits of the views of
532:
495:
156:
to thank him for the great stimulus they had derived from reading his books, which were critical studies of
142:
253:
145:, working on "a primer on American history and a dictionary of terms essential to the workers' movement".
648:
Beyond the Color Line: Pan-Africanist disputations : selected sketches, letters, papers, and reviews
499:
303:
126:
122:
73:
by a Scottish miner. Makonnen completed his secondary school in Guyana, before leaving in 1927 to study
20:
640:"Ras Makonnen: True Pan-Africanist. An Appreciation: The Weekly Review (Nairobi), January 6, 1984", in
213:, Workineh Martin and others, Makonnen worked to publicise the Ethiopian crisis. Makonnen went to the
768:
322:
333:
284:
118:
436:
153:
141:, "but never became a party man; I borrowed a lot from them". Makonnen lent his energies to the
114:
42:
652:
613:
536:
385:
157:
148:
Makonnen's reading, to judge by his memoirs, was broad; it is known, for example, that he and
134:
445:
295:
165:
161:
101:, where he wanted to study mineralogy. Shortly after his arrival in Texas he was drawn into
567:
475:
288:
94:
62:
34:
617:
479:
318:
311:
265:
210:
203:
194:
138:
130:
125:, where he participated in the agitation against high rents. Makonnen was friends with
70:
58:
38:
268:
wrote: "he cooked, and cleaned the place himself … he was no mean agitator himself."
189:
In 1935, Makonnen moved to Europe. It was during a brief visit in London, en route to
762:
432:
397:
389:
373:
198:
169:
149:
78:
428:
238:
646:
526:
361:
317:
During this period, Makonnen continued to be active in the IASB and, along with
172:. Makonnen's collaboration with George Padmore, then Malcolm Nurse; a nephew of
642:
572:
Pan-African History: Political Figures from Africa and the Diaspora since 1787
299:
218:
107:
74:
563:
417:
252:
In London, Makonnen became a founder member of the first attempt to form a
424:
280:
66:
276:
222:
190:
431:
barristers, in 1946 it raised the funds to bring the eminent Jamaican
336:
and particular with men like Abdalla Khalil Bey and Mohammed Majoub.
287:
in Hyde Park, Makonnen and other IASB speakers drew a crowd by using
491:
467:
339:
In July 1937, the Bureau had begun to publish a duplicated paper,
330:
98:
486:
440:
White women who did not want to keep their mixed-race children.
102:
314:, N. A. Fadipe and Du Bois also developed during this period
271:
The IASB was in touch with colonial organisations such as the
725:
Ending British Rule in Africa: Writers in a Common Cause
558:
Ending British Rule in Africa: Writers in a Common Cause
482:, Roberto, Banda and other leaders of African opinion.
384:. He then also became an active member of the local
609:
607:
605:
603:
601:
599:
597:
595:
593:
591:
589:
587:
202:Jomo Kenyatta and ITA Wallace Johnson; to welcome
61:. His paternal grandfather was reputedly born in
560:. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2009.
310:publication. His fraternity with Kwame Nkrumah,
249:, at political meetings and handling the bills.
273:Gold Coast Aborigines Rights Protection Society
129:and Africans such as future Nigerian president
33:; c. 7 October 1909 – 18 December 1983) was a
16:Guyanese-born Pan-African activist (1909–1983)
622:The Oxford Companion to Black British History
8:
258:International African Friends of Abyssinia
209:Together with people like Makonnen Desta,
376:. Makonnen served as an advisory editor.
624:, Oxford University Press, 2007, p. 283.
193:where he met and shared a platform with
583:
321:and Nkrumah, helped organize the fifth
113:In 1932, Makonnen went north to attend
19:For the Ethiopian prince of Shewa, see
683:. Oxford University Press. p. 93.
636:
634:
632:
630:
7:
789:Guyanese people of Ethiopian descent
620:, John Gilmore, Cecily Jones (eds),
525:Makonnen, Ras; Kenneth King (1973).
243:International African Service Bureau
451:In 1947, Makonnen began to publish
804:Kenyan people of Ethiopian descent
485:Makonnen was arrested following a
14:
427:. As the PAF had little faith in
408:and celebrating the centenary of
466:In 1957, Makonnen emigrated to
302:, where he studied history at
1:
472:Organization of African Unity
345:International African Opinion
283:. On the Sunday platforms at
227:Italian invasion of Ethiopia
779:Guyanese emigrants to Kenya
83:Second Italo-Abyssinian War
820:
711:Pan-Africanism from Within
696:Pan-Africanism from Within
681:Pan-Africanism from Within
528:Pan-Africanism from Within
504:Pan-Africanism from Within
294:After the outbreak of the
215:Royal Agricultural College
137:and communists, including
93:In 1927, Makonnen went to
55:George Thomas N. Griffiths
31:George Thomas N. Griffiths
18:
774:Cornell University alumni
679:Makonnen, T. Ras (1973).
89:Life in the United States
784:Guyanese pan-Africanists
174:Henry Sylvester Williams
533:Oxford University Press
356:their own destinies".
143:Brookwood Labor College
799:Kenyan pan-Africanists
727:(2009), pp. 26, 35–36.
651:. Africa World Press.
616:, "Makonnen, Ras", in
510:Final years and legacy
406:1945 strike in Nigeria
254:Pan-African Federation
206:to the City of Bath.
152:visited Jamaican-born
59:Buxton, British Guiana
500:University of Nairobi
498:, a professor at the
410:Liberian independence
304:Manchester University
123:Harlem, New York City
49:Early life and family
21:Makonnen Wolde Mikael
341:Africa and the World
323:Pan-African Congress
211:Peter Mbiyu Koinange
751:Ending British Rule
738:Ending British Rule
360:was soon banned in
237:On the boat he met
69:, and was taken to
574:. Routledge, 2003.
