Eric Williams was born on September 25, 1911, the son of Elisa and Henry Williams, a Post Office official in Trinidad. He was educated at Queen's Royal College and won the Island Scholarship to Oxford University. At Oxford, he placed first in the First Class of the History Honours School and received his Doctor of Philosophy degree in 1938. His doctoral thesis, "The Economic Aspect of the West Indian Slave Trade and Slavery", considered an important contribution to research on the subject, was published in 1944 in his larger work Capitalism and Slavery.

In 1939, Williams journeyed to the United States and accepted the position of assistant professor of social and political sciences at Howard University. He organized several courses, including a humanities course for which he developed a three-volume work called Documents Illustrating the Development of Civilization (1947). While at Howard, Williams also worked as a consultant to the Anglo-American Caribbean Commission, a body set up after the war to study the future of the region. In 1948, he left Howard to head the Research Branch of the Caribbean Commission. He later (1955) resigned from the Commission in protest to its colonial policies.

Williams returned to Trinidad and Tobago and became more involved in politics. His first major political speech was titled My Relations with the Caribbean Commission (1955). A year later, Williams formed the People's National Movement (PNM), a political party of which he became the leader.

In September of 1956, the PNM won the national elections and he became the chief minister of the country from 1956 to 1959, premier from 1959 to 1962, and Prime Minister from 1962 to 1981. During his term, Williams led Trinidad and Tobago into the Federation of the West Indies and to independence within the Commonwealth in 1962.

Williams died in office on March 29, 1981. Often called the "Father of the Nation", Williams remains one of the most significant leaders in the history of modern Trinidad and Tobago.

Kwame Nkrumah became the first prime and later president of Ghana He was born on September 21, 1909, at Nkroful in what was then the British-ruled Gold Coast, the son of a goldsmith. Trained as a teacher, he went to the United States in 1935 for advanced studies and continued his schooling in England, where he helped organize the Pan-African Congress in 1945. He returned to Ghana in 1947 and became general secretary of the newly founded United Gold Coast Convention but split from it in 1949 to form the Convention People's party (CPP)

After his "positive action" campaign created disturbances in 1950, Nkrumah was jailed. But when the CPP swept the 1951 elections, he was freed to form a government, and he led the colony to independence as Ghana in 1957. A firm believer in African liberation, Nkrumah pursued a radical pan-African policy, playing a key role in the formation of the Organization of African Unity in 1963.

As head of government, he was less successful however, and as time passed he was accused of forming a dictatorship. In 1964 he formed a one-party state, with himself as president for life, and was accused of actively promoting a cult of his own personality. Overthrown by the military in 1966, with the help of western backing, he spent his last years in exile, dying in Bucharest, Romania, on April 27, 1972. His legacy and dream of Pan African unity still remains a goal among many.

The first pan-Kenyan nationalist movement was led by Harry Thuku to protest against white-settler dominance. His party, the East African Association, traced its roots to the early Kikuyu political groups. Thuku was arrested by the colonial authorities in 1922 and was exiled for seven years. He was released only after agreeing to cooperate with the colonials, a decision that would undermine his leadership of the Kikuyus. This incident united Kenya's diverse African communities firmly together in their demands for freedom from British colonial rule.

Jomo Kenyatta would become the next great Kenyan leader following Thuku. He quickly became the first propaganda secretary of the East African Association, and later the secretary-general of the Kikuyu Central Association. In 1929, Kenyatta sailed to England to present the Association's case for freedom directly to the Colonial office, the British parliament and the British people. The Carter Land Commission was convened in 1931 to adjudicate land interests and Kenyatta once again presented evidence supporting the Association's cause.

The findings of the Commission proved detrimental for the Africans however, for it marked out permanent barriers between the white-owned farms and the African Land Units or "reserves". These boundaries were made into law five years later. As a result, the number of groups demanding greater African political power increased dramatically. The colonial government quickly reacted by banning all African political associations in 1940.

World War II only increased African discontent as many Africans fought side by side with their colonial overlords. Much like their American counterparts, during the five-year conflict Africans were exposed to many new influences and developed an awareness that the white man was far from invincible. Furthermore, the sheer death tolls, destruction and horrors of two European inspired world wars also emphasized that whites were far from the "enlightened civilizers" they claimed to be. Empowered by this new outlook, African veterans returned home to their respective countries only to face discrimination. Many rebelled against such unfair treatment. As discontent grew, the anti-colonial fervor swept across Africa.

As the fight for freedom grew the Kikuyu formed secret societies united in desire to break British rule. These societies encouraged oath-taking ceremonies that bound the participants to wage war against Europeans and any Africans who were thought to be collaborators.

From this movement the Kikuyu dominated Mau Mau organization had been formed. On October 20, 1952 the Mau Mau protested the midnight arrest of Jomo Kenyatta and five colleagues. 97 Africans considered to be collaborators were killed in what became known as the "Lari Massacre".

Some Mau Mau however denied involvement in the affair, calling it a government plot. The British accused Kenyatta of organizing the Mau Mau and subjected him to a rigged trial. All of the accused were found guilty and sentenced to seven years of hard labor at a remote camp near Lake Turkana. The Mau Mau rebellion continued until 1956.

During the three years of civil war, over 30,000 African men, women, and children were imprisoned in British concentration camps, many losing their homes and their land as a result. Though only 100 Europeans were killed, some estimates contend the British massacred over 13,000 Africans during the course of the war.

But the war was costly to the British and the colonial government in other ways. And they finally conceded some political power to the Africans with limited representation in the Legislative Council. Angry white settlers, not satisfied with anything short of complete partition of the country, began to leave.

Kenyatta was sentenced to two more years of prison, but was elected president "in absentia" of the Kenya African National Union, or KANU. While KANU advocated a strong central government, the newly formed Kenya African Democratic Union, or KADU, favored a decentralized federal form of government.

Leaders of both parties attended talks at Lancaster House in England to attend the talks due to his continuing imprisonment. General elections were held for the first time in February 1961. KANU received more votes, but refused to participate in government until Kenyatta was released. The Asian Kenya Freedom Party and numerous independent candidates joined the protest and, as political pressure built up, Kenyatta was finally released in August 1961.

KANU and KADU continued to debate the eventual form of government most suited to a free Kenya. In the meantime, Kenyatta agreed to a coalition government until independence. The first universal elections in the country took place in May 1963, with an overwhelming victory for Kenyatta and the KANU party.

On June 1, 1963, Jomo Kenyatta became the first Prime Minister of Kenya. In his inaugural address he promoted a concept that would eventually become an official motto now incorporated in the county's coat of arms: Harambee, or let us work together, in building a free nation. Independence became a reality for Kenya on December 12, 1963.