(slow orchestral music)
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(upbeat orchestral music)
- Good evening, this is Ulric Cross.
I'm here in the studio with Mr. CLR James.
- To understand this moment in time,
you need to take a wider view of history.
Take a man like JJ Thomas, 1886,
he predicted that the descendants of African people,
now dispersed in various countries
of the western hemisphere must begin occupying themselves
in matters of racial importance.
All of a sudden, we begin to have an identity,
the creation of a consciousness, a movement
that is about racial importance.
The First World War, we have West Indian soldiers,
African soldiers, colored American soldiers,
met in the trenches of Europe,
fighting for king and country, dying.
We have the Russian Revolution in 1917.
- That's the year I was born.
- Then you were born for freedom.
Us West Indian people always were a rebellious people.
- That is true. (both laughing)
- Trinidadian exceptionalism.
(slow music)
- [Nicola] My name is Nicola Zawadi Cross.
I have no knowledge of his life before me.
- [Interviewer] How shall I address you?
- As Ulric. (laughs)
- [Nicola] I feel like I could kick myself
for not having started this before.
- When I was appointed High Commissioner in London,
the Foreign Office in London asked,
how did I wish to be addressed?
Judge, which I had been, professor, which I had been,
squadron leader, which I had been. (laughs)
- [Nicola] It's just so silly that it takes,
it takes some dying for this to happen.
♪ That's how it is ♪
♪ These are the times we ♪ were told would come ♪
- Okay, I guess let's just start at the beginning, okay?
So where were you born?
- I was born in Port of Spain, Belmont, precisely.
(dogs barking)
I was born in Port of Spain, Belmont,
on the tiny island of Trinidad.
(door knocking)
- [Maud] Hello, welcome.
- [Reginald] Hi.
Hello. - How are you doing?
- [Reginald] Welcome, welcome.
- [Daphne] Yeah, he's gonna have a good time.
- Welcome, great, how are you?
(slow jazzy music) (overlapping chattering)
You're welcome to have some drinks,
help yourself to something to eat.
- [Ulric] We were proud colonials.
On special occasions, my parents would dress up
and invite their small circle of friends.
- Do you drink? - Oh, yes.
- [Ulric] I can see them all now.
My mother was my whole world.
(singing in foreign language)
- [Ciel] Come on, let me get some of it on here.
- [Ulric] My uncle, C.L. Williams, my childhood hero,
a bigshot, inspector of Inland Revenue.
My Aunt Daphne went to America
and came back with some fancy dances.
(singing in foreign language)
And Auntie V, with those light eyes and skin,
all the guys wanted to go to her.
(singing in foreign language)
We were the creme de la creme of the brown middle class,
not black, not white, but sandwiched between.
Trapped in that colonial moment.
(group applauds)
- [Ciel] Thank you very much.
- Okay, lights out.
- [Ulric] I was the one they pinned their hopes on,
the bright one, the star boy, I read all the time.
I would go away to a university and become a lawyer.
First I had to win a scholarship to high school,
the coveted Exhibition. (slow jazzy music)
- What are the islands around England?
- [Students] Gugh Island, Walney Island,
Isle of Wight.
- [Teacher] Seven nines.
- [Ulric] Education, education, education.
In those days, it was beaten into us.
- Ulric?
Wake up, Ulric.
The Exhibition, you got in.
I'm so proud of you, congratulations, oh.
(slow acoustic guitar music)
And you came first on the island.
- [Ulric] I remember the morning
my mother told me the good news, I had got
into the best college in the country.
Only eight boys on the island got that.
My father gave me a gold watch and a bachelor coat.
The whole town celebrated.
(background noise drowns out speaker)
(Ulric cries)
Then my mother died.
My father left to seek work in Venezuela.
I was devastated.
We were taken in by a neighbor, Ms. Small,
and learned the rules of the real world.
- [Ms. Small] Whenever we sit at the table,
we don't ever put our elbows on the table.
- [Ulric] White is right, wrong is wrong.
- Okay, that's okay, and you sit up.
- [Ulric] Sit up straight, smile discreetly,
don't be loud.
- Very good, in the name of the Father
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
- [Ulric] Fit in.
- These thy gifts through Christ our Lord, amen, eat up.
- [Ulric] I went off the rails completely.
My school work suffered, I lost the scholarship.
At 15, I left school and went out to work.
Without education-- - Morning, Cross.
- [Ulric] My opportunities were limited.
One dead end job after another.
- A hard day, it were a hard day.
- [Ulric] So in my spare time, me and a few
of the boys started a reading group.
We read everything we could get our hands on.
- [Man In Brown Jacket] I won this story, I won this too.
- [Ulric] Our abode was in Trinidad,
but we lived in the world.
- [Man In Brown Shirt] If you read him,
he has no ancestors, you're not coming down from that.
- [Ulric] We got down Hitler's "Mein Kampf."
- That negro peoples possess no needs of tradition.
(overlapping chattering)
(speaking in foreign language)
Hitler had conquered the whole of Europe.
Britain alone stood firm.
- I'm tired. - Well, that's why we're here.
- [Ulric] we knew that war was inevitable.
It was our job to protect the mother country.
- We are a colonial nation, England is wasted.
I can't take him no more now.
- [Radio Announcer] I am speaking to you
from the Cabinet Room at 10 Downing Street.
This morning, the British Ambassador
in Berlin, indeed, the German government--
- [Ulric] This was my chance to get out,
to escape our narrow colonial society.
I signed up for training.
- [Radio Announcer] I have to tell you now
that no such undertaking has been received,
and as a consequence, this country is at war with Germany.
- [Ulric] Three years later, I was called to duty.
- And all I see is sheep.
(men laughing)
You know, you remind me of somebody I used to know.
- Ulric.
- Anthony Macfarlane, you can call me Pony.
- Okay, Pony. - You're Pony? (laughs)
- What are you laughing for?
- I'm picking up on an accent there.
The first time I met Pony.
- Jamaica. - Jamaica?
It was on the train, coming down from Sheffield
to RAF Training Camp, London.
Trinidad.
- I hear, boy, that's a place.
(men laughing)
- [Ulric] He reminded me so much
of my Uncle C.L., same self importance.
- You know when you arrive in London,
you have to look sharp, you know, sport.
- Right.
- [Kofi] Hey, brother, can I get a cigarette?
- Oh, sure, man.
What's the name?
- Oh, Kofi Mensah.
- Kofi Mensah, Kofi Mensah, Ulric Cross.
I knew right away we would be great friends.
- [Kofi] Of course, yes.
- Where are you from?
- I'm from Gold Coast.
- [Ulric] Gold Coast?
- In Africa.
- Africa?
- Yeah, but I am going to drop bombs
on Hitler personally, myself.
- Yeah, me too, I read Hitler's book--
- "Mein Kampf," yeah. - "Mein Kampf."
He's just a ripe old bastard, man.
We saw eye to eye on most things, especially women.
I like a little milk with my coffee.
I was headed for a big adventure and had two new friends.
I had no real knowing then how it would shape my life.
- [Kofi] Let's just go and kill Hitler.
- I had never even been to Tobago.
(upbeat music)
Yet England felt like home to me.
My uncle was a doctor in Bolton.
Every month, he sent a supply of English newspapers,
Trafalgar Square, Soho Square, an English bobby.
Picadilly.
Wait till everybody back home hears about this.
(Kofi laughs)
What's a matter with you, man?
- [Kofi] Read the bottom paragraph.
- Are you of pure European descent? (laughs)
Well, we both know what the answer
to that question is, right?
- Of course.
- Yes? - No.
- What do you mean by no?
- Yes, no.
I'm not a white man. - Oh.
- I am an African, so are you.
- Never, I'm just as European as anybody else here.
- Okay, well, you just put "yes," I put "no," see how far.
- Did you understand the question?
(siren wails)
- Coloreds couldn't fly planes, they said.
It was two long years before I finally got my chance.
(explosion rumbles)
Britain was losing the war badly.
We were not hitting our targets.
Our job was to turn that around.
139 Division Pathfinder Force, no one knew about it,
a special elite force.
I was a navigator, the only West Indian in my squadron.
600 meters.
We left Sheffield by night in formation,
arriving in France three hours later,
keeping low, treetop height, 315.
Just me and the pilot in the tiny cabin.
Those small wooden planes, Mosquitoes, were fast.
We flew close to the ground,
the better to see the targets.
Drop the flare.
The bombers coming behind had 10 seconds to hit the target.
(slow orchestral music)
(explosion rumbles)
With a break in the clouds, and we're out.
(slow brass music)
- And now I'm going to ask flying officer Ulric Cross
to speak for West Indians in the services.
Ulric is a navigator in one of our own bomber squadrons.
- [Ulric] The Pathfinders found their target.
- Well, it's a jumping over at the start.
If I could navigate you on a magic carpet.
- [Ulric] We changed the course of the war.
- [Nurse] Is it hurting?
- Mm?
All right, yeah.
What
I can say is, to use an expression,
I have courted death,
in that I have flown 80 missions over Germany.
- 80 missions?
