90:(ABB). The ABB was established independently of the nascent Communist movement but had been formally brought under party auspices as a byproduct of its need for funding. In 1923 the tiny New York City-based organization was formally integrated into the structure of the Workers Party of America, as the party was then known. The group's handful of activists had proven insufficient to maintain critical mass, however, and by 1924 the ABB had been virtually dissolved.
20:
127:
232:
200:"James Jackson," was the advocate of the idea of convening an "American-Negro Labor Congress" at Chicago to bring together black workers from around the country and had written to Moscow in an attempt to win support for the idea from the Far-Eastern Section of the Comintern. Fort-Whiteman sought "to approach the negro on his own mental grounds" by concentrating activity on fighting
339:
Huiswoud, and Briggs. This situation was exacerbated by Fort-Whiteman's own growing sense of self-importance, his tendency to make decisions by fiat, and his propensity to wear grandiose
Russian garb. A steady stream of complaints about Fort-Whiteman to the Negro Commission of the Workers (Communist) Party followed, sidetracking the organization's work.
346:
to an all-white neighborhood, failing to issue the group's newspaper in a timely manner, and making overly clear in the group's literature its connection to the widely distrusted national communist organization. The result was a very nearly stillborn ANLC, with only seven functioning branches by the
302:
The
Comintern also participated in the ANLC financially, budgeting $ 2,500 for organizers' salaries, travel expenses, and the production of pamphlets and leaflets. This was no great change in previous practice, as from the perspective of the Comintern and the American Communist Party the ANLC merely
275:
The
October 1925 founding convention passed resolutions demanding "the full equality of the Negro people in the social system of the United States, and everywhere." An end to Jim Crow laws, segregation, electoral discrimination, and discrimination in public education was demanded and discrimination
150:
as the paramount voice of the black working class. The convention call indicated that delegates must represent black or interracial trade unions, farm workers, or unorganized factory workers — although provision was made for participation by "individual advocates" engaged in promoting "the cause of
134:
The call for the
American Negro Labor Congress was issued late in the spring of 1925 with the proposal emanating from the Workers (Communist) Party. Although the convention call vaguely established "some time in the summer" for the time of the gathering, in actuality the founding convention did not
117:
This idea found support among
Comintern decision-makers and in December 1924 a communication was passed on to the Workers Party of America, current name of the Communist Party, stating "it has been proposed to call an American Negro Labour Congress at Chicago, to be held sometime during the summer"
315:
cautioning black unionists that they were "being led into a trap." Green charged that the
Communists were attempting to foster "race hatred into the lives" of African Americans and to trick blacks into believing that the revolutionary overthrow of the American government and its replacement with a
338:
In addition to external hostility, a spirit of factionalism and personal strife existed within the ranks of the ANLC. The selection of Fort-Whiteman as leader by the
Comintern had proven controversial, as he seemed to leapfrog long-time party activists with impeccable bona fides, including Moore,
294:
Behind the scenes the governing
National Executive Committee of the ANLC was instructed by the Comintern to convene a "World Race Conference," in an effort to internationalize the black liberation movement — a repetition of an unsuccessful effort by the Comintern to hold an international race
895:
219:," an end to electoral restrictions disfranchising blacks, enforcement of "the right of the Negro to equal accommodations with whites in all theaters, restaurants, hotels, etc.," an end to discrimination in education, and Congressional action to make
248:
declared that the new organization was established "to gather, to mobilize, and to coordinate into a fighting machine the most enlightened and militant and class-conscious workers of the race" in support of concrete objectives.
113:
about the lack of work being conducted by the
American Communist and repeated a call to act on a plan he had submitted to the Far Eastern Section of the Comintern seeking convocation of an "American Negro Labor Congress."
147:
97:
prodded the
Workers Party to begin a new initiative to establish a group able to mobilize black workers. The result of this push was the establishment of a new organization called the American Negro Labor Congress.
239:
The founding convention of the American Negro Labor Congress opened on the evening of Sunday, October 25, 1925, with a mass meeting which heard the reports of national organizer Fort-Whitman and national secretary
439:
PhD dissertation. Mona, Jamaica: University of the West Indies, 2000; pg. 38. Van Enckevort notes the proposal by Fort-Whiteman (pseudonym "James Jackson") is found in the Comintern Archive, RGASPI
295:
conference made in 1922. Such a congress was to be held with a view to establishing a world organization of black workers and farmers which would unite exploited colonial populations to overthrow
280:
was condemned and the exclusion of black jurors from the juries picked for the trials of black defendants was sharply criticized, as was continued segregation in the United States military.
143:
215:
The call for the founding convention consequently touched upon not only matters of importance to labor in general but also spoke to specifically racial interests such as the "abolition of
319:
Green's attitude drew return fire from the ANLC, which called the AFL chief's position "clearly erroneous, harmful, and prejudicial to the best interests of the American labor movement."
