Marxism and black struggle

LEFT VOICE

Leon Trotsky and C.L.R. James ILLUSTRATION/Sou Mi

For Black August, Left Voice will be presenting a collection of classic Marxist texts about Black liberation. This includes writing by C.L.R. James, Leon Trotsky, T.W. Thibedi, George Breitman, and the Communist International.

The uprisings that have swept the United States have shown something that socialists have long argued: U.S. capitalism was founded on racist oppression. That is why the struggle for Black liberation is one of the driving forces of the struggle to beat capitalism. We have seen the protests against racist police violence mobilize millions of working-class and oppressed people in what might be the largest movement in U.S. history.

A new generation is entering the struggle. To commemorate Black August, we will be publishing classic Marxist texts to better understand the deep link between the struggles for Black liberation and for socialist revolution.

We will publish one text per day for the rest of Black August. We hope this connects the new generation of activists with great revolutionary thinkers from the past. Marxism is a strategy and a theory for the liberation of the working class and all oppressed people. This is why Black revolutionaries like George Jackson, C.L.R. James, and many others studied texts like these. Marxism is not a dogma, but rather a method to understand the world in order to change it.

Introduction

Marcello Pablito and Daniel Alfonso:
The Black Question and the Revolution in Brazil

Racism, Capitalism, and Revolution

The docile Negro is a myth. (…) The only place where Negroes did not revolt is in the pages of capitalist historians. — C.L.R. James

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

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

Communist International:
Theses on the Black Question

George Breitman:
When Anti-Negro Prejudice Began

Peter Hansen:
The Class Character of the American Constitution

Black Resistance Against War

We shall fight for a fraternal unity between all the poor in every country against all the rich. — C.L.R. James

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

International African Service Bureau:
A Warning to the People of the Colonies

The United States and the Black Question

If the Negroes want that then we must fight against imperialism to the last drop of blood, so that they gain the right (…) to separate a piece of land for themselves. — Leon Trotsky

Arne Swabeck and Leon Trotsky:
The Negro Question in America

C.L.R. James and Leon Trotsky:
Self-Determination for the American Negroes

C.L.R. James and Leon Trotsky:
A Negro Organization

C.L.R. James and Leon Trotsky:
Plans for the Negro Organization

Left Voice for more

Comments are closed.