The world reset in 1945, or so it thought. The Second World War which had taken about ninety million lives, had come to an end. Humanity erupted in joy. To many of the colonised, it was a war for human freedom. But they were mistaken. The European powers that had ignited the war were the same powers that colonised most of humanity. As the world celebrated the end of a bestial war, these same European countries decided to reimpose or extend their colonial rule.
But there was resistance. The most significant in 1945 was by the Vietnamese. The French which had been beaten by both Britain and Germany, and had newly been liberated, decided to reimpose its evil rule on other countries including the Vietnamese which had declared independence. The latter rejected recolonisation, telling the world that the only way out was armed struggle. They were led by two of the most remarkable leaders in the 20th Century; Ho Chi Minh, famously known as Uncle Ho and, General Vo Nguyen Giap.
Uncle Ho had lived in Harlem and come under the influence of the Black Liberation leader, Marcus Garvey. He had decided to liberate colonised Vietnam just as Garvey was trying to liberate the African Americans. He wrote a pamphlet “The Black Race” reflecting Garvey’s influence and tracing the roots of racism in the US to the European enslavement of Africans. He was also aware that most of Africa faced the same challenges as Vietnam. He decided that only the principled struggle of the oppressed will bring freedom.
