Russell Grinker
James, Dhondy notes, 'was the only intellectual of the black diaspora to espouse and embrace the intellectual, artistic and socio-political culture or Europe'.
^^^^^ CB: "only" ? How about Paul Robeson ? Shakespearean actor, scientific socialist, highly skilled athlete ( All-American football player, 3 or 4 letters, professional baseball player for a short while) polyglot, internationalist.
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But, as with literature, James saw in cricket not simply a building block of Empire but also a vehicle for forging an anti-imperialist consciousness and a sense of national pride. In the 1960s, as editor of the Trinidadian paper The Nation, James successfully campaigned for Frank Worrell to be selected as the first black captain of the West Indies team, at a time it was still assumed that the West Indian team must be led by a white man. And throughout his life, James viewed cricket as a means of helping unite a disparate set of islands, of establishing a West Indian as opposed to an island mentality. He had little difficulty in understanding why Norman Tebbit should make cricket the basis of his loyalty test - or why most blacks should fail it.
^^^^^ CB; Robeson was a leader in the campaign to get Jackie Robinson into the American baseball major leagues as the first Negro player.
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Given his background and inclinations, it was inevitable that James should, in 1932, leave Trinidad for Britain - 'an Englishman going back home', he once said. In Britain, James earned his money writing about cricket for the Manchester Guardian.
^^^^ CB; Actually, Robeson went to Britain about the same time, became a Shakespearan actor there. Of course, Robeson also sang for the Republican troops in the Spanish Civil War.