Place

Site of the Fifth Pan-African Congress, held in October 1945

This simple plaque commemorates one of the most important events in Manchester’s Black history. The Fifth Pan-African Congress tackled racism, promoted decolonisation, and paved the way to independence for several Black African nations. Its venue is now part of Manchester Metropolitan University, but at the time it was Chorlton-on-Medlock Town Hall.

The Pan-African movement emerged in the 1800s as a reaction against the colonisation of Africa by European powers. A series of conferences, known as the Pan-African Congresses, were organised by Black intellectuals to discuss how Black Africans could free themselves from imperial control. They took place in various European cities, but attendees travelled from across the globe to join discussions that ultimately inspired several to lead their homelands to independence.

Black migrants to England found that Manchester tended to be more welcoming and respectful than the rest of the country. Prejudice was still widespread, and ‘colour bars’ – deliberate exclusion of Black people from venues and opportunities – meant that daily life was often an uphill struggle. But the city’s cotton-workers had stood up for Black rights during the American Civil War, and by 1945 it was home to energetic activists, entrepreneurs and students who opened multiracial venues and challenged discrimination. When the time came to organize a Pan-African Congress in Britain, Manchester felt like the best place to hold it. The Manchester Congress drew around 200 attendees, mostly African students who were at university in Britain, freedom-fighters who’d travelled from Africa, and representatives of trade unions and other workers’ groups. They spent a week – from Monday 15th to Sunday 21st October 1945 – discussing racial discrimination, the importance of education and children’s welfare, working conditions and rights, and independence for African nations.

Surrounded by flags and slogans that celebrated African sovereignty, the delegates listened to key Black rights speakers such as Amy Ashwood Garvey, who co-founded the influential newspaper Negro World, journalist George Padmore, and sociologist William Du Bois. The Lord Mayor of Manchester, William Jackson, was also there to officially welcome the delegates to the city. The first Pan-African Congress had happened in Paris in 1919 and was quite a middle-class affair. Some delegates distanced themselves from Black activists who were seen as radical and working class. But this would never fly in Manchester, where (even today) every political discussion has roots in the industrial revolution and historic fights for workers’ rights.

For many Pan-Africanists, socialism offered a way to dismantle the economic structures that gave empires power over colonies. At a local level, Manchester’s Communists fought hard against racism throughout the 1940s and 50s, with energetic protests by local activists such as boxer Len Johnson. The Communists didn’t always support the Pan-African Federation – the two groups were sometimes at odds – but Party members still turned up to the Manchester Congress. The Manchester Congress was partly funded by Dr T. Ras Makonnen, an entrepreneur who studied History at Manchester University. Makonnen – “Mak” to his friends – ran restaurants, a nightclub and a bookshop which all welcomed multiracial patrons.

These proved popular, and the profits helped pay for the conference. Makonnen’s political connections also helped him persuade Manchester’s Conservative Councillor, Richard Harper, to let them use the imposing Town Hall as a venue. Makonnen had help from his friends, including Dr Peter Milliard, whose Salford medical surgery opened in 1924 and fellow restaurateur Alfred Gaisie. After the Congress, profits from their restaurants were sent to Africa to fund the ensuing campaigns for freedom. In the years that followed, no less than three Congress delegates – Malawian Hastings Banda, Kenyan Jomo Kenyatta and Ghanaian Kwame Nkrumah – went on to lead their nations to independence

Counterpoint: When the Pan-African Congress movement first emerged, public sentiment was increasingly anti-colonial, so organisers were hopeful that their discussions could bring change. Early congress-goers spoke in favour of peaceful anti-imperialism. By 1945, after years of broken government promises, many younger Black activists had grown disillusioned with peaceful methods. Armed revolution seemed like the only way to escape from imperial rule. Nevertheless, the Fifth Congress still encouraged peaceful mass action. Gandhi’s non-violent campaigns were held up as examples to follow, with violence seen as a last resort. Not every delegate agreed. Amongst them was Kwame Nkrumah, a young teacher from Africa’s Gold Coast (now Ghana). He championed full independence for imperial colonies, and didn’t rule out winning it by force if need be. After the Congress, he founded a political party and lead Ghana to independence from Britain in 1957, becoming its first president. He achieved this with politics and protests, but his governing style grew repressive, and he was eventually overthrown in a coup. Even so, Ghana was the first Black African nation to liberate itself from British rule, and Nkrumah is remembered as a hero.

“Alien rule has not improved education, health or the nutrition of the West African
peoples but on the contrary tolerates mass illiteracy, ill-health, malnutrition,
prostitution, and many other social evils”

– resolution 3a, Fifth Pan-African Congress

“We were remaking history by coming to stir up that other side of Manchester, its fierce anti-slavery streak”

– T. Ras Makonnen, key Congress organiser

“The Congress was a landmark in the history of African people’s struggle for unity and freedom”

– Jomo Kenyatta, first Prime Minister of Keny

“I didn’t know what was going on behind the scene but I know as a result of that Congress, many African nations…countries…today enjoy their own independence. I believe that.”

– Raz Finni, local resident who attended the Congress

Read George Padmore’s documentation of the Congress
Resolutions. Listen to Alfred Gaisie, who ran restaurants with Dr Makonnen,
talk about the Congress and its aftermath. See photos of the Congress in this excellent blog post. Learn how Black boxer Len Johnson, born in East Manchester
in 1902, campaigned against ‘colour bars’ in his home city. Dig deeper into the story
of the Manchester Congress with The 1945 Manchester Pan-African Congress
revisited by Hakim Adi and Marika Sherwood, published 1995 by New Beacon
Books and free to borrow from Manchester Library.

Artefacts attached to this place