![]() ![]() The content of The African Review certainly gives a strong impression of its commitment to new forms of transatlantic solidarity. Mayfield, with his experience as a novelist and connections to radical politics on both sides of the Atlantic, was an ideal candidate to lead a cultural front of the struggle for African sovereignty. In keeping with much of Ghana’s state publicity, The African Review was instructed to combine vocal support for African nationalism with a sharp critique of racism in the US. ![]() The magazine’s sponsors were particularly interested in the magazine’s coverage of foreign affairs. While the magazine claimed to be an independent publication, it was in fact covertly funded by the Ghanaian Publicity Secretariat in return for positive coverage of the Nkrumah regime. In June 1963, Mayfield became the editor of The African Review, a new magazine combining socialist politics, cultural affairs, and book reviews for a wide audience. Ingratiating himself with Accra’s influential literary scene, Mayfield quickly took up work as a journalist, broadcaster, and speechwriter on behalf of the ruling Convention People’s Party. Du Bois emigrated to Ghana in October 1961, African American radicals began flocking to the country to pay their respects to the eminent pan-Africanist scholar. ![]() On the terraces of Accra’s hotels, ministers and trade unionists mingled with revolutionaries from Angola, South Africa, and Rhodesia. Under the rule of Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana had emerged as a hub of radical publishing and pan-African activism. Mayfield found himself in the right place at the right time. Aware of the risks of appearing before a Southern jury, he fled to Canada before settling in Ghana, where his wife Ana Livia Cordero was working as a physician. In August, however, police harassment increased after Mayfield was named as a material witness to the kidnapping of a Ku Klux Klan member near his North Carolina home. A veteran civil rights activist and communist sympathizer, he and his family had long been targets of FBI surveillance. In the summer of 1961, the African American novelist Julian Mayfield escaped the US under cover of darkness. ![]()
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