The name was based on the title of a book by Jawaharlal Nehru, the
Indian leader who was inspiring what became known as the non-aligned movement.
Nehru had also inspired William B. Lloyd Jr, who met him during a visit to
India. After a private conversation he said that Nehru’s “grasp of world
history and clear leadership on behalf of the dispossessed was enormously
impressive."
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| Robin and TF Editor Bill Lloyd, 1958 |
The encounter added new dimensions to Bill’s previous studies of
Swiss neutrality and mediation. He’d explored these ideas in a book called Waging Peace: The Swiss Experience. As
he later explained, “I thought of applying the Swiss idea to new nations as
neutrals in the United Nations.”
Over the next three decades Lloyd followed independence movements,
UN initiatives and contributions to world peace made by what were then called
“third world” countries. His early collaborators included American Friends
Service Committee organizer Robert Pickus, Unitarian minister Homer Jack,
author Sid Lens, Roosevelt University President Edward Sparling, union activist
Harold Snell, and Chicago area friends like Leon Despres and Ethel and Frank
Untermeyer.
“As a result of talking to UN members, I became more interested in
the people of the developing countries,” he explained, “in ways of improving
living conditions and whether US aid was really beneficial. I was also excited
about their resistance to military alliances.”
The first issue appeared on December 6, 1952, and included reports
of Britain’s response to the Mau Mau rebellion in Kenya, a defiance campaign
against apartheid in South Africa, and an attempt by Asian and Arab nations to
get the UN engaged in mediation between France and its African territories.
Lloyd took note of recent UN actions on colonial issues, pointing out that the
world body often voted with the colonial powers on questions like conflict
resolution and independence. He also announced the formation of a Midwest
Committee for Colonial Freedom, and plans for a series of classes on Africa at
Roosevelt College to be offered by members of TF’s evolving core group.
Spotlight on Colonialism
In Volume 2, Number One, published in June, 1953 the editor asked
a pointed question on the front page: Where does America Stand on Africa? Sixty
years later do we know yet?
The issue featured a rundown of pending UN votes on Tunisia and
Morocco – French protectorates at the time, and stories on a wildly unpopular
federation plan for Rhodesia, and recognition of “South-West Africa.”
Tunisia was a special focus from the start. The June issue
reported on a “virtual state of siege” and the fact that members of the
opposition party were either in jail or exile. Nationalists were rejecting a
voting scheme designed to keep the French in control. Pro-French Berber chiefs
in Morocco were trying to get rid of the Sultan, who reportedly favored Arab
nationalism and was being called “too modern.”
Four and a half years later Bill met with the country’s president
at his home.
The June issue concluded with commentary on another question: What is self-government? The phrase was
being used frequently in UN documents about colonial issues. Bill asked whether
it included participation:
“For
example, since Puerto Ricans have no part in electing US Congressmen or
Presidents, but are nevertheless subject to military service in any US war,
declared or undeclared, can they be said to enjoy complete self-government?”
He also proposed that Article 73 of the UN Charter be used to
guarantee liberty. His argument was that the Charter obligated colonial powers
to publicly report on their territories. But he noted that they “have promoted
the fear that the General Assembly might prevent statehood for Hawaii or Alaska.”
In January Washington had followed suit by announcing, unilaterally, that no
more information would be officially transmitted to the UN on Puerto Rico.
Official language is often euphemistic. Collateral damage comes to
mind. At the time a major euphemism was “non-self-governing territories.” (check out the 1954 map below)
TF provided context that exposed the real conditions and what
these “territories” really were – colonies, former colonies, unrepresented
nations, peoples and indigenous communities around the world, struggling and
sometimes succeeding in claiming their names, land and rights.
In October Lloyd focused on Ghana, known as The Gold Coast and led
by Kwame Nkrumah, who headed the government after the British released him from
jail. Comparisons were made to India and Nehru. Bill saw Ghana as a “bright
spot,” a place where decolonization might lead to what Nkrumah said he
envisioned – “a new relationship based on mutual respect, trust and
friendship.”
Four years later he also met Nkrumah. But when he asked about Ghana’s
Interior Minister threatening political opponents with concentration camps the
Prime Minister excused it as a trivial local scare tactic. A warning sign, to
be sure.
The December issue was mainly devoted to an election in The Sudan,
UN votes on “colonial changes” in Puerto Rico, Surinam and Netherlands
Antilles, and an early essay by Rev. Homer Jack, who wrote about how
protestants saw colonialism. Jack soon became a second major voice of the
publication.
In October 1954 TF covered negotiations between mining companies
and employees in Northern Rhodesia, including statements from two unions that
called out the companies for discrimination based on color and social
background.
The focus also returned to Tunisia, following up after a 451-122
vote for autonomy by the French National Assembly. Virtually alone among US
publications TF reported on a series
of 33 political executions during the year. Tunisia’s former Minister of
Justice blamed them in part on the US for providing, as he put it, “the means
of exterminating these people.”
Lloyd wrote bluntly that the situation had deteriorated into “an
organized revolt, held in check only by reinforced military occupation.”
On the Road Toward Freedom: A Cold War Story, part one of six.
Next: The Larger Context & the Kennedy Connection
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