Keypoints:
- Dr Akyaaba Addai-Sebo calls Camden ‘the soul of Pan-African London’
- Lecture celebrates borough’s pivotal role in global Black activism
- Camden’s radical legacy hailed as a model for decolonial renewal
THE London Borough of Camden, famed for its radical politics and cultural diversity, reaffirmed its place as the spiritual heart of pan-African activism on October 23, as Dr Akyaaba Addai-Sebo — the architect of the UK’s Black History Month — delivered a stirring lecture tracing its revolutionary legacy.
Speaking in the Claudia Jones Room at Camden Town Hall, Dr Addai-Sebo’s address, titled Camden Black Radicals: A Hub for the Pan-African Movement, formed a centrepiece of Camden’s 2025 Black History Season. His lecture honoured the generations of African and Caribbean intellectuals, artists and activists who made Camden their base of organisation, refuge and creativity.
‘Camden remains the hub’
Opening with gratitude to the audience, Dr Addai-Sebo declared: ‘Our gathering here tonight, and especially in this Claudia Jones Room, is itself an affirmation that Camden remains the hub of the Greater London pan-African, anti-racist, anti-white-supremacy, anti-apartheid and pro-human orbit from the early 20th century to date.’
He described the borough — situated in north central London — as ‘the crucible of Black radical thought in Britain’, noting that Camden’s rich history stretches back to the very birth of pan-Africanism. From the late 19th century, figures such as Henry Sylvester Williams, the Trinidadian lawyer who convened the first pan-African Conference in 1900, and Dusé Mohamed Ali, founder of The African Times and Orient Review, worked and studied there.
‘Camden gave birth to the intellectual framework that would later inspire independence movements across Africa,’ he said. ‘This was where Black thinkers and freedom fighters met, debated, published and planned.’
The borough that sheltered revolutionaries
Dr Addai-Sebo reminded the audience that Camden was home to the West African Students’ Union (WASU) hostel at 62 Camden Road, which became a political nursery for a generation of African nationalists. ‘That building was no ordinary student hall,’ he said. ‘It was a training ground for future leaders like I.T.A. Wallace-Johnson, Ladipo Solanke, and Amy Ashwood Garvey — people who would go on to change the course of African history.’
He recalled how, during the 1940s, Camden evolved into a nerve centre for anti-colonial organisation. ‘At 22 Cranleigh Street in Somers Town, George Padmore and Dorothy Pizer created a Pan-African headquarters,’ he said. ‘Kwame Nkrumah, Jomo Kenyatta and Peter Abrahams all passed through those doors. The road to independence for Africa was paved here in Camden.’
Refuge and rebirth
Dr Addai-Sebo, who fled Ghana’s military regime in 1984, spoke movingly about his personal connection to the borough. ‘Greater London gave me refuge as an asylum seeker,’ he recalled. ‘Sweet Camden is always on my mind, resonating in strength and purpose like the voice of Ray Charles singing Georgia On My Mind.’
He told how, as Chair of the African Refugee Housing Action Group (ARHAG), he worked closely with Camden Council to provide housing for refugees and migrants. ‘We renovated rundown properties and built new homes,’ he said. ‘Some we named after pan-African heroes. That was our way of connecting social justice with ancestral pride.’
Dr Addai-Sebo praised Camden’s leadership for supporting the 1987 African Jubilee Year Declaration — the initiative that birthed Black History Month UK. ‘Camden showed enlightened leadership,’ he said. ‘They understood that history and identity are not luxuries. They are the foundation of dignity and belonging.’
A living movement
Throughout the lecture, Dr Addai-Sebo urged his audience to view pan-Africanism not as nostalgia but as a living, evolving movement. ‘Pan-Africanism is a countervailing force against white supremacy and dehumanisation,’ he said. ‘It is a force for diversity, equity and inclusion — an advocacy campaign against the political economy of privilege.’
He added that the movement’s mission remains unchanged: ‘To reverse the injustices of the 1884–85 Berlin Conference and reclaim Africa’s land, resources and dignity.’
The lecture drew powerful historical links between the pan-African exiles who found sanctuary in Camden and the independence movements that followed. Dr Addai-Sebo explained that the decision by Nkrumah and his colleagues to launch Ghana’s independence struggle from the Gold Coast rather than Sierra Leone was debated and refined ‘in the very rooms of Camden’s activists.’
‘The spirits are here with us’
Towards the end of his address, Dr Addai-Sebo’s tone turned reflective, invoking the borough’s spiritual energy. ‘There is a certain spiritual feeling in Camden,’ he said softly, ‘that makes me feel I am in a ghost town covered by an eerie blanket. I commune with my ancestors here. I feel the maternal breast-milk of Amy Ashwood Garvey and Claudia Jones. I take in the spiritual essence of C.L.R. James and Nkrumah.’
He urged Camden’s youth to honour this lineage by continuing the struggle for justice and empowerment: ‘As Marcus Garvey taught us, if we did it before, we can do it again. Camden must continue to be the light of Pan-African consciousness in Britain.’
The heartbeat of Pan-African London
The evening concluded with applause and reflection. Many attendees described the lecture as both a history lesson and a moral call. ‘It felt like walking through a living museum of Black history,’ said one audience member. Another reflected, ‘Dr Addai-Sebo reminded us that Camden’s spirit still speaks to Africa’s future — this isn’t just history, it’s inheritance.’
For them, Camden’s streets — from Somers Town to Kentish Town — are not simply part of London’s geography but a living monument to African resilience, creativity and solidarity.
As Dr Addai-Sebo reminded the audience: ‘Camden is the living heart of pan-African London — where our past, present and future meet.’
A full article on the lecture will be published in the November-December 2025 edition of the Africa Briefing Magazine. Stay tuned!
