Isaac Wallace-Johnson
Encyclopedia
Isaac Theophilus Akunna Wallace-Johnson (1894 – 10 May 1965) was a Sierra Leone
an and British West Africa
n workers' leader, journalist, activist and politician. Born into a poor Creole
family in Sierra Leone, he emerged as a natural leader in school. After attending United Methodist Collegiate School for two years, he dropped out and took a job as an officer in the customs department in 1913. He was dismissed for helping organize a labor strike, but later reinstated to his position a year later. After resigning from his job, he enlisted as a clerk with the Carrier Corps
during World War I
. After being demobilized in 1920, Wallace-Johnson moved from job to job, before settling as a clerk in the Freetown
municipal government. He claimed to have exposed a corruption
scandal, which resulted in the incarceration of top officials, including the mayor
. After being fired from this job in 1926, he left Sierra Leone and became a sailor. He joined a national seamen union and it is believed that he also joined the Communist Party. In 1930, he helped form the first trade union in Nigeria
and attended the International Trade Union Conference of Negro Workers in Hamburg
, where he established a number of contacts. He published articles and edited
the Negro Worker, a journal devoted to uniting black workers around the world. He traveled to Moscow, where he claimed to have attended classes on Marxism-Leninism
theory, union organization and political agitation
.
Within a few months of returning to Nigeria in 1933, he was deported by authorities for his illicit trade union activities. He traveled to the Gold Coast
, where he quickly established himself as a political activist and journalist. An agitator
, he managed a fund
to finance the appeal of the nine African Americans given the death penalty in the Scottsboro case and also campaigned for legislation on workers' compensation
and strict safety regulations after the deadly Prestea
mining disaster of June 1934. In his writings during this era, Wallace-Johnson glorified the Communist government of the Soviet Union
and expressed his disdain for capitalist
societies. Soon, the colonial government passed the Sedition Act, a piece of legislation prohibiting the importation of "seditious" literature, which included works from the Negro Worker. In 1934, Wallace-Johnson became the subject of scathing articles in the Gold Coast Independent, in which he was accused of ruining the political atmosphere in the country. After meeting Nnamdi Azikiwe
in 1935, he formed the West African Youth League
, an organization dedicated to obtaining more liberties and privileges for the Gold Coast population. Wallace-Johnson and the WAYL entered the Gold Coast political scene by supporting Kojo Thompson in his successful candidacy in the Legislative Council elections of 1935. During the Second Italo-Abyssinian War
, Wallace-Johnson and the WAYL vocalized their harsh sentiments toward European imperialism and helped establish the Ethiopian Defense Fund with the purpose of educating the populaces on matters of national and racial importance. In 1936, Wallace-Johnson was arrested for sedition after publishing an article in the African Morning Post condemning Christianity, European civilization and imperialism. The colonial governor proposed that he be deported in lieu of being put on trial. After Wallace-Johnson accepted this offer, the governor went back on his word and had the political activist placed on trial in front of the Assize Court. Wallace-Johnson traveled to London to appeal his conviction and to also establish connections for the WAYL.
He returned to Sierra Leone in 1938 and established a number of labor unions, a newspaper and a political movement. He significantly raised membership for the WAYL and helped pioneer issue-oriented politics in Sierra Leone. The WAYL became the first political group to make an effort toward including the general population in the electoral process. Wallace-Johnson also campaigned for improved salaries and working conditions for workers, national unity and an increased civic role for women. Through the WAYL newspaper, the African Standard, he published a number of articles highly critical of top government officials. He was arrested on 1 September 1939 under the Emergency Act adopted at the start of World War II
earlier that day. Wallace-Johnson was put on trial without a jury (who would have been sympathetic to his cause, as had been seen in previous cases against him) and received a 12-month prison sentence. He was held at Sherbro Island
before being released in 1944. He returned to political activism, but found the WAYL in a state of disarray. He merged the league into the National Council of Sierra Leone
and formed his own political parties during 1950s, embracing Pan-Africanism
and distancing himself from his earlier radicalism. He served as a delegate for Sierra Leone during independence talks in London in 1960. He died in a car crash in Ghana
in May 1965.
Wallace-Johnson was born to poor Creole
parents in Wilberforce
Sierra Leone
, a village adjoining the capital city, Freetown
. His father was a farmer, while his mother was a fishwife
who sold her goods in markets in neighboring villages. Many of his relatives held low-status jobs involving craftsmanship, carpentry
and masonry
. His poor upbringing and low social status influenced his understanding and empathy of the working class
, as seen in his early association with communism
and later, his leadership in the West African labor movement.
Wallace-Johnson received his primary education at Centenary Tabernacle Day School before entering United Methodist Collegiate School in 1911. There, he engaged in numerous leadership activities. On one such occasion, he led his classmates in a protest against unreasonable punishment by school authorities. He also edited the school's newspaper, Wall Paper. He dropped out two years later to support his family. He was first employed as a temporary outdoor officer at the customs department. Soon, he became a permanent employee of the department. He became involved in a labor strike for increased pay and better working conditions
. It is widely believed that Wallace-Johnson led the strike, but this fact remains uncertain. All employees involved in the strike were dismissed, but reinstituted to their jobs a year later after the Secretary of State for the Colonies
assessed the case. During the one year break, he held jobs as a surveyor
, farmer, fisher and a clerk
in a law office. He was very popular as a lay preacher amongst rural villagers. He was interested in joining the ministry, but he lacked the proper education needed to enter the occupation. All during this time, he wrote articles in the Aurora, a newspaper edited by H. C. Bankole-Bright
. Wallace-Johnson considered Bankole-Bright to be the most influential person in his life at the time. Following a 1938 feud, Bankole-Bright would became Wallace-Johnson's political nemesis.
A year after being reinstated to his job in the customs department, he quit and enlisted as a clerk for the Carrier Corps
during World War I
. During the war, he served with a British infantry during military campaigns in Cameroon, East Africa and the Middle East. Wallace-Johnson received exposure to the world outside his tiny village. After being demobilized in 1920, he moved from job to job, unable to find a comfortable niche to settle in. While working as a clerk in the Freetown
municipal government, a corruption scandal erupted, involving the misappropriations of funds and equipment by top government officials, including the mayor. In his pamphlet regarding municipal governance in Freetown, A Cloud of Doom, Wallace-Johnson took credit for exposing the corruption. His exact role in the affair is not known, but no Sierra Leoneans ever challenged the veracity of his claim. In the aftermath of the scandal, the British revoked Freetown's rights to complete municipal self-government, believing that Africans, no matter how educated they were, could not govern themselves.
After being fired from his municipal government job in 1926, Wallace-Johnson left Sierra Leone to pursue other activities. According to , biographical details regarding Wallace-Johnson's activities during this time period are hard to discern, as Wallace-Johnson contradicted himself in his autobiographical notes and his personal reminisces. He took a job as either a sailor on an American ocean liner
sailing between the United States and Africa or as an engine hand for Elder Dempster Lines
; in an interview, he stated the former, while in a lecture at the Easter School he claimed the latter. He normally traveled to English-speaking areas, but on occasion, he journeyed to French, Spanish and Portuguese territories on the African continent. He joined the United Kingdom National Seamen's Union and supposedly edited the Seafarer, a newsletter which he and other black sailors distributed among ship crews. During his time off, he studied the working conditions for employees at ports along the western coast of Africa. It is believed that he joined the Communist Party during his time as a sailor, as the party had a history of recruiting among sailors who frequently visited seamen's clubs in port cities. In 1929, he began working in Sekondi
as a clerk in a trading company, but only held the job for a year before traveling to Nigeria.
. The founder of the union, Frank Macauley, had Communist affiliations, and it is believed that Wallace-Johnson engaged in Communist-related activities during this time. He represented the Sierra Leone Railway Workers' Union at the International Trade Union Conference of Negro Workers in Hamburg
, Germany
in July 1930 under the alias E. Richards. Speakers at the conference addressed concerns "relating to the economic situations and working conditions of the Negro workers". He established a number of contacts at the conference and was elected to its presidium
. Under the alias Wal. Daniels, he began publishing articles in the Negro Worker, the Conference's journal devoted to creating solidarity amongst black workers around the world. The journal advocated workers to take a proactive approach in addressing their work-related problems, instead of waiting for their employers or governments to address the issues.
The publication's platform greatly influenced Wallace-Johnson's later union-related activities in Sierra Leone and the Gold Coast
. Colonial governments perceived the Negro Worker to be a threat to peace and stability in the regions and quickly banned the distribution of the publication. In 1933, he became a member of the editorial board of the Negro Worker. Afterward, he met many prominent black Communists and attended the International Labor and Defence Conference in Moscow
, where he remained for almost 18 months. He claimed that he pursued studies at the People's University of the East in Marxist-Leninist
theory, political activism, and trade union organization and roomed with
Jomo Kenyatta
, the future colonial leader for whom Kenya was named after. It was here that became influenced by the Pan-Africanism George Padmore
, who was the Comintern
-appointed coordinator of Communist activities among blacks. He returned to Lagos
, Nigeria
in 1933, but was deported by authorities months later for his trade union activities.
On the invitation of R.B. Wuta-Ofei, editor of the Gold Coast Spectator, Wallace-Johnson settled in the Gold Coast, where he would gain his first experience in mass politics
. At the time, there had already been some anticolonial activity in the Gold Coast. A number of Gold Coasters published articles in the Negro Worker and others had attended the First International Conference of Negro Workers. Many individuals voiced their anticolonial sentiments in privately-operated newspapers. One noteworthy group of men who had strong anticolonial sentiments met at the house of Joseph Ocquaye, the founder of a private school in Nsawam
and manager of the Vox Populi newspaper. These men, all respected in their communities, belonged to the Aborigines Rights Protection Society, a once popular political force. They intended to either revive the political influence the society carried or to create a new organization altogether. The group, which became the predecessor to the Gold Coast chapter of the West African Youth League, found a fresh dynamic leader in Wallace-Johnson.
