Kwame Nkrumah, the first prime minister (1957-1960) and president (1960-1966) of the Republic of Ghana, was the leader of the first sub-Saharan African nation to gain its independence. He subsequently became a leading figure in the campaign for the United States of Africa. Nkrumah was born on September 21, 1909, in Nkroful, Gold Coast. The son of a goldsmith, he attended mission schools at Accra and government training colleges at Achimota (1926-1930) where he prepared to be a teacher.

In 1935, Nkrumah left for the United States where he attended Lincoln University (1935-1939) and the University of Pennsylvania (1939-1943). A gifted student, by 1943 Nkrumah had earned multiple bachelor’s and master’s degrees in economics, sociology, education, theology, and philosophy. Then, in May of 1945, Nkrumah departed for London, England, where he studied as a Ph.D. student at the London School of Economics. While in London, Nkrumah held key positions in anti-colonialist and Black-nationalist organizations and authored controversial papers calling for African independence and unity. In 1945, Nkrumah co-founded the Pan African Congress, which became an influential voice against colonialism in Africa.

In 1947, Nkrumah returned to the Gold Coast and became general secretary of the newly-founded United Gold Coast Convention. However, in 1949 Nkrumah split with the organization over its political objectives and formed the Convention People’s Party (CPP). During his tenure as head of the CPP, Nkrumah protested British rule and led numerous petitions for self-government. Imprisoned by the British in 1950 for his political activities, Nkrumah was released in 1951 when his party won the general election in a landslide victory. He subsequently was elected prime minister in 1952.

As prime minister, Nkrumah led an aggressive campaign for independence and achieved it in 1957. Three years later, he formed a new government, the Republic of Ghana. A devoted Pan-Africanist, Nkrumah forged alliances with both Guinea and Mali and sought to create a league of African states with its own government. To help achieve this goal, in 1963 he and other African leaders formed the Organization of African Unity. Choosing to remain neutral in political affairs outside of the African continent, Nkrumah initially gained tentative support from both the United States and the Soviet Union, receiving economic and technical aid from both countries.

Vigorously suppressing political dissidents, Nkrumah almost immediately was branded a dictator by his political opponents. Then, in 1961 a firestorm of protest erupted after he appointed himself supreme commander of the armed forces and absolute head of the CPP. Nkrumah subsequently outlawed all other political parties.

In 1966, Nkrumah’s government was overthrown by a coup d’état while he was on a trip to Beijing, China. Taking refuge in Guinea, Nkrumah spent the rest of his life in exile. He died in Bucharest, Romania on April 27, 1972.

Megathreads and spaces to hang out:

reminders:

  • 💚 You nerds can join specific comms to see posts about all sorts of topics
  • 💙 Hexbear’s algorithm prioritizes comments over upbears
  • 💜 Sorting by new you nerd
  • 🌈 If you ever want to make your own megathread, you can reserve a spot here nerd
  • 🐶 Join the unofficial Hexbear-adjacent Mastodon instance toots.matapacos.dog

Links To Resources (Aid and Theory):

Aid:

Theory:

  • Othello [comrade/them, love/loves]@hexbear.net
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    30
    ·
    edit-2
    1 year ago

    another one of my peers from college has landed an evil neoliberal ghoul job. very prestigious, everyone is so proud on them for exploiting the third world and profiting off of conflict. im soooooooo not bitter/s. just being a loser burnout communist with debt and morals. you know my professors said i had a lot of potential. one offered to recommend me to the cia lmao. i would have been so good at being evil. its fine i just got to get out of this weird limbo part of my life( finally done grieving). i dont need prestige not in the normal way. Like im very cool but not impressive. i just want to wow people, have have them look at me with a tiny bit of aw. I just feel like one day soon im not gonna be cool or impressive anymore, relatives say to me “are you still working at that call center”. this is a silly thing to feel bad about I know.

    • Sinister [none/use name, comrade/them]@hexbear.netB
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      19
      ·
      1 year ago

      Its very reasonable, it is a basic human need to get approval from the social community that said human inhabits. We might know better that most people have a horrific and disgusting worldview, but not being valued by the community can still be hurtful.

      • Othello [comrade/them, love/loves]@hexbear.net
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        12
        ·
        edit-2
        1 year ago

        thanks, i feel less silly. i think i can still get that feeling im looking for, just gotta work harder than everyone else for it, cant just sell my soul for an easy job writing essays/reports for a few hours a week to get that perfect child death to cost ratio, I think quite a few things would give me that feeling. or even if i had a boring job but was head of a union uhg now THATS real prestige. no clue what im gonna do i have commitment issues lol,

        • Mokey [none/use name]@hexbear.net
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          9
          ·
          1 year ago

          It really does suck how many peoples interpretation of success is doing something horrifying or only earned because mommy daddy money.

          Also, youre not the only one getting caught up in the rat race, think about all the people who drive Audi, BMWs and shit. Many of them are not actually rich or doing well, theyre in horrible debt. Theyre just good at hiding the issue.

          Ive been trying to validate my experiences by contextualizing them, Jake Whitekiddington from Grad school couldn’t have ever handled being me and walking in my shoes and the only reason hes doing so well because he was set up so well by his rich parents.

          A lot of jobs in my opinion arent even worth doing unless there is some positive outcome for somebody else. Corporate Lawyer bad, evil Doctor in Low income area good.

          You could also just play up what you do, not like anyone knows what the fuck you really do and its not like most jobs are fake bullshit anyway. I think youre right for acknowledging that wanting prestige is also kind of silly

          • Othello [comrade/them, love/loves]@hexbear.net
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            4
            ·
            1 year ago

            Ive been trying to validate my experiences by contextualizing them

            I think that would help me. back in school the kids I was running laps around were not working and taking unpaid internships while I was skipping meals to take care of my teen sister in law (and now im helping my brother). even among my non white friends i always had the least resources. plus i was grieving, this stupid capitalist hellhole expects you to just bounce back, and thats not fair. ive been though a lot compared to them. youre right Jake Whitekiddington would break if he were me. thanks.

    • UnicodeHamSic [he/him]@hexbear.net
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      6
      ·
      edit-2
      1 year ago

      If I was an engineering type and I had the chance I would have taken the job at Raytheon. Spend a decade milking the clock and working in aerospace on things that will never work. Then just retire to Cuba with the money I saved up.

        • UnicodeHamSic [he/him]@hexbear.net
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          4
          ·
          edit-2
          1 year ago

          I bet you that if you said you had a bunch of money and you want to retire there to help the revolution they would help you with some paperwork. I will never have the money to try but also having a background in stuff means you would be defecting so that is fun as well.

          • Othello [comrade/them, love/loves]@hexbear.net
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            4
            ·
            edit-2
            1 year ago

            haha the defecting option may work. im just gonna marry a cuban citizen and then give a family member like 60,000 for a house in full and have it be in their names so we can keep our dual citizenship (for the american passports, i will be giving up my other citzenship). my partner promised me we will die in cuba lol I cant imagine a better place to be old. also unlike me my partner is actually “successful”.