PaulRobesonandBandung

Books by and About Paul Robeson

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Greetings to Bandung

By Paul Robeson

Greetings to Bandung

How I should have loved to be at Bandung! In this Indonesian city for the week beginning April 18 the hopes of mankind were centered. Of course, the State Department still arrogantly and arbitrarily restricts my movements to the continental United States, so that I could not join the representatives of more than half the world who convened in the Asian-African Conference.

I felt impelled, however, to send a message to this historic conference and am happy to share that message with you in this month's column:

Heartfelt greetings to all of you, peoples come from the shores of the Ganges and the Nile, the Yangtse and the Niger. Nations of the vast Pacific waters, greetings on this historic occasion. It is my profound conviction that the very fact of the convening of the Conference of Asian and African nations at Bandung, Indonesia, in itself will be recorded as an historic turning point in all world affairs. A new vista of human advancement in all spheres of life has been opened by this assembly. Conceived, convoked, and attended by representatives of the majority of the world's population in Asia and Africa who have long been subjected to colonial serfdom and foreign domination, the Asian-African Conference signalizes the power and the determination of the peoples of these two great continents to decide their own destiny, to achieve and defend their sovereign independence, to control the rich resources of their own lands, and to contribute to the promotion of world peace and cooperation.

The time has come when the colored peoples of the world will no longer allow the great natural wealth of their countries to be exploited and expropriated by the Western world while they are beset by hunger, disease and poverty. It is clearly evident that these evils can be eradicated and that the economic, social and cultural advancement of whole populations of hundreds of millions of people can be rapidly achieved, once modern science and industrialization are applied and directed toward raising the general level of well being of peoples rather than toward the enrichment of individuals and corporations.

The possibility and practicability of such rapid social advancement have been attested by those who have objectively examined the history of the Soviet Union since 1917 and developments during the last decade in the countries of Eastern Europe, in China, and in newly emancipated Asian countries such as India.

I have long had a deep and abiding interest in the cultural relations of Asia and Africa. Years ago I began my studies of African and Asian languages and learned about the rich and age-old cultures of these mother continents of human civilization. The living evidence of the ancient kinship of Africa and Asia is seen in the language structures, in the arts and philosopies of the two continents. Increased exchange of such closely related cultures cannot help but bring into flower a richer, more vibrant voicing of the highest aspirations of colored peoples the world over.

Indeed the fact that the Asian and African nations, possessing similar yet different cultures, have come together to solve their common problems must stand as a shining example to the rest of the world. Discussion and mutual respect are the first ingredients for the development of peace between nations. If other nations of the world follow the example set by the Asian-African nations, there can be developed an alternative to the policy of force and an end to the threat of H-Bomb war. The people of Asia and Africa have a direct interest in such a development since it is a well known fact that thermonuclear weapons have been used only against the peoples of Asia. There is at present a threat to once more use them against an Asian people.

I fully endorse the objectives of the Conference to prevent any such catastrophe, which would inevitably bring about suffering and annihilation to all the peoples of the world. Throughout the world all decent people must applaud the aims of the Conference to make the maximum contribution of the Asian and African countries to the cause of world peace.

One of the most important causes of world tension has been and continues to be imperialist enslavement of nations. Peace in Asia is directly linked with the problems of freedom and full sovereign rights for the nations of Asia. As for Africa, most of that vast continent, as we know, still groans in chains. In North Africa, in Kenya, East Africa, and in other areas imperialist terror has been unleashed in an attempt to keep freedom-aspiring peoples in subjection. South Africa feels the lash of the redoubled racist fury of her white ruling class. For this is the time for liberation, and Africa too shall shout in freedom. Soon. Yes, now is our day!

The demand of Africa and Asia for independence from alien domination and exploitation finds warm support among democratic-minded peoples everywhere. Although the calling of the Bandung Conference evoked bitter words of displeasure from high circles in Washington, the common people of America have not forgotten that our own country was founded in a revolution of colonies against a foreign tyranny -- a revolution proclaiming that all nations have a right to independence under a government of their own choice.

To the Negro people of the United States and the Caribbean Islands it was good news -- great good news -- to hear that the Bandung Conference had been called "to consider problems of special interest . . . racialism and colonialism." Typical of the Negro people's sentiments are these words from one of our leading weekly newspapers: "Negro Americans should be interested in the proceedings at Bandung. We have fought this kind of fight for more than 300 years and have a vested interest in the outcome."

How I would love to see my brothers from Africa, India, China, Indonesia and from all the people represented at Bandung. In your midst are old friends I knew in London years ago, where I first became part of the movement for colonial freedom -- the many friends from India and Africa and the West Indies with whom I shared hopes and dreams of a new day for the oppressed colored peoples of the world. And I might have come as an observer had I been granted a passport by the State Department whose lawyers have argued that "in view of the applicant's frank admission that he has been fighting for the freedom of the colonial people of Africa . . . the diplomatic embarrassment that could arise from the presence abroad of such a political meddler (sic!) travelling under the protection of an American passport, is easily imaginable!"

So all the best to all of you. Together with all of progressive mankind, with lovers of peace and freedom everywhere, I salute your history-making conference.

Source: "Here's My Story," Freedom, April 1955