Blyden-Cowart: George Padmore’s daughter dies, February 3, 2012

One of the most profound persons I ever knew and I loved the whole family...She made the transition to the realm of the ancestors...Her life force has left me with deep rivers of sadness...Most probably have never heard of Blyden-Cowart, so let me fill in some spaces about the unique name....The father of Pan-Africanism is considered to be George Padmore, her father. He was a good reader and mentor to Edward Wilmot Blyden, the grandfather of African liberation who came from the Virgin Islands at that time under Danish rule...When Padmore was leaving his home in Trinidad for America in 1924 he told his newlywed bride that the first child born should be given the name 'Blyden' after the Virgin Islander Edward Wilmot Blyden...It's hard to write in this vein because I talked with her almost on a weekly basis and she gave me the nuance of daily living questions I asked about George Padmore, her father....She sent little mementos like the photo of her with C.L.R. James in Cuba and another of New Beacon Bookstore founder John La Rose...I have a small collection of these things...When my mother passed away she was my new mom in absence, but we talked by phone; those conversations mean the world to me...Most folks don't know that they were watched by the FBI probably all their lives because of the work that (Padmore) her father did with Kwame Nkrumah of the new independent Ghana...The journalist Edward R Marrow did a documentary on George Padmore in the 1950s and I actually saw it in my youth where he stated that the American government said that Padmore was one of the most dangerous Black men in the world...Let me close by saying Momma Blyden-Cowart you was one of the few of your generation who inspired me, you instill the Wasafiri spirit in my soul and your children you showed them love, integrity and an adherence to African principles you brought from Trinidad...Momma Blyden, I love you, rest in peace...Edwin

Blyden-Cowart's funeral will be held on Saturday, February 10, 2012 at the Palms Mortuaries & Cemeteries. Phone: 702 464 8300. Address: 1325 N Main St, Las Vegas, Nv.

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