Wallace-Johnson did not immediately involve himself in Gold Coast politics. He surveyed the political atmosphere and reestablished connections he had made in his trips to Europe. Most of his activities involved political agitation
, as he began working with the Gold Coast Drivers' Union, and started contributing articles to local newspapers like the Gold Coast Spectator, the Vox Populi and the Gold Coast Provincial Pioneer. He also helped workers who suffered injustice by preparing legal documentation for cases. Overall, he tried to raise political expectations regarding peoples' rights and their ability to influence political decision-making. Through contacts in London
, he arranged for questions to be asked by sympathetic left wing Labour Party
members in the British Parliament about working conditions and rights in the colonies. Wallace-Johnson also established a new form of mass demonstrations, in which members of the traditional elite no longer dominated African politics. In Wallace-Johnson's reformation of mass meetings, ordinary citizens could vocalize their political opinions. These people took full advantage of the new system; they frequently lambasted colonial authorities and the political establishment, in general. The idea won Wallace-Johnson widespread acclaim and adulation.
He also initiated a fund to assist the legal appeal team in the Scottsboro case in the United States
. The case, in which nine young African-Americans were sentenced to death for raping two white women (who were found to have fabricated the entire story), sent shockwaves to liberal and radical political organizations around the world. The Communist Party sought to raise funds for the appeal, using the case as proof of the injustices suffered in a capitalist society. Wallace-Johnson used the case to rally Gold Coasters to support their brethren in the United States. He spoke at public events, claiming that black people could not be treated fairly in a white-dominated government. The colonial government, with full knowledge of Wallace-Johnson's political connections and his deportation from Nigeria, detained him for questioning, but did not arrest him. He used the experience to further his agenda in an article featured in the "Negro Worker". He stated that "British imperialists and white-washed missionaries" had tried to impede his fundraising activities.
He increased his campaigning for civil liberties and improved working conditions after a June 1934 mining disaster in Prestea
killed 41 people. At the time, there was no legislation providing the conditions and guidelines for workers' compensation
. Mining companies had poor safety records and they underpaid the families of miners injured or killed on the job. Wallace-Johnson disguised himself as a miner to witness first-hand the working conditions there. His experiences gained him some political leverage, which he used to convince the colonial government and the Colonial Office
to pass legislation that would improve working conditions and increase workers' compensation. Miners and relatives of the killed miners also protested at mass meetings, and liberal members of Parliament questioned the Conservative government regarding how they intended to address the matter.
as a haven of freedom or capitalist systems like the one in the United States as corrupt. His two most famous works, Das Sdrarstwuiet and The Declaration of Capitalism, were published multiple times in the Negro Worker and were widely received by the general public. In Das Sdrarstwuiet, Wallace-Johnson praised the freedoms given to citizens Soviet Union, while in The Declaration of Capitalism, he described the political oppression faced by those living in a capitalist society.
His writings made him popular in Accra
and other major cities in the Gold Coast. Colonial authorities were alarmed by Wallace-Johnson's support base, so they passed legislation prohibiting the importation of "dangerous" literature. Colonial governor Thomas Shenton W. Thomas proposed a sedition
bill in 1934, which he believed was needed to prevent the flow of seditious literature into the colony. He stated, "[e]veryone knows that there are in the world certain seditious organisations, whose aim appears to be the destruction of law and order. These organisations are very active, and hardly a country in the world is free from their attack. In consequence, most countries have found it necessary to protect themselves by law against such attack."
Meeting the criteria of seditious literature were the Negro Worker, publications of the International Committee of Negro Workers and the League against Imperialism
, and all works by George Padmore and Nancy Cunard
. Attached to the seditions legislation was a waterworks
bill, which would tax the municipalities of Accra, Sekondi, and Cape Coast
. These bills sparked political agitation by the social elite, who didn't want their freedom of speech and expression to be restricted, and by the lower-middle class, who had resisted the government's prior attempts to levy direct tax
es. Mass meetings were held, protests were organized, resolutions were passed and delegation to address the issues was proposed to be sent to England. However, Wallace-Johnson urged the populace not to send the delegation to England. He believed that more could be accomplished if people launched a grassroots movement by organizing protests and demonstrations in their home towns. Then, English people sympathetic to the colonies' problems could apply pressure on their government to get the laws revoked. Wallace-Johnson's plan worked: two members of Parliament
, who felt that the new laws were unreasonable, questioned the colonial secretary about the Sedition Act.
. The men believed that if the empire was restored, they would be denied a voice in political decision-making. Wallace-Johnson forwarded the group's petition against restoration to the League against Imperialism, but the league refused to support the group's request. Afterward, he wrote a pamphlet, describing his support for the restoration of the Ashanti Empire.
In 1935, Wallace-Johnson met Nnamdi Azikiwe
, the future nationalist
President of Nigeria
, in Accra. Azikiwe tried to dissociate himself from Wallace-Johnson's Marxist ideologies, as he believed that there was no chance that his own ideas were compatible with those of his fellow politician. Both men believed that a renaissance needed to occur in Africa, but they disagreed over the methods of doing so. Each man believed that his own idea would prevail in the future. Azikiwe described his first meeting with Wallace-Johnson as such:
Having already set the wheels in motion with his slew of speeches and activities and influenced by Azikiwe's ideas, Wallace-Johnson founded the West African Youth League
(WAYL) in June 1935 and was appointed its first organizing secretary. The members of the league took the motto "Liberty or Death", which cause some alarm among colonial authorities. The league's manifesto was heavily influenced by the Preamble to the United States Constitution
: "We the Youth of the Gold Coast (or whatever the section may be established) and of West Africa in general, in order to form a more united body to watch carefully and sincerely, affairs political, educational, economical and otherwise that may be to the interest of the masses of the motherland, to, sacrifice, if need be, all we have for the progress and liberty of our Country, and Race, and to, ensure happiness to ourselves and our posterity." The WAYL was intended to be an all-West African organization, even incorporating the people of nearby French and Portuguese colonies, however, this never came about. The WAYL focused on political and economic objectives, which, if reached, would produce "a standard of living worth humanity".
Their most important goal was to obtain parliamentary representation for the colonies in London, which would give people a greater voice in government. Like the earlier Aborigines Rights Protection Society and the National Congress of British West Africa
, the WAYL sought to protect natural and constitutional rights, liberties and privileges for the African populaces. However, the WAYL was more militant, and eagerly sought to lead the West African people through "economic, social and political emancipation". As Wallace-Johnson wrote in the Negro Worker, the league was trying to drive "towards the establishing of a foundation for national independence". The rhetoric of Wallace-Johnson and the WAYL utilized Marxist phraseology and Christian imagery in their political thought, but opposed European interpretations of Christianity because of its use as a justification for slavery and colonialism by some politicians. By 1936, the WAYL had established 17 branches in major cities throughout the Gold Coast.
The WAYL made their entrance into the political arena by supporting the Mambii Party and its candidate, Kojo Thompson, in his candidacy for the 1935 Legislative Council elections. Afterward, Wallace-Johnson equipped himself with new political tactics. He began attacking the "old school" generation of politicians, who he believed couldn't lead the future generations. He stated that "the work needs renewed zeal and energy. It needs new ideas and new visions." In one of the rare occasions that he agreed with Wallace-Johnson, Azikiwe voiced support for his colleague's statements in the African Morning Post. The political elite responded to Wallace-Johnson in a scathing article in the Gold Coast Independent, in which they reminded the WAYL that freedom of opinion did not entitle someone to "go out of their way to insult, abuse, slander, or libel any one". Wallace-Johnson was subjected to more attacks in the press; the Gold Coast Independent referred to Wallace-Johnson as a "jobless extremist" and stated that as a foreigner, he had no right to involve in Gold Coast elections. In July 1935, the paper went as far as to say that Wallace-Johnson was responsible for the passing of the Sedition Bill, which they claimed had been introduced just after he had entered the country.
Prior to the Legislative Council elections, the biggest problem facing the WAYL and the Mambii Party was the lack of suffrage for many of their supporters. Property and literacy requirements for voting were not a problem for the elite, but they were for Thompson's supporters. To combat this deficiency, the league employed some legal and illegal practices to make sure his supporters would be able to cast their vote. In one practice, the supporters who lacked suffrage were given fraudulent town council receipts, which stated their eligibility to vote. They were also given campaign badges
for the opposing candidate to avoid possible discrimination at the polls, as election officials were against the Mambii party and the WAYL. The government and social elite were outraged after Thompson was declared the winner of the election. F. V. Nanka-Bruce, a representative in the Legislative Council, filed a petition against the election return and won his appeal a year later.
In national politics, Wallace-Johnson and the WAYL also became active in pressing for passage of mine safety measures and workers' compensation and campaigned for the repeal the Levy Bill and the Kofi Sekyere Ordinance, among other things. Internationally, the WAYL supported causes pursued by liberal black and white groups, mostly focused in Great Britain. During the Second Italo-Abyssinian War
of 1935–1936, the WAYL seized opportunity to attack European imperialism
, without the risk of sedition
. With the Ex-Servicemen's Association, the WAYL established the Ethiopia Defense Committee, with the specific goal of educating the Gold Coast of the plight of the Ethiopia
ns and on "matters of racial and national importance" once the war was over. However, soon after, the league encountered some internal conflicts. Some members of the Ex-Servicemen's Association accused Wallace-Johnson of taking some of the money raised for the Ethiopian Defense Fund. Immediately, he resigned as the fund's organizer and joint secretary. He then proved to the league that he had not handled the accounts personally, so he could not have taken any money from the fund; however, some members of the Ex-Servicemen's Association remained unconvinced.
The WAYL also lost support from Azikiwe, who had become disenchanted with the league's radical activities. Since he refused to cover their activities in the African Morning Post, Wallace-Johnson decided that the league would have to establish its own newspaper, to be called the Dawn, to cover its activities, ideas and goals. He believed that the league's dwindling support issues would be resolved once the Dawn began publication. The first issue of the weekly newspaper was published on 24 October 1936, but only published on occasion over the next few months as the league struggled financially to maintain the newspaper.
