John Chilembwe (June 1871 – 3 February 1915) was a Baptist pastor, educator and revolutionary from Nyasaland (now Malawi) who trained as a minister in the United States, returning to Nyasaland in 1901. He was an early figure in the resistance to colonialism in Nyasaland, opposing both the treatment of Africans working in agriculture on European-owned plantations and the colonial government's failure to promote the social and political advancement of Africans. Soon after the outbreak of the First World War, Chilembwe organised an unsuccessful armed uprising against colonial rule, and was killed shortly thereafter by colonial forces. Today, Chilembwe is celebrated as a hero of independence in some African countries, and John Chilembwe Day is observed annually on 15 January in Malawi.
Early life There is limited information about John Chilembwe's parentage and birth. An American pamphlet of 1914 claimed that John Chilembwe was born in Sangano, Chiradzulu District, in the south of what became Nyasaland, in June 1871. Joseph Booth also stated that Chilembwe's father was a Yao and his mother a Mang'anja slave, captured in warfare. This information was contemporary; in the 1990s, John Chilembwe's granddaughter stated that Chilembwe's father may have been called Kaundama, and was one of those who settled at Mangochi Hill during the Yao infiltration into Mang'anja territory, and that his mother may have been called Nyangu: his likely pre-baptismal name was Nkologo. However, other also quite recent sources give differing parental names.D. T. Stuart-Mogg (1997). "A Brief Investigation into The Genealogy of Pastor John Chilembwe of Nyasaland and Some Thoughts upon the Circumstances Surrounding his Death", The Society of Malawi Journal, Vol. 50, No. 1, pp. 44–7. Chilembwe attended a Church of Scotland mission from around 1890.
Influence of Joseph Booth In 1892 he became a house servant of Joseph Booth, a radical and independent-minded missionary. Booth had arrived in Africa in 1892 as a Baptist to establish the Zambezi Industrial Mission near Blantyre, and was critical of the reluctance of Scottish Presbyterian missions to admit Africans as full church members. He later founded seven more independent missions in Nyasaland which, like the Zambezi Industrial Mission, focused on the equality of all worshippers.
Chilembwe became acquainted with Booth's radical religious ideas and egalitarianism in his household and mission.G. Shepperson and T. Price (1958). Independent African. John Chilembwe and the Origins, Setting and Significance of the Nyasaland Native Rising of 1915. Edinburgh University Press, pp. 25, 36–8, 47.K. E. Fields (1985). Revival and Rebellion in Colonial Central Africa, Princeton University Press, pp. 125–6. .
Booth left Nyasaland with Chilembwe in 1897, returning alone in 1899, and leaving permanently in 1902, although he continued to correspond with Chilembwe. After 1906, Booth was strongly influenced by Millennialism, but the extent to which he retained influence over Chilembwe after 1902 or influenced him towards millennial beliefs is disputed, although Booth later strongly influenced Elliot Kenan Kamwana, the first leader of the Watchtower followers of Charles Taze Russell in Nyasaland.K. E. Fields (1985). Revival and Rebellion in Colonial Central Africa, pp. 99–100, 105.J. Linden and I. Linden (1971). "John Chilembwe and the New Jerusalem", The Journal of African History, Vol. 12, No. 4, p. 633.
Education in the United States and relations with American and African Independent Churches In 1897 Booth and Chilembwe traveled together to the United States. Because of the difficulties the two encountered when traveling together in the United States, Booth introduced Chilembwe to the Reverend Lewis G Gordon, Foreign Missions Secretary of the National Baptist Convention, who arranged for the latter to attend the Virginia Theological Seminary and College (now Virginia University of Lynchburg), a small Baptist institution at Lynchburg, Virginia where he almost certainly studied African-American history.Marcus Garvey (ed. R. A. Hill), (2006).The Marcus Garvey and Universal Negro Improvement Association Papers, Vol. IX: Africa for the Africans, 1921–1922. Oakland, University of California Press, p. 427.
The principal was a radical African-American activist, Gregory Hayes, and Chilembwe both experienced the contemporary prejudice against Africans and Black Americans. He was exposed to ideas about Black self-determination, and the works of John Brown, Booker T. Washington, Frederick Douglass and others. He was ordained as a Baptist minister at Lynchburg in 1899.Shepperson and Price (1958). Independent African, pp. 79, 85–92, 112–118, 122–123.R. I. Rotberg (1970). "Psychological Stress and the Question of Identity: Chilembwe's Revolt Reconsidered", in R. I. Rotberg and A. A. Mazrui, eds, Protest and Power in Black Africa, New York: Oxford University Press, 356-8. After completing his studies at Lynchburg in 1900, he returned to Nyasaland in 1900 with the blessing of the Foreign Missions Board and financial assistance from the National Baptist Convention.Marcus Garvey (ed. R. A .Hill) (2006). The Marcus Garvey and Universal Negro Improvement Association Papers, Vol. IX: Africa for the Africans, 1921–1922. Oakland, University of California Press, pp. 427–8.
