7 Kwame Nkrumah 7black American leader of the 1920s. Eventually, Nkrumah
came to describe himself as a “nondenominational
Christian and a Marxist socialist.” He also immersed him-
self in political work, reorganizing and becoming president
of the African Students’ Organization of the United States
and Canada. He left the United States in May 1945 and
went to England, where he organized the fifth Pan-African
Congress in Manchester.
Meanwhile, in the Gold Coast, J.B. Danquah had
formed the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) to
work for self-government by constitutional means. Invited
to serve as the UGCC’s general secretary, Nkrumah
returned home in late 1947. As general secretary, he
addressed meetings throughout the Gold Coast and began
to create a mass base for the new movement. When exten-
sive riots occurred in February of 1948, the British briefly
arrested Nkrumah and other leaders of the UGCC.
When a split developed between the middle-class
leaders of the UGCC and Nkrumah’s more radical sup-
porters, Nkrumah formed the new Convention Peoples’
Party (CPP) in June 1949. This mass-based party was com-
mitted to a program of immediate self-government. In
January 1950, Nkrumah initiated a campaign of “positive
action,” involving nonviolent protests, strikes, and nonco-
operation with the British colonial authorities.
From Prison to Prime Ministry
In the ensuing crisis, services throughout the country were
disrupted, and Nkrumah was again arrested and sentenced
to one year’s imprisonment. But the Gold Coast’s first
general election on February 8, 1951, demonstrated the
support the CPP had already won. Elected to parliament,
Nkrumah was released from prison to become leader of