By 1936, the league had established as a powerful force in the Gold Coast political scene. Colonial authorities and the elite class tried to find ways to get Wallace-Johnson out of local politics and possibly out of the country. Governor Arnold Weinholt Hodson
wrote to the Colonial Office, asking for suggestions:
While the Colonial Office discussed the possibility of deportation, Wallace-Johnson wrote an article entitled "Has the African a God?" in the African Morning Post. In the article, he condemned Christianity
, European civilization and imperialism and told Africans to go back to worshipping Ethiopia's God. On 6 June 1936, the police arrested Wallace-Johnson and Azikiwe, who had to be forced by the paper's proprietor to print the article, for sedition, in what the Negro Worker called "another dastardly plot intended to smash the Youth League". While he was imprisoned, Wallace-Johnson was told that Governor Hodson would drop the charges against him if he accepted terms for deportation. Wallace-Johnson was suspicious by this unusual gesture, so he questioned why the governor had made such a proposition. Hodson claimed that the government did not have a very good case and that they feared the influence Wallace-Johnson and the WAYL had over the populaces. He finally decided to accept the proposal after the governor offered him £
100. He feared that the government was going to set him up by arresting him for "fleeing justice" after his release. He told authorities to demonstrate their act of good faith by releasing his bail bondsman
and providing him with a written statement that he had been freed. The government was reluctant to take such action until Azikiwe pointed out that the government had opened themselves to this dilemma with their initial deportation proposal to Wallace-Johnson. Shortly after, they agreed to £50 to Wallace-Johnson, with the promise that the rest would be paid once he arrived in England.
However, the situation unfolded differently. Wallace-Johnson was told by the proprietor of the African Morning Post that the police commissioner
needed to see him as soon as possible. Wallace-Johnson suspected that he was being trapped, so he refused to go. He decided that he would rather travel to Freetown
before making his own plans to sail to England. However, this proposal was rejected by the government. Kojo Thompson then came to his house and informed him that the governor had withdrawn his deal and now wanted Wallace-Johnson to stand trial. The activist claimed that the "whole arrangement was a hoax and a dastard conspiracy to round me up in a more serious charge" and suspected that Thompson was somehow involved in the plot. Wallace-Johnson was put on trial in front of the Assize Court in July and quickly convicted and fined £50. Not all was lost for Wallace-Johnson—the publicity received by the trial helped increase WAYL membership by more than 1,500. In an anticipation of a guilt verdict
, Wallace-Johnson and the WAYL began preparing for his appeal to England's Privy Council and hoped to obtain an English barrister
to handle the case. The league asked their members to contribute five shilling
s to the appeal, but even then, the cost was far too great for the league to finance. After learning that the cost of taking a case to the Privy Council was approximately 1,000 pounds, Wallace-Johnson immediately suspected that Gold Coast authorities had known that the cost of appeal would place the league in financial ruin.
of the League against Imperialism, two strong contacts he had made years before in Accra. Ward and Bridgeman sought to publicize Wallace-Johnson's objectives for colonial reform. Using a cautionary approach, the two men suggested that Wallace-Johnson seek the support of sympathetic members of Parliament, make another attempt at meeting with the general secretary of the International Bureau of Youth, and contact leaders of the youth movement in England. He immediately started working on Ward and Bridgeman's suggestions. He met with interest groups and Labour Party politicians during the day and delivered speeches at public gatherings and rallies at night.
In order to create a lobby for the WAYL, Wallace-Johnson helped found International African Service Bureau
(IASB), with several West Indian
political and intellectual figures, including George Padmore
, C. L. R. James
, and T. Ras Makonnen
. He served as the bureau's general secretary and edited its paper, Africa and the World. He used the new affiliation between the WAYL and the bureau to address West African problems to the British general public. The bureau, similar in design and organization to the WAYL, intended to inform the public about the grievances faced by those in West Africa and created a list of desired reforms and freedoms that would help the colonies. The bureau also hoped to encourage new West African trade unions to affiliate themselves with the British labor movement. To further its interest, the bureau held weekly meetings at Hyde Park
, where members discussed labor strikes in the Caribbean
and Ethiopia
. It also supplied speakers to branches of the Labour Party, trade unions and the League of Nations Union and provided questions to be asked in front of Parliament regarding legislation, working conditions and trade union regulations.
During this time, the WAYL started to unravel, as no individual was capable of leading the organization as Wallace-Johnson had. Membership declined as employers and government officials threatened members with job dismissal or physical violence. The acting organizing secretary stated that it was difficult to get back these members, since they were so dependent on their employers or the government. It was reported that in some branches, only five or six members would show up at meetings. In his absence, Wallace-Johnson's political enemies spread a great deal of anti-WAYL propaganda. He wanted to return to the Gold Coast as soon as possible to resuscitate the organization, but he lacked the necessary funds for travel. His insufficient funds also affected his work in London, but nonetheless, he pursued claims on behalf of Gold Coast citizens. Eventually, his financial situation was so poor that he couldn't afford bus fare or meals and was even evicted from his room after he failed to pay the rent. Feeling increasingly despondent about his situation, Wallace-Johnson wrote in January 1938:
He decided to return back to Sierra Leone, after resigning as organizing secretary of the IASB after being accused of stealing money from the organization. Bridgeman and Wallace-Johnson's other colleagues recommended that he return to West Africa only after his appeal case had been presented before the Privy Council and even offered to pay for expenses.
in April 1938 for what he believed would be a short visit. He planned to return to England to pack up his belongings and then move to the United States, where he would not have to "bother about Africa any more as it is apparent that the people of Africa were not prepared to make a move". He was still upset about his political experiences in the Gold Coast and even considered withdrawing from political activism entirely, but he came to realize that his homeland Sierra Leone would be a perfect breeding ground for his political ideas and philosophies. The people of Sierra Leone, mostly the Krios, had lost confidence in their leaders and British colonial authorities during the 1920s. After the Great Depression
, Sierra Leone experienced a period of significant economic development and expansion. This was countered by negative industrial and social changes, which gave many working class Sierra Leoneans feelings of resentment and disappointment in the government. They were eager for change and a new face of leadership—something that Wallace-Johnson could provide. He offered the same promise for the Gold Coast, but since he was considered an outsider by many, he had limited success and many misfortunes while spreading his philosophies.
After landing in Freetown, customs agents seized from Wallace-Johnson 2,000 copies of the African Sentinel, a publication which the government considered seditious. Douglas James Jardine, the Governor of Sierra Leone, supported the seize, writing that "[i]t is most undesirable that such nonsense should be circulated among the population of Sierra Leone". Although the Colonial Office rejected the suggestion that the African Sentinel fell under the provisions of the Sedition Ordinance, the incident generated much publicity and convinced Wallace-Johnson to pursue his political exploits in Sierra Leone. He frequented town meetings to deliver speeches critical of the government's actions. In his articles for the Sierra Leone Weekly News, he criticized major politicians, praised the working class, and urged for the creation of an alliance determined toward fighting for rights and civil liberties.
Memorial Hall where Wallace-Johnson exercised his oratorical skill and urged mass support for the League's initiatives. The government downplayed the immense popularity of the WAYL, believing that the massive attendance at meetings was due to the "entertainment value" of speeches. In spite of that, the government had police spies keep track of the goings-on of the meetings.
According to , Wallace-Johnson's success with the WAYL was attributed to his "concrete militant efforts to publicize and combat the economic, political, and social dissatisfaction which by the late 1930s affected the lives of the majority of the population". One source of frustration stemmed from the lack of change in unemployment
and wages despite the recent discovery of mineral wealth in Sierra Leonean mines. Wallace-Johnson exploited this popular sense of "imbalance between rising expectations and actual living conditions" to rally support for the WAYL. Exploitative mining companies, both public and private, that profited from the mineral wealth of Sierra Leone while ignoring the very poor living and working conditions of the workers were consistent targets of his message. Utilizing his previous experiences in the Gold Coast labor movement, Wallace-Johnson helped organize eight trade unions in Sierra Leone: the Public Works Workers' Union, the War Department Amalgamated Workers' Union, the Mabella Coaling Company Workers' Union, the King Tom Docks Workers' Union, the All Seamen's Union, the Bonthe Amalgamated Workers' Union, the Pepel and Marampa Miners Workers' Union, and the Motorists' Union. Each union's objective was to obtain increased wages and better working conditions through collective bargaining
.
Wallace-Johnson's charisma and lack of pretentiousness made him well liked among Sierra Leoneans. At one point, he declared to working class Creoles, "I am not anything above yourselves. I am at par with you." His opponents conceded that Wallace-Johnson's "considerable personal magnetism for the masses" were admirable qualities. According to , Wallace-Johnson's most important characteristic was his "truculence and his apparent willingness to thumb his nose at officialdom". In public, he spoke jokingly of colonial officials who most Sierra Leoneans feared. He casually referred to officials on a first-name basis and criticized them "in diatribes and invectives the like of which had never before been heard in the Freetown society where decorum and savoir faire
were the hall-marks of the leaders". His associations with England's members of Parliament also lent credence to his reputation.
While not primarily a political party, the WAYL sponsored four candidates for local elections. The WAYL pioneered issue-oriented politics in Sierra Leone and was the first political group to make a concerted attempt to involve the people of the protectorate in the process. Despite restricted suffrage that favored the upper-class Creole elite, all four candidates were elected, including Constance Agatha Cummings-John, the first woman elected to public office in British West Africa. The results severely embarrassed the governor and establishment, especially as it followed the revelation of classified dispatches from the governor to the Colonial Office that signaled the governor's tacit approval of the abuses of the mining companies. The WAYL newspaper, African Standard, was modeled on several left-wing publications in the United Kingdom and was used to print news and editorials often regarded as seditious by senior establishment figures.
Wallace-Johnson was arrested on September 1, 1939, the first day of World War II
. Before then, the governor and his legal advisers were attempting to find a way to arrest and convict him for criminal libel, despite the lack of conclusive evidence favoring the prosecution. A series of six acts was passed by the Legislative Council, heavily restricting civil liberties. Added to the wartime emergency provisions, Wallace-Johnson could be arrested without justification. A trial was held without a jury (most of the jurors were WAYL supporters and probably would not vote for a conviction), and Wallace-Johnson was sentenced to 12 months in prison, eventually arriving at Sherbro Island
. He was released in 1944. He returned to political activism, but found the WAYL in a state of disarray where tribal and regional issues, rather than the cause of unity that he championed, flourished. nevertheless he was the representative of the WAYL at the foundation of the Pan-African Federation
, held in Manchester
, United Kingdom
, in 1944.
