Kwame Nkrumah

Kwame Nkrumah

Kwame Nkrumah was the first president of Ghana and a leader of the Pan-African movement.

Fast Facts:

Born: September 21, 1909
President from July 1, 1960 – February 24, 1966
Died: April 27, 1972
Lived in exile from February, 1966 until his death
Master of Science from University of Pennsylvania
Was awarded the Lenin Peace Prize

Early Life

Kwame Nkrumah was born in Nkroful, Gold Coast (now Ghana). He attended college at Lincoln University, Pensylvania and got his masters degree in 1942 from the University of Pennsylvania.

Revolution and Independence

Upon his return to Ghana, Nkrumah led a revolt against the British, who held power at the time, urging civil disobedience and boycotts similar to those carried out by Mahatma Gandhi in India. Under mounting pressure, the British left Ghana and an election was held in which Nkrumah won by a large margin.

Leadership

Nkrumah went on to turn Ghana into a republic, and on July 1, 1960 he became its first president. Ghana already had a fairly solid infrastructure, and during his administration, Nkrumah sought to expand upon this and led the government towards forming a state based on the ideals of socialism.

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The Mahalo Top 7

Official Site: Kwame Nkrumah
Wikipedia: Kwame Nkrumah
PBS: Commanding Heights: Kwame Nkrumah
University of Pennsylvania: Kwame Nkrumah At Penn: A Digital Exhibition
Socialist Worker: "What is the Real Legacy of Kwame Nkrumah?" (March 17, 2007)
CooperativeResearch.org: Timeline of Kwame Nkrumah
BBC News: "Kwame Nkrumah's Vision of Africa" (September 14, 2000)

Kwame Nkrumah Background and Profiles

Fight for Independence

Web Chronology Project: Ghana Independence
BBC News: "The Architect of Ghana's Independence" (March 2, 2007)
AfricaSpeaks: "Kwame Nkrumah's Contribution to Decolonization..." (September 16, 2004)
TIME: "Sunrise on the Gold Coast" (February 9, 1953)

Leader of Ghana

BBC News: 1957: Ghana Celebrates Independence
GhanaHomePage: "Useful Lessons From Ghana's Political Past" (May 2, 2007)
Fox News: "Ghana at 50 Looks Back With Pride and Pain" (March 6, 2007)
Reuters: "Ghana's Nkrumah Set Trend for Big Africa Leaders" (March 5, 2007)
Vision Journal: "The Ghana Coup of 24 February 1966" (March 21, 2006)

Pan-Africanism

Wikipedia: Pan-Africanism and the Organization of African Unity
The Statesman: "Evaluating Nkrumah- the Pan-Africanist - in Ghana's Political History" (June 27, 2007)
African Genesis: "The Making of a Pan-African: Kwame Nkrumah in America" (February 10, 2002)
Binghamton University: "Pan Africanism and the Origins of Globalization" (November, 2001)
New Internationalist: "Simply... A History of Pan-Africanism" (August, 2000)

Kwame Nkrumah Media

Videos

Google Video: Kwame Nkrumah (Time 19:55)
YouTube: Kwame Nkrumah Speech (Time 0:41)
YouTube: Dr. Kwame Nkrumah - The Liberation Struggle (Time 03:54)

Images

Google Image Search: Kwame Nkrumah
Yahoo! Image Search: Kwame Nkrumah
Live Image Search: Kwame Nkrumah
Flickr: Kwame Nkrumah

Kwame Nkrumah Books and Research

African Studies Quarterly: "African Political Cultures and the Problems of Government" (Spring, 2004)
Binghamton University: "Nkrumahism and the Triple Heritage in the Shadow of Globalization" (March, 2002)
Marxists Internet Archive: "African Socialism Revisited" (1967)
Marxists Internet Archive: Neo-Colonialism: The Last Stage of imperialism (1965)
Fordham University: "I Speak of Freedom" (1961)
University of Pennsylvania: "Education and Nationalism in Africa" (November, 1943) (2.44MB)

Kwame Nkrumah Blogs and Message Boards

Assata Speaks Forum: Axioms Of Kwame Nkrumah
Rasta Livewire: Continental Government for Africa: by Dr. Kwame Nkrumah (1st President of Ghana)
Rastafari Speaks: Kwame Nkrumah and One-Party State
Teaching in Ghana: Kwame Nkrumah Lectures, Part 2

Kwame Nkrumah Timeline

1909: September 21, Kwame Nkrumah is born in the Gold Coast
1930: Graduates from the Achimota School
1935: Attends Lincoln University in the United States
1942-1943: Earns graduate degrees in education and philosophy from the University of Pennsylvania
1945: Organized the 5th Pan-African Conference in Manchester, England
1945: December, Kwame Nkrumah organizes the West African National Secretariat
1947: Nkrumah is invited to serve as General Secretary to the United Gold Coast Convention
1948: February, After student protests turn violent, Nkrumah and other UGCC leaders are arrested
1948: Nkrumah is released and begins hitchhiking, campaigning for "self-government now"
1949: Organizes the Convention People's Party
1950: January, Nkrumah initiates a campaign of "Positive Action" against the Colonial Government
1950: Nkrumah is arrested and sentenced to three years in prison
1951: February 5-10, in Ghana's first election, Nkrumah wins by a landslide
1951: February 12, Nkrumah is released from prison
1957: March 6, Ghana is officially declared independent
1963: Nkrumah is awarded the Lenin Peace Prize by the Soviet Union
1964: After much repressive legislation, Nkrumah is named the Life President of Ghana
1966: While on a visit to Vietnam, A CIA backed coup overthrows Nkrumah's government
1966: Nkrumah goes into exile, working for the cause of African Unity from various nations abroad
1972: April 27, Kwame Nkrumah dies of skin cancer

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