Dorothy Pizer

Dorothy Pizer or Dorothy Padmore (c.1906 – 22 November 1964) was a British working-class anti-racist activist, secretary and publishing worker. In the 1940s and 1950s she was the partner, supporter and collaborator of Pan-African activist and Communist George Padmore.

Life The daughter of a tailor who had left school at 15, Dorothy Pizer grew up in a household without books in London's East End. Since she had been too poor to accept a scholarship, her education was limited. Yet she later learnt stenography, became a business secretary, and became fluent in French. and also typed manuscripts for her husband.

Publishing was one of the main strategies adopted by black intellectuals in challenging the foundations of British colonial rule, and Pizer's skills enabled her to play an important role in this global political struggle:

Works "How Blacks Fought for Freedom", International African Opinion, Vol. 1. No. 4 (October 1938), p. 11. "A Lesson in Revolution" (review of C. L. R. James, The Black Jacobins), Controversy, Vol. 38 (January 1939), pp. 318–20. (with George Padmore) How Russia Transformed her Colonial Empire: A Challenge to the Imperialist Powers, London: Dennis Dobson, 177 pages, 1946. "Centenary of a Black Republic", Socialist Leader, 16 August 1947.