In 1950, Wallace-Johnson merged the WAYL into the new National Council of the Colony of Sierra Leone. However, he left the group in 1954 to found the United Sierra Leone Progressive Party. He remodeled himself as a Pan-Africanist and de-emphasized his earlier radicalism. He co-founded the United National People's Party
in 1956. The UPP became the official opposition after a general election in 1957. Wallace-Johnson was a delegate to the independence talks in London. He died in a car crash in Ghana
on May 10, 1965. His wife died in early 2008 in Freetown
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Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone , officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of and has an estimated population between 5.4 and 6.4...
an and British West Africa
British West Africa
British West Africa was the collective name for British colonies in West Africa during the colonial period, either in the general geographical sense or more specifically those comprised in a formal colonial administrative entity...
n workers' leader, journalist, activist and politician. Born into a poor Creole
Sierra Leone Creole people
The Sierra Leone Creoles, or Krios, are an ethnic group in Sierra Leone, descendants of West Indian slaves from the Caribbean, primarily from Jamaica; freed African American slaves from the Thirteen Colonies resettled from Nova Scotia; and Liberated Africans from various parts of Africa...
family in Sierra Leone, he emerged as a natural leader in school. After attending United Methodist Collegiate School for two years, he dropped out and took a job as an officer in the customs department in 1913. He was dismissed for helping organize a labor strike, but later reinstated to his position a year later. After resigning from his job, he enlisted as a clerk with the Carrier Corps
Carrier Corps
The Carrier Corps was a military organisation created in Kenya in World War I to provide military labour to support the British campaign against the German Military forces in East Africa, commanded by Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck....
during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. After being demobilized in 1920, Wallace-Johnson moved from job to job, before settling as a clerk in the Freetown
Freetown
Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone, a country in West Africa. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean located in the Western Area of the country, and had a city proper population of 772,873 at the 2004 census. The city is the economic, financial, and cultural center of...
municipal government. He claimed to have exposed a corruption
Political corruption
Political corruption is the use of legislated powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain. Misuse of government power for other purposes, such as repression of political opponents and general police brutality, is not considered political corruption. Neither are illegal acts by...
scandal, which resulted in the incarceration of top officials, including the mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
. After being fired from this job in 1926, he left Sierra Leone and became a sailor. He joined a national seamen union and it is believed that he also joined the Communist Party. In 1930, he helped form the first trade union in Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
and attended the International Trade Union Conference of Negro Workers in Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
, where he established a number of contacts. He published articles and edited
Copy editing
Copy editing is the work that an editor does to improve the formatting, style, and accuracy of text. Unlike general editing, copy editing might not involve changing the substance of the text. Copy refers to written or typewritten text for typesetting, printing, or publication...
the Negro Worker, a journal devoted to uniting black workers around the world. He traveled to Moscow, where he claimed to have attended classes on Marxism-Leninism
Marxism-Leninism
Marxism–Leninism is a communist ideology, officially based upon the theories of Marxism and Vladimir Lenin, that promotes the development and creation of a international communist society through the leadership of a vanguard party over a revolutionary socialist state that represents a dictatorship...
theory, union organization and political agitation
Agitator
An agitator is a person who actively supports some ideology or movement with speeches and especially actions. The Agitators were a political movement as well as elected representatives of soldiers, including the New Model Army of Oliver Cromwell, during the English Civil War. They were also known...
.
Within a few months of returning to Nigeria in 1933, he was deported by authorities for his illicit trade union activities. He traveled to the Gold Coast
Gold Coast (British colony)
The Gold Coast was a British colony on the Gulf of Guinea in west Africa that became the independent nation of Ghana in 1957.-Overview:The first Europeans to arrive at the coast were the Portuguese in 1471. They encountered a variety of African kingdoms, some of which controlled substantial...
, where he quickly established himself as a political activist and journalist. An agitator
Agitator
An agitator is a person who actively supports some ideology or movement with speeches and especially actions. The Agitators were a political movement as well as elected representatives of soldiers, including the New Model Army of Oliver Cromwell, during the English Civil War. They were also known...
, he managed a fund
Fundraising
Fundraising or fund raising is the process of soliciting and gathering voluntary contributions as money or other resources, by requesting donations from individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies...
to finance the appeal of the nine African Americans given the death penalty in the Scottsboro case and also campaigned for legislation on workers' compensation
Workers' compensation
Workers' compensation is a form of insurance providing wage replacement and medical benefits to employees injured in the course of employment in exchange for mandatory relinquishment of the employee's right to sue his or her employer for the tort of negligence...
and strict safety regulations after the deadly Prestea
Prestea
Prestea is a town in southwest Ghana. It lies on the west bank of the Ankobra River, about 60 mi northwest of Cape coast.- Transport :It is the terminus of a railway branchline linked with Tarkwa and Sekondi-Takoradi.- External links :...
mining disaster of June 1934. In his writings during this era, Wallace-Johnson glorified the Communist government of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
and expressed his disdain for capitalist
Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
societies. Soon, the colonial government passed the Sedition Act, a piece of legislation prohibiting the importation of "seditious" literature, which included works from the Negro Worker. In 1934, Wallace-Johnson became the subject of scathing articles in the Gold Coast Independent, in which he was accused of ruining the political atmosphere in the country. After meeting Nnamdi Azikiwe
Nnamdi Azikiwe
Benjamin Nnamdi Azikiwe , usually referred to as Nnamdi Azikiwe and popularly known as "Zik", was one of the leading figures of modern Nigerian nationalism who became the first President of Nigeria after Nigeria secured its independence from the United Kingdom on 1 October 1960; holding the...
in 1935, he formed the West African Youth League
West African Youth League
The West African Youth League was a political organisation founded by I. T. A. Wallace-Johnson in June 1935. The group was a major political force against the colonial government in West Africa, especially in the Gold Coast and Sierra Leone....
, an organization dedicated to obtaining more liberties and privileges for the Gold Coast population. Wallace-Johnson and the WAYL entered the Gold Coast political scene by supporting Kojo Thompson in his successful candidacy in the Legislative Council elections of 1935. During the Second Italo-Abyssinian War
Second Italo-Abyssinian War
The Second Italo–Abyssinian War was a colonial war that started in October 1935 and ended in May 1936. The war was fought between the armed forces of the Kingdom of Italy and the armed forces of the Ethiopian Empire...
, Wallace-Johnson and the WAYL vocalized their harsh sentiments toward European imperialism and helped establish the Ethiopian Defense Fund with the purpose of educating the populaces on matters of national and racial importance. In 1936, Wallace-Johnson was arrested for sedition after publishing an article in the African Morning Post condemning Christianity, European civilization and imperialism. The colonial governor proposed that he be deported in lieu of being put on trial. After Wallace-Johnson accepted this offer, the governor went back on his word and had the political activist placed on trial in front of the Assize Court. Wallace-Johnson traveled to London to appeal his conviction and to also establish connections for the WAYL.
He returned to Sierra Leone in 1938 and established a number of labor unions, a newspaper and a political movement. He significantly raised membership for the WAYL and helped pioneer issue-oriented politics in Sierra Leone. The WAYL became the first political group to make an effort toward including the general population in the electoral process. Wallace-Johnson also campaigned for improved salaries and working conditions for workers, national unity and an increased civic role for women. Through the WAYL newspaper, the African Standard, he published a number of articles highly critical of top government officials. He was arrested on 1 September 1939 under the Emergency Act adopted at the start of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
earlier that day. Wallace-Johnson was put on trial without a jury (who would have been sympathetic to his cause, as had been seen in previous cases against him) and received a 12-month prison sentence. He was held at Sherbro Island
Sherbro Island
Sherbro Island, is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, located in Bonthe District off the Southern Province of Sierra Leone. The Sherbro make up by far the largest ethnic group in the island....
before being released in 1944. He returned to political activism, but found the WAYL in a state of disarray. He merged the league into the National Council of Sierra Leone
National Council of Sierra Leone
The National Council of Sierra Leone was the main opposition party in Sierra Leone in the early 1950s.The organisation was founded by former members of the Sierra Leonean branch of the National Congress of British West Africa around Herbert Bankole-Bright and Isaac Wallace-Johnson in 1950...
and formed his own political parties during 1950s, embracing Pan-Africanism
Pan-Africanism
Pan-Africanism is a movement that seeks to unify African people or people living in Africa, into a "one African community". Differing types of Pan-Africanism seek different levels of economic, racial, social, or political unity...
and distancing himself from his earlier radicalism. He served as a delegate for Sierra Leone during independence talks in London in 1960. He died in a car crash in Ghana
Ghana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
in May 1965.
Early life
Sierra Leone Creole people
The Sierra Leone Creoles, or Krios, are an ethnic group in Sierra Leone, descendants of West Indian slaves from the Caribbean, primarily from Jamaica; freed African American slaves from the Thirteen Colonies resettled from Nova Scotia; and Liberated Africans from various parts of Africa...
parents in Wilberforce
Wilberforce, Sierra Leone
Wilberforce is an area in Freetown, Sierra Leone. It is the highest point in the city and is also home to several foreign embassies, including China, Gambia, Germany, Liberia, Lebanon, Libya, Syria, and Austria...
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone , officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of and has an estimated population between 5.4 and 6.4...
, a village adjoining the capital city, Freetown
Freetown
Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone, a country in West Africa. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean located in the Western Area of the country, and had a city proper population of 772,873 at the 2004 census. The city is the economic, financial, and cultural center of...
. His father was a farmer, while his mother was a fishwife
Fishmonger
A fishmonger is someone who sells fish and seafood...
who sold her goods in markets in neighboring villages. Many of his relatives held low-status jobs involving craftsmanship, carpentry
Carpentry
A carpenter is a skilled craftsperson who works with timber to construct, install and maintain buildings, furniture, and other objects. The work, known as carpentry, may involve manual labor and work outdoors....
and masonry
Masonry
Masonry is the building of structures from individual units laid in and bound together by mortar; the term masonry can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are brick, stone, marble, granite, travertine, limestone; concrete block, glass block, stucco, and...
. His poor upbringing and low social status influenced his understanding and empathy of the working class
Working class
Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
, as seen in his early association with communism
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
and later, his leadership in the West African labor movement.
Wallace-Johnson received his primary education at Centenary Tabernacle Day School before entering United Methodist Collegiate School in 1911. There, he engaged in numerous leadership activities. On one such occasion, he led his classmates in a protest against unreasonable punishment by school authorities. He also edited the school's newspaper, Wall Paper. He dropped out two years later to support his family. He was first employed as a temporary outdoor officer at the customs department. Soon, he became a permanent employee of the department. He became involved in a labor strike for increased pay and better working conditions
Occupational safety and health
Occupational safety and health is a cross-disciplinary area concerned with protecting the safety, health and welfare of people engaged in work or employment. The goal of all occupational safety and health programs is to foster a safe work environment...