- Without a rest, so you could take a rest,
you would take a rest at 30, you could take a rest at 50.
I took no rests.
- Why?
- Why was, I don't know, I don't know,
I have no idea. (laughs)
And no, I never thought why I did that.
- [Nicola] But weren't you scared?
- I think I would die, my last 30 I assumed I would die
in one of those.
But I didn't.
Don't know I know why.
- [Nicola] God, Dad.
- [Nurse] Okay, I'm just going to bend your knee a little.
Just bend. Pull it towards me... Okay.
(slow jazzy music)
- [Ulric] The announcement came that the war had ended.
♪ Your charm, little girl ♪
- I love your smile, look at you.
I had survived.
♪ The fire of your kiss ♪
- Do you dance?
- Yeah, I'm a good dancer.
- Yeah?
- Yeah, I love dancing.
- Really? - Mm-hmm.
♪ For I do ♪
- Ulric from Trinidad.
- Hey, Pony.
- You're still alive.
- You too.
- To the future, man.
- [Ulric] Okay, I felt uncomfortable with the word hero.
I was a soldier doing a job and I did it well.
(people cheering)
I proved that I was as good,
no, better, than any Englishman.
Now it was time to get on with my life.
(upbeat brass music)
♪ It's love, it's love all over ♪
♪ The (mumbles) was to be the proof ♪
- [Ulric] I went home to Trinidad.
♪ Love, love all over, I'd ♪ crossing Heaven to be with her ♪
- [Ulric] I petitioned the governor
for a scholarship to study law, but he refused.
He said there were too many lawyers in Trinidad.
- [Reporter] Now, may I ask you your name?
- Lord Kitchener.
- Lord Kitchener, now I am told
that you are really the king of calypso singers,
is that right? - Yes, that's true.
- [Reporter] Will you sing for us?
- Right now?
- Yes.
♪ London is the place for me to ♪
- [Reporter] And why did you come to England?
- To seek a job.
- And what sort of job do you want?
- Any type, so long as I get a good pay.
♪ Go to France or America ♪
♪ India, Asia, or Australia, ♪ but you must come back ♪
- [Kofi] I don't know why you came back to this country.
- If you'd asked me before I was celebrated
as a hero, here in England.
The most decorated West Indian, as a matter of fact,
and then I go back home to some stupid little island,
Trinidad, to have them tell me that I can't be a lawyer,
because why, they have too many lawyers in Trinidad?
It's a good thing I had enough contacts
to get me a job at the Colonial Office.
- There's nothing here for you.
(slow harp music)
- [Ulric] Kofi was right, things had changed in England.
- I need a job.
- Just give me a minute.
- [Man In Red Tie] I have a very complicated background,
you see, I was in the army for two years.
- [Ulric] Despite our sacrifice,
jobs and housing were hard to come by.
- [Man In Red Tie] Help me find some work.
- Mr. Chovo, West Indian docks,
yes, bright and early Monday morning, 8:00 am sharp.
I was lucky, my war buddy, Pony,
got me a desk job at the Colonial Office.
- Sport, not coming out tonight?
- No, not tonight.
But this was not what I risked my life for.
I worked by day and studied by night.
(slow orchestral music)
I passed the bar in 14 months.
Hi.
Yet all of my applications for work were fruitless.
- [Kofi What fulfills you, Ulric?
- [Ulric] What do you mean, what fulfills me?
- After all these years trapped in the same system,
you are happy?
"I am Ulric Cross,
"I am here to represent all the colored folk.
"I won't bite, I won't harm you, I'm harmless.
"I'm not a cannibal," if I had my eyes closed,
I would have thought I was listening to a white man.
Poster boy, pinup boy.
Handsome Ulric Cross, they've used us like cattle.
Their men died and they called us, now we're here.
You think they want us here?
- Kofi, nobody tells me what to do, man, nobody.
You need to lighten up, my friend.
- Well, I will lighten up, but I won't whiten up.
- Kofi's words hit home.
We were outcasts, rejects of the war.
I loved the RAF, I decided to take my chances
on a city street.
(upbeat orchestral music)
Give it to me a little more gentle.
The BBC were just starting their Caribbean voices program.
- It was a summer night, it was the kind of night
that if you wasn't making love to a woman--
- [Ulric] Songs and stories
to entertain the folks back home.
- Again, take it away.
- It was something of a mystery why he was called Bogart.
- An educated fellow like me could make a few shillings.
And one more time.
- One more time?
- [Ulric] Reading stories and producing segments.
We were hustling in the shadows of London.
- [Kofi] Spring mumbling, "Get a job,
"get a job, get a job."
(men laughing)
So what do we do about--
- [Ulric] The West Indian Students Union
in Earl's Court was our hub.
(overlapping chattering)
Hey. - All right, man?
- How's it going, man? - Good.
- [Ulric] And none other than Pony was the warden.
- Ulric Cross.
- [Ulric] My friend.
- Good to see you, my friend.
(overlapping chattering)
- [Ulric] We need to have some fun.
- That's my boy, will you pour the man a drink, please?
- [Bartender] Yes, sir.
- [Ulric] It was a crossroads for artists,
academics, and future leaders.
- And you have a problem with the truth,
you have a problem with the fact
that you are a racist asshole. (overlapping chattering)
- The girlfriends that are going running before, yeah?
Go catch her.
- [Ulric] Pony was documenting the activities
and planned to publish a book one day.
(slow piano music)
- Okay, Mum, let me just
get this,
shit, wait.
- You want me to move?
- No, please.
(camera beeps)
Okay, that's good.
So how did you meet my father?
- Oh, well, it's a long time ago. (laughs)
(slow piano music)
I was a stranger in London, really.
- Is that what you've been doing
for the past couple years I've left you?
- [Ann] So I moved to Earl's Court.
- So what, I make a living, man.
- [Kofi] You are just wearing the white man's jacket,
the white man's tie--
- Wait, wait, wait, wait--
- Sitting behind the white man's desk.
- [Ann] And of course, Earl's Court,
it was very cosmopolitan.
- A black man, this is a black man's jacket?
- It's Italian.
- It's, oh, so the Italians are black?
- Yes, you didn't know?
Your brain is too slow--
- I'm proud to say I didn't know.
- No, no, you are too caught up
in these big BBC people that duped you.
- [Ann] I was there with a Canadian friend of mine,
and afterwards, we discovered that when they came in,
they decided which woman they were going to chat up.
- Heads.
Heads it is, oh, sweet, shall we, though?
Good evening, ladies, hi, Ulric is the name.
- That's how Ulric and I got together at that time.
- [Ulric] May we join you?
- All right, it must have been you.
That's how it worked. (laughs)
- Yeah, and after the war, I went back home to Trinidad,
and after that, I just--
- Oh, so your home is in Trinidad?
- [Ulric] Yes, yes.
- So what's Trinidad like?
- [Ulric] Well, Trinidad was pretty much--
- How are you?
- Idyllic.
- Really?
- Rustic, the sun is always shining.
Have you met anybody from the West Indies ever?
- [Ann] No.
- No?
- So why are you here?
- That's a good question. (both laughing)
- Well.
My real passion is actually law.
But I can't be a lawyer here in England,
I can't be a lawyer back home in Trinidad.
- So what's stopping you?
- [Ulric] Well.
- England is not a place to welcome.
- She cut right through the noise
and seemed to see me.
Yes, I understand, but enough about me, what about you?
- I trained as a nurse, again, wanting
to do something useful, to do something helpful, to--
- [Kofi] Drinks, you?
- [Ulric] I'll have whatever you're having, man.
- Okay, no problem, I won't be long.
- I like to travel, you--
- [Ulric] You like to travel?
- Yeah, you want me to take you with me?
- Are you serious?
- [Ann] Yeah, let's go.
- Okay. (both laughing)
- Help me leave England.
- [Nicola] And what did you think about him?
- Not a lot, later on I got to know him better.
We saw quite a lot of each other,
and it was my very first serious relationship.
- Ulric, there's somebody else I want you to meet.
- Okay, I'll be there in just a minute.
So you're here every day?
- I work in a cafe around the corner.
Can I make you a cup of coffee?
- I would love to have a cup of coffee, I take it black.
One spoon of sugar.
Whatever the reason, her entry
into my life heralded a new beginning.
Ah, gentlemen.
- This is Mr. CLR James.
Mr. George Padmore.
- [Ulric] I had heard about Padmore.
- George Padmore.
- [Ulric] Kofi had spoken to me often about their work.
- [George] Very nice to meet you--
- From what I understand, this is a table with giants.
(group laughs)
- Gentlemen, one for posterity.
- Sure, sure, sure. (overlapping chattering)
- All right, stationary, thank you, got it.
Lovely.
- Offer you a glass of wine?
- Of course, of course, I wouldn't turn that down.
- Welcome, welcome, welcome.
- Yes, cheers.
- So Mr. Cross, I can't wait to hear all about you.
Kofi's been telling us a lot of different things,
your line of work, you're working at the BBC, I understand.
- I'm a talks producer at the BBC.
- Do they understand you, or they just tolerate you?
- [Ulric] Well.
