John Chilembwe Day
The anniversary of the 1915 uprising led by John Chilembwe, a Baptist pastor who organized a revolt against British colonial rule in Nyasaland. Chilembwe was educated at the Virginia Theological Seminary in the United States, influenced by Booker T. Washington and the African-American struggle, and he returned to Nyasaland with a vision of African self-determination. The uprising was brief and brutal: Chilembwe's forces attacked the Livingstonia mission and killed several white colonists, and the colonial response was swift and merciless. Chilembwe was killed within weeks, but his legacy became the foundation of Malawian nationalism. The day is observed with ceremonies at the Chilembwe monument in Chiradzulu, and schoolchildren across the country learn his name as the first man to say: enough.