. It is widely believed that Wallace-Johnson led the strike, but this fact remains uncertain. All employees involved in the strike were dismissed, but reinstituted to their jobs a year later after the Secretary of State for the Colonies
Secretary of State for the Colonies
The Secretary of State for the Colonies or Colonial Secretary was the British Cabinet minister in charge of managing the United Kingdom's various colonial dependencies....
assessed the case. During the one year break, he held jobs as a surveyor
Surveying
See Also: Public Land Survey SystemSurveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, and science of accurately determining the terrestrial or three-dimensional position of points and the distances and angles between them...
, farmer, fisher and a clerk
Law clerk
A law clerk or a judicial clerk is a person who provides assistance to a judge in researching issues before the court and in writing opinions. Law clerks are not court clerks or courtroom deputies, who are administrative staff for the court. Most law clerks are recent law school graduates who...
in a law office. He was very popular as a lay preacher amongst rural villagers. He was interested in joining the ministry, but he lacked the proper education needed to enter the occupation. All during this time, he wrote articles in the Aurora, a newspaper edited by H. C. Bankole-Bright
Herbert Bankole-Bright
Herbert Christian Bankole-Bright was a well-known politician in Sierra Leone.-Early life:Herbert Bankole-Bright was born in Okrika, Nigeria on August 23rd 1883. Bright was the son of Jacob 'Galba' and Letitia Bright, descendants of Sierra Leone Liberated Africans...
. Wallace-Johnson considered Bankole-Bright to be the most influential person in his life at the time. Following a 1938 feud, Bankole-Bright would became Wallace-Johnson's political nemesis.
A year after being reinstated to his job in the customs department, he quit and enlisted as a clerk for the Carrier Corps
Carrier Corps
The Carrier Corps was a military organisation created in Kenya in World War I to provide military labour to support the British campaign against the German Military forces in East Africa, commanded by Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck....
during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. During the war, he served with a British infantry during military campaigns in Cameroon, East Africa and the Middle East. Wallace-Johnson received exposure to the world outside his tiny village. After being demobilized in 1920, he moved from job to job, unable to find a comfortable niche to settle in. While working as a clerk in the Freetown
Freetown
Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone, a country in West Africa. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean located in the Western Area of the country, and had a city proper population of 772,873 at the 2004 census. The city is the economic, financial, and cultural center of...
municipal government, a corruption scandal erupted, involving the misappropriations of funds and equipment by top government officials, including the mayor. In his pamphlet regarding municipal governance in Freetown, A Cloud of Doom, Wallace-Johnson took credit for exposing the corruption. His exact role in the affair is not known, but no Sierra Leoneans ever challenged the veracity of his claim. In the aftermath of the scandal, the British revoked Freetown's rights to complete municipal self-government, believing that Africans, no matter how educated they were, could not govern themselves.
After being fired from his municipal government job in 1926, Wallace-Johnson left Sierra Leone to pursue other activities. According to , biographical details regarding Wallace-Johnson's activities during this time period are hard to discern, as Wallace-Johnson contradicted himself in his autobiographical notes and his personal reminisces. He took a job as either a sailor on an American ocean liner
Ocean liner
An ocean liner is a ship designed to transport people from one seaport to another along regular long-distance maritime routes according to a schedule. Liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes .Cargo vessels running to a schedule are sometimes referred to as...
sailing between the United States and Africa or as an engine hand for Elder Dempster Lines
Elder Dempster Lines
Elder Dempster Lines was a British shipping company which operated from 1932 to 2000, although its origins stretch back into the mid-19th century.-History:Elder Dempster and Company started trading as the African Steamship Company in 1852...
; in an interview, he stated the former, while in a lecture at the Easter School he claimed the latter. He normally traveled to English-speaking areas, but on occasion, he journeyed to French, Spanish and Portuguese territories on the African continent. He joined the United Kingdom National Seamen's Union and supposedly edited the Seafarer, a newsletter which he and other black sailors distributed among ship crews. During his time off, he studied the working conditions for employees at ports along the western coast of Africa. It is believed that he joined the Communist Party during his time as a sailor, as the party had a history of recruiting among sailors who frequently visited seamen's clubs in port cities. In 1929, he began working in Sekondi
Sekondi-Takoradi
Sekondi-Takoradi, population 335,000 , comprising the twin cities of Sekondi and Takoradi, is the capital of the Western Region of Ghana. It is Ghana's fourth largest city and an industrial and commercial center. The chief industries are timber, plywood, shipbuilding and railroad repair and...
as a clerk in a trading company, but only held the job for a year before traveling to Nigeria.
Union organizer and communist affiliations
In 1930, he helped form the Nigerian Workers' Union, the first trade union in NigeriaNigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
. The founder of the union, Frank Macauley, had Communist affiliations, and it is believed that Wallace-Johnson engaged in Communist-related activities during this time. He represented the Sierra Leone Railway Workers' Union at the International Trade Union Conference of Negro Workers in Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
in July 1930 under the alias E. Richards. Speakers at the conference addressed concerns "relating to the economic situations and working conditions of the Negro workers". He established a number of contacts at the conference and was elected to its presidium
Presidium
The presidium or praesidium is the name for the heading organ of various legislative and organizational bodies.-Historical usage:...
. Under the alias Wal. Daniels, he began publishing articles in the Negro Worker, the Conference's journal devoted to creating solidarity amongst black workers around the world. The journal advocated workers to take a proactive approach in addressing their work-related problems, instead of waiting for their employers or governments to address the issues.
The publication's platform greatly influenced Wallace-Johnson's later union-related activities in Sierra Leone and the Gold Coast
Gold Coast (British colony)
The Gold Coast was a British colony on the Gulf of Guinea in west Africa that became the independent nation of Ghana in 1957.-Overview:The first Europeans to arrive at the coast were the Portuguese in 1471. They encountered a variety of African kingdoms, some of which controlled substantial...
. Colonial governments perceived the Negro Worker to be a threat to peace and stability in the regions and quickly banned the distribution of the publication. In 1933, he became a member of the editorial board of the Negro Worker. Afterward, he met many prominent black Communists and attended the International Labor and Defence Conference in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, where he remained for almost 18 months. He claimed that he pursued studies at the People's University of the East in Marxist-Leninist
Marxism-Leninism
Marxism–Leninism is a communist ideology, officially based upon the theories of Marxism and Vladimir Lenin, that promotes the development and creation of a international communist society through the leadership of a vanguard party over a revolutionary socialist state that represents a dictatorship...
theory, political activism, and trade union organization and roomed with
Roommate
A roommate is a person who shares a living facility such as an apartment or dormitory. Similar terms include suitemate, housemate, flatmate , or sharemate...
Jomo Kenyatta
Jomo Kenyatta
Jomo Kenyattapron.] served as the first Prime Minister and President of Kenya. He is considered the founding father of the Kenyan nation....
, the future colonial leader for whom Kenya was named after. It was here that became influenced by the Pan-Africanism George Padmore
George Padmore
George Padmore , born Malcolm Ivan Meredith Nurse, was a Trinidadian communist who became a leading Pan-Africanist in his later years.-Early years:...
, who was the Comintern
Comintern
The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern, also known as the Third International, was an international communist organization initiated in Moscow during March 1919...
-appointed coordinator of Communist activities among blacks. He returned to Lagos
Lagos
Lagos is a port and the most populous conurbation in Nigeria. With a population of 7,937,932, it is currently the third most populous city in Africa after Cairo and Kinshasa, and currently estimated to be the second fastest growing city in Africa...
, Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
in 1933, but was deported by authorities months later for his trade union activities.
Gold Coast politics
Mass politics
Mass politics is a political order resting on the emergence of mass political parties.The emergence of mass politics generally associated with the rise of mass society coinciding with the Industrial Revolution in the West around the time of President Andrew Jackson...
. At the time, there had already been some anticolonial activity in the Gold Coast. A number of Gold Coasters published articles in the Negro Worker and others had attended the First International Conference of Negro Workers. Many individuals voiced their anticolonial sentiments in privately-operated newspapers. One noteworthy group of men who had strong anticolonial sentiments met at the house of Joseph Ocquaye, the founder of a private school in Nsawam
Nsawam
Nsawam is a town in the Eastern Region of Ghana approximately 40 km northwest from the capital, Accra. It is controlled by the Akwapim Society....
and manager of the Vox Populi newspaper. These men, all respected in their communities, belonged to the Aborigines Rights Protection Society, a once popular political force. They intended to either revive the political influence the society carried or to create a new organization altogether. The group, which became the predecessor to the Gold Coast chapter of the West African Youth League, found a fresh dynamic leader in Wallace-Johnson.
Wallace-Johnson did not immediately involve himself in Gold Coast politics. He surveyed the political atmosphere and reestablished connections he had made in his trips to Europe. Most of his activities involved political agitation
Agitator
An agitator is a person who actively supports some ideology or movement with speeches and especially actions. The Agitators were a political movement as well as elected representatives of soldiers, including the New Model Army of Oliver Cromwell, during the English Civil War. They were also known...
, as he began working with the Gold Coast Drivers' Union, and started contributing articles to local newspapers like the Gold Coast Spectator, the Vox Populi and the Gold Coast Provincial Pioneer. He also helped workers who suffered injustice by preparing legal documentation for cases. Overall, he tried to raise political expectations regarding peoples' rights and their ability to influence political decision-making. Through contacts in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, he arranged for questions to be asked by sympathetic left wing Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
members in the British Parliament about working conditions and rights in the colonies. Wallace-Johnson also established a new form of mass demonstrations, in which members of the traditional elite no longer dominated African politics. In Wallace-Johnson's reformation of mass meetings, ordinary citizens could vocalize their political opinions. These people took full advantage of the new system; they frequently lambasted colonial authorities and the political establishment, in general. The idea won Wallace-Johnson widespread acclaim and adulation.
