Today marks the official birthday of the late Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, a man who had a revolutionary vision for Ghana, and Africa as a whole, through his lifelong mission to forge a United States of Africa.

Last night, I attended an event celebrating the life of Dr. Nkrumah. Located at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in the heart of Harlem, the event was packed with speakers such as Amiri Baraka, Dr. Leonard Jeffries, Dr. Molefi Asante and Dr. Ama Mazama. New York State Sen. Bill Perkins was also in attendance, presenting a copy of New York State Resolution 3068 to recognize the 100th birthday of the late Nkrumah to Minister-Counselor Ebenezer Appreku and members of the National Council of Ghanaian Association.

Nkrumah was born Sept. 21, 1909 (although his autobiography states Sept. 18), in the former Gold Coast, now known as Ghana, to Madam Nyaniba. A graduate of Achimota School in Accra in 1930, Nkrumah came to the United States in 1935, where he earned a B.A. from Lincoln University in Pennsylvania in 1939. In 1942, he received a S.T.B. (bachelor's of sacred theology), and in that same year, earned a master's of science in education from the University of Pennsylvania. In 1943, he was elected president of the African Students Organization of America and Canada. The years between 1935 and 1947 were formative years for Nkrumah, as it was in this period that he researched the lives and works of such figures as scholar and activist Dr. W.E.B. DuBois and Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, the first president of Nigeria (1963-1966), who served as a mentor. In this period, political scientist and diplomat Dr. Ralph Bunche also served as a mentor to a young Nkrumah.



Like Marcus Garvey, Nkrumah was a 20th-century proponent of pan-Africanism, which seeks to unify continental and diasporan Africans. In 1945, Nkrumah helped form the fifth Pan-African Congress in Manchester, England, and also founded the West African National Secretariat, with the goal of decolonizing Africa. He served as vice president of the West African Students' Union (WASU). In 1947, he returned to Ghana, where he took on the role of general secretary of the newly founded United Gold Coast Convention, but in 1949, he left and formed the Convention People's Party (CPP). Nkrumah was jailed for his political activities and released the following year after the CPP swept the elections three years later.

The year of 1957, though, began an important period for Ghana and Africa, because Nkrumah led the movement for the independence of Ghana, making his homeland the first black African country to gain independence, and making him the first black president of the country. In his independence speech, given on March 6, 1957, Nkrumah stated that the liberation of Ghana was "meaningless unless it is linked with the total liberation of Africa." The independence of Ghana preceded that of numerous African nations, which sought independence from colonial rule. In 1960, at least 10 African nations achieved independence.

From 1957 to 1966, Nkrumah served as president of Ghana until he was overthrown. Spending his final years in exile, Nkrumah died on April 27, 1972, in Bucharest, Romania.

Hailed by many for being ahead of his time with his vision for a unified Africa, he is remembered for his dream of a "United States of Africa."