93:
American Communists had been ineffectual in its efforts to build a significant mass organization among American blacks during the first half decade of the movement's existence and the
256:"Organization is the first step to freedom." Delegate Otto Huiswood, a prominent black Communist party activist from New York, emphasized the need to bring black workers into the
890:
900:
910:
905:
284:
101:
According to historian Maria Gertrudis van Enckevort, archival evidence indicates that the idea for the new mass organization directed to American blacks came from
287:, where they were ostensibly being trained for work in the Soviet "diplomatic service." The delegates also heard an enthusiastic speech delivered by "Bad Bishop"
86:
of the American Communist Party dedicated to advancing issues of importance to American blacks and building a party presence within the black community was the
142:
by downplaying their own presence and casting the ANLC as a multi-tendency organization, thereby reducing the chance of the group's ability to challenge the
885:
370:
In 1930 the American Negro Labor Congress was terminated through the initiative of the Communist Party and replaced by a new organization called the
915:
135:
take place in Chicago until October 25, 1925. There were 17 signatories of the convention call, of whom six were members of the Workers Party.
870:
Constitution and Program of the American Negro Labor Congress: Adopted at its First Annual Convention, Chicago, Ill., October 25–31, 1925.
371:
66:
291:, who hammered the capitalist class and declared that "the Christian church was started by workers and you workers must take it back."
526:
Investigation of Un-American Propaganda Activities in the United States: Appendix — Part IX, Communist Front Organizations.
159:
388:
312:
261:
54:
276:
in housing and public accommodation duly noted as part of a demand for "full social equality for the Negro people. The
342:
The Workers (Communist) Party also mishandled the ANLC's operations, moving the group's headquarters from the black
178:
163:
383:
235:
Defrocked Episcopalian bishop William Montgomery Brown delivered a speech to the founding convention of the ANLC.
87:
303:
replaced the moribund African Blood Brotherhood, an entity which was a previous recipient of financial support.
288:
94:
322:
Despite such protestations, the mainstream press of America echoed Green's hostile sentiments, with the
283:
At the founding convention was announced that 10 American blacks were already in Moscow enrolled at the
252:
Approximately 40 delegates attended the founding congress of the ANLC, which was organized around the
204:
in American society, the prevalence of which Fort-Whiteman believed dulled black Americans' sense of
155:
102:
311:
The officialdom of the American Federation of Labor was hostile to the new ANLC, with AFL President
109:
and technical training. Fort-Whiteman complained in an October 1924 letter to head of the Comintern
524:
Special Committee on Un-American Activities, House of Representatives, 78th Congress, 2nd Session,
241:
205:
35:
437:
The Life and Work of Otto Huiswoud: Professional Revolutionary and Internationalist (1893 – 1961).
330:
rejecting the entire idea that American blacks could be "bolshevized" as "ridiculously childish."
343:
265:
181:
Fort-Whiteman had been selected to lead the new group over other top black Communists, including
174:
50:
19:
850:
830:
589:
William Bryant, et al. (signatories), "A Call to Action." Reprinted in Foner and Allen (eds),
83:
186:
110:
39:
468:
p. 38. Van Enckevort cites the Comintern Archive, RGASPI f. 495, op. 177, d. 27, ll. 43–44.
126:
359:
published in New York. In 1929 this was succeeded by a new publication, a magazine called
231:
139:
732:
In the Cause of Freedom: Radical Black Internationalism from Harlem to London, 1917–1939.
105:, a national organizer for the ABB who had been sent to Moscow by the summer of 1924 for
245:
209:
24:
879:
326:
accusing the Communists of attempting to "stir up race hatred and disorder" and the
269:
216:
190:
62:
277:
182:
130:
Lovett Fort-Whiteman opened the founding convention of the ANLC, October 25, 1925.
46:
within the black community and recruiting African American members for the party.
296:
257:
759:"William Green's Attack on ANLC: Statement of American Negro Labor Congress,"'
355:
The official organ of the American Negro Labor Congress was a newspaper called
197:
158:
was named its national organizer. Fort-Whiteman had been a delegate to the
43:
896:
African-American history between emancipation and the civil rights movement
854:
846:
782:
American Communism and Black Americans: A Documentary History, 1919–1929,
765:
American Communism and Black Americans: A Documentary History, 1919–1929,
748:
American Communism and Black Americans: A Documentary History, 1919–1929,
674:
American Communism and Black Americans: A Documentary History, 1919–1929,
657:
American Communism and Black Americans: A Documentary History, 1919–1929,
637:
American Communism and Black Americans: A Documentary History, 1919–1929,
617:
American Communism and Black Americans: A Documentary History, 1919–1929,
604:
American Communism and Black Americans: A Documentary History, 1919–1929,
591:
American Communism and Black Americans: A Documentary History, 1919–1929,
495:
American Communism and Black Americans: A Documentary History, 1919–1929.
220:
162:
in 1924 and the recipient of a crash course in party organization at the
106:
58:
834:
826:
253:
201:
167:
528:
Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1944; pp. 1282–1283.
734:
Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 2011; p. 120.
230:
125:
18:
154:
The man most directly responsible for the idea of the new group,
515:
East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University Press, 1995; p. 29.
16:
Congress established to advance the rights of African Americans
23:
News photograph of American Negro Labor Congress meeting from
411:
The Cry Was Unity: Communists and African-Americans, 1917–36.