He also initiated a fund to assist the legal appeal team in the Scottsboro case in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The case, in which nine young African-Americans were sentenced to death for raping two white women (who were found to have fabricated the entire story), sent shockwaves to liberal and radical political organizations around the world. The Communist Party sought to raise funds for the appeal, using the case as proof of the injustices suffered in a capitalist society. Wallace-Johnson used the case to rally Gold Coasters to support their brethren in the United States. He spoke at public events, claiming that black people could not be treated fairly in a white-dominated government. The colonial government, with full knowledge of Wallace-Johnson's political connections and his deportation from Nigeria, detained him for questioning, but did not arrest him. He used the experience to further his agenda in an article featured in the "Negro Worker". He stated that "British imperialists and white-washed missionaries" had tried to impede his fundraising activities.
He increased his campaigning for civil liberties and improved working conditions after a June 1934 mining disaster in Prestea
Prestea
Prestea is a town in southwest Ghana. It lies on the west bank of the Ankobra River, about 60 mi northwest of Cape coast.- Transport :It is the terminus of a railway branchline linked with Tarkwa and Sekondi-Takoradi.- External links :...
killed 41 people. At the time, there was no legislation providing the conditions and guidelines for workers' compensation
Workers' compensation
Workers' compensation is a form of insurance providing wage replacement and medical benefits to employees injured in the course of employment in exchange for mandatory relinquishment of the employee's right to sue his or her employer for the tort of negligence...
. Mining companies had poor safety records and they underpaid the families of miners injured or killed on the job. Wallace-Johnson disguised himself as a miner to witness first-hand the working conditions there. His experiences gained him some political leverage, which he used to convince the colonial government and the Colonial Office
Secretary of State for the Colonies
The Secretary of State for the Colonies or Colonial Secretary was the British Cabinet minister in charge of managing the United Kingdom's various colonial dependencies....
to pass legislation that would improve working conditions and increase workers' compensation. Miners and relatives of the killed miners also protested at mass meetings, and liberal members of Parliament questioned the Conservative government regarding how they intended to address the matter.
Other writings and Sedition Act
Besides publishing articles in the Negro Worker and other newspapers, Wallace-Johnson also wrote poetry and essays. Many of his writings have been lost, but those that are available offer insight into his innermost thoughts. He typically portrayed the Soviet UnionSoviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
as a haven of freedom or capitalist systems like the one in the United States as corrupt. His two most famous works, Das Sdrarstwuiet and The Declaration of Capitalism, were published multiple times in the Negro Worker and were widely received by the general public. In Das Sdrarstwuiet, Wallace-Johnson praised the freedoms given to citizens Soviet Union, while in The Declaration of Capitalism, he described the political oppression faced by those living in a capitalist society.
His writings made him popular in Accra
Accra
Accra is the capital and largest city of Ghana, with an urban population of 1,658,937 according to the 2000 census. Accra is also the capital of the Greater Accra Region and of the Accra Metropolitan District, with which it is coterminous...
and other major cities in the Gold Coast. Colonial authorities were alarmed by Wallace-Johnson's support base, so they passed legislation prohibiting the importation of "dangerous" literature. Colonial governor Thomas Shenton W. Thomas proposed a sedition
Sedition
In law, sedition is overt conduct, such as speech and organization, that is deemed by the legal authority to tend toward insurrection against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent to lawful authority. Sedition may include any...
bill in 1934, which he believed was needed to prevent the flow of seditious literature into the colony. He stated, "[e]veryone knows that there are in the world certain seditious organisations, whose aim appears to be the destruction of law and order. These organisations are very active, and hardly a country in the world is free from their attack. In consequence, most countries have found it necessary to protect themselves by law against such attack."
Meeting the criteria of seditious literature were the Negro Worker, publications of the International Committee of Negro Workers and the League against Imperialism
League against Imperialism
The League against Imperialism was founded in the Egmont Palace in Brussels, Belgium, on February 10, 1927, in presence of 175 delegates, among which 107 came from 37 countries under colonial rule. The Congress aimed at creating a "mass anti-imperialist movement" at a world scale, and was...
, and all works by George Padmore and Nancy Cunard
Nancy Cunard
Nancy Clara Cunard was a writer, heiress and political activist. She was born into the British upper class but strongly rejected her family's values, devoting much of her life to fighting racism and fascism...
. Attached to the seditions legislation was a waterworks
Water supply
Water supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations, community endeavours or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes...
bill, which would tax the municipalities of Accra, Sekondi, and Cape Coast
Cape Coast
Cape Coast, or Cabo Corso, is the capital of the Central Region of Ghana and is also the capital city of the Fante people, or Mfantsefo. It is situated 165 km west of Accra on the Gulf of Guinea. It has a population of 82,291 . From the 16th century the city has changed hands between the...
. These bills sparked political agitation by the social elite, who didn't want their freedom of speech and expression to be restricted, and by the lower-middle class, who had resisted the government's prior attempts to levy direct tax
Direct tax
The term direct tax generally means a tax paid directly to the government by the persons on whom it is imposed.-General meaning:In the general sense, a direct tax is one paid directly to the government by the persons on whom it is imposed...
es. Mass meetings were held, protests were organized, resolutions were passed and delegation to address the issues was proposed to be sent to England. However, Wallace-Johnson urged the populace not to send the delegation to England. He believed that more could be accomplished if people launched a grassroots movement by organizing protests and demonstrations in their home towns. Then, English people sympathetic to the colonies' problems could apply pressure on their government to get the laws revoked. Wallace-Johnson's plan worked: two members of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
, who felt that the new laws were unreasonable, questioned the colonial secretary about the Sedition Act.
West African Youth League
From September 1934, Wallace-Johnson became the subject of scathing articles in the Gold Coast Independent. The headline of one such article read "Meddlesome Wallace-Johnson Must Either Shut Up or Get Out: The Gold Coast Wants Helpers Not Rabid Confusionists." The author of the vehement attack article, speculated to be the editor of the paper, told Wallace-Johnson to go to Liberia, where he could become president, or to Nigeria. He believed that if the leader's actions were not suppressed, the "country and its vital interests [would be] in hopeless ruin." Soon after, a press war erupted between the Gold Coast Independent and two papers supporting Wallace-Johnson, the Gold Coast Spectator and the Vox Populi. Wallace-Johnson had the final word after publishing a group of articles in the Vox Populi profiling the conflict, entitled "The Gold Coast Independent and Myself". He also briefly associated with the Friends of Ashanti Freedom Society, a group composed of young educated men who opposed the restoration of the Ashanti EmpireAshanti Empire
The Ashanti Empire , also Asanteman was a West Africa state of the Ashanti people, the Akan people of the Ashanti Region, now in Ghana. The Ashanti or Asante are a major ethnic group in Ghana, a powerful, militaristic and highly disciplined people of West Africa...
. The men believed that if the empire was restored, they would be denied a voice in political decision-making. Wallace-Johnson forwarded the group's petition against restoration to the League against Imperialism, but the league refused to support the group's request. Afterward, he wrote a pamphlet, describing his support for the restoration of the Ashanti Empire.
In 1935, Wallace-Johnson met Nnamdi Azikiwe
Nnamdi Azikiwe
Benjamin Nnamdi Azikiwe , usually referred to as Nnamdi Azikiwe and popularly known as "Zik", was one of the leading figures of modern Nigerian nationalism who became the first President of Nigeria after Nigeria secured its independence from the United Kingdom on 1 October 1960; holding the...
, the future nationalist
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
President of Nigeria
President of Nigeria
The President of Nigeria is the Head of State and head of the national executive. Officially styled President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces. The current President of Nigeria is Goodluck Jonathan.-History:On October 1, 1960, Nigeria gained...
, in Accra. Azikiwe tried to dissociate himself from Wallace-Johnson's Marxist ideologies, as he believed that there was no chance that his own ideas were compatible with those of his fellow politician. Both men believed that a renaissance needed to occur in Africa, but they disagreed over the methods of doing so. Each man believed that his own idea would prevail in the future. Azikiwe described his first meeting with Wallace-Johnson as such:
Having already set the wheels in motion with his slew of speeches and activities and influenced by Azikiwe's ideas, Wallace-Johnson founded the West African Youth League
West African Youth League
The West African Youth League was a political organisation founded by I. T. A. Wallace-Johnson in June 1935. The group was a major political force against the colonial government in West Africa, especially in the Gold Coast and Sierra Leone....
(WAYL) in June 1935 and was appointed its first organizing secretary. The members of the league took the motto "Liberty or Death", which cause some alarm among colonial authorities. The league's manifesto was heavily influenced by the Preamble to the United States Constitution
Preamble to the United States Constitution
The Preamble to the United States Constitution is a brief introductory statement of the Constitution's fundamental purposes and guiding principles...
: "We the Youth of the Gold Coast (or whatever the section may be established) and of West Africa in general, in order to form a more united body to watch carefully and sincerely, affairs political, educational, economical and otherwise that may be to the interest of the masses of the motherland, to, sacrifice, if need be, all we have for the progress and liberty of our Country, and Race, and to, ensure happiness to ourselves and our posterity." The WAYL was intended to be an all-West African organization, even incorporating the people of nearby French and Portuguese colonies, however, this never came about. The WAYL focused on political and economic objectives, which, if reached, would produce "a standard of living worth humanity".
Their most important goal was to obtain parliamentary representation for the colonies in London, which would give people a greater voice in government. Like the earlier Aborigines Rights Protection Society and the National Congress of British West Africa
National Congress of British West Africa
The National Congress of British West Africa , founded in 1920, was the earliest nationalist organization in West Africa, and one of the earliest formal organizations working toward African emancipation...
, the WAYL sought to protect natural and constitutional rights, liberties and privileges for the African populaces. However, the WAYL was more militant, and eagerly sought to lead the West African people through "economic, social and political emancipation". As Wallace-Johnson wrote in the Negro Worker, the league was trying to drive "towards the establishing of a foundation for national independence". The rhetoric of Wallace-Johnson and the WAYL utilized Marxist phraseology and Christian imagery in their political thought, but opposed European interpretations of Christianity because of its use as a justification for slavery and colonialism by some politicians. By 1936, the WAYL had established 17 branches in major cities throughout the Gold Coast.