(Ulric chuckles)
Well, at least--
- They understand his words, but not him.
- I got to meet all the literary minds of the West Indies.
- You are a lawyer,
and we need good lawyers.
- [Ulric] Padmore told me that he was recruiting lawyers
for a mission in West Africa.
- For what exactly?
It sounded like an incredible opportunity,
but I had no desire to go to Africa.
I thought that it is a backwater place full of turmoil.
There was talk of independence,
what role could I play there?
Nevertheless, I was intrigued.
- You see, Ghana was the first country
to gain independence, and so there was this big shift.
(crowd cheers)
- [Ulric] Soon after, the BBC offered me a regular slot.
That's how I came to interview CLR.
I'm here in the studio with Mr. CLR James,
the author of "Minty Alley" and "The Black Jacobins,"
and we are here this evening to talk
about one of the hot topics of the day,
the independence of Gold Coast, soon to be Ghana.
CLR, why don't you tell us how you got involved?
- Mr. Cross, to understand this moment in time,
you need to take a wider view of history.
In October, 1935, I heard that a man called George Padmore,
the great communist, who had lived in Russia for a while,
a teacher, a writer, was coming to England to give a talk.
I arrive at this place in Grazing Road,
and this entourage arrived, and there he is.
- I think that's at the end.
- Malcolm Nurse?
- Mr. CLR James.
Nello! (both laughing)
- Malcolm Nurse?
- My school friend from Arouca, Malcolm Nurse.
- You're always following me.
- Mr. Padmore.
- Yours truly.
- Same person.
- Let's talk.
- [Ulric] Malcolm Nurse, the name from my childhood.
- [Pony] Look at the company he's keeping.
- [Ulric] Pony was always a good source of gossip.
- [Pony] All of these are revolutionaries.
- [Ulric] A brilliant young Trinidadian,
good family, married well, but he went astray.
Padmore asked me to join his organization.
- Really, as what, what's he offering you?
- [Ulric] There might be an opportunity in Africa,
that's why I called, I mean, you know everything.
What do you know about it?
- I don't know anything you don't know.
But what I do know is that he went to university
in the States, no, thank you.
And by the time he left, he was persona non grata.
A couple of stints in Russia, he came back all communist,
and now he has that movement behind him.
And you want to be careful,
'cause nothing those guys like more than
to brainwash critical young mans like yourself.
Africa, nothing but Africans over there, man.
You sure that's what you want, Mr. BBC producer?
- [Ulric] In the end, I was left with even more doubt.
- What I'm trying to say--
- [Ulric] More questions.
- I would ask around and explain.
(bell rings)
- [Ulric] Padmore invited me to his apartment for a meeting.
- [Julia] Ulric.
- Hello, my dear, how are you?
- [Julia] We've been expecting you, welcome.
- Why did you change your name?
- I was born Malcolm Nurse, like you, in Trinidad.
I got married to Julie Semper.
- [Ulric] Mrs. Small's niece?
- When I left Trinidad to go to the United States,
I became deeply involved with the Communist Party.
I made a simple decision based on a simple equation,
protect the family at all costs.
The CIA, the MI6, the intelligence services,
you have to understand that they would have found,
and so I became George Padmore, but was it worth it?
Kwame Nkrumah will be president,
the first president of an African nation.
We're looking for people who will follow through
with these ideas.
You need to ask yourself a question,
what are you prepared to do?
What part am I prepared to play in history?
Building a movement is not easy, Mr. Cross.
(slow drumming)
- [Ulric] I felt like I was looking
at the world with new eyes and new purpose.
(slow acoustic guitar music)
I was seeing Ann, but I did not feel like
I could share these thoughts with her.
♪ A dream might be heavy ♪
♪ Heavy as lead ♪
♪ You hear voices whisper ♪
♪ Lay it down instead ♪
♪ It'll give you no burden ♪
♪ For them you can bear ♪
♪ You might be frightened ♪
♪ To carry on from this ♪
♪ That's all it is ♪
- I was torn.
CLR, I need your help to understand.
Where's all of this going?
Would you mind explaining for the listeners,
what's the strategy, what's the end result?
- I'm coming to that, Pan-Africanism was a concept created
from our nostalgic longing that something was missing,
a black star.
I am teaching at Lincoln College in Pennsylvania.
I wrote to George, "I have found the person
"who will execute our plan."
One of my students was a young man called Kwame Nkrumah,
a young African man, propelled by a singular drive.
- He intends to--
- [CLR And George] Overthrow imperialism.
- In the Gold Coast. - I see.
- In April, 1945, Waterloo Station,
a train arrives.
It is the moment.
Mr. Kwame Nkrumah.
- Mr. George Padmore.
- [George] Welcome to London.
- [CLR] Padmore had the strategy,
and Nkrumah was the African star.
- Take a seat, man.
- The force on the ground to make it happen.
The rest is history. Five months later,
Manchester, England, we have the fifth Pan-African Congress.
- [Ulric] Suddenly I was informed
that the program was canceled.
- I'm sorry, Ulric, Mr. James.
I'm sorry to have to cut the interview short.
They said it was getting too political.
- Political, BBC talks politics all the time--
- Yes, this is the BBC,
the British Broadcasting Corporation.
Thank you for coming.
- Cold, boy, cold.
Thank you.
- [Ulric] I needed to know the end
of the story, so I borrowed
a tape recorder
and headed to the pub.
- They shut us down, man, that's what I've been trying
to tell you, they'll stop at nothing
to prevent us owning our own narrative.
- How about you continue where we left off?
What happened next?
- [CLR] Nkrumah.
- Nkrumah.
- You tell him, you tell.
- Within five months of meeting him,
we organized the fifth Pan-African Conference.
- 1945.
- Lack of places to stay, places to eat
for the delegates, the color bar.
What are we going to do?
We couldn't have it in London.
Then I had a letter from Ras Makkonnen,
"I will find places for the delegates to stay,
"come up, we will organize everything for you,
"and bring everyone to Manchester."
We agree, we are in agreement. (overlapping chattering)
World leaders are arriving at this conference.
Welcome to the cold Manchester.
Thank you very much, Rass. (audience applauds)
300 years ago, the illegal trafficking
of our people began, the gold, the diamonds
that belong to each and every member of the African nations.
There was an energy.
- Now is the seed time, now are the hours of work,
and tomorrow comes the harvest.
- [George] The great W.E.B. Du Bois.
- We are going to light the fire.
Africa and the West Indies are going to live.
- [CLR] Chaired by George Padmore.
- Mr. Kwame Nkrumah. (audience applauds)
And Kwame Nkrumah.
- [Presenter] Please.
(applause drowns out speaker)
The loyal subjects will be free.
- [Audience Member] Bring it.
- [Presenter] Will be free.
- [Pony] Last call, last call.
- Ah, there he is, the man himself.
- I'm pretty sure you guys could use a last drink.
- Mr. Macfarlane, do you still have those photographs
you took in Manchester?
- I do indeed.
- We need more people like you.
(slow ominous music)
- [Interviewer] What do you consider the dangers
of an increasing colored population?
- In our opinion, the most important is the longterm one
of mass interbreeding, we feel
that you cannot have colored immigration on the scale--
- [Ulric] I saw England going to the dogs.
- [Interviewee] While sooner or later,
having mass interbreeding.
(overlapping chattering)
- [Ulric] Riots, racial tension.
I definitely did not belong there.
(slow orchestral music)
- [Announcer] At Accra, a huge crowd cheers
as Kwame Nkrumah leaves James Fort Prison--
- [Ulric] The world was changing.
- [Announcer] On the eve of the inauguration.
What now happens
in the Gold Coast may influence all of West Africa.
- Mr. Cross, I ask you a question.
Have you made a decision?
- [Ann] Good, I'm gonna hold you to it.
- Good, I guess I'm warming up.
- Yeah.
- You just kissed me.
- Yeah.
- Again.
- Yeah.
- I can't say that I have family
to leave behind, necessarily.
I mean, my mother died when I was just 13,
and not too long after that,
my father abandoned all nine of us.
My entire life seemed to change.
- What?
You're breaking up with me, this is a breakup?
Well, say no, what the fuck, what is this?
Say something, Ulric, hey.
- Just don't make a scene.
- Don't make a scene?
Does this mean anything to you?
But you don't want me to make a scene?
Was it fuck, was it a joke?
Tell me you love me, tell me you love me.
You're walking away from me, you walk away from me,
you'll never see me again.
- Listen, don't--
- Don't point your finger at me.
Talk to me.
Stay, stay, you're a coward. (slow violin music)
(dramatic orchestral music)
- For the second time, I left everything I knew behind.
I took a risk on a dream, I didn't know where it would land.
(upbeat music)
(singing in foreign language)
What's this?
(speaking in foreign language)
- [PK] Does it sound similar?
- No, no, no.
- At all.
- Not at all, not at all, not at all.
We speak English, plain and simple.
(PK laughs)
- [PK] So this is Ghana, man, yes.
- Accra Central.
The women are beautiful.
- Welcome to Ghana, my friend.
- A lovely place.
