The legacies of Amy Ashwood Garvey (1897-1969) and Shirley Graham Du Bois (1896-1977) illustrate the consistency of the interrelationship between national liberation, unity and gender emancipation
By Abayomi Azikiwe
Editor, Pan-African News Wire
Thursday February 26, 2026
African American History Month Series No. 8
Resistance to the enslavement and colonial domination over African people can be traced back to the wars and rebellions which took place on the continent as early as the 15th century.
Even after the capture of enslaved Africans, there were revolts on the slave ships and later plantations in the Western Hemisphere.
In the Caribbean and South America there were numerous revolts organized by enslaved Africans. Brazil, which was colonized by Portugal in the 16th century, experienced the rise of autonomous African communities known as Quilombos.
Jamaica was the scene of a rebellion during the 18th and 19th centuries. A rebellion in 1865 led by Rev. Paul Bogle occurred the same year as the conclusion of the Civil War and the defeat of the Confederacy. In the colonies and neo-colonies of Brazil and Cuba, slavery did not end until the late 1880s.
Haiti served as a beacon of hope related to the overthrow of the slave system. The impact of the Revolution of 1803-04 was felt strongly throughout South America where proponents of national independence such as Simon Bolivar gained enormous political and material support from Haiti during the second decade of the 19th century.
Ideas and movements centered around repatriation back to Africa and the abolishment of colonialism on the continent and the Diaspora surfaced as early as the 18th and 19th centuries in North America. Historical figures such as Richard Allen, Sarah Allen, Dr. Martin R. Delaney, Paul Cuffe, Maria Stewart, Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Edward W. Blyden, Anna Julia Cooper, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, etc., set down the ideological framework for the movements which would blossom to the surface in the 20th century.
As early as 1893, the Chicago Congress on Africa was held in conjunction with the Columbian Exposition. Notables such as Frederick Douglass, Ida B. Wells-Barnett and others made interventions in various forms during the event. The Pan-African Conference in 1900 in London ushered in a century of rigorous struggle for civil rights, political power, and social emancipation. A series of Pan-African Congresses were held between 1919-1945. These gatherings were convened as the growth of independence and trade union movements were taking shape.
Amy Ashwood Garvey: From Garveyism to the Left
It was out of this historical setting that the movement led by Marcus Garvey of Jamaica would emerge becoming an international organization which was later targeted by the United States government. Amy Ashwood Garvey, born in 1897 in Port Antonio, Jamaica, was a co-founder of the Universal Negro Improvement Association—African Communities League (UNIA-ACL) in 1914 on the island still under British colonial domination.
Later Amy Ashwood Garvey would perform many administrative tasks for the UNIA. The organization published a newspaper and had established branches in many areas of the U.S., the Caribbean and the African continent.
She married Garvey during the course of their political work in the early years of the organization. However, in 1922, Amy Ashwood and Marcus Garvey would separate. Marcus claimed that they were divorced in the state of Missouri. Amy Ashwood disputed the claim of divorce and for decades she became one of the harshest critics of Marcus Garvey. (https://archives.lib.duke.edu/catalog/garveyamyashwood)
Nevertheless, Amy Ashwood Garvey would illustrate tremendous capacity as a political organizer in her own right. Although Marcus Garvey’s second wife, Amy Jacques Garvey, was also involved in the UNIA, Amy Ashwood would move further to the Left politically. Amy Ashwood devoted much effort to organizing and advocating on behalf of immigrant Caribbean women in the U.S. and Britain.
Later with musician and recording artist Sam Manning from Trinidad, she would open a club in London during the 1930s. Ashwood Garvey would work with the International African Service Bureau (IASB) with C.L. R. James and George Padmore formed in the aftermath of the Italian fascist invasion and occupation of Abyssinia in 1935. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_African_Service_Bureau)
In October 1945, she would participate in the Fifth Pan-African Congress in Manchester which launched a political program leading to the intensification of the independence movement in Africa and the Caribbean. This gathering featured leading figures during the period including Dr. W.E.B. Du Bois, considered one of the fathers of Pan-Africanism. Others attended the Congress such as Peter Abrahams of South Africa, Jomo Kenyatta of British occupied Kenya, George Padmore of Trinidad, and dozens of others. (https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd67yx3e653o)
Ashwood Garvey would live until May 3, 1969, having witnessed the growth of the independence movement, the formation of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), the rise of the Black Power and Pan-Africanism in the West along with the outbreak of mass demonstrations and urban rebellions surrounding these issues. She would pass away in Jamaica still committed to the emancipation of Africans and all oppressed peoples. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJv7JyEiIPc)
Shirley Graham Du Bois: Pan-Africanism and Feminism in Practice
Born in 1896 in Indianapolis, Indiana, Shirley Graham was the daughter of a Minister within the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church. She would attend Oberlin College in Ohio and become a prolific playwright and biographer of significant figures from African American, Caribbean and African geo-political regions.