The WAYL made their entrance into the political arena by supporting the Mambii Party and its candidate, Kojo Thompson, in his candidacy for the 1935 Legislative Council elections. Afterward, Wallace-Johnson equipped himself with new political tactics. He began attacking the "old school" generation of politicians, who he believed couldn't lead the future generations. He stated that "the work needs renewed zeal and energy. It needs new ideas and new visions." In one of the rare occasions that he agreed with Wallace-Johnson, Azikiwe voiced support for his colleague's statements in the African Morning Post. The political elite responded to Wallace-Johnson in a scathing article in the Gold Coast Independent, in which they reminded the WAYL that freedom of opinion did not entitle someone to "go out of their way to insult, abuse, slander, or libel any one". Wallace-Johnson was subjected to more attacks in the press; the Gold Coast Independent referred to Wallace-Johnson as a "jobless extremist" and stated that as a foreigner, he had no right to involve in Gold Coast elections. In July 1935, the paper went as far as to say that Wallace-Johnson was responsible for the passing of the Sedition Bill, which they claimed had been introduced just after he had entered the country.
Prior to the Legislative Council elections, the biggest problem facing the WAYL and the Mambii Party was the lack of suffrage for many of their supporters. Property and literacy requirements for voting were not a problem for the elite, but they were for Thompson's supporters. To combat this deficiency, the league employed some legal and illegal practices to make sure his supporters would be able to cast their vote. In one practice, the supporters who lacked suffrage were given fraudulent town council receipts, which stated their eligibility to vote. They were also given campaign badges
Campaign button
A campaign button is used in the United States during an election as political advertising for a candidate or political party, or to proclaim the issues that are part of the political platform. Political buttons date as far back as President George Washington. They have taken many forms as the...
for the opposing candidate to avoid possible discrimination at the polls, as election officials were against the Mambii party and the WAYL. The government and social elite were outraged after Thompson was declared the winner of the election. F. V. Nanka-Bruce, a representative in the Legislative Council, filed a petition against the election return and won his appeal a year later.
In national politics, Wallace-Johnson and the WAYL also became active in pressing for passage of mine safety measures and workers' compensation and campaigned for the repeal the Levy Bill and the Kofi Sekyere Ordinance, among other things. Internationally, the WAYL supported causes pursued by liberal black and white groups, mostly focused in Great Britain. During the Second Italo-Abyssinian War
Second Italo-Abyssinian War
The Second Italo–Abyssinian War was a colonial war that started in October 1935 and ended in May 1936. The war was fought between the armed forces of the Kingdom of Italy and the armed forces of the Ethiopian Empire...
of 1935–1936, the WAYL seized opportunity to attack European imperialism
Imperialism
Imperialism, as defined by Dictionary of Human Geography, is "the creation and/or maintenance of an unequal economic, cultural, and territorial relationships, usually between states and often in the form of an empire, based on domination and subordination." The imperialism of the last 500 years,...
, without the risk of sedition
Sedition
In law, sedition is overt conduct, such as speech and organization, that is deemed by the legal authority to tend toward insurrection against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent to lawful authority. Sedition may include any...
. With the Ex-Servicemen's Association, the WAYL established the Ethiopia Defense Committee, with the specific goal of educating the Gold Coast of the plight of the Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
ns and on "matters of racial and national importance" once the war was over. However, soon after, the league encountered some internal conflicts. Some members of the Ex-Servicemen's Association accused Wallace-Johnson of taking some of the money raised for the Ethiopian Defense Fund. Immediately, he resigned as the fund's organizer and joint secretary. He then proved to the league that he had not handled the accounts personally, so he could not have taken any money from the fund; however, some members of the Ex-Servicemen's Association remained unconvinced.
The WAYL also lost support from Azikiwe, who had become disenchanted with the league's radical activities. Since he refused to cover their activities in the African Morning Post, Wallace-Johnson decided that the league would have to establish its own newspaper, to be called the Dawn, to cover its activities, ideas and goals. He believed that the league's dwindling support issues would be resolved once the Dawn began publication. The first issue of the weekly newspaper was published on 24 October 1936, but only published on occasion over the next few months as the league struggled financially to maintain the newspaper.
Arrest and trial
Arnold Weinholt Hodson
Sir Arnold Wienholt Hodson , KCMG was a British colonial administrator who was Governor in turn of the Falkland Islands, Sierra Leone and the Gold Coast.-Background:Hodson was born in Bovey Tracey, Devonshire, in 1881...
wrote to the Colonial Office, asking for suggestions:
While the Colonial Office discussed the possibility of deportation, Wallace-Johnson wrote an article entitled "Has the African a God?" in the African Morning Post. In the article, he condemned Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
, European civilization and imperialism and told Africans to go back to worshipping Ethiopia's God. On 6 June 1936, the police arrested Wallace-Johnson and Azikiwe, who had to be forced by the paper's proprietor to print the article, for sedition, in what the Negro Worker called "another dastardly plot intended to smash the Youth League". While he was imprisoned, Wallace-Johnson was told that Governor Hodson would drop the charges against him if he accepted terms for deportation. Wallace-Johnson was suspicious by this unusual gesture, so he questioned why the governor had made such a proposition. Hodson claimed that the government did not have a very good case and that they feared the influence Wallace-Johnson and the WAYL had over the populaces. He finally decided to accept the proposal after the governor offered him £
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
100. He feared that the government was going to set him up by arresting him for "fleeing justice" after his release. He told authorities to demonstrate their act of good faith by releasing his bail bondsman
Bail bondsman
A bail bond agent, or bondsman, is any person or corporation that will act as a surety and pledge money or property as bail for the appearance of persons accused in court...
and providing him with a written statement that he had been freed. The government was reluctant to take such action until Azikiwe pointed out that the government had opened themselves to this dilemma with their initial deportation proposal to Wallace-Johnson. Shortly after, they agreed to £50 to Wallace-Johnson, with the promise that the rest would be paid once he arrived in England.
However, the situation unfolded differently. Wallace-Johnson was told by the proprietor of the African Morning Post that the police commissioner
Police commissioner
Commissioner is a senior rank used in many police forces and may be rendered Police Commissioner or Commissioner of Police. In some organizations, the commissioner is a political appointee, and may or may not actually be a professional police officer. In these circumstances, there is often a...
needed to see him as soon as possible. Wallace-Johnson suspected that he was being trapped, so he refused to go. He decided that he would rather travel to Freetown
Freetown
Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone, a country in West Africa. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean located in the Western Area of the country, and had a city proper population of 772,873 at the 2004 census. The city is the economic, financial, and cultural center of...
before making his own plans to sail to England. However, this proposal was rejected by the government. Kojo Thompson then came to his house and informed him that the governor had withdrawn his deal and now wanted Wallace-Johnson to stand trial. The activist claimed that the "whole arrangement was a hoax and a dastard conspiracy to round me up in a more serious charge" and suspected that Thompson was somehow involved in the plot. Wallace-Johnson was put on trial in front of the Assize Court in July and quickly convicted and fined £50. Not all was lost for Wallace-Johnson—the publicity received by the trial helped increase WAYL membership by more than 1,500. In an anticipation of a guilt verdict
Verdict
In law, a verdict is the formal finding of fact made by a jury on matters or questions submitted to the jury by a judge. The term, from the Latin veredictum, literally means "to say the truth" and is derived from Middle English verdit, from Anglo-Norman: a compound of ver and dit In law, a verdict...
, Wallace-Johnson and the WAYL began preparing for his appeal to England's Privy Council and hoped to obtain an English barrister
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
to handle the case. The league asked their members to contribute five shilling
Shilling
The shilling is a unit of currency used in some current and former British Commonwealth countries. The word shilling comes from scilling, an accounting term that dates back to Anglo-Saxon times where it was deemed to be the value of a cow in Kent or a sheep elsewhere. The word is thought to derive...
s to the appeal, but even then, the cost was far too great for the league to finance. After learning that the cost of taking a case to the Privy Council was approximately 1,000 pounds, Wallace-Johnson immediately suspected that Gold Coast authorities had known that the cost of appeal would place the league in financial ruin.
Appeal in London
Wallace-Johnson left for London in February 1937 to appeal his case in front of the Privy Council and to also establish contacts for the WAYL. On his journey, he first stopped at Freetown to meet with a group interested in establishing a branch of the WAYL there. The Sierra Leoneans expressed genuine interest in the WAYL, but they hesitated to establish a branch there before obtaining a copy of the league's constitution. Wallace-Johnson then continued on his journey before stopping in Paris, where he contacted the International Bureau of Youth in hopes of setting up a meeting with general secretary. However, the secretary was out of town, so Wallace-Johnson pressed on in his journey. On arrival to London, he began to strategize and plan his upcoming events. Besides presenting his appeal case to the Privy Council, Wallace-Johnson planned to establish a lobby in England to pursue claims on behalf of WAYL members and to campaign for a commission of inquiry into Gold Coast political, economic and educational affairs. He first contacted Arnold Ward of the Negro Welfare Association and Reginald BridgemanReginald Bridgeman
Reginald Francis Orlando Bridgeman CMG, MVO was a British diplomat and politician.-Background:Born in London, he was the oldest son of Brigadier Francis Charles Bridgeman, son of Orlando Bridgeman, 3rd Earl of Bradford, and his first wife Gertude Cecilia Hanbury, daughter of George Hanbury...
of the League against Imperialism, two strong contacts he had made years before in Accra. Ward and Bridgeman sought to publicize Wallace-Johnson's objectives for colonial reform. Using a cautionary approach, the two men suggested that Wallace-Johnson seek the support of sympathetic members of Parliament, make another attempt at meeting with the general secretary of the International Bureau of Youth, and contact leaders of the youth movement in England. He immediately started working on Ward and Bridgeman's suggestions. He met with interest groups and Labour Party politicians during the day and delivered speeches at public gatherings and rallies at night.
In order to create a lobby for the WAYL, Wallace-Johnson helped found International African Service Bureau
International African Service Bureau
The International African Service Bureau was a pan-African organisation founded in London in 1937 by West Indians George Padmore, C. L. R. James, T. Ras Makonnen and Sierra Leonian labor activist and agitator I. T. A. Wallace-Johnson.Chris Braithwaite, aka Jones, was Secretary of this...
(IASB), with several West Indian
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
political and intellectual figures, including George Padmore
George Padmore
George Padmore , born Malcolm Ivan Meredith Nurse, was a Trinidadian communist who became a leading Pan-Africanist in his later years.-Early years:...