(speaking in foreign language)
PK Asante, I take it, by that name,
you're a member of the Ashanti tribe,
and you've been doing some reading.
- So George has told us a lot about you.
- Well, I should hope so.
He actually gave me a letter to give to you.
(speaking in foreign language)
- [Kwame] And what do you think you can bring
to this new chapter?
- Well, I bring my service.
I bring whatever experience I've had.
I was once a soldier, I've been a producer.
- He says here you are a lawyer, what are you doing working
for the British Broadcasting Corporation?
- Well, Mr. President, to be a lawyer in England,
you have to marry a solicitor's daughter,
or at least so it seems. (group laughs)
It's that hard.
Well, yeah.
- It's just a little joke.
Well, maybe you should come here and be a lawyer, huh?
Are you ready to embark on this journey together with us?
- Yes, sir.
- That's my president, he's called
(speaking in foreign language) for "the savior."
That over there, that's where Kwame plans
to build the teaching hospital.
He's giving free healthcare, free education.
So he plans to develop the film industry,
to empower the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation.
It's a great time to be Ghanaian,
my friend, it is a better time to be African.
- Oh, shit.
- Sorry about that, my friend.
He plans to improve the roads, as well.
(Ulric laughs)
But I'm gonna take you to eat fufu.
- [Ulric] My word, what is it?
- [PK] Intestine, that's the skin, and that's the meat.
- I see.
- [PK] Wash your hands.
- [Ulric] But tell me something, PK, you're sending me out
to Kumasi, yeah?
- Yeah, don't worry about that, my friend.
You'll be met on arrival by the original secretary.
You will have a house, a car, a driver, and a butler.
- [Ulric] Okay.
- [PK] Swallow.
(Ulric coughs)
- That's quite tasty, it's quite wonderful.
- Yeah. - Fantastic.
- Taste that akpeteshie, drink it down.
Ulric, (laughs) Ulric, Ulric.
You okay?
(Ulric coughs)
- [Ulric] Which way is west?
- [PK] That way.
- If you go straight out across the ocean that way,
that's where you will find Trinidad.
- [PK] Oh, yeah?
- Yes, yes,
this same ocean.
- The same ocean.
So it's safe to say, "Welcome back home."
- [Announcer] A new order is coming into being,
and an old order is passing away.
The universe itself is on the side of freedom and justice.
(upbeat music) (crowd cheering)
- I think after everything I've ever heard
or learned about Africa, it's all a lie.
- [PK] What did you expect?
- We were told that Africans swing on trees, like monkeys.
I come here now and I see a new world.
New world, and I'm here to be part of it.
- [Announcer] Well, Dr. Nkrumah may not have been
to Ghana's independence, this is a day of fulfillment,
the longing to be free, the need to be free.
These are part of the rightful heritage of man,
a heritage denied to colonial Africa until now.
(upbeat music) (crowd cheering)
♪ Ghana, you now have freedom ♪
♪ Ghana, land of freedom ♪
♪ Toils of the brave and ♪ the sweat of their labors ♪
♪ Toils of the brave which ♪ have brought results ♪
(crowd cheers)
- The battle is over.
(crowd cheers)
And thus, Ghana, your beloved country,
is free forever.
(background noise drowns out speaker)
That from now on,
we must change our attitudes, our minds,
we must realize that we are no longer colonial,
but are free and independent people.
(crowd cheers)
(upbeat drumming)
(upbeat orchestral music)
(slow brass music)
♪ Ghana, Ghana is the name, Ghana ♪
♪ We wish to proclaim ♪
♪ We will be jolly, merry, and gay ♪
♪ The sixth of March, Independence Day ♪
- [Nicola] Who is Ulric Cross?
My father's an enigma, I'm pulling together the pieces
of his life from photographs, memories, half memories.
There's so much that I don't know,
can't know, will never know, so I have to imagine.
- "It's a great time to be Ghanaian," as PK said.
This land is full of resources,
gold, diamonds, bauxite, beautiful country.
My new job is Crown Consult,
Solicitor General's Office, Kumasi.
- Hannah, find gift in the. (speaking in foreign language)
- [Ulric] I can't wait to get started.
(speaking in foreign language)
- It's our welcome gift, so we have something for you
from the Asantehene, Opoku Ware.
He welcome you to the office.
- Thank you.
- From the Asantehene?
I'm sure I'll enjoy drinking it for later.
- Oh, but my friend, and that's how they always welcome you
in this country, by do you know,
they always expect something from you.
(slow kalimba music)
There are powers who don't want us to succeed.
We have to fight those powers,
change the laws, build the country.
Former law, our colonial law,
we need to change the system and give rights to everyone.
Make sure everyone is equal in this new country.
- One of my first cases was a land dispute
between the Ashanti and the government.
(speaking in foreign language)
The Ashanti king owns the land, and the government plans
to nationalize the foreign-owned gold mines that lease it.
(speaking in foreign language)
Due to the sensitive nature of the land ownership question
and the importance of the Asantehene,
we decided that a royal visit would be more appropriate.
(speaking in foreign language)
What are they saying exactly?
- They're just fucking--
- What are they saying?
(PK mumbles)
- Fucking assholes, he's not gonna handle it, (mumbles).
(speaking in foreign language)
- Gentlemen, this doesn't seem to be going quite well.
Listen, we have an opportunity here,
and I believe it's a very, very unique
and wonderful opportunity to benefit the entirety
of the Ghanaian nation, and that would mean,
of course, all tribes, including the Ashanti.
Yes, now what Mr. Nkrumah is trying
to do is nationalize all the gold,
and in this way, we can benefit everyone.
Now, it's strength in numbers.
It will mean that the Ashanti, Asantehene and the Ghanaians
and all the other tribes-- - The Ghanaians, the,
exactly. - Everyone can benefit.
- It's for the benefit of Ghana.
- Listen, don't you people want to grow?
I mean, we have the opportunity here
to make sure that everyone can benefit.
It's a large number of people, no?
We can all look after each other, yes?
Yes?
(speaking in foreign language)
What's he-- (speaking in foreign language)
- He doesn't like the tone of your voice.
(Opoku coughs) (slow acoustic guitar music)
(speaking in foreign language)
- [Ulric] The visit ended in failure.
My words found deaf ears.
(speaking in foreign language)
It was clear that the Ashanti king was not interested
in working with the new government.
♪ Everything he touched turned to dust ♪
(speaking in foreign language)
Asantehene, Asantehene. (overlapping chattering)
- Hey. (speaking in foreign language)
- Oh, all right, very sorry, very sorry, Asantehene--
- You don't address national TV like that.
I will handle it.
♪ They said, "Sun man, ♪ take me to heaven" ♪
- The Asantehene is in business
with the foreign corporations who, in turn,
line his pockets to make it worth his while.
Where there is gold, the people are poor.
The status quo remains the same.
- [Hannah] Here.
- What's your name?
- Hannah.
- Thank you, I'm Ulric.
- Yes, sir.
- No, not sir, just Ulric.
- Yes, sir.
(slow orchestral music)
- [Ulric] It had been this way since slavery.
On Nkrumah's direction, we decided
to go straight to the mining companies.
As my father always said,
"Those that cannot hear will feel."
To General Sir Edward Spears,
the chairman of Ashanti Goldmines Corporation,
consider this your formal notice
that you will now owe taxes to the Ghanaian government
for every ounce of gold mined by your company
on Ghanaian soil, yours sincerely,
Philip Louis Ulric Cross, Senior Crown Attorney.
Nkrumah appointed me,
so I don't understand how the Asantehene can have the right
to get rid of me.
- I'm so sorry, although Kumasi is part of Ghana,
it has its own rules and regulations,
and everything falls under the Asantehene.
- My friend, you can't imagine the type of power they have,
and the type of power they're trying to protect.
- [Woman] We're gonna really miss you.
- [Ulric] I'm discovering that Africa is every bit
as tribal and exclusive as Europe,
but I am still, after all, that brown-skinned island boy
from Belmont, orphaned, an outsider.
And I miss you.
- [Ann] When I knew that Ulric was going to Ghana
and that I could not go with him.
- How did that make you feel?
- Devastated at the time, and I said,
"Ann, you've got to something,
"not lay around here with a broken heart.
"Get on and do something."
So I applied to something called Universal Aunts,
and they provide carers,
and so I got a job going to Venezuela.
♪ Mr. Sun man, take me ♪
- [Ulric] Dear Anne, I write to you today full
of remorse and sadness for our last meeting.
I'm not sure if you've been receiving my letters.
I miss talking to you, I long to tell you
about the extraordinary journey that I am on.
(overlapping chattering)
- To first Ghana Independence.
- Indeed.
- To friendship, as well. - Yeah.
(horn honks) (slow acoustic guitar music)
- This place is nothing like
what I thought it would be like.
- Is that good or bad?
- Well, it's good.
And perhaps bad, as well.
- This is Ghana's African Affairs Center.
- [PK] All right, this is it, this is the central hub.
(overlapping chattering)
This is where the research is done,
this is where the reports are written.
This is where the speeches are written.
- The African Affairs Bureau was established two years ago
by George Padmore.
- Thank you very much. - George!
