Hakim Adi Livres

A fascinating look at the history of African and Caribbean communities in Britain

This work captures the dynamism of the West-African student movement in Britain, and the struggle to articulate a coherent, anti-colonial politics. The emergence of the West African Students Union (WASU) and its alliances with influential Labour MPs, the Communist Party of Great Britain, as well as organizations in Africa, paved the way for the successful independence movements to influence so many African states. Hakim Adi documents the achievements of the student movement in overcoming racism and the "colour bar", and shows how the hostility of British society served only to create a sense of unity, which allowed WASU the ideological and political space to question and, ultimately, to expose the illegitimacy of colonial rule. More than an account of Africans within the context of British soceity, the book emphasizes the effects these pioneers have had on a world stage. Hakim Adi is the author of "The History of African and Caribbean Communities" and "African Migrations", and co-author of "The 1945 Manchester Pan African Congress Revisited".

"Despite the best efforts of researchers and campaigners, there remains today a steadfast tendency to reduce the history of African and Caribbean people in Britain to a simple story: it is one that begins in 1948 with the arrival of a single ship, the Empire Windrush, and continues mostly apart from a distinct British history, overlapping only on occasion amid grotesque injustice or pioneering protest. Yet, as acclaimed historian Hakim Adi demonstrates, from the very beginning, from the moment humans first stood on this rainy isle, there have been African and Caribbean men and women set at Britain's heart. Libyan legionaries patrolled Hadrian's Wall while Rome's first 'African Emperor' died in York. In Elizabethan England, 'Black Tudors' served in the land's most eminent households while intrepid African explorers helped Sir Francis Drake to circumnavigate the globe. And, as Britain became a major colonial and commercial power, it was African and Caribbean people who led the radical struggle for freedom - a struggle which raged throughout the twentieth century and continues today in Black Lives Matter campaigns. Charting a course through British history with an unobscured view of the actions of African and Caribbean people, Adi reveals how much our greatest collective achievements - universal suffrage, our victory over fascism, the forging of the NHS - owe to these men and women, and how, in understanding our history in these terms, we are more able to fully understand our present moment."-- Provided by publisher

Exploring the contributions of both prominent and lesser-known Pan-Africanist thinkers and activists over the past two centuries, this work highlights figures like Malcolm X, W.E.B. Du Bois, and Kwame Nkrumah, alongside new research on individuals such as Constance Cummings-John and DusA(c) Mohammed Ali. The book sheds light on the diverse perspectives and rich history of Pan-African activism, emphasizing its significance in shaping global discussions on race, identity, and solidarity.

A fascinating look at the history of migration from Africa to the present day

This book examines the interaction between the Communist International (Comintern) and the global struggle for the liberation of Africa and the African Diaspora during the inter-war period. In particular, it focuses on the history of the International Trade Union Committee of Negro Workers (ITUCNW), established by the Red International of Labour Unions (Profintern) in 1928 and its activities in Africa, the United States, the Caribbean and Europe.