Historic meeting between Martin Luther King Jr & Nkrumah 1 day to independence pops up
- A historic meeting took place between Martin Luther King Jr and Dr Kwame Nkrumah on March 5, 1957, a day before Ghana's independence
- The meeting took place in Accra to mark the ceremonial closing of the old British Parliament before the official independence celebrations the next day
- Martin Luther King Jr later gave a historic speech in relation to the visit & meeting in Ghana titled "The Birth of a New Nation"
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On the night to Ghana's independence in March 1957, there was a historic meeting between Martin Luther King Jr and Dr Kwame Nkrumah in Accra, Ghana.
According to Kinginstitute.stanford.edu, Nkrumah who had been recently released from prison at the time was at the meeting with his ministers as they met with the renowned American Christian minister and activist.
It is indicated that the meeting marked the ceremonial closing of the old British Parliament and at the ceremony, the recently incarcerated Nkrumah and his ministers wore their prison caps, symbolizing their struggle to win Ghana’s freedom.
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The historic meeting was highly prominent given the fact that both Kwame Nkrumah and Martin Luther King Jr were radical people seeking to change existing norms they considered cruel and inappropriate.
Later, on April 7, 1957, Martin Luther gave a sermon at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church that would become a popular historic speech titled “The Birth of a New Nation".
King wrote: “When I looked out and saw the prime minister there with his prison cap on that night, that reminded me of that fact, that freedom never comes easy. It comes through hard labour and it comes through toil”
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“This event, the birth of this new nation, will give impetus to oppressed peoples all over the world. I think it will have worldwide implications and repercussions—not only for Asia and Africa but also for America.
"It renews my conviction in the ultimate triumph of justice. And it seems to me that this is fit testimony to the fact that eventually the forces of justice triumph in the universe, and somehow the universe itself is on the side of freedom and justice. So that this gives new hope to me in the struggle for freedom”
In other news, a video from 1966 showing how Ghanaians excitedly jubilated the overthrow of Ghana's first President Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah as recently surfaced on social media.
It would be recalled that on February 24, 1996, the then president of Ghana, Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, was overthrown in a coup led by Colonel E.K. Kotoka, Major A.A. Afrifa, Lieutenant General (retired) J.A. Ankrah, and Police Inspector General J.W.K. Harlley.
Reports indicate how Nkrumah was out of the country at the time his government was overthrown by people he least suspected to have had any ill thoughts concerning him.
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Source: YEN.com.gh