Her political involvement encompassed both the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) as well as the Communist Party of the U.S. After the death of the first wife of Dr. W.E.B. Du Bois, Nina Gordimer, the historian and social scientist would marry Shirley Graham in 1950. (https://www.radcliffe.harvard.edu/schlesinger-library/collections/shirley-graham-du-bois)
Their marriage took place during the Cold War when efforts aimed at winning genuine civil and labor rights were viewed by the ruling class as being subversive. Dr. Du Bois was indicted in 1950 by the federal government for allegedly working on behalf of a foreign principle. This was clearly related to his advocacy for the end of the Cold War and the advancement of national liberation and socialism.
Dr. Du Bois’ work with the Peace Information Center required the officers of the organization to register as foreign agents. Du Bois refused, leading to federal indictments and a trial.
Although the federal government under then President Harry S. Truman failed to convict Dr. Du Bois on these spurious charges, he and Shirley Graham were denied passports making it impossible for them to travel abroad between 1950-1958. The Du Bois’ were not the only people who had their passports revoked. Paul Robeson, the prominent artist and political activist, was not only banned from large concert halls in the U.S., he was also denied a passport as well to travel and work abroad until 1958 after a Supreme Court decision which ruled that travel documents could not be denied based upon political views.
After being reissued passports, Dr. Du Bois and Shirley Graham went on a world tour which took them to the Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of China. In December 1958, Shirley would travel to Ghana where Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, founder and leader of the Convention People’s Party (CPP), had an open-door policy towards African Americans. Shirley spoke at the First All-African People’s Conference (AAPC) where she advocated the adoption of socialism by the newly independent African states. Ghana, the former British colony of the Gold Coast, won its independence in March 1957. (https://credo.library.umass.edu/view/full/mums312-b285-i147)
Later in July 1960, after Ghana became a Republic, a pioneering Conference of African Women and Women of African Descent was held in Accra, the capital. Graham Du Bois spoke at this gathering making contacts with African women from throughout the continent and the world. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conference_of_Women_of_Africa_and_African_Descent)
The following year, Shirley and W.E.B. Du Bois would relocate in Ghana and become citizens. Nkrumah had great admiration for the work of the Du Bois’ and based upon the continuing harassment by the U.S. government they were offered citizenship in the Republic of Ghana.
Dr. Du Bois was appointed as Director of the Encyclopedia Africana, a project which the historian and social scientist had initially proposed nearly a half-century before. In 1962, The First International Congress of Africanist was held in Accra in December 1962 in an effort to facilitate the reinterpretation of history advanced by many western scholars. The gathering marked a shift from a western imperialist oriented anthropological approach to African affairs towards historical materialist methodology. (https://credo.library.umass.edu/view/pageturn/mums312-b285-i152/#page/1/mode/1up)
The following year, Dr. Du Bois passed away on August 28, 1963, at the age of 95. His widow was assigned by the CPP government to navigate the founding of the Ghana National Television network. The television network was a state-sponsored entity which went on the air in July 1965.
Nonetheless, opposition to the Nkrumah government from the U.S., Britain and other western states along with domestic counter-revolutionary elements engineered the removal of Nkrumah and the CPP government on February 24, 1966. Nkrumah went into exile in the Republic of Guinea while Shirley Graham Du Bois was placed under house arrest.
Graham Du Bois’ attorney based in New York City was able to arrange her release from detention. She would relocate to Egypt and the People’s Republic of China. Graham Du Bois continued her research and writing on African and African American affairs. After losing her U.S. citizenship in the early 1960s, she was denied a visa to enter the U.S. even as a citizen and official of the Ghana government under Nkrumah.
Later in 1970, as a result of a national campaign by the African American movement and allies she was able to reenter the U.S. for a speaking tour. Her son, David Graham Du Bois, lived and worked in Egypt as a print and broadcast journalist. After making contacts with the Black Panther Party International Section in Algiers, Algeria and the U.S. west coast headquarters led by Dr. Huey P. Newton, David Du Bois became the editor of the Black Panther newspaper from 1973-75.
Shirley Graham Du Bois would pass away in China in 1977. Her legacy has only grown since the late 1970s not only as the second wife of Dr. Du Bois she is clearly recognized for her cultural, literary and political organizing work.
Women and Historical Pan-Africanism
These two women, Amy Ashwood Garvey and Shirley Graham Du Bois, made enormous contributions to the struggle for Pan-Africanism, Feminism and Socialism. Although there were sharp differences between Marcus Garvey and W.E.B. Du Bois during the early 20th century, Amy Ashwood and Shirley Graham would move in similar political directions as the 20th century progressed.
In recent decades more research, writing and debates have surfaced regarding the role of women in the Pan-African and Left movements of the 20th century. The archives of Shirley Graham Du Bois and Amy Ashwood Garvey provide a treasure trove of documentation which provide profound insights into their lives and the struggles they waged against racism, national oppression, class exploitation and gender discrimination.
———————————————————–
Distributed By: THE PAN-AFRICAN RESEARCH AND DOCUMENTATION PROJECT–
E MAIL: panafnewswire@gmail.com
==============================
Related Web Sites
http://panafricannews.blogspot.com
michiganemergencycommittee@blogspot.com
http://moratorium-mi.org
http://www.world-newspapers.com/africa.html
http://www.herald.co.zw/
Wisconsin Bail Out the People Movement 
You must be logged in to post a comment.