556:Polsgrove, Carol.
298:Makonnen moved to
154:Theophilus Scholes
115:Cornell University
53:Makonnen was born
723:Carol Polsgrove,
709:Makonnen (1973).
694:Makonnen (1973).
658:978-0-86543-630-5
614:Amon Saba Saakana
542:978-0-19-572018-1
515:Nairobi in 1983.
811:
794:Kenyan activists
754:
747:
741:
740:, pp. 80, 87–89.
734:
728:
721:
715:
714:
706:
700:
699:
691:
685:
684:
676:
670:
669:
667:
665:
638:
625:
611:
553:
551:
549:
446:Sylvia Pankhurst
296:Second World War
285:Speakers' Corner
166:W. E. B. Du Bois
135:Black socialists
819:
818:
814:
813:
812:
810:
809:
808:
759:
758:
757:
748:
744:
735:
731:
722:
718:
708:
707:
703:
693:
692:
688:
678:
677:
673:
663:
661:
659:
641:
639:
628:
612:
585:
581:
568:Marika Sherwood
547:
545:
543:
524:
521:
512:
464:
418:Ghanaian people
382:British history
289:Prince Monolulu
235:
187:
182:
158:African history
91:
51:
27:T. Ras Makonnen
24:
17:
12:
11:
5:
817:
815:
807:
806:
801:
796:
791:
786:
781:
776:
771:
761:
760:
756:
755:
753:, pp. 166–167.
742:
729:
716:
713:. p. 105.
701:
698:. p. 103.
686:
671:
657:
626:
618:David Dabydeen
582:
580:
577:
576:
575:
561:
554:
541:
520:
517:
511:
508:
463:
462:Life in Africa
460:
390:Laminah Sankoh
319:George Padmore
312:Peter Abrahams
266:C. L. R. James
234:
233:United Kingdom
231:
204:Haile Selassie
195:C. L. R. James
186:
183:
181:
180:Life in Europe
178:
139:George Padmore
131:Nnamdi Azikiwe
90:
87:
71:British Guiana
50:
47:
15:
13:
10:
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
816:
805:
802:
800:
797:
795:
792:
790:
787:
785:
782:
780:
777:
775:
772:
770:
767:
766:
764:
752:
746:
743:
739:
733:
730:
726:
720:
717:
712:
705:
702:
697:
690:
687:
682:
675:
672:
660:
654:
650:
649:
644:
637:
635:
633:
631:
627:
623:
619:
615:
610:
608:
606:
604:
602:
600:
598:
596:
594:
592:
590:
588:
584:
578:
573:
569:
565:
562:
559:
555:
544:
538:
534:
530:
529:
523:
522:
518:
516:
509:
507:
505:
501:
497:
493:
488:
483:
481:
477:
473:
469:
461:
459:
456:
454:
449:
447:
444:organised by
441:
438:
434:
433:Norman Manley
430:
426:
421:
419:
413:
411:
407:
401:
399:
398:Tigray region
393:
391:
387:
383:
377:
375:
374:Eric Williams
370:
365:
363:
359:
354:
350:
346:
342:
337:
335:
332:
328:
324:
320:
315:
313:
309:
305:
301:
297:
292:
290:
286:
282:
278:
274:
269:
267:
261:
259:
255:
250:
248:
244:
240:
232:
230:
228:
224:
220:
216:
212:
207:
205:
200:
199:Jomo Kenyatta
196:
192:
184:
179:
177:
175:
171:
170:Marcus Garvey
167:
163:
159:
155:
151:
150:Jomo Kenyatta
146:
144:
140:
136:
132:
128:
124:
120:
116:
111:
109:
104:
100:
96:
88:
86:
84:
81:. During the
80:
79:United States
76:
72:
68:
64:
60:
56:
48:
46:
44:
40:
36:
32:
28:
22:
750:
745:
737:
732:
724:
719:
710:
704:
695:
689:
680:
674:
662:. Retrieved
647:
621:
571:
557:
546:. Retrieved
527:
519:Bibliography
513:
503:
496:Kenneth King
484:
465:
457:
452:
450:
442:
422:
414:
402:
394:
386:Labour Party
378:
368:
367:The life of
366:
357:
352:
348:
344:
340:
338:
326:
316:
307:
293:
270:
262:
251:
246:
239:Paul Robeson
236:
208:
188:
147:
127:West Indians
112:
92:
54:
52:
41:activist of
30:
26:
25:
769:1983 deaths
749:Polsgrove,
736:Polsgrove,
643:Prah, K. K.
362:East Africa
39:Pan-African
763:Categories
664:7 November
579:References
564:Adi, Hakim
548:7 November
453:Pan-Africa
437:race riots
334:Umma Party
327:Pan-Africa
308:Pan Africa
300:Manchester
247:Pan Africa
219:Copenhagen
119:Ethiopians
108:Max Yergan
75:mineralogy
45:descent.
43:Ethiopian
645:(1998).
506:(1973).
425:Plymouth
331:Sudanese
281:Scotland
162:diaspora
160:and the
95:Beaumont
67:Ethiopia
35:Guyanese
476:Lumumba
277:Belfast
223:Denmark
191:Denmark
185:Denmark
77:in the
655:
566:, and
539:
480:Kaunda
37:-born
29:(born
492:Kenya
468:Ghana
429:white
99:Texas
63:Tigre
666:2011
653:ISBN
550:2011
537:ISBN
487:coup
279:and
197:and
168:and
103:YMCA
369:IAO
358:IAO
353:IAO
349:IAO
229:.
217:in
57:in
765::
629:^
586:^
570:.
535:.
531:.
478:,
400:.
364:.
221:,
97:,
65:,
668:.
552:.
347:(
23:.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.