T Ras Makonnen (1909-1983) was a pan-Africanist and philanthropist who was born George Thomas Nathaniel Griffiths in Guyana. He was educated in the USA at Cornell University, spending his holidays in Harlem and was influenced by Black Nationalists such as Marcus Garvey and George Padmore. Makonnen changed his name in solidarity with Ethiopia which had been invaded by Italy in 1935 before moving to Europe where he settled in the UK in 1937.

In Britain Makonnen he became a vocal critic of the British Empire and a founder member of the first attempt to form a Pan-African Federation. Later he heavily supported the 1945 Pan-African Congress which took place in Manchester in 1945 through financial and organisational help. The Congress brought together future African leaders and spokespeople including Kwame Nkrumah, Jomo Kenyatta and WEB Du Bois. After the Congress Makonnen established the Pan African Publishing Company which was subsidised by the restaurants that Makonnen owned (and initially even cooked in). This exemplified the entrepreneurial spirit that Makonnen brought to the British Black resistance movement.

Makonnen was an activist who funded himself, others and the Pan-African movement through being a successful financier and businessman, equal parts entrepreneur, political activist and editor. However after his death, he fell into relative obscurity. Donkor’s work brings this singular presence back, celebrating the savviness and confidence of Makonnen. The work was featured in The Guardian 2023 celebration of ‘The Radicals’ which the newspaper described as a ‘pantheon of radical figures who resisted transatlantic slavery and its legacies.”