- [Chet] And he might promote his ideas
for Pan-African Federation.
- Thanks, bye bye.
Ulric, come, come, come.
How are you, all done?
Ulric, good to see you, as you can see,
we're starting, we're at the beginning, again.
We're trying to put together the agenda.
(slow music)
The All-African Peoples' Congress.
(overlapping chattering)
- You're very busy.
- Oh, well, well, this is the guest list,
the beginnings of a guest list.
Patrice Lumumba will be attending the conference.
Have we heard back from Mondlane, Mondlane?
Please contact his office in Mozambique.
Cameroon, Ahmadhou, have we heard back from him?
We need to know if he's coming, leave it to me.
- What I'll also need to discuss is how I can be
of service to you.
- We need you now.
- [Ulric] Yes?
- It's good to see you, Ulric, we need help.
- Yes. (slow music)
- We are responsible
for putting together The All-African Peoples' Conference,
first time in Africa.
- [Ann] Dear Ulric, thank you for sharing
with me your journeys and what's been going on, and--
- Here's what we have in front of us right at the moment.
Nkrumah needs me to plan a draft--
- [Ann] I can indeed tell and well imagine how new
and stressful it all is for you.
- That's the first point, what do you think?
- This congress is key to that movement.
- 'Cause we need to collaborate on this to make it work.
- [Ann] But try to remember
what an important contribution you're making,
that you can make, only you, Ulric, can make.
I wish I was with you.
- So please, try your hardest.
Anyone with any difficulties, let me hear them now.
- [Ulric] Dear Anne, I was overjoyed to hear from you.
Love, your Ulric.
- Sure to come a constantly growing exhortation
to other peoples and territories
to follow the lead of Ghana.
- Morning gentlemen, esteemed leaders,
I've been asked to come to you today
by Mr. Padmore and Mr.--
- Mr. President, Kwame Nkrumah.
- To present a draft constitution
for the United States of Africa.
This continent is very rich, that's the reason why,
of course, the imperialists have been bleeding it dry
for the past few centuries.
- We do not want any
European
hold over us, we want them gone.
- Well, we know why the CIA,
the imperialist capitalist are opposing us,
because we are succeeding in the way
we have achieved it in Ghana.
- I think it is now, this is it.
- I want to know that we are all on the same page.
Our vision has to be united, so let's begin.
- Firstly, we will serve all
of the interests of all the people of Africa,
regardless of nationality, tribe, class.
Any feedback on that?
- If we cannot control the tribal agenda,
we have no opportunity
of making the United States of Africa exist.
We must go back to our several different countries
and ensure that the people take responsibility
in the sense of voting for your own government.
- Well, that's actually one of the points, as well.
We are going to need to support all independence movements.
- This is the time, we've gotten to a point
where it's useless, we have been attrited
from our positions as owners of this land.
If force is needed to be applied,
then that is the way we should go.
- There should be a way for every country
to attend these meetings.
- We need to get them out, we need to get them out.
- Call me impatient, but I think it's ovedue.
- No force, we don't want to be like Russia
or the United States of America.
Focus and strategy.
- Strategizing... it's time to accelerate the issues,
because they don't want to see a united Africa.
They still want to be our masters.
They don't want us to be liberated economically.
- But how long should we wait for it?
Are we going to wait 10 years, 20 years before that?
That dream will never come to us.
- [George] Eduardo, if you insist on using force--
You will not achieve your goals.
It's taken us 12 years, using strategy, to get Kwame Nkrumah
to be president of the once Gold Coast.
We have an excellent blueprint
in what you have achieved here.
- I'm sorry, George, but we have to go forward quickly.
- Gentlemen, I advise, if you refuse to take my advice--
- Please, so is it all that-- (overlapping chattering)
- I'm falling behind, whatever you decide.
- Might I suggest, might I suggest that
you still employ a strategy,
but we have to be sure that when the time comes,
we will be ready to defend each other.
With force, if necessary.
- We want this to move forward in a non-violent way,
but if military force is needed to become independent.
- [George] So be it.
- So be it, if Mozambique needs us,
we will be there for you, but if we can't use the gun,
I will be very happy, okay?
(group laughs)
Do you agree? - Yes.
- [Eduardo] Yes, (mumbles).
- [Kwame] Okay.
- The United States of Africa.
- A United States of Africa.
- See? (laughs)
You are laughing, you see?
- What a beautiful vision. (group laughs)
(glasses clinking)
- Oh, yeah, yeah. (laughs)
- Somewhere in the heart of Africa, when I am the one.
- Before we leave this room, gentlemen,
I'm going to need everyone's signature.
(upbeat orchestral music)
- [Announcer] 200 delegates
to the All-African Peoples' Conference heard a speech much
to their liking by the Prime Minister
of Ghana, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah.
He told them to (mumbles) a United States of Africa
to be formed on the model of the USA.
- I can't wait, I can't wait
to see independence in your land.
- Yes.
- It's a gathering of minds, great minds.
- With a common vision and a common good
to drive to us the future is beautiful.
- The unanimous agency of liberating our continent,
for me, the high point for me.
It's gonna be a hard matter, I have the full backing
of my big brothers.
- Well, obviously we have a lot of enemies.
- I think the influence
of colonial masters is still very significant
and we need to break that down.
That, to me, is the most obvious obstacle.
- Chet Huntley, NBC News, Accra, Ghana.
♪ The city's gonna drive the new ♪
♪ And working on his ♪
- [Ulric] I am traveling with Padmore
throughout West Africa to spread the word of African unity.
♪ Dreams come true ♪
♪ That's his only remark ♪
♪ Oh, no, no ♪
- [Ulric] We have to go over the heads of the chiefs,
directly to the people in order
to disrupt the tribal agenda,
and that of their colonial bosses.
- Only have one, 'cause it is, yeah--
- Only one chieftains? - Yeah.
- Only one (mumbles).
(speaking in foreign language)
- [Ulric] Nkrumah is turning their world upside down.
We Won't doubt it, pleasure. - Thank you.
(speaking in foreign language)
And he has the overwhelming support of the people.
♪ Love, come back to me ♪
♪ Oh, oh, love, come back to me ♪
- Today I would like to talk to you about people,
power of people, people like you can achieve independence
in Togo and bring a new birth of a nation.
(group applauds)
- [Ann] It's glorious to hear your news.
I saw in the papers that Congo became independent.
I wish I was with you.
(crowd cheers)
(background noise drowns out singer)
♪ It was you that set me free ♪
- [Ulric] Padmore is inspiring, unrelenting.
(group applauds)
(speaking in foreign language)
- Would it surprise you to know
that there are billions of dollars worth
of resources in Africa's soil?
(speaking in foreign language)
The word of unification. (speaking in foreign language)
Is it
independence.
PK,
PK.
(overlapping chattering)
- [PK] Get him water.
- I must continue.
It's okay, it's okay, but I must continue.
No, no, no,
I must continue, I'm sorry, I need to go on. (cries)
(slow music)
- [Ulric] Padmore has fallen gravely ill.
- Sorry.
- [Ulric] We are bringing him to London for treatment.
Please meet me there.
- In the meantime, Ulric was writing,
saying that he couldn't do without me. (laughs)
(slow piano music)
- [Ulric] "Meet me at Trafalgar Square,
"stop, Tuesday, the 15th, 10:00 am, stop."
Excuse me. - Oh, shit. (laughs)
(phone rings)
(slow violin music)
- [Ulric] What?
- He was our leader.
He was our father.
And--
- There have been many rumors going around,
George Padmore, that he died of natural causes.
I believe that my late husband
was poisoned. (audience exclaims)
- [Pony] Ulric, excuse me.
- Hey, Pony, how long has it been?
- It's been too long, too bad it had
to be under these circumstances.
But I hear you're doing great things in Africa.
- Well, what about you?
- I'm at the High Commission.
- [Ulric] Really? That's great.
- It fits me, it suits me.
Poisoned?
- [Ulric] Yeah, that's what she thinks, I was just with him.
- Really?
- A couple weeks ago, on High Commission business.
He seemed a little bit under the weather,
but nowhere near death's door.
- Something isn't right, I mean,
how does somebody go from being on top
of the world one minute to being in an urn the week after?
- You tell me. (slow orchestral music)
- Strange things are happening, Pony.
I feel like there's somebody following me.
- You're being a little bit paranoid, aren't you?
- I might, I mean, who would want to kill George?
And I was right there with him,
I mean, who's to say they wouldn't want to kill me too?
- Why would they kill you?
- I was there with him, drafting everything.
- Look, Ulric, calm down, man, you're not making any sense.
- [Ulric] I know.
- [Pony] You're gonna have to tell me exactly
what you were doing over there in Africa.
Start at the beginning.
- The intention is to create the federation
of African states that could stand on its own.
Of course, that would mean cutting some ties with Europe.
- Now, you see that right there, that's subversive.
- [Ulric] How?
- That's how it's gonna be interpreted, man.
Did you have any contact with the Soviets?
- No.
- All right, I'll take your word for it.
Okay, so what's next for you?
- I'll carry Padmore's things back with me.
