Imperial War Museum North is presenting The Roads We Walked: The Fifth Pan-African Congress, a powerful immersive film exploring one of the most important moments in Black international history.
Created to mark the 80th anniversary of the Fifth Pan-African Congress, the Big Picture Show tells the story of the landmark gathering held in Manchester in October 1945. The Congress brought together activists, writers, trade unionists, students and future political leaders from Africa, the Caribbean, the United States and Britain. Their shared demand was clear: an end to colonial rule, racial oppression and imperial domination.
The 1945 Congress was not simply a conference. It was a turning point. Held in the aftermath of the Second World War, it gave voice to a growing international movement calling for freedom, equality and political independence. At a time when many African and Caribbean people had served in wartime Britain while still facing racism and inequality, the Congress placed questions of justice, self-determination and liberation firmly on the global stage.
Among those associated with the Congress were major Pan-African figures including Kwame Nkrumah, Jomo Kenyatta, Hastings Banda, George Padmore, Amy Ashwood Garvey and W. E. B. Du Bois. Their debates and demands helped lay the groundwork for the anti-colonial struggles and independence movements that would transform Africa and the wider diaspora in the decades that followed.
Written by young poets from Manchester-based literary charity Young Identity, The Roads We Walked connects the voices and ambitions of 1945 with a new generation of artists and storytellers. Through spoken-word poetry, archive imagery and immersive projection, the film reflects on Manchester’s role as a city of activism, migration, solidarity and global political change.
The use of poetry gives the film a contemporary energy, allowing history to speak across generations. Rather than presenting the Fifth Pan-African Congress as a distant event, the film asks audiences to consider its continuing relevance today. Its themes of freedom, belonging, resistance and collective action remain deeply connected to ongoing struggles for racial justice and equality.
Presented as part of IWM North’s Big Picture Show, the seven-minute film is projected across the museum’s main exhibition space using large-scale digital projection and surround sound. The result is an accessible and moving visitor experience that brings together history, memory, sound and creative expression.
The Fifth Pan-African Congress remains one of the defining moments in the history of Black political organising. Its legacy can be seen in the independence movements that followed, in the reshaping of post-war global politics, and in the continuing efforts to recognise the contribution of Black activists, thinkers and communities to modern history.
For visitors, The Roads We Walked offers a powerful introduction to a story that deserves wider recognition. It places Manchester at the heart of a global movement and reminds audiences that the struggle for freedom was shaped not only in parliaments and battlefields, but also through meetings, speeches, writing, organising and shared determination.
The Roads We Walked: The Fifth Pan-African Congress is free to attend and is included with admission to Imperial War Museum North.
Imperial War Museum North
Trafford Wharf Road
The Quays
Manchester
M17 1TZ
Tickets and information:
https://www.iwm.org.uk/events/the-roads-we-walked-the-fifth-pan-african-congress