In the book, A Man With A Fountain Pen, Sir James Tudor, a former deputy prime minister of Barbados, reflected on Clennell Wilsden Wickham’s impact as publisher of The Herald newspaper in Bridgetown.
“He was a guiding light in his day whose rays showed a clear path forward for those underprivileged Barbadians overwhelmed by the drudgery of a living in a world which seemed to have been made for the few, the very few,” wrote Sir James in 1995 while paying tribute to Wickham on the centenary of the publisher’s birth.
A person who shared that assessment of Wickham was Elombe Brath, a cousin of the Wickham family in Barbados. A tireless campaigner for the rights and the dignity of black people in America, Barbados and the rest of the Caribbean and in Africa, Elombe fought for the advancement of pan-Africanism for more than half a century and in the process became an iconic figure, a legend, in Harlem and other parts of the US.
And when he died recently in a city nursing home after a prolonged illness, the son of Bajan parents who loved Barbados, was hailed as a champion for the rights of the underprivileged.
“Harlem is bidding farewell to an indefatigable freedom fighter and pan-African activist who waged a decade’s long battle for black empowerment at home and around the world,” stated the New York Daily News.
New York Carib News, the weekly paper which has been the standard-bearer for Caribbean-American development for more than 25 years, praised Elombe as an advocate who was on the “frontlines of the struggle for African and Caribbean independence and for the positive self-image and self-assertiveness of African Americans and others of African descent”.
More was said about the 77-year-old who was born in Brooklyn, raised in the Bronx and used Harlem and the rest of New York City as his stage.
“He’s not just a local hero,” said New York State Senator Bill Perkins. “He’s an international hero.”
Dr Carlos Russell, a retired university political science professor, said Elombe “was forthright and knowledgeable about the history, success and challenges Black people faced”.
Elcombe had placed Clennell Wickham high on a list of legendary international figures who had influenced his thinking and his approach to the struggle for black liberation. Others on that list were Marcus Garvey, Malcolm X and Nelson Mandela.
“Apart from being our mother’s first cousin, Elombe was inspired by the courage of Clennell Wickham,” said John Brathwaite, Elombe’s brother.
The son of Cecil Theophilus Brathwaite, an artist and tailor in Brooklyn and Harlem, who came from St Lucy, Elombe’s mother was Etelka Margaret Brathwaite whose roots were in Christ Church. His parents had him christened to take his father’s name.
His mother, said Cinque Brathwaite, the activist’s grandson, “always raised him [Elombe] and his two brothers Kwame and Johnny with the inspiration of her courageous first cousin, Clennell Wickham, an outspoken journalist whose editorials [in The Herald] outraged the British colonial establishment during the 1930s.”
But how come the name Elombe Brath? It was the result of a suggestion of Thomas Kanza, the top diplomat of the Congo, appointed by Patrice Lumumba, head of the government of the former Belgian Congo around 1960s.
Kanza had exchanged ideas with Cecil Brathwaite Jr and found him an articulate pan-African advocate, jazz enthusiast, radio producer and historian of African culture and politics and suggested the Bajan change his Christian name to Elombe which he said meant “all knowing.”. The rest is history. Most people whose surname is Brathwaite are routinely called “Brath” as a term of endearment. Hence, the new name Elombe Brath.”
The funeral service for the father of seven was held at the and historic Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem.
