For The People

In America, racism and anti-communism have obliterated the contributions of black socialists from the historical record. Few are aware that black socialists and workers have demanded revolutionary changes since the Colored National Labor Union fought for land and economic justice in the 1870s. Some would have us forget that Langston Hughes wrote Good Morning Revolution that Amilcar Cabral and the PAIGC defeated the Portuguese in Guinea-Bissau, and that Communist Party member Miranda Smith led the tobacco union's Local 22 in several significant labor victories. Even today, the struggles of Ngugi wa Thiong'o, Amiri Baraka, and the Congress of South African Trade Unions are unknown to many. This censorship by neglect cannot forever mute the saga of black socialism. Their story must be told. In sharp contrast to crippling apathy and fawning accommodation. Cyril Briggs of the African Blood Brotherhood, Estelle Hollowaway of the National Negro Labor Council, Walter Rodney of the Working People's Alliance, Rita Mulumbua of Mozambique's FRELIMO and thousands more have fought selflessly for black liberation. For The People powerfully conveys their story and as such is an indispensable tool for understanding the roots and future of black radicalism.