A Hubert Harrison Reader (review)

Who was Hubert Harrison? He was a black man. Born on 27 April 1883 in Concordia, St. Croix, Danish West Indies, he settled in New York City, New York, in 1900. He found employment in the postal service but lost that position after criticizing Booker T. Washington for his conservative race policies in a letter to the New York Sun. He was active in the Socialist Party of New York as a writer, lecturer, and educator until his suspension in 1914 for criticizing the party's race policies.

In 1917, Harrison founded the Liberty League and The Voice, two short-lived entities that promoted race consciousness among black people, and began an affiliation with Marcus Garvey. He was the first principal editor of Garvey's Negro World. His criticism of Garvey's egocentric politics and practices led to a break between the two black nationalists. Afterwards, he was a staff lecturer for the New York Board of Education, a founder of the New York Public Library Department of Negro Literature and History, and a writer for African American newspapers. On 17 December 1927, he died suddenly after an appendectomy procedure. Thousands reportedly attended his funeral. Nonetheless, Jeffrey B. Perry, an independent scholar, considers Harrison to be a neglected figure in African American history.

In this informative reader, Perry continues the work that was first presented in his 1985 Columbia University dissertation, "Hubert Henry Harrison, 'The Father of Harlem Radicalism': The Early Years—1883 through the Founding of The Voice and the Liberty League in 1917." That study reclaimed one of Harlem's more profound activists from obscurity. Now, in this reader, Perry presents Harrison as a significant voice in the African American protest tradition, one whose insightful writings, lectures, and politics made the connection between race and class in the struggle for social justice.

What makes this reader so compelling is its organization. Perry has carefully selected and annotated writings that capture the depth and breadth of Harrison's interests.

Each of the thirteen sections focuses upon a moment or perspective in Harrison's intellectual and political development. There are commentaries on class and race radicalism, education, politics, and international affairs. A critic of African American leadership, Harrison felt that it was too concerned about elite interests and not committed to the needs of the masses. His spiritual musings reveal a sensitive person who cared deeply about the pain and sufferings of ordinary people of African descent in their extraordinary encounters with American racism. With only a secondary school education, he wrote numerous book reviews, literary criticisms, and theater reviews. Neither black nor white was spared his perceptive critiques. It made little difference if the person were a W. E. B. DuBois or Thorstein Veblen. And as Perry demonstrates, Harrison was an organizer who hoped that his International Colored Unity League would turn political thought into social activism.

Who was Hubert Harrison? He was another believer in the African American struggle for a just society.