Forgotten Comrade? Desmond Buckle: An African Communist in Britain

Abstract

Recognized at the end of his life as a “lifelong fighter for colonial freedom” and “one of the first African Marxists,” the Ghanaian James Desmond Buckle's life and work is rarely mentioned in historical accounts of the British or international communist movements. The role of Buckle, a longtime member of the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) is recovered by documenting his work as organizer, writer, and propagandist for the CPGB on international issues. Buckle's understanding of the British Party's engagement with the complexities of communist internationalism is of continuing interest. The details and variety of his contributions to the Communist movement, both in Britain and internationally, highlight the extent to which the absence of political activists of Buckle's calibre from the historical literature on the CPGB not only distorts our understanding of the British Party; it also impoverishes the history of African and other minorities in Britain.