- What things?
- Writings, papers.
- Why don't you let me send them back
in a diplomatic pouch for you.
- Thanks, but it's my responsibility.
- [Pony] Little lady going with you?
- [Ulric] She's my wife, Pony.
She'll be joining me in two weeks.
It's gonna require an adjustment for her.
(overlapping chattering)
- Passport and ticket, please.
Thank you very much, where are you flying to today, perfect.
- [Daphne] Good evening, sir.
- Hello, good evening.
- May I see your passport, please?
- Sure, of course.
(slow ambient music)
Would you follow me, please?
- Sure.
- Place your bag over here, please.
What is your occupation, Mr. Cross?
- I'm a lawyer.
- What kind of lawyer?
- I work for the government of Ghana.
- [Daphne] What is your affiliation
with the Communist Party of Great Britain?
- None, I work for the government of Ghana.
- They have a communist government there, don't they?
What is your relationship with George Padmore?
- Might I ask why?
Madam, I have a plane to catch.
Is there some reason that I'm being upheld?
- You will leave when I am good and ready.
How long have you known Mr. Padmore?
- A couple of years.
Mr. Padmore was a friend.
- And Mr. Lumumba?
- I want to speak to my consulate representative.
- Pack your things, I'll meet you outside.
- [Ulric] Pony?
- [Pony] Yes?
- [Ulric] Something kind of rubbish is going on, okay?
They stopped me from getting on the flight,
and they took away-- - Okay, Ulric, Ulric,
what is this, what's going on?
- They stopped me from getting on the flight,
and they took away Padmore's papers.
- That's odd. - Yeah, exactly.
Why the hell would they take away Padmore's papers?
I mean, that's a dead man's private letters.
- Calm--
- It's going down, right? - Listen to me.
- Something is up. - Hey, hey, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Okay, listen to me, listen to me,
you give them what they want.
- [Ulric] No, no, no, no, no--
- [Pony] And I'm going to have you
on that flight-- - Pony.
- [Pony] In no time.
- No, man, I can't do that, Pony, I can't do that, okay?
- Hey, listen, communism is a hot button issue right now.
No, no, no, no, just let it go, let it go.
On another day, you wouldn't be traveling at all,
so get yourself on that plane and get where you're going.
And I will see what I can do about those papers, all right?
I will make sure that they're in a diplomatic bag
and sent onto you in Accra.
(slow acoustic guitar music)
- This is a day of national sorrow in Ghana.
The flags are at half mast, this is the funeral
of George Padmore, Padmore was a revolutionary,
an exhorter of people.
- [Ulric] Padmore wanted to be buried
in Laparu Cemetery with his mother,
but he died penniless.
So Nkrumah brought him home to Ghana.
After the public event, we convened at the castle.
- Padmore, a West Indian, has traveled most
of the revolutionary circuit, the disciple
of Moscow here in Africa, today his actions have arrived
in Ghana to be. (music drowns out speaker)
And to all the other nationalists of Africa,
still adhering to his (music drowns out speaker)
and the United States of Africa.
♪ My heart, my heart ♪
♪ My heart ♪
- [Ulric] People's lives had been transformed
by his ideas.
♪ This place, this place ♪
- [Chet] Chet Huntley, NBC News, Ghana.
(slow music)
- [Ulric] Grief stricken with Padmore gone,
Nkrumah struggled to cope.
- We are losing our grip on things.
I know you think I am paranoid,
but we cannot trust anybody now.
They are all around us.
They are within our walls.
Even now,
I think we are there, are they in the plants?
Are they behind the pictures, can you hear me?
I need you to go to Congo,
and let me know if we need to intervene.
- [Ulric] At the All-Africa Conference,
we had promised to stand together
and to defend each other from the greed of Europe.
- Do you understand?
- [Ulric] Yes.
With force, if necessary, now Nkrumah wanted me
to go to Congo, to let him know if the time had come to act.
I saw land torn up by mines,
the world's biggest diamond store, now a site of war.
It had begun with Lumumba's inaugural speech.
(speaking in foreign language)
Lumumba let the Belgians know that from now on,
his country's huge wealth would not be used
to line the pockets of kings and chiefs,
but improve the lives of the people.
For this, Lumumba became a marked man.
They made him eat that speech.
The people rose to defend their elected leader.
Then he disappeared.
I saw a country under military rule.
A United Nations Peacekeeping Force was in place,
but they were not authorized to intervene.
This gave cover to Lumumba's enemies to do their dirty work.
General Mobutu, Lumumba's right hand man
and chief of staff, took charge.
- Sit.
I've called this press conference
to make it very clear--
- [Ulric] He announced that Lumumba was dead.
- [Mobutu] You couldn't even see his body,
his body was not found, unfortunate.
- [Ulric] Killed by his own people.
- Where is he?
Trust me, if I knew anything about Patrice,
I would tell you, I don't know.
- [Ulric] Then I saw a familiar face.
- [Denver] Denver Heilard from the Washington Post.
We have reason to believe that--
- [Ulric] What was she doing there?
- This is the problem I have with you people.
I tried to be nice, I come to you to interact,
you ask me, do I have-- (overlapping chattering)
- There's an answer, this is an international affair.
No, take your hands off me, please.
- [Ulric] I later learned she was head of MI6 in Africa.
On her deathbed, she would confess
to organizing the assassination of Lumumba.
- [Mobutu] One more question.
- We've also heard rumors that you were involved
in Lumumba's death.
- [Mobutu] Who are you?
- Ulric Cross is the name.
- [Mobutu] And who is this man?
- This is Mr. PK Asante, we were both sent
by President Nkrumah to find out the state
of affairs in the Congo.
- You say, "State of affairs,"
what do you see, what is the state of affairs now?
What do you see, you come, what do you see?
What can you see, what are you hearing?
The reports circulating words?
- Are you being paid?
- But of course Mobutu was also in the pockets
of the Americans, and that's how it worked.
- [Announcer] Patrice Lumumba,
and it has been the signal for violent reactions
in many parts of the world, first in the United Nations,
where a Security Council meeting was violently interrupted.
In Paris, the Federation of African Students demonstrated.
This was the scene in Belgrade,
where the crowd, estimated at 150,000 people, marched.
- [Announcer] Red China jumps on the public
and the bandwagon to protest the death of Patrice Lumumba.
(slow piano music)
- [Ulric] We waited for Nkrumah to act, but he did nothing.
It was too late.
- My name is Larry Devlin, I'm a businessman.
Mobutu is gonna be good for the Congo.
Import, export, I work all over Africa.
- My name is Daphne Park, the events were quite organized.
And it's quite, quite comforting, actually.
(slow ambient music)
(gun fires)
- Oh, God, wake up, it's me, it's me.
I'm here, it's your wife, it's me.
(phone rings)
- [Ulric] Hello?
- [Pony] Sport. (laughs)
- [Ulric] Pony?
- [Pony] Yes, I'm in Ghana, I just got into town.
- [Ulric] What are you doing here?
- I'm in Accra, man, I'm coming over now.
Pull yourself together, man,
this is not the Ulric Cross I know.
(slow ambient music)
- They killed Lumumba, Pony.
- I know, it was in all the news reels.
Even polite society in London is talking about it.
- What am I even doing here, Pony?
Look, look, plans and more plans.
Contracts. First Padmore, now Lumumba.
There's a shadow looming over us, man.
- You can't let Africa get you down.
You have come too far.
You'll have to decide whether this is your battle to fight.
- [Ulric] Suddenly, I became aware
of how much I had changed.
Pony seemed like a stranger to me.
- Which leads me to, where to next, Mr. Navigator?
- Cameroon.
- [Ulric] Only later would I learn why.
- This man from Trinidad that is not Cameroonian at all.
(Ann laughs)
- Cameroon was facing independence.
The Premiere visited Ghana
and was discussing their predicament with Nkrumah.
British civil servants would be withdrawn,
and they didn't have Cameroonians to fill those posts.
- One second. Ulric.
- And had Nkrumah got any ideas?
He suggest Ulric 'cause he was somebody
who he would highly recommend.
- Change is a good thing.
- [Ann] It was an honor to be requested by Nkrumah to go
and help out another African country facing independence.
- Kofi, yes, I just got appointed, I just got appointed.
I'm coming over, I'll see you soon, man.
I heard that you're my liaison there?
- [Ann] Six months before the plebiscite,
we left and we went to Cameroon.
(upbeat guitar music)
♪ Hey ♪
- [Ulric] My old war buddy, Kofi Mensah.
- [Kofi] Could I meet you there? (laughs)
- [Ulric] Is there to pick us up from the airport,
and I hadn't seen him in a number of years.
So what's going on on the plebiscite?
- [Kofi] One is speaking French and one is speaking English.
There are two different models of the constitution
that you have to erect immediately.
- [Ann] And we were staying in Benue,
which is about 4,000 feet above sea level.
- We have some people, like Ahidjo.
I can personally vouch for him, so he is a very good man.
We are coming close to the house here, look, look, look.
- [Ann] And we went up, and there is this huge German castle
in front of us.
- [Ulric] Nice, Mr. Mensah, you've done well.
