In this Book
- In the Cause of Freedom: Radical Black Internationalism from Harlem to London, 1917-1939
- Book
- 2011
- Published by: The University of North Carolina Press
summary
In this intellectual history, Minkah Makalani reveals how early-twentieth-century black radicals organized an international movement centered on ending racial oppression, colonialism, class exploitation, and global white supremacy. Focused primarily on two organizations, the Harlem-based African Blood Brotherhood, whose members became the first black Communists in the United States, and the International African Service Bureau, the major black anticolonial group in 1930s London, In the Cause of Freedom examines the ideas, initiatives, and networks of interwar black radicals, as well as how they communicated across continents.
Through a detailed analysis of black radical periodicals and extensive research in U.S., English, Dutch, and Soviet archives, Makalani explores how black radicals thought about race; understood the ties between African diasporic, Asian, and international workers' struggles; theorized the connections between colonialism and racial oppression; and confronted the limitations of international leftist organizations. Considering black radicals of Harlem and London together for the first time, In the Cause of Freedom reorients the story of blacks and Communism from questions of autonomy and the Kremlin's reach to show the emergence of radical black internationalism separate from, and independent of, the white Left.
Through a detailed analysis of black radical periodicals and extensive research in U.S., English, Dutch, and Soviet archives, Makalani explores how black radicals thought about race; understood the ties between African diasporic, Asian, and international workers' struggles; theorized the connections between colonialism and racial oppression; and confronted the limitations of international leftist organizations. Considering black radicals of Harlem and London together for the first time, In the Cause of Freedom reorients the story of blacks and Communism from questions of autonomy and the Kremlin's reach to show the emergence of radical black internationalism separate from, and independent of, the white Left.
Table of Contents
Download Full Book
- Contents/Illustrations
- pp. vii-ix
- Acknowledgments
- pp. xi-xvi
- Abbreviations
- pp. xvii-xviii
- Introduction
- pp. 1-21
- Epilogue: A Vitality and Validity of Its Own
- pp. 225-230
- Bibliography
- pp. 271-295
Additional Information
ISBN
9781469602516
Related ISBN(s)
9780807835043, 9780807869161, 9781469617527
MARC Record
OCLC
767952993
Pages
328
Launched on MUSE
2013-01-01
Language
English
Open Access
No