Marcus Garvey and African Francophone Political Leaders of the Early Twentieth Century: Prince Kojo Tovalou Houenou Reconsidered‪.‬

Introduction A major tendency in Black Diaspora Studies is that critics represent Black resistance against colonialism as a typically Western phenomenon, ignoring the vital role that African Francophone intellectuals and political leaders of the early twentieth century such as Blaise Diagne, of Senegal, and Prince Kojo Tovalou Houenou, of Benin, played in the global Black struggle for liberation and equality. Admittedly, both leaders worked on the crucial issues of Black participation in World War I, the Pan-African Congress of 1919, racism and discrimination in Europe and the United States, in which W.E.B. Du Bois and Marcus Garvey were heavily involved in the 1910s and 20s. In this context, in order to have a better understanding of the impact of Garvey on Africa, it is important to discuss his relationships with the African Francophone leaders of his generation, and thus contrast them occasionally with those between Du Bois and Africa.