The Regime Change of Kwame Nkrumah: Epic Heroism in Africa And the Diaspora

265 Pages·2007·1.524 MB·English

by  Ahmad A. Rahman (auth.)

The Regime Change of Kwame
Nkrumah
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The Regime Change of Kwame Nkrumah
Epic Heroism in Africa
And the Diaspora
Ahmad A. Rahman
THEREGIMECHANGEOFKWAMENKRUMAH:EPICHEROISMINAFRICAANDTHE
DIASPORA
Copyright © Ahmad A. Rahman, 2007.
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2007 978-1-4039-6569-1
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any
manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief
quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
First published in 2007 by
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PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the
Palgrave Macmillan division of St. Martin’s Press, LLC and of Palgrave
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the European Union and other countries.
ISBN 978-1-349-52903-2 ISBN 978-0-230-60348-6 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9780230603486
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Library of Congress.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Design by Macmillan India Ltd.
First edition: February 2007
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To my grandmother, Mrs. Anzola Lewis, 1902–1985, for her many
sacrifices so that we would reach a healthy adulthood.
To my father, James “Doug” Irwin, 1923–2001. If there was ever a
man who was generous, gracious, and good, he was my dad, The Man.
And to my children, Khalil Kevin, Saidah Thandiwe, Sundiata Hamadi,
and Askia Ahmad. I might not live to see it but they will one day see a
real African Union.
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Table of Contents
Foreword ix
Acknowledgments xv
Introduction 1
1 The Call and Preparation of the Hero 19
2 The Early Stages of the Hero’s Quest 47
3 Africa’s Future in England 87
4 The Hero Returns 117
5 Resistance and Betrayal 131
6 The Watson Commission and the 143
Coussey Committee
7 Independence: The End of the Beginning 183
and the Beginning of the End
Notes 209
Bibliography 233
Index 243
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Foreword
The Call, Quest, and Return of Kwame
Nkrumah: Epic Heroism in Africa
and the Diaspora
Kwame Francis Nwia Nkrumah was born on September 18, 1909, in
the small village of Nkroful in Britain’s Gold Coast colony. Early in his
life his elders identified him as having special mystical powers. But no
one could predict that he would grow up to lead the first sub-Saharan
African country to independence from European colonialism. He
renamed the country Ghana. By this singular event he proved to Africa
and the world that under dynamic leadership the seemingly unstop-
pable trend of 400 years of European conquest and domination could
end for one small country. His actions became exemplary for the many
other African nations suffering under the exploitation and misrule of
Britain, Spain, Portugal, France, Belgium, and Afrikanerdom.
Nkrumah’s teachers noticed his quick and precocious mind and
chose him to teach his peers while he was still in his early teens. In
1926 a visitor from the Prince of Wales College at Achimota, Ghana,
recognized his talent. He selected Nkrumah for higher education. It
was at Achimota that he would come under the tutelage of
JamesAggrey, who introduced him to the ideas of W. E. B. Du Bois and
Marcus Garvey. In 1935 he gained admission to Lincoln University, in
Pennsylvania, and secured passage to the United States. Lincoln was
one of America’s premier historically black educational institutions.
During the course of the next ten years he received both a bachelor’s
degree and a degree in theology from Lincoln. He was ordained as a
Methodist minister and earned a master’s degree from the University of
Pennsylvania before being admitted into a PhD program there.