The Cry Was Unity: Communists and African Americans, 19171936

The Cry Was Unity: Communists and African Americans, 19171936 PDF Author:
Publisher: Univ. Press of Mississippi
ISBN: 9781604737561
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
The Communist Party was the only political movement on the left in the late 1920s and 1930s to place racial justice and equality at the top of its agenda and to seek, and ultimately win, sympathy among African Americans. This historic effort to fuse red and black offers a rich vein of experience and constitutes the theme of The Cry Was Unity. Utilizing for the first time materials related to African Americans from the Moscow archives of the Communist Inter-national (Comintern), The Cry Was Unity traces the trajectory of the black-red relationship from the end of World War I to the tumultuous 1930s. From the just-recovered transcript of the pivotal debate on African Americans at the 6th Comintern Congress in 1928, the book assesses the impact of the Congress’s declaration that blacks in the rural South constituted a nation within a nation, entitled to the right of self-determination. Despite the theory’s serious flaws, it fused the black struggle for freedom and revolutionary content and demanded that white labor recognize blacks as indispensable allies. As the Great Depression unfolded, the Communists launched intensive campaigns against lynching, evictions, and discrimination in jobs and relief and opened within their own ranks a searing assault on racism. While the Party was never able to win a majority of white workers to the struggle for Negro rights, or to achieve the unqualified support of the black majority, it helped to lay the foundations for the freedom struggle of the 1950s and 1960s. The Cry Was Unity underscores the successes and failures of the Communist-led left and the ways in which it fought against racism and inequality. This struggle comprises an important missing page that needs to be returned to the nation’s history. Mark Solomon, an emeritus professor at Simmons College, is the author of Red and Black: Communism and Afro-Americans, 1929-1935, Death Waltz to Armageddon: E. P. Thompson and the Peace Movement, and Stopping World War II (with Michael Myerson).

The Cry Was Unity: Communists and African Americans, 19171936

The Cry Was Unity: Communists and African Americans, 19171936 PDF Author:
Publisher: Univ. Press of Mississippi
ISBN: 9781604737561
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages :

Get Book

Book Description
The Communist Party was the only political movement on the left in the late 1920s and 1930s to place racial justice and equality at the top of its agenda and to seek, and ultimately win, sympathy among African Americans. This historic effort to fuse red and black offers a rich vein of experience and constitutes the theme of The Cry Was Unity. Utilizing for the first time materials related to African Americans from the Moscow archives of the Communist Inter-national (Comintern), The Cry Was Unity traces the trajectory of the black-red relationship from the end of World War I to the tumultuous 1930s. From the just-recovered transcript of the pivotal debate on African Americans at the 6th Comintern Congress in 1928, the book assesses the impact of the Congress’s declaration that blacks in the rural South constituted a nation within a nation, entitled to the right of self-determination. Despite the theory’s serious flaws, it fused the black struggle for freedom and revolutionary content and demanded that white labor recognize blacks as indispensable allies. As the Great Depression unfolded, the Communists launched intensive campaigns against lynching, evictions, and discrimination in jobs and relief and opened within their own ranks a searing assault on racism. While the Party was never able to win a majority of white workers to the struggle for Negro rights, or to achieve the unqualified support of the black majority, it helped to lay the foundations for the freedom struggle of the 1950s and 1960s. The Cry Was Unity underscores the successes and failures of the Communist-led left and the ways in which it fought against racism and inequality. This struggle comprises an important missing page that needs to be returned to the nation’s history. Mark Solomon, an emeritus professor at Simmons College, is the author of Red and Black: Communism and Afro-Americans, 1929-1935, Death Waltz to Armageddon: E. P. Thompson and the Peace Movement, and Stopping World War II (with Michael Myerson).

Black Communists Speak on Scottsboro

Black Communists Speak on Scottsboro PDF Author: Walter T. Howard
Publisher: Temple University Press
ISBN: 1592135994
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 210

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Book Description
On March 25, 1931, Alabama police detained nine young African AMerican men at a railroad stop not far from Scottsboro. In the process, they encountered two white women -- who promptly accused the young men of raping them. Soon after, all-white juries found the nine youths guilty and eight of them were sentenced to death. Although many Americans were outraged by the injustices of the case, the loudest voices raised in protest were those of members of the American Communist Party. Many white Communists spoke out, but black Communists took the lead in organizing public protests and legal responses. As this surprising book makes clear, they were acting at the direction of the Communist International (Comintern), which had directed them to address the "Negro problem." Now, with the opening of formerly inaccessible Communist party archives, this collection of primary documents reveals the little-known but major roles played by black Communists in the case of "the Scottsboro Boys."

The Cambridge History of African American Literature

The Cambridge History of African American Literature PDF Author: Maryemma Graham
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1316184404
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 861

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Book Description
The first major twenty-first century history of four hundred years of black writing, The Cambridge History of African American Literature presents a comprehensive overview of the literary traditions, oral and print, of African-descended peoples in the United States. Expert contributors, drawn from the United States and beyond, emphasise the dual nature of each text discussed as a work of art created by an individual and as a response to unfolding events in American cultural, political, and social history. Unprecedented in scope, sophistication and accessibility, the volume draws together current scholarship in the field. It also looks ahead to suggest new approaches, new areas of study, and as yet undervalued writers and works. The Cambridge History of African American Literature is a major achievement both as a work of reference and as a compelling narrative and will remain essential reading for scholars and students in years to come.