, C. L. R. James
C. L. R. James
Cyril Lionel Robert James , who sometimes wrote under the pen-name J.R. Johnson, was an Afro-Trinidadian historian, journalist, socialist theorist and essayist. His works are influential in various theoretical, social, and historiographical contexts...
, and T. Ras Makonnen
T. Ras Makonnen
T. Ras Makonnen was a Guyanese-born Pan-African activist.He completed his secondary school in Guyana, before leaving in 1927 to study mineralogy in Texas, and then attended Cornell University in 1983...
. He served as the bureau's general secretary and edited its paper, Africa and the World. He used the new affiliation between the WAYL and the bureau to address West African problems to the British general public. The bureau, similar in design and organization to the WAYL, intended to inform the public about the grievances faced by those in West Africa and created a list of desired reforms and freedoms that would help the colonies. The bureau also hoped to encourage new West African trade unions to affiliate themselves with the British labor movement. To further its interest, the bureau held weekly meetings at Hyde Park
Hyde Park, London
Hyde Park is one of the largest parks in central London, United Kingdom, and one of the Royal Parks of London, famous for its Speakers' Corner.The park is divided in two by the Serpentine...
, where members discussed labor strikes in the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
and Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
. It also supplied speakers to branches of the Labour Party, trade unions and the League of Nations Union and provided questions to be asked in front of Parliament regarding legislation, working conditions and trade union regulations.
During this time, the WAYL started to unravel, as no individual was capable of leading the organization as Wallace-Johnson had. Membership declined as employers and government officials threatened members with job dismissal or physical violence. The acting organizing secretary stated that it was difficult to get back these members, since they were so dependent on their employers or the government. It was reported that in some branches, only five or six members would show up at meetings. In his absence, Wallace-Johnson's political enemies spread a great deal of anti-WAYL propaganda. He wanted to return to the Gold Coast as soon as possible to resuscitate the organization, but he lacked the necessary funds for travel. His insufficient funds also affected his work in London, but nonetheless, he pursued claims on behalf of Gold Coast citizens. Eventually, his financial situation was so poor that he couldn't afford bus fare or meals and was even evicted from his room after he failed to pay the rent. Feeling increasingly despondent about his situation, Wallace-Johnson wrote in January 1938:
He decided to return back to Sierra Leone, after resigning as organizing secretary of the IASB after being accused of stealing money from the organization. Bridgeman and Wallace-Johnson's other colleagues recommended that he return to West Africa only after his appeal case had been presented before the Privy Council and even offered to pay for expenses.
Sierra Leone politics
Wallace-Johnson returned to FreetownFreetown
Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone, a country in West Africa. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean located in the Western Area of the country, and had a city proper population of 772,873 at the 2004 census. The city is the economic, financial, and cultural center of...
in April 1938 for what he believed would be a short visit. He planned to return to England to pack up his belongings and then move to the United States, where he would not have to "bother about Africa any more as it is apparent that the people of Africa were not prepared to make a move". He was still upset about his political experiences in the Gold Coast and even considered withdrawing from political activism entirely, but he came to realize that his homeland Sierra Leone would be a perfect breeding ground for his political ideas and philosophies. The people of Sierra Leone, mostly the Krios, had lost confidence in their leaders and British colonial authorities during the 1920s. After the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, Sierra Leone experienced a period of significant economic development and expansion. This was countered by negative industrial and social changes, which gave many working class Sierra Leoneans feelings of resentment and disappointment in the government. They were eager for change and a new face of leadership—something that Wallace-Johnson could provide. He offered the same promise for the Gold Coast, but since he was considered an outsider by many, he had limited success and many misfortunes while spreading his philosophies.
After landing in Freetown, customs agents seized from Wallace-Johnson 2,000 copies of the African Sentinel, a publication which the government considered seditious. Douglas James Jardine, the Governor of Sierra Leone, supported the seize, writing that "[i]t is most undesirable that such nonsense should be circulated among the population of Sierra Leone". Although the Colonial Office rejected the suggestion that the African Sentinel fell under the provisions of the Sedition Ordinance, the incident generated much publicity and convinced Wallace-Johnson to pursue his political exploits in Sierra Leone. He frequented town meetings to deliver speeches critical of the government's actions. In his articles for the Sierra Leone Weekly News, he criticized major politicians, praised the working class, and urged for the creation of an alliance determined toward fighting for rights and civil liberties.
West African Youth League in Sierra Leone
Less than three weeks after his arrival, Wallace-Johnson opened the first branch of the WAYL in Sierra Leone. The league was an instant success and greatly exceeded Wallace-Johnson's own expectations. The league organized public gatherings, established the African Standard newspaper, founded trade unions and contested local elections. Its program included equality for women, unity for people of all tribes, cooperation between the Sierra Leone colony and protectorate, and higher wages for workers. Wallace-Johnson claimed a membership of 25,000 in the colony and 17,000 in the protectorate, although these figures are believed to be exaggerated, according to . The Freetown chapter held biweekly meetings at WilberforceWilliam Wilberforce
William Wilberforce was a British politician, a philanthropist and a leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780, eventually becoming the independent Member of Parliament for Yorkshire...
Memorial Hall where Wallace-Johnson exercised his oratorical skill and urged mass support for the League's initiatives. The government downplayed the immense popularity of the WAYL, believing that the massive attendance at meetings was due to the "entertainment value" of speeches. In spite of that, the government had police spies keep track of the goings-on of the meetings.
According to , Wallace-Johnson's success with the WAYL was attributed to his "concrete militant efforts to publicize and combat the economic, political, and social dissatisfaction which by the late 1930s affected the lives of the majority of the population". One source of frustration stemmed from the lack of change in unemployment
Unemployment
Unemployment , as defined by the International Labour Organization, occurs when people are without jobs and they have actively sought work within the past four weeks...
and wages despite the recent discovery of mineral wealth in Sierra Leonean mines. Wallace-Johnson exploited this popular sense of "imbalance between rising expectations and actual living conditions" to rally support for the WAYL. Exploitative mining companies, both public and private, that profited from the mineral wealth of Sierra Leone while ignoring the very poor living and working conditions of the workers were consistent targets of his message. Utilizing his previous experiences in the Gold Coast labor movement, Wallace-Johnson helped organize eight trade unions in Sierra Leone: the Public Works Workers' Union, the War Department Amalgamated Workers' Union, the Mabella Coaling Company Workers' Union, the King Tom Docks Workers' Union, the All Seamen's Union, the Bonthe Amalgamated Workers' Union, the Pepel and Marampa Miners Workers' Union, and the Motorists' Union. Each union's objective was to obtain increased wages and better working conditions through collective bargaining
Collective bargaining
Collective bargaining is a process of negotiations between employers and the representatives of a unit of employees aimed at reaching agreements that regulate working conditions...
.
Wallace-Johnson's charisma and lack of pretentiousness made him well liked among Sierra Leoneans. At one point, he declared to working class Creoles, "I am not anything above yourselves. I am at par with you." His opponents conceded that Wallace-Johnson's "considerable personal magnetism for the masses" were admirable qualities. According to , Wallace-Johnson's most important characteristic was his "truculence and his apparent willingness to thumb his nose at officialdom". In public, he spoke jokingly of colonial officials who most Sierra Leoneans feared. He casually referred to officials on a first-name basis and criticized them "in diatribes and invectives the like of which had never before been heard in the Freetown society where decorum and savoir faire
Savoir faire
Savoir faire can also refer to:* Savoir-faire, a French noun phrase that means being adaptable and adroit, knowing what to do in any situation* Savoir-Faire, interactive fiction by Emily Short...
were the hall-marks of the leaders". His associations with England's members of Parliament also lent credence to his reputation.
While not primarily a political party, the WAYL sponsored four candidates for local elections. The WAYL pioneered issue-oriented politics in Sierra Leone and was the first political group to make a concerted attempt to involve the people of the protectorate in the process. Despite restricted suffrage that favored the upper-class Creole elite, all four candidates were elected, including Constance Agatha Cummings-John, the first woman elected to public office in British West Africa. The results severely embarrassed the governor and establishment, especially as it followed the revelation of classified dispatches from the governor to the Colonial Office that signaled the governor's tacit approval of the abuses of the mining companies. The WAYL newspaper, African Standard, was modeled on several left-wing publications in the United Kingdom and was used to print news and editorials often regarded as seditious by senior establishment figures.
Wallace-Johnson was arrested on September 1, 1939, the first day of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Before then, the governor and his legal advisers were attempting to find a way to arrest and convict him for criminal libel, despite the lack of conclusive evidence favoring the prosecution. A series of six acts was passed by the Legislative Council, heavily restricting civil liberties. Added to the wartime emergency provisions, Wallace-Johnson could be arrested without justification. A trial was held without a jury (most of the jurors were WAYL supporters and probably would not vote for a conviction), and Wallace-Johnson was sentenced to 12 months in prison, eventually arriving at Sherbro Island
Sherbro Island
Sherbro Island, is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, located in Bonthe District off the Southern Province of Sierra Leone. The Sherbro make up by far the largest ethnic group in the island....
. He was released in 1944. He returned to political activism, but found the WAYL in a state of disarray where tribal and regional issues, rather than the cause of unity that he championed, flourished. nevertheless he was the representative of the WAYL at the foundation of the Pan-African Federation
Pan-African Federation
The Pan-African Federation was a multinational Pan-African organization founded in Manchester, United Kingdom in 1944.- Participating groups :Participating groups included:* Negro Association * Coloured Workers association...
, held in Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, in 1944.
In 1950, Wallace-Johnson merged the WAYL into the new National Council of the Colony of Sierra Leone. However, he left the group in 1954 to found the United Sierra Leone Progressive Party. He remodeled himself as a Pan-Africanist and de-emphasized his earlier radicalism. He co-founded the United National People's Party
United National People's Party
The United National People's Party is a political party in Sierra Leone.In 1996, the UNPP received 21.6% of the votes in the parliamentary election, winning 17 of the 68 seats...
in 1956. The UPP became the official opposition after a general election in 1957. Wallace-Johnson was a delegate to the independence talks in London. He died in a car crash in Ghana
Ghana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
on May 10, 1965. His wife died in early 2008 in Freetown
Freetown
Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone, a country in West Africa. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean located in the Western Area of the country, and had a city proper population of 772,873 at the 2004 census. The city is the economic, financial, and cultural center of...
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