For the first 12 years of his ministry after his return to Nyasaland, Chilembwe encouraged African self-respect and advancement through education, hard work and personal responsibility, as advocated by Booker T. Washington,G. Shepperson and T. Price (1958). Independent African. John Chilembwe and the Origins, Setting and Significance of the Nyasaland Native Rising of 1915. Edinburgh University Press, pp. 166, 417 His activities were initially supported by white Protestant missionaries, although his relations with Catholic missions were less friendly.B. Morris (2016), "The Chilembwe Rebellion", The Society of Malawi Journal, Vol. 68, No. 1, p. 39. After 1912, Chilembwe developed closer contacts with local independent African churches, including Seventh Day Baptist and Churches of Christ congregations, with the aim of uniting some or all of these African churches with his own mission church at the centre.R. Tangri (1971). "Some New Aspects of the Nyasaland Native Rising of 1915", African Historical Studies, Vol. 4, No. 2, p. 307. Some of Chilembwe's congregation had formerly been Watchtower followers and he maintained contact with Elliot Kamwana, but the influence of Watchtower's millennial beliefs on him is minimised by most authors except the Lindens.Shepperson and Price (1958). Independent African, p. 417.R. I. Rotberg (1965). The Rise of Nationalism in Central Africa: The Making of Malawi and Zambia 1873–1964, Cambridge (Mass.): Harvard University Press, pp. 77, 85.J. Linden and I. Linden (1971). "John Chilembwe and the New Jerusalem", The Journal of African History, Vol. 12, No. 4, pp. 631–3. Although the vast majority of those found guilty of rebellion and sentenced to death or to long terms of imprisonment were members of Chilembwe's church, a few other members of the Churches of Christ in Zomba were also found guilty.L. White (1984). "'Tribes' and the Aftermath of the Chilembwe Rising", African Affairs, Vol. 83, No. 333, pp. 522–3.
Return to Nyasaland and mission work
In 1900 Chilembwe returned to Nyasaland, in his own words, "to labour amongst his benighted race". Backed financially by the National Baptist Convention of America, Inc., which also provided two American Baptist helpers until 1906, Chilembwe started his Providence Industrial Mission (P.I.M.) in Chiradzulu district. In its first decade, the mission developed slowly, assisted by regular small donations from his American backers, and Chilembwe founded several schools, which by 1912 had 1,000 pupils and 800 adult students.G. Shepperson and T. Price (1958). Independent African. John Chilembwe and the Origins, Setting and Significance of the Nyasaland Native Rising of 1915. Edinburgh University Press, pp. 171, 248. – For a Providence Industrial Mission (PIM) history emphasizing the missionary work see: Patrick Makondesa, The Church History of Providence Industrial Mission, Zomba: Kachere, 2006.
He preached the values of hard-work, self-respect and self-help to his congregation and, although as early as 1905 he used his church position to deplore the condition of Africans in the protectorate, he initially avoided specific criticism of the government that might be thought subversive. However, by 1912 or 1913, Chilembwe had become more politically militant and openly voiced criticism over the state of African land rights in the Shire Highlands and of the conditions of labour tenants there, particularly on the A. L. Bruce Estates.Tangri (1971). "Some New Aspects of the Nyasaland Native Rising of 1915", pp. 306–7.
It has also been claimed that Chilembwe preached a form of Millenarianism and that this may have influenced his decision to initiate an armed uprising in 1915.R. I. Rotberg (1971). "Psychological Stress and the Question of Identity: Chilembwe's Revolt Reconsidered", in R. I. Rotberg and A . A. Mazrui (editors), Protest and Power in Black Africa. New York, p. 141. There is very little direct evidence of what Chilembwe did preach although, at least in his first decade in Nyasaland, his main message was of African advancement through Christianity and hard work.J. McCracken (2012). A History of Malawi, 1859–1966, Woodbridge: James Currey, p. 133. The evidence that has been interpreted as showing his millenarian views is dated from 1914 onward,McCracken (2012). A History of Malawi, 1859–1966, p. 142.J. Linden and I. Linden (1971). "John Chilembwe and the New Jerusalem". The Journal of African History. Vol. 12, p. 640. when he began baptizing many new church members without their first receiving instruction, as was normal Baptist practice.L. White (1987). Magomero: Portrait of an African Village, p. 133, Cambridge University Press. However this evidence is ambiguous, and Chilembwe's activities have been more closely related to the Ethiopian movement of African churches breaking away, often with black American backing, from the more orthodox but European controlled Presbyterian, Baptist, Methodist or other denominations, than being under the influence of overtly millenarian groups such as the Seventh-day Adventists.T. Jack Thompson (2015). "Prester John, John Chilembwe and the European Fear of Ethiopianism", The Society of Malawi Journal, Vol. 68, No. 2, pp. 20–22.
Colonial grievances