This past weekend, connease and I attended the Socialism Conference in Chicago. For several years now, this has been one of my favorite conferences to attend and every year I walk away with new insights and new inspiration to keep pushing forward in what can often be very challenging work (I know you all can relate to this).
Over the past couple years, we’ve been fortunate to present our work with the upEND Movement at the conference, but this year we weren’t presenting and were able to really engage with some of the conference sessions. On the first full day of the conference, connease and I both attended “The Black Path to Socialism,” which focused on the historical development of the socialist movement within the Black community and the efforts that have been made to erase this history over time, particularly by those who are invested in maintaining our current two-party system and limiting our voting options. The session also talked about the current rise of the Democratic Socialists of America and the very real racial divisions that exist in the DSA—divisions that likely stem from the long history of erasing important Black voices within the movement.
In particular, one of the presenters, Dr. Brian Kwoba, discussed the history of Hubert Harrison, one of the leading figures in building a radical Black socialist movement in the United States, whose history has been largely erased. But fortunately for us, Dr. Kwoba has written a book about him, and we thought this would make the perfect way for us to beginning learning more about the history of socialism and Black radical thought in the U.S.
One of the topics I think will be most interesting to explore is how relevant the history and work of Hubert Harrison is to our political context today. From the book description: “[Harrison] witnessed staggering luxury for the few alongside crushing poverty for the many. White mob violence continually haunted Black communities, while imperial conquest and world wars wrought wanton destruction upon entire nations of people. These conditions sparked a global political awakening to which Harrison gave voice as a leading figure in cutting-edge struggles for socialism, internationalism, free love, freethinking, and free speech.”
Hubert Harrison passed away during surgery for appendicitis in 1927. Yet the conditions he witnessed that sparked his activism read as if they’re taken from a current headline nearly 100 years later.
connease, Maya, and I will have much more to say about this over the coming weeks, but for now, I hope you’ll pick up a copy of Hubert Harrison: Forbidden Genius of Black Radicalism and read along with us. We’ll be back in touch soon with information about our upcoming zoom meeting where Dr. Kwoba has graciously agreed to join us! (thanks to connease for extending the invitation after the conference talk).
In solidarity,
Alan
PS: From Dr. Kwoba’s website, use discount code 01SOCIAL30 for a 30% discount if you order from the publisher’s website.
What a phenomenal choice in book... and Dr. Kwoba being available.