'Bitter with the Past but Sweet with the Dream': Communism in the African American Imaginary

'Bitter with the Past but Sweet with the Dream': Communism in the African American Imaginary PDF Author: Cathy Bergin
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004293256
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 232

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Book Description
The book is an examination of the impact of Communism on a generation of African American writers and a consideration of how African American identity in three novels is constructed in relation to the political ideology of the Communist Party.

Post-Cold War Revelations and the American Communist Party

Post-Cold War Revelations and the American Communist Party PDF Author: Vernon L. Pedersen
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1350135763
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 280

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Book Description
Of all the 'third party' movements in American history, none have been as controversial as the Communist Party of the United States of America. Although denounced as a tool of the Soviet Union, accused of espionage and charged with advocating the revolutionary overthrow of the American government, before WWII it had been an accepted part of the political landscape. This collection offers an intriguing insight into this controversial political party in light of the Moscow archives that were made accessible after the end of the Cold War. This collection of original essays explores new aspects in the history of American Communism, drawing on a range of documents from Moscow and Eastern Europe. Examining traditional subjects in the light of new evidence, the essays cover a range of topics including party leaders, espionage, campaigns against racism, the Spanish Civil War, communism and gender, the fate of members after the McCarthy era and ways in which Communists became Anti-Communists.

Radicalism at the Crossroads

Radicalism at the Crossroads PDF Author: Dayo F. Gore
Publisher: NYU Press
ISBN: 0814770118
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 244

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Book Description
With the exception of a few iconic moments such as Rosa Parks’s 1955 refusal to move to the back of a Montgomery bus, we hear little about what black women activists did prior to 1960. Perhaps this gap is due to the severe repression that radicals of any color in America faced as early as the 1930s, and into the Red Scare of the 1950s. To be radical, and black and a woman was to be forced to the margins and consequently, these women’s stories have been deeply buried and all but forgotten by the general public and historians alike. In this exciting work of historical recovery, Dayo F. Gore unearths and examines a dynamic, extended network of black radical women during the early Cold War, including established Communist Party activists such as Claudia Jones, artists and writers such as Beulah Richardson, and lesser known organizers such as Vicki Garvin and Thelma Dale. These women were part of a black left that laid much of the groundwork for both the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s and later strains of black radicalism. Radicalism at the Crossroads offers a sustained and in-depth analysis of the political thought and activism of black women radicals during the Cold War period and adds a new dimension to our understanding of this tumultuous time in United States history.

Rethinking the Black Freedom Movement

Rethinking the Black Freedom Movement PDF Author: Yohuru Williams
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135980616
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 142

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Book Description
The African American struggle for civil rights in the twentieth century is one of the most important stories in American history. With all the information available, however, it is easy for even the most enthusiastic reader to be overwhelmed. In Rethinking the Black Freedom Movement, Yohuru Williams has synthesized the complex history of this period into a clear and compelling narrative. Considering both the Civil Rights and Black Power movements as distinct but overlapping elements of the Black Freedom struggle, Williams looks at the impact of the struggle for Black civil rights on housing, transportation, education, labor, voting rights, culture, and more, and places the activism of the 1950s and 60s within the context of a much longer tradition reaching from Reconstruction to the present day. Exploring the different strands within the movement, key figures and leaders, and its ongoing legacy, Rethinking the Black Freedom Movement is the perfect introduction for anyone seeking to understand the struggle for Black civil rights in America.

The African American Experience

The African American Experience PDF Author: Arvarh E. Strickland
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 0313065004
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 455

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Book Description
Compared to the early decades of the 20th century, when scholarly writing on African Americans was limited to a few titles on slavery, Reconstruction, and African American migration, the last thirty years have witnessed an explosion of works on the African American experience. With the Civil Rights and Black Power movements of the 1960s came an increasing demand for the study and teaching of African American history followed by the publication of increasing numbers of titles on African American life and history. This volume provides a comprehensive bibliographical and analytical guide to this growing body of literature as well as an analysis of how the study of African Americans has changed.

Encyclopedia of African American History, 1896 to the Present: O-T

Encyclopedia of African American History, 1896 to the Present: O-T PDF Author: Paul Finkelman
Publisher:
ISBN: 0195167791
Category : African Americans
Languages : en
Pages : 2637

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Book Description
Alphabetically-arranged entries from O to T that explores significant events, major persons, organizations, and political and social movements in African-American history from 1896 to the twenty-first-century.

Essays on Race and Empire

Essays on Race and Empire PDF Author: Nancy Cunard
Publisher: Broadview Press
ISBN: 9781551112305
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 316

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Book Description
This edition assembles the major essays on race and imperialism written by Nancy Cunard in the 1930s and 1940s. As a British expatriate living in France, and as a politically-engaged poet, editor, publisher, and journalist, Nancy Cunard devoted much of her energy to the cause of racial justice. This Broadview edition contextualizes Cunard’s writings on race in terms of the relations among modernism, gender, and empire. It includes a range of contemporaneous documents that place her essays in dialogue with other European writers and with the work of writers of the African diaspora.