Trinidadian lawyer, H. Sylvester Williams
It is exactly one hundred and twenty four (124) years today, July 23, 1900, when the first Pan African Congress was organized by a Trinidadian lawyer, H. Sylvester Williams, who coined the word Pan-Africanism in 1897. It was held at the Westminster Town Hall in London.
Delegates came from Africa, West Indies, the US, and the UK.
Among the attendees was the then 32 year old W.E.B. Du Bois, who wrote the letter of resolution of the Congress “to the world”, to acknowledge and protect the rights of people of African descent and also called for self government of Africans.
Du Bois later became a bosom friend of Kwame Nkrumah and settled and passed on in Ghana.
Du Bois is seated 3rd from left, and H. Sylvester Williams is 2nd from right.