CPUSA history

[Janus]

Does anyone have any good info. on the history of the connections between the CPUSA and the African-American movement during the 1930's? I'm drawing this from the novel Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison.

[romanm]

The best work on the subject I can think of is Harry Haywood's Black Bolshevik.

[RedJacobin]

hammer and hoe by robin d.g. kelley.
uncle tom's children by richard wright.
black bolshevik (already mentioned)

there's another book called something like "communists in harlem during the great depression" ... don't remember the author or the exact title.

topics to look into: trial of the scottsboro 9, sharecroppers union, eviction resistance in harlem

edit: there's a collection of primary source documents written in the 1930s by Black communists. i think it's called "communism and african americans." really good stuff: lots of theoretical articles by harry haywood and others.

[Martin Blank]

The Cry was Unity: Communists and African Americans, 1917-1936 (http://www.upress.state.ms.us/books/c/cry_was_unity.html), by Mark Solomon.

Miles

[Janus]

I've got the harry Haywood book but I don't think that I can get the Solomon one. Could you summarise it, CL? By the way, did the CPUSA betray the African-American cause as is depicted in Invisible Man?

[romanm]

Another good book that hits on some of these issues indirectly is J. Sakai's Settlers: the mythology of the White Proletariat -- although it doesn't touch much on the CPUSA specifically or Stalin and the comintern's line, it does cover alot of the white labor movement.

[RedJacobin]

Originally posted by [email protected] 5 2006, 12:33 AM
By the way, did the CPUSA betray the African-American cause as is depicted in Invisible Man?
i haven't read invisible man, but you might find these interesting:

The Rhetoric of Anticommunism in Invisible Man (http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~bfoley/rhetoric_of_anticommunism.html)
Ralph Ellison as Proletarian Journalist (http://www.andromeda.rutgers.edu/~bfoley/foleyreleft2.html)

[BattleOfTheCowshed]

"Communism in Harlem During the Depression" by Mark Naison? Might be a bit hard to get though, seems out of print

[romanm]

I can't say about Invisible Man specifically, but Haywood shows many CPU$A betrayals regarding the Black National Question. Although the CPU$A did reluctantly adopt the revolutionary self-determination of Stalin/Comintern line on it, they only did so nominally -- in other words, CPU$A didn't implement the revolutionary Comintern line. In reality, the CP. And, their politics were still dominated by white chauvinism. The J. Sakai book is even harsher on the CPU$A. It also has a chapter on Black Neo-Colonial leadership. There was a full online copy of the Sakai book that was floating around awhile back. You can purachse and read part of it here: http://www.kersplebedeb.com/settlers.html

edited slightly for clarification

[rebelworker]

Excellent Book and Excellent Distro.

I think the issue of having a centralised minority leadership means that it will ted to draw from the more privaledged classes.

Historically this means people from wealthy or "educated" backgrounds, but this also probaly means white men.

Women were traditionally marginalized in the CPUSA and so I dont see why this would not be true of Black's or any other opressed group.

The example of Homosexuality being oposed as petty beurgoise (hello BOB calling the kettle black or what) by the RCP for the majority of their existance is another good example of this. Revolutionaries are not immune from the prejudices of the society they are brought up in.

Grouos when lacking in actual participation of opressed minorities, tend to tolkenise people of color, poor people or women.

Having de centralised power in a group is not in and of itself a barrier against this kind of cultural domination. We must always work to look at our own personal predjudices(I would be warry of any man who says he is not deeply affected by growing up in a sexist society as one example) and see how these power dynamics lead to REAL STRUCTURAL and cultural barriers for the participation of other groups.

A constructions trade union may be a vary strong working class envuroment, but may be rife with sexsim and racism and homophobia.

A Collage feminist study group may be a very women friendly envyroment but be ripe with class prejudices.

Aknowledge where you come from and how it affects you and analise how to constantly work to improve.

[romanm]

Actually, Sakai's excellent book shows how the IWW too became dominated by white chauvinism, even in its more "radical" period. The most advanced line on the question of the self-determination of oppressed nations was from the Stalin Comintern that Harry Haywood discusses -- which the above poster would probably identify as "centralized."

Chauvinism isn't an issue of centralization or not. It is an issue of class and nation. The white amerikan labor movement has historically been chauvinist across the board -- centralized or not. See: http://www.kersplebedeb.com/settlers.html

[bayano]

i know people in chicago who have hundreds of copies of black bolshevik. but the robin kelley books are also a big help, he has several.

[RedJacobin]

Originally posted by [email protected] 6 2006, 04:26 PM
There was a full online copy of the Sakai book that was floating around awhile back.
know where it is?

[romanm]

I don't know where it is now. I would recommend people buy it since it is probably the most influential books within the frist world revolutionary movement in the past couple decades. It is one of the most important books out there -- and it is very readable.

It has been review by Kuwasi Balagoon, David Gilbert and MIM among others. Those reviews are online.

[YKTMX]

My mum has a copy of 'Communists in Harlem' by Naison.

It's a brilliant, inspiring book, you should really try and get a hold of it if you're interested.

Most university libraries have a copy, I know mine does.

[Janus]

Interesting, I'll try to pick up that book YKTMX. I've read Black Bolshevik by Harry Haywood and it is a very good account of the time period. I would like to thank everyone for their advice and help.

[Martin Blank]

Originally posted by [email protected] 4 2006, 07:41 PM
I've got the harry Haywood book but I don't think that I can get the Solomon one. Could you summarise it, CL?
The book covers the development of the relationship between the U.S. Communists and the African American community from its inception to the outbreak of the Second World War. It goes through the relationship between the Communists and the early-20th century Black nationalist movement, including the on-and-off relationship with Marcus Garvey's UNIA, the relationship between the party and the leading figures of the Harlem Renaissance, the division in the party over the Labor Party question and Black equality, the "Third Period" turn and implementation of the "Black Belt" theory, the successes the Communist Party had with that theory and the successes it had without it, and then, finally, how the turn to the "People's Front" in the mid-1930s affected their work and relationships with African Americans, including in CIO organizing and their support for FDR.

They should have this book at any major library in your area. If your local library doesn't have it, I'm sure they could inter-library loan it.

Miles