- [Kofi] Well, what I have, I'll let you have.
(Ulric laughs)
- [Ann] And that was
where the administrative capital developed,
and that's where we were posted.
- It's fine.
- Good, good, good, good friends.
- [Ulric] Wonderful.
- [Kofi] Please, Ulric.
- [Ulric] Watch your step.
- [Kofi] Ulric, King Dodo.
- King Dodo, nice to meet you. - We're happy you're here.
- [Kofi] And--
- We're happy you're here.
- [Kofi] Nana Mensah--
- Nana Mensah Seko.
- Nana Mensah? - Seko.
- Ulric Cross.
Thank you. - Thank you, too.
- [Kofi] Let's lead the way.
- [Ulric] All right.
- [Kofi] So this is where you'll be staying.
- [Ulric] I was in the right place at the right time.
This is a lovely house. (upbeat drumming)
(speaking in foreign language)
I arrived in Cameroon as Assistant Attorney General.
- By the power bestowed upon me,
I am going to read over to you the oath
of office, Mr. Ulric Cross,
you are now the new Attorney General of Cameroon.
- Thank you very much.
After the plebiscite, I became the attorney general.
My job was to integrate the two legislative parts,
French and English.
- Attorney General of Cameroon,
Nkrumah agreed to release this gentleman to me.
His name is Mr. Ulric Cross. (audience applauds)
- He was a member of the elected members Assembly,
so he was advising them about the law.
- I don't want us to see ourselves as French Cameroon
or English Cameroon, there's only one Cameroon,
one word, so I want-- (overlapping chattering)
- [Ann] The objective was to try to revise the laws
and to see how the two systems could be joined, which
was really an impossible job.
Then, because of this problem
with not having experienced lawyers.
- [Julius] Just imagine where we would be
if I had four of your kind.
- Well, if it's more people like me that you want,
then no problem.
- [Ann] They decided to go to the Caribbean.
(upbeat orchestral music)
- So we're going to talk to a number of people,
'cause the white colonial lawyers
don't have the right attitude,
and the Cameroonians don't have the right training.
We are looking for colored lawyers
who have the right attitude,
and we'll have a very high level of education.
They would be able to train Cameroonians,
to eventually take over their jobs.
My minister and I came down to the West Indies,
aiming to recruit the best lawyers we could find
for the job at hand, Jamaica, Trinidad, Barbados.
Cedric, we're giving you the opportunity to build a dream.
You get to come in from the ground.
Yeah, I know you're successful as a lawyer here--
- 14 years.
- That's perfect.
- Cala Coley Balatan, your name comes highly recommended
on my list.
This is Mr. Simon Achu,
he's the Minister of Justice from Cameroon.
- [Cosi] Cosi Harris.
- Oh, you are in, you're in, man.
We're drafting a new constitution
for a new nation, a united Cameroon.
As you know, it's French and English now,
and help create a new Africa.
- When are you looking for me to start?
- [Ann] They needed those people immediately,
and they were able to get them very quickly.
They recruited eight Caribbean lawyers.
- [Ulric] The recruitment was so successful
of West Indians working in Cameroon
that the local opposition newspaper wrote an editorial,
"West Indian Colonialism in Cameroon."
- You still haven't talked about yourself, though,
so where do you come in? (Ann laughs)
(Nicola laughs)
(slow piano music)
- The closest friend I had was Gladys Andeli.
Women and children. - Women and children.
(overlapping chattering)
- So rooms to be, how many rooms do you think we need?
And she said, "What about trying
"to establish a health clinic here?"
- If we have it open, we can have more beds
and we can attend to more women.
- I was in a privileged position
because I went to the British Consul
and I asked him how I could get the money.
He said, "I know, every
"February or March, you'll have to add up how much money
"you've got left, and then you send it back to Britain."
He said, "You can have the money."
And then, of course, we had to get the land.
Now, the land is controlled by the chief,
endless meetings, nobody would agree.
- [Gladys] We have to talk to them.
- The women actually refused to their marital rights.
- So the men will understand the serious matter.
(overlapping chattering) (group laughs)
- It's not uncommon, apparently.
And so it was pegged out, we held it
in an old German church with lots of holes in the roof.
So we used to have to take buckets
for the water to come through the roof.
(slow music) (overlapping chattering)
And it is, to this day, it's called the Ann Cross Clinic.
I mean, it just changed my life.
It was just a privilege to be there.
(overlapping chattering)
I would have been happy to stay there forever.
- [Secretary] Mr. Cross, there's a call
for you on line one from Ghana.
- Mr. Cross here.
- Okay, thank you, Ulric?
- Ah, PK, how are you, man?
- [PK] There's been a coup.
- What?
- [PK] Can you come back from the post?
- [Soldier] You cannot come here.
- PK, PK. (slow piano music)
- [Soldier] Put everything out, come out.
- PK? (slow music)
- Put everything out, come out.
- [Ulric] What?
- Come out, get out of here. (overlapping chattering)
Come out.
You will hurt bad, get out.
- [PK] Please, please don't shoot.
(background noise drowns out speaker)
(gun fires)
- [Reporter] And what was Mr. Nkrumah's reaction
when he heard of the revolt?
- He didn't believe it.
- [Reporter] Do you think he--
- So Ann, are you listening to this?
- Of course I did.
- [Reporter] Ghana to try and make a political comeback?
- He said it wasn't possible.
- These lands were given to me by my forefathers.
This thing about giving to receive in future,
I want no part of that.
- You can no longer think of it in terms of
what is yours is yours, and what is mine is mine.
(overlapping chattering)
- We're not trying to take advantage of anybody.
- Resources in one part of Cameroon does not belong only
to that part of Cameroon.
- We are not going to share with any other region.
- My first interest is my people.
- You'll be taking care of your people while--
- This meeting is over.
- Ahidjo became a dictator, like Mobutu.
He clamped down on all resistance,
bypassing the laws of the country.
Yes, get the president on the phone immediately, please.
All right, okay, thank you.
Can you get Kofi Mensah on the line, please?
Tell him I need to speak to him.
You tell him I want to see him.
(Kofi knocks)
- Hello, Kofi.
How are you?
- I'm good, how are you?
- [Ann] Good to see you, do you want a drink?
- [Kofi] Oh, please, please, something--
- [Ann] I'll fix whatever you'd like.
- [Kofi] Mr. Cross.
- Kofi, sit down, Ahidjo has clearly gone mad.
- What do you mean?
- Last week, Friday, for instance, yes,
I'm sitting in my office, in walks this young lady.
She comes, she brings a letter to me,
telling me that Ahidjo just repealed,
changed parts of the constitution to suit himself.
This is the same rubbish that Hitler was going on with--
(Kofi laughs)
- Thank you.
- What about the rule of law?
- You are making comparisons to Adolf Hitler.
- Yes.
- And do you even understand the people
that are against him?
The tribal chiefs are not giving him any leeway.
He has to come out strong.
- That's dictatorship.
- Sorry, I forgot, the two equate in your mind, yes?
- Look, in Africa, we do things quite differently.
Maybe it's something that you're not used to,
but we do it differently-- - Really?
- Yes.
- This, my friend, is the same reason why all
of those imperial people tend to look at all
of us as a bunch of niggas--
- Fine, we are niggas, fuck the imperialists, fuck them.
Your people, what do you want us to do?
You came here and you thought this place would be
so disorganized that you would come on your white horse
and change everything.
- What blasted white--
- When we have things in place--
- [Ulric] Listen--
- You become intimidated because you are not used to it.
- Kofi, I came to this country to do a job.
I can't do my job if I'm being undermined every step
of the way.
- What part of your job are you not doing?
- Look, I'm doing my job, let's get that very, very clear.
What I'm trying to tell you is
that your friend is making my job very difficult.
- So I guess your job here is done.
- Take it easy.
- You need to watch your mouth.
- Why, this is my house.
- That we provided for you, that we provided for you.
- [Ulric] Yes, sir.
- You are ungrateful, you know that?
Choose what you want to do.
- I can't do this anymore, I can't do it anymore.
- That's it, given up, quit, move on, shut down?
- I'm not giving up, I'm just saying, it's done,
okay, my job-- - Of course it's not done.
- Yes, it is done.
- Does Kofi think it's done?
- I don't think--
- Does Cosi Harris think it's done?
Nobody thinks it's done, it's so far from done.
- We are leaving.
- Yes, sir, oh, I will go anywhere with you, sir.
You demand too much, you demand too much from me.
I am your wife, you ask me, I am your equal.
- I don't have to ask you nicely.
- Yes, you do have to--
- I going back to-- - Well, I'm not coming.
- What?
- I'm not coming, I'm staying.
- You're not staying here, we are done.
- You don't think I understand the situation--
- No, I don't think you understand.
- [Ann] No.
- You clearly don't understand.
If you want to stand here with me right now
and have this argument, right, a useless argument,
you're not even arguing a formal point of logic,
you're just arguing from a point of emotion.
- I am a human being, I am a human being
that has emotions and has feelings.
I am connected and I am committed to this place.
You are asking me to leave that, to cut my ties.
