# George Padmore: the architect of Pan-Africanism George Padmore, the Comintern's top Black organizer who broke with Moscow to become the architect of Pan-Africanism in London, mentor to Nkrumah and engine of the 1945 Manchester congress. *This story parallel: Kenyatta in Britain: the fifteen years that made a leader* *This story part of: Pan-Africanism: from the color line to independence* *This story parallel: Co-opt the moderate, bury the militant: the pattern of managed decolonization* *This story parallel: The watchers of empire: surveilling the leaders it would hand power to* *This story part of: State, law, and coercion* *Nkrumah and Ghana: the first colony to fall parallel this story* *Communism and the colonized: the Comintern and the anti-colonial generation parallel this story* ## 28 June 1903 — Malcolm Nurse is born in Trinidad The man later known as George Padmore is born Malcolm Ivan Meredith Nurse in Arouca, near Port of Spain. His father was a schoolteacher, and he grew up in a colonial society whose racial order shaped his politics. He took the name George Padmore in the late 1920s as he moved into radical work in the United States. ## c. 1927 — Emigrates to the United States and joins the Communist Party Having left Trinidad for the United States in 1924, Nurse studied at Fisk University and then Howard University. Around 1927 he joined the Communist Party of the USA, drawn by its stance against racism and empire. It was the start of a decade inside the international communist movement. > "In 1927, the United States had 5,670 troops ashore in China and 44 naval vessels in its waters" > — Killing Hope: U.S. Military and CIA Interventions Since World War II, p. 462-464 ## c. 1929 — Rises within the Comintern in Moscow Padmore moved to Moscow and rose quickly in the communist apparatus, working in the Profintern's bureau for Black workers. For a time he sat on the Moscow city soviet, an unusual position for a colonial subject from the Caribbean. He became the movement's leading organizer of Black labor across the colonial world. ## July 1930 — Heads the Negro workers' committee and the Hamburg conference Padmore became head of the International Trade Union Committee of Negro Workers, based in the port city of Hamburg. In July 1930 he helped stage its founding International Conference of Negro Workers, drawing delegates from Africa, the Caribbean, and the United States. It made him the Comintern's foremost organizer of Black workers worldwide. ## 1931 — Publishes The Life and Struggles of Negro Toilers Padmore published The Life and Struggles of Negro Toilers, a survey of the conditions of Black workers under colonialism and in the West. The book documented forced labor, low wages, and racial control across Africa and the diaspora. It became a widely read text in anti-colonial circles. ## c. 1931 — Edits The Negro Worker Padmore edited The Negro Worker, the journal of the International Trade Union Committee of Negro Workers. It circulated among sailors, dockers, and activists across Africa and the diaspora, carrying anti-colonial news past colonial censors. The paper made him a hub of a global network of Black radicals. ## 1933 — Arrested by the Nazis and deported from Germany After Hitler took power in 1933, Padmore was arrested in Hamburg, held in prison, and then deported. The Nazi crackdown shut down his base of operations in Germany. He made his way to Britain, where he would spend most of the rest of his life. ## c. 1933 — The Comintern winds down its anti-colonial work As Moscow shifted toward a popular front against fascism, it sought alliances with Britain and France and softened its attacks on their empires. The International Trade Union Committee of Negro Workers was scaled back and effectively dissolved. Historian Leslie James argues that Padmore saw anti-colonial work being sacrificed to Soviet foreign policy, which drove his break. ## February 1934 — Breaks with Moscow and is expelled from the Comintern Padmore resigned his posts and was expelled from the communist movement in early 1934. He concluded that the liberation of colonized Africans, not the Moscow party line, had to come first. Historians including Leslie James and Hakim Adi note that the exact terms of the split are debated, but agree it turned him decisively toward independent Pan-Africanism. ## October 1935 — Italy invades Ethiopia and galvanizes Pan-African organizing Italy's invasion of Ethiopia in October 1935 outraged Africans and their diaspora, since Ethiopia stood as a symbol of independence. Padmore and C.L.R. James helped form the International African Friends of Abyssinia to rally support. The crisis pulled a scattered network into organized political action. ## c. 1935 — Settles in London and reunites with C.L.R. James Padmore settled in London in the mid-1930s and reconnected with C.L.R. James, his boyhood friend from Trinidad. The two men, close allies and sometime rivals, became central to the city's anti-colonial scene. Their partnership helped turn London into an organizing center for African freedom. ## 1936 — Publishes How Britain Rules Africa Padmore published How Britain Rules Africa, a detailed indictment of colonial administration, land seizure, and forced labor across the continent. The book combined reporting with sharp political argument. It cemented his standing as a leading anti-colonial writer in Britain. ## 1937 — Founds the International African Service Bureau Padmore was the driving force behind the International African Service Bureau, formed in London in 1937. It linked activists including Jomo Kenyatta, Ras Makonnen, and I.T.A. Wallace-Johnson into a working organization. Historians such as Carol Polsgrove credit the bureau with making London the operational heart of anti-colonial Africa. ## 1937 — Publishes Africa and World Peace Padmore published Africa and World Peace, tying the fate of the colonized continent to the coming global conflict. He argued that empire and the scramble for African resources were sources of war, not stability. The book widened his audience beyond activist circles. ## 1938 — Launches the journal International African Opinion The International African Service Bureau launched its journal, International African Opinion, in 1938. It carried anti-colonial argument and news across the diaspora and into the colonies. Padmore's prolific journalism gave the movement a steady public voice. ## October 1945 — Organizes the Fifth Pan-African Congress at Manchester Padmore was the chief organizer of the Fifth Pan-African Congress, held in Manchester in October 1945, with Nkrumah serving as a joint secretary. Unlike earlier gatherings, it committed the movement to mass action and full independence. Many delegates, including Nkrumah and Jomo Kenyatta, went on to lead their countries to freedom. ## c. 1945 — Mentors the young Kwame Nkrumah in London When Kwame Nkrumah arrived in London in 1945, Padmore took him under his wing and drew him into the Pan-African network. The older organizer schooled the future Ghanaian leader in politics, strategy, and the practical work of movement building. Their bond shaped the course of African independence. ## 1956 — Publishes Pan-Africanism or Communism? Padmore published Pan-Africanism or Communism? The Coming Struggle for Africa, arguing that African liberation should follow a Pan-African path rather than the Soviet line. The book drew on his own years inside the Comintern to make the case. It became a defining statement of his mature politics. ## 1957 — Moves to Accra as Nkrumah's adviser on African affairs After Ghana won independence in March 1957, Padmore moved to Accra to serve as Nkrumah's adviser on African affairs. He worked to make the new state a base for the liberation of the rest of the continent. It brought his decades of organizing into the machinery of a sovereign government. ## December 1958 — Helps organize the All-African Peoples' Conference in Accra Padmore had a leading hand in the All-African Peoples' Conference, held in Accra in December 1958. It gathered nationalists and freedom fighters from across the continent, among them a young Patrice Lumumba. The meeting turned Ghana into a rallying point for African liberation movements. ## 23 September 1959 — Dies in London and his ashes are interred in Ghana Padmore died in London in September 1959. His ashes were carried to Ghana and interred at Christiansborg Castle in Accra, in the country whose independence he had helped bring about. Historians including Leslie James argue that his influence on a generation of independence leaders has been under-remembered.