James Desmond Buckle (29 March 1910 – 25 October 1964) was a political activist, journalist, trade unionist and Communist born in the British colony of the Gold Coast (present-day Ghana).

[1] Born into the local elite, Buckle's parents were both educated in Britain, and he received a very privileged childhood, even by British standards at the time.

Sir James Buckle was married into the prominent Sierra Leone Creole Palmer family, whose descendants were of African origin in the West Indies.

[1] Desmond Buckle's ancestry traces back to the Sierra Leone Creole, who returned to West Africa after undergoing enslavement in the United States.

[1] Initially this rift was due to concerns over education, but later Desmond's affiliation with communism shocked his predominantly bourgeois family.

At this time the GCSA viewed the WASU not as an organisation that represented West African students, but as one dominated by Nigerians.

[1] Buckle gave his support of Aggrey House, a hostel designed for African students, being part of the GCSA delegation that helped establish its rules in 1934.

[1] During this time Buckle's radicalism increased, with him proposing the notion "this Association refuses to fight for the British Empire" at a GCSA debate in October 1937.

The NWA helped organise field trips for black children, while also campaigning for trade unions in the Caribbean and opposing the colour bar in Britain.

[1][7] Regardless of background, African students, like Buckle, were subject to being treated as second class citizens in Britain, often facing verbal racial abuse and discrimination.

[1] The Colonial Office started to become concerned with Buckle's radical ideas in Aggrey House, which was described as a "center for subversion and definitely anti-allied propaganda".

[1] In 1947 and 1949, he presented reports on Africa and the West Indies at conferences for the Communist Parties of nations under the British Empire.

[1] Regarding liberation, Buckle proposed that colonies striving for independence must dispose of monopolies in order to "advance to real freedom".

[1][9] Buckle also worked with the National Council for Civil Liberties (NCCL), giving speeches at their conferences, focussing on colonial struggles in Africa and issues of racism in Britain.

[4] Buckle continued to represent the Non-Europeans of South Africa in Paris, Prague and Rome assemblies of the World Congress of Partisans for Peace in 1949.

He also wrote for several East German journals: Tägliche Rundshau, Neue Berliner Illustrieterte and Zeit im Bild.

[1][4][12] Buckle died of stomach cancer at St George's Hospital in London, aged 54, and his ashes were buried at Highgate Cemetery.