Historian, Journalist Basil Davidson Passes On

Cover of book by journalist and historian Basil Davidson on the Angolan Revolution entitled "In the Eye of the Storm: Angola's People. Davidson passed away in July 2010.
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos

Historian, journalist Basil Davidson passes on

BASIL DAVIDSON, died on July 9 aged 95. He was a radical journalist in the great anti-imperial tradition, and became a distinguished
historian of pre-colonial Africa. An energetic and charismatic figure,
he was dropped behind enemy lines during the Second World War and
joined that legendary band of British soldiers who fought with the
partisans in Yugoslavia and in Italy.

Years later, he was the first reporter to travel with the guerrillas fighting the Portuguese in Angola and Guinea-Bissau, and brought their struggle to the world’s attention.

For many years he was at the centre of the campaigns for Africa’s
liberation from colonialism and apartheid, endlessly addressing
meetings and working on committees.

From 1951 onwards, Basil Risbridger Davidson’s books and articles
analysed and outlined centuries of African achievements; the impact of
the slave trade on Africans; the damaging effects of European
colonialism on Africans; and finally, the outcome of the transmission
of the nation state idea in Africa.

Malcolm X read him. So did the Panthers. The Afrocentrists as well as
Africanists rely on his work. His works are referenced in papers and
in lectures in our universities and colleges. The Texas school board
probably thought of him when they banished any mention of the slave
trade in upcoming textbooks. Enter any independent black bookstore in
this country, and you will find Basil Davidson’s books.

In his book, The Black Man’s Burden: Africa and the Curse of the
Nation-State, published in 1992, Davidson suggested that newly-created African nation states adopted (or were forced to adopt) too many European (and American) political and economic systems and
institutions without analysing first and choosing which of these might
work well within their countries.

Davidson refuted the idea that there was some inherent defect in Africans and their ethnic groups that resulted in the collapse or failure of their nation states. This is an racist idea that has currency among too many Westerners today.

That’s how precious his work has become to many of us. He did right to the truth of African humanity, African and black ancestry and African
and black greatness.

Basil Davidson is survived by his wife Marion, and three sons — Keir,
Nicholas and James. — The Guardian.