New Addition: Issue of "Présence Africain"

Présence Africaine: Africa's Own Literary Review. ed. Alioune Diop. No. 51, English Edition, Vol. 23 (Winter 1964). Presence Africain: Paris. Softcover Octavo, 189 pp.

 

Presence Africain is one of the leading international journals associated with Négritude and other pan-African socialist intellectual movements. Through its association with Négritude, it published both black and white Surrealists committed to anti-colonial activism, including Aimé Césaire, Leopold Sédar Senghor, and Michel Leiris, alongside Franz Fanon, Richard Wright, and several of the existentialists. In keeping with its pan-African mission, an English-language edition was published for some time. Wikipedia wrongly states that the English-language version ran only during 1961, but this issue proves that it was published at least intermittently into 1964. The journal is still published today. 

In addition to the lead articles listed in the cover image, this issue contains 'Problems of African Sociology' by L.V. Thomas, 'The Problem of African Languages' by P.F. Lacroix, 'Long Live Belisaire! (A Short Story)', by Guy Tirolien, 'On "Atheism" ' by J. Nfoulou, ' "La Tragedie du Roi Christophe" or African Independence Seen Through Haitian Eyes' by Lyliane Lagneau-Kesteloot, 'Dinah Sifou: King Oh the Nalus' by Baba Ibrahima Kaké, and 'The Batetala Rising in the 19th Century' by A.Z. Zousmanovitch, in addition to numerous small comments on recent events, book reviews, and poems.

This inscribed copy belonged Jimmy Garrett, a leading African-American activist, playwright, and political writer in San Francisco and, a few years later, in Washington, D.C. where he co-founded the Drum and Spear Bookstore. The shop was a hub of civil rights activism, hosting readings and workshops with activists from around the world. Among many other activities, Garrett went on to co-organise the Sixth Pan-African Congress in Tanzania in 1974.