Facebook Instagram Twitter YouTube

Black Struggle

Arne Swabeck and Leon Trotsky: The Negro Question in America

On February 28, 1933, Arne Swabeck of the Communist League of America met with Leon Trotsky and his secretary Pierre Frank on the island of Prinkipo in Turkey. They debated many questions, including racism in the U.S. and the right of self-determination. This is part of our collection on Marxism and Black Struggle.

Arne Swabeck

August 16, 2020

A Warning to the People of the Colonies

The International African Service Bureau, an organization of Black people in Great Britain, issued this manifesto in late 1939. It called on all colonized peoples to unite against the imperialist bandits and struggle alongside British workers against the war. This is part of our collection on Marxism and Black Struggle.

Left Voice

August 15, 2020

C.L.R. James: Why Negroes Should Oppose the War

C.L.R. James wrote this pamphlet for the Socialist Workers Party in late 1939. World War II had just begun, and in the United States, Republicans, Democrats, and Stalinists were preparing to call on Black workers to support the war in the name of "democracy." James, in contrast, called on Black workers to struggle against imperialism. This is part of our collection on Marxism and Black Struggle.

C.L.R. James

August 14, 2020

Peter Hansen: The Class Character of the American Constitution

Peter Hansen wrote this essay in 1930 for The Militant, the newspaper of the Socialist Workers Party. The U.S. constitution is venerated like a holy book, even by self-proclaimed progressives. But it is a historical document that protects the capitalists’ private property. This is part of our collection on Marxism and Black Struggle.

Left Voice

August 13, 2020

George Breitman: When Anti-Negro Prejudice Began

George Breitman wrote this essay in 1954 for Fourth International, the theoretical magazine of the Socialist Workers Party. While some people claim that racism has always existed, going back to the ancient Egyptians or the ancient Greeks, Breitman shows that anti-Black racism is a product of capitalism. This is part of our collection on Marxism and Black Struggle.

George Breitman

August 12, 2020

South Side Chicago Uprising Confronts Police Violence and Economic Repression

A social explosion has erupted in Chicago after police shot and injured 20 year old Latrell Allen in the city’s South Side. Over a hundred protesters have been arrested, while the cops sustained injuries of their own. In racist U.S.A., systemic, racist injustice continues to spawn upheaval.

Carmin Maffea

August 11, 2020

Communist International: Theses on the Black Question

Following the success of the Russian Revolution in 1917, communists from around the globe came together to form the Communist International. At its Fourth Congress in 1922, the Comintern resolved to support all struggles of Black people for liberation. This is part of our collection on Marxism and Black Struggle.

Left Voice

August 11, 2020

C.L.R. James: The Place of the Negro Is in the Vanguard

C.L.R. James wrote this essay in 1939 for Socialist Appeal, the newspaper of the Socialist Workers Party. The Second World War had begun a month earlier. James predicted that Black workers would be in the front lines of the revolutionary struggle for socialism. This is part of our collection on Marxism and Black Struggle.

C.L.R. James

August 10, 2020

C.L.R. James: Revolution and the Negro 

C.L.R. James wrote this essay in 1939 for New International, the theoretical magazine of the Socialist Workers Party. This short history of Black struggle — from the Haitian Revolution to the Flint Sit-Down Strike — retains all of its power today. This is part of our collection on Marxism and Black Struggle.

C.L.R. James

August 9, 2020