Kwame Nkrumah's Invitation to Martin Luther King, Jr

Happy New Year, Stars! And to those of you who were "cheeling" in Ghana over the Christmas-New Year break, Welcome Back! We hope your 2012 is off to a magnificent start.

As today is the official observance of legendary Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr's birthday, we wanted to share this blast from the past--a letter of invitation from Dr. Kwame Nkrumah to Dr. King and his wife to attend Ghana's inaugural independence in March 1957. It's a fitting reminder of the African and African-American connection, and a nice lead-up to the 55th anniversary of Ghana's Independence. Stay tuned for deets on Independence Day celebrations to come.

The letter reads as follows:

22 Jan ‘957

From Kwame Nkrumah

Prime Minister Nkrurnah invites King to attend the independence celebrations marking the transition of theBritishcolonytheGoldCoasttothenewAfricannationof Ghana.’ King accepted the invitation on I 2 February, and traveled with CorettaKing to the
festivities in early March.


REV MARTIN LUTTER KING ROOM 825, 5 BEEKMAN STREET, NEWY0K2

Dear {Dr.King,]

I am enclosing, herewith, a formal invitation to the ceremonies which will be held in Accra between the 2nd and loth March to mark the attainment ofinde- pendence by the Gold Coast under the name of Ghana. It would give me great personal pleasure if you should be able to attend.
It is regretted that the limitationsof the budget allowed for the celebrationswill not permit the Government to bear the cost of your passage, but you would, of course, be a guest of the Government while you are in the country during and im- mediately before the period of the celebrations.

I attach a provisional outline programme and some notes on the country in particular relation to the celebration^.^ Apart from the central events covered by the programme, there will be a number of subsidiary functions which should be 28Jan of interest.

Yours sincerely, [signed] Kwame Nkrumah

PRIME MINISTER.



I. Kwame Nkrumah (igog-ig72),born in Nkroful, Gold Coast, graduated from Achimota Col- lege in 193I. He later earned a B.A. (1939)and Th.B. (1942)from Lincoln University, and both an M.S. (1942)and M.A. (1943)from the University of Pennsylvania. While studying at the London School of Economics in 1945and 1946,Nkrumah was active in several Pan-African organizations. In 1947he returned home to serve as general secretary of the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC), which sought independence for the British colony. Dissatisfied with the slow progress ofthe UGCC, Nkrumah created the Convention People’s Party (CPP) in 1949to pursue self-government through a campaign of nonviolence and non-cooperation. Imprisoned for sedition in 1950,Nkrumah was re- leased in 1951when British-sanctioned elections overwhelminglyplaced him and the CPP in power. Under a British program known as “creative abdication,” Nkrumah became the first African-born prime minister in the historyofthe British Commonwealth. On 6 March 1957the Gold Coast became the independent nation of Ghana, with Nkrumah as prime minister: in 1960he became the repub- lic’s first president, remaining in office until being overthrown in 1966.
2. This letter was initially sent to Bayard Rustin,who had arranged the invitation for King with the help of his friend Bill Sutherland, an African-American pacifist then working for Nkrumah’s finance minister, K A. Gbedemah. In a 24January letter to Rustin, Sutherland gave King advice on appropri- ateattireandotherdetailsaboutthetrip (seeRustintoSutherland,8February1957;seealsoKing’she- lated thank-you letters to Nkrumah and Gbedemah, 17April 1959and 4May 1959,respectively).
3. Program, “GhanaIndependence Celebrations,”and “GhanaIndependence Celebrations,”both dated 22January 1957;see also Invitationsfor the celebrations for Ghana’sIndependence, 5March- II March 1957.

22January 1957 Accra, Gold Coast
The Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers Project

TALS. MLKP-MBU: Box 26A.