My Dis-agreement with The Communist Party

My involvement with the Communist Party was twofold.  I wanted to learn as much as I could politically and at the same time become active in the struggle for the freedom of Africa which I saw as the Mother of the black people throughout the world, and believed if Africa was not free, the other black peoples of the world could not hope to achieve freedom.

I  now realised I was robbed of my African heritage, and denied any knowledge of the land of my forefathers.  My disillusionment on my arrival to England as stated earlier in other articles, had left me embittered as to how I and other people from the West Indies were deceived by the teaching of our white Master’s, therefore I was determined to familiarize myself with Africans, to learn about Africa and to work with them in their struggle for independence. 

This was not difficult because the West African Student Union  Marylebone, London was a breeding ground for future black African leaders.  I was soon to be accepted by them, all I needed was the confidence to establish myself with the knowledge and understanding which would enable me to assert myself that I would be worthy to take part in their struggle.   I was very light in complexion which was a handicap to me.  How can you  talk about Africa with your complexion?  You are not black, Africans are black people!  This question was asked not only by Africans, but by West Indians also.  Deep within me it was not my colour it was the way I felt about what was happening in the world, the injustices we suffer, all of us whether we were Africans or West Indians.  It took me sometime to convince the Africans of the sincerity in my belief the West Indians did not careless about themselves much less me.   

I soon began to learn the Community Party was not all it made itself out to be.  They taught only of the working class struggle and the ideology of Karl Marx.

Although I could equate the struggle of the British working class with that of the black people throughout the world I realised that the struggle of the working class of Britain and Europe differed from that of the African people.