The International African Friends of Abyssinia (IAFA), also known as the International African Friends of Ethiopia, was an organisation established in 1935 in London, England, to protest against Italian aggression against Abyssinia (see Second Italo-Ethiopian War). Its membership was composed of many important Pan-African figures, several of whom later formed the International African Service Bureau.

History

The International African Friends of Abyssinia (IAFA) was founded by C. L. R. James with assistance from fellow West Indians Amy Ashwood Garvey and Chris Brathwaite.Daniel James Whittall
"Creolising London: Black West Indian activism and the politics of race and empire in Britain, 1931–1948"
Thesis, Royal Holloway, University of London, p. 225. IAFA's first public meeting was held on 23 July 1935, with another public meeting taking place on Sunday, 28 July at Memorial Hall in Farringdon Street, London, and was widely reported in newspapers.'' The Manchester Guardian'', 29 July 1935. George Padmore and Ras Makonnen joined IAFA soon after its founding. Throughout the summer of 1935, the IAFA passed resolutions urging all Africans and people of African descent to help Abyssinia and called upon the League of Nations and the British Government to protect Abyssinia. On 26 August, the IAFA organised a rally in Trafalgar Square which drew a crowd of nearly five hundred supporters.

Notable members

Members of the initial executive committee of the International African Friends of Abyssinia included: * C. L. R. James - Chairman * Dr Peter Milliard and T. Albert Marryshow - Vice-Chairmen *

Jomo Kenyatta Jomo Kenyatta (22 August 1978) was a Kenyan anti-colonial activist and politician who governed Kenya as its Prime Minister from 1963 to 1964 and then as its first President from 1964 to his death in 1978. He was the country's first indigenous ...

- Honorary Secretary * Amy Ashwood Garvey - Honorary Treasurer * Sam Manning * Mohammed Said * G. E. Moore * S. R. Wood * Dr J. B. Danquah * John Payne Other leading members came to include George Padmore,

Chris Braithwaite Chris Braithwaite, also known as Chris Jones (1885 – 9 September 1944), was a black Barbadian who was leader of the Colonial Seamen's Association in the 1930s. Life Born in Barbados, Braithwaite went to sea with the British merchant navy as ...

and

T. Ras Makonnen T. Ras Makonnen (born George Thomas N. Griffiths; c. 7 October 1909 – 18 December 1983) was a Guyanese-born Pan-African activist of Ethiopian descent. Early life and family Makonnen was born George Thomas N. Griffiths in Buxton, British Guiana ...

References

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History

Notable members

References

Further reading