I can't do that, where does it go?
I don't know where to push it down to.
- Push what down to?
- Feelings.
- See that, look, I understand,
you love your friends and you built your hospital,
okay, and I'm very--
- Just don't patronize me about that,
it's not just about that, it's about making change,
about making a difference.
Slowly and surely you commit your life
to that, I commit my life,
I'm here for the good. - Okay, and what about me?
- [Ann] You don't commit, you just pack your bags and leave.
- I have committed.
- Then stay.
- [Ulric] I'm not--
- Stay, stay.
- [Ulric] What is wrong--
- Please, for me, stay.
- Why do you think you're being so spoiled?
You're acting, you're being like a child.
- Fuck.
- Look, sweetheart, I need you to think clearly
for a second, just.
- I would, I'll do whatever you want me to do.
- Thank you. (slow music)
- He was saying, "You've done so much," and so on.
I said, "I have learnt far more than you have from me."
(slow music)
(music drowns out speaker)
- [Ann] I'll miss you so much.
- [Gladys] I'll miss you a lot.
(overlapping chattering)
(Gladys mumbles)
- [Ann] Don't worry.
- [Gladys] Bye Ann.
- Yeah, I always believe you can change the world,
you see, that's the trouble.
- [Ulric] I still had one more adventure left in me.
- So what brought you to Tanzania?
(upbeat flute music)
- [Ulric] I had been nine years in West Africa.
I decided to go to East Africa.
I heard that Nyerere was doing great things in Tanzania.
- [Ann] Nyerere was introducing this
African socialism, Ujamaa.
- [Ulric] My friend, Telford Georges
from Trinidad, was Chief Justice there,
and he invited me to fill a judgeship.
- [Ann] Then I thought I was ill,
so I had to go to the doctor and discovered I was pregnant.
And, well, it was a bit of a surprise,
'cause we'd been married then 10 years,
I think, yeah, and of course,
my African friends were so happy.
(slow piano music)
- Yeah, we'll do that again, very easily.
(Ulric laughs)
- [Nicola] I was born in Tanzania in 1974.
I guess I always saw myself as a child of the world,
being able to very easily
jump from country to country and be okay
with different cultures, and no matter where I go,
people think that's where I'm from.
- [Ulric] And then there was you, yes, you.
How important you were to my life, you will never imagine.
So much was happening in Dar es Salaam.
It was a meeting place for revolutionaries
and leaders from Africa and the world.
We all came to be part
of Nyerere's amazing social experiment.
Ujamaa, it meant family.
I was deeply involved, Nyerere offered sanctuary
and military training to independence movements
across the continent that I advised
on constitutional law and labor law.
I set up the first industrial tribunal
to give rights to indigenous workers.
Then Nyerere himself asked me to be the dean of law
at the university, I could not refuse.
The law was a weapon that transformed colonial structures.
We all knew the dangers that were ever present.
(explosion rumbles) (slow orchestral music)
It was soon after that that I got a letter
from CLR in London.
- [CLR] Ulric, I have unsettling news.
- [Publisher] I think it's a beautiful book,
obviously. - Thank you.
- Beautifully written, and a story
whose time has absolutely come,
I'm so excited about it. - Thank you.
I was at the club with my publisher, discussing my new book.
- That woman over there, don't look,
it's Daphne Park, head of MI6 in Africa.
A real ball breaker, planning a drop off, no doubt.
- In plain sight?
- No one would dare to question her.
Well, that's probably one of her moles.
- That's Pony, I can vouch
for him personally, he's a friend.
- They always are, what's his background?
- Well-- - Ex RAO, thought so.
That's how they recruit them, their loyalty is proven,
Colonial Office, Diplomatic Corps allows them
to travel without detection, use diplomatic immunity,
and of course, win confidence
in high places, gather information.
- [CLR] No, he's, no, no, he--
- [Pony] There's plenty.
- Why would he betray us?
- Money, believe it or not, Nello,
some people have no scruples.
Oh, here we go, I wonder whose photos are in that camera?
- All right, stationary, thank you, got it, lovely.
Lovely.
- [CLR] I hear that Pony is now
with the Foreign Service in Tanzania, take all precautions.
I am convinced now that his intentions are nefarious.
- Anthony Macfarlane, call me Pony.
You know, when you arrive in London,
you have to look sharp, you know, sport.
Last call, last call, ah, there he is, the man himself.
- [George] Good to see you, man, you finally made it.
- Yeah, the three of you look like you're plotting a coup.
- [George] No.
- Looking at both the houses of Parliament?
- [George] No.
(group laughs)
- [Pony] Cheers.
- [CLR] Cheers.
- So I think my friend, Anthony Macfarlane, is a spy.
This is gonna sound crazy.
But it's a string of coincidences.
He always shows up where the action is.
- [Pony] Excuse me, Ulric.
- [Ulric] Pony, man, how are you?
Coincidence or a plan.
- [Pony] Poison?
- Yeah, that's what she thinks.
- I was just with him.
- [Julius] I'm listening.
- [Ulric] He's that go-to guy who just happens to be there.
I'll have to carry Padmore's things back with me.
- Why don't you let me send them back
in a diplomatic pouch for you?
- He has a nose for tragedy.
First Padmore and now Lumumba,
there's a shadow looming over us, man.
And now he comes here to Tanzania.
I think you are his next target.
- I'm just very inclined to believe what you're saying, but
proof is important. (slow piano music)
He's a diplomat, he has a diplomatic passport.
This could be a very serious international issue.
- Sport.
- Ah, Pony, it's good to see you, man.
- Look at you, it's great to be here, great to be here.
- So what brings you to Tanzania, man?
- Oh, I'm here for a wedding.
- A wedding, a wedding?
(Pony laughs)
- It's more like a rendezvous.
- You rascal, you're keeping secrets
in your old age, huh?
- Classified, classified, the old rules apply.
- Of course, of course, the old rules always apply, man.
I dropped him at his hotel.
The hunter had become the hunted.
(slow electronic music)
Pony's rendezvous was a front for a plot
to overthrow Nyerere.
He was bringing money and resources in
for the local conspirators, including a wedding list
of 57 names of army personnel believed to be sympathetic.
After that, things moved very quickly.
(slow ambient music)
The plotters were rounded up and arrested.
The surveillance photos told the whole story.
There was only one thing left for me to do.
Why, Pony?
- Why what?
- Why? - Why what?
What are you talking about?
- Who are you, what's your story?
- It is me, Pony, your old friend.
- Cut it out, man.
- I'm an employee of Her Majesty's government,
just like you used to be.
Everything I passed on, I got from you.
WISU, the war.
You and I are two sides of the same coin, you realize that?
Come out of the same cauldron of humanity,
foot soldiers in the same war.
You don't see what I'm saying?
How am I to know for certainty that you aren't the spy?
(slow orchestral music)
- We're not on the same side, Pony.
I watched Pony leave.
I never saw him again.
(slow piano music)
- My father gave me choice.
Not once when I was growing up
did I ever feel like something was out of reach,
anything was possible, that was not true for him.
I have that to thank him for.
How do you thank someone for that? (laughs)
(phone rings)
- [Ulric] Isaac Hyatali was Chief Justice
in Trinidad at the time.
Yes, hi, Isaac, how are you?
He called me and said, "Ulric, it's time for you
"to come home," and I said yes.
My work in Africa was finished.
As it just so happens, I think I am prepared to leave.
(Nicola laughs)
- [Nicola] He was part of something much bigger.
He fought the battle,
but the war is mine to continue.
♪ I went somewhere ♪
♪ Looking for another home ♪
♪ Tried to run away, run ♪ away from my destiny ♪
♪ In another world, a world ♪ that was strange to me ♪
♪ Tried to change myself ♪
♪ Change my identity ♪
♪ What's strong is the power of love ♪
♪ And the power of freedom, ♪ the power of love ♪
♪ This fills my heart, I'm going back to ♪
- That has been sustained
by people being brought here against their will,
of every race, ours is a legacy of resilience amid struggle.
(slow guitar music)
♪ I build this place around my heart ♪
♪ No one can hold my tongue ♪
♪ A hand can feed or fill my belly ♪
♪ Or ever hold it down ♪
♪ I depend on no one for the sunrise ♪
♪ Or even the sunset ♪
♪ And I praise no one but my God ♪
♪ For giving me success ♪
♪ From whence cometh the rain ♪
♪ Who cracks the sea that's ♪ streaming underneath the ground ♪
♪ Who teaches the child to speak ♪
♪ Who inspires my heart ♪ to dance these words ♪
♪ Onto my tongue ♪
♪ I call this city Freetown, ♪ call this city Freetown ♪
♪ Call this city Freetown, ♪ call my city free ♪
♪ Call my city free, call my city free ♪
♪ I don't know nowhere to be ♪
♪ I don't know the way to be ♪
♪ I don't know no way to ♪ be, other than to be free ♪
♪ I don't know no way to be ♪
♪ Other than to be free, ♪ I don't know, no, no ♪
♪ No, no, no, no, no ♪
♪ Other than to be free ♪
♪th tn bfr