170:
and was regarded as one of the party's leading black cadres.
316:
Soviet republic was the sole solution to their social ills.
413:
Jackson, MS: University of Mississippi Press, 1998; p. 29.
264:, declaring that if the established unions could not be
780:
November 21, 1925. Reprinted in Foner and Allen (eds),
513:
Blacks and Reds: Race and Class in Conflict, 1919–1990.
481:
pp. 38–39, citing RGASPI f. 495, op. 177, d. 27, l. 48.
763:
October 29, 1925. Reprinted in Foner and Allen (eds),
672:
October 30, 1925. Reprinted in Foner and Allen (eds),
655:
October 28, 1925. Reprinted in Foner and Allen (eds),
635:
October 28, 1925. Reprinted in Foner and Allen (eds),
631:"Proceedings of the American Negro Labor Congress,"
497:
Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1987; p. 109.
53:
practices of many of the unions affiliated with the
668:Resolutions of the American Negro Labor Congress,
872:Chicago, IL: American Negro Labor Congress, 1925.
742:
740:
489:
487:
61:, the disfranchisement of black Americans, and
627:
625:
268:, it would fall to black workers to establish
196:Fort-Whiteman, who sometimes wrote under the
8:
891:1930 disestablishments in the United States
684:
682:
493:Philip S. Foner and James S. Allen (eds),
507:
505:
503:
118:and seeking the American party's advice.
38:as a vehicle for advancing the rights of
911:1925 establishments in the United States
809:
807:
805:
803:
726:
724:
901:African Americans' rights organizations
647:
645:
405:
403:
399:
906:Communist Party USA mass organizations
285:University of the Toilers of the East
7:
479:The Life and Work of Otto Huiswoud,
466:The Life and Work of Otto Huiswoud,
372:League of Struggle for Negro Rights
177:, the veteran former member of the
160:5th World Congress of the Comintern
67:League of Struggle for Negro Rights
173:American-born and educated at the
14:
886:Organizations established in 1925
32:The American Negro Labor Congress
307:Reaction of white labor movement
208:and immunized them to calls for
435:Maria Gertrudis van Enckevort,
34:was established in 1925 by the
49:The organization attacked the
1:
916:African-American trade unions
138:The communists sought to use
57:; it also campaigned against
389:Colored Conventions Movement
262:American Federation of Labor
65:. The group was renamed the
55:American Federation of Labor
299:, the Comintern indicated.
932:
179:Socialist Party of America
164:International Lenin School
384:African Blood Brotherhood
88:African Blood Brotherhood
815:In the Cause of Freedom,
795:In the Cause of Freedom,
289:William Montgomery Brown
746:Foner and Allen (eds),
615:Foner and Allen (eds),
602:Foner and Allen (eds),
511:Earl Ofari Hutchinson,
95:Communist International
847:World Cat title search
827:World Cat title search
236:
131:
73:Organizational history
28:
234:
129:
42:, propagandizing for
22:
778:The Literary Digest,
578:The Cry Was Freedom,
565:The Cry Was Freedom,
552:The Cry Was Freedom,
424:The Cry Was Freedom,
156:Lovett Fort-Whiteman
151:the working class."
148:Marcus Garvey's UNIA
103:Lovett Fort-Whiteman
357:The Negro Champion,
334:Discord within ANLC
328:Philadelphia Record
266:racially integrated
206:class consciousness
539:The Cry Was Unity,
344:Chicago South Side
237:
175:Tuskegee Institute
132:
29:
730:Minkah Makalani,
651:"Full Equality,"
244:. Fort-Whitman's
223:a federal crime.
84:mass organization
40:African Americans
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818:
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716:Blacks and Reds,
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347:summer of 1926.
187:Richard B. Moore
111:Gregory Zinoviev
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477:Van Enckevort,
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464:Van Enckevort,
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434:
430:
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401:
397:
380:
368:
353:
336:
324:Chicago Tribune
309:
270:parallel unions
229:
124:
122:Convention call
80:
75:
36:Communist Party
17:
12:
11:
5:
929:
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409:Mark Solomon,
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379:
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367:
364:
361:The Liberator.
352:
349:
335:
332:
308:
305:
272:of their own.
246:keynote speech
228:
225:
210:class struggle
123:
120:
79:
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74:
71:
51:segregationist
25:Vanguard Press
15:
13:
10:
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6:
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761:Daily Worker,
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670:Daily Worker,
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653:Daily Worker,
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633:Daily Worker,
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313:William Green
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242:H.V. Williams
233:
227:Establishment
226:
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213:
211:
207:
203:
199:
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192:
191:Otto Huiswoud
188:
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140:front tactics
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68:
64:
63:Jim Crow laws
60:
56:
52:
47:
45:
41:
37:
33:
26:
21:
869:
864:Publications
842:
822:
814:
797:pp. 121–122.
794:
789:
781:
777:
772:
767:pp. 116–117.
764:
760:
755:
747:
731:
715:
714:Hutchinson,
710:
702:
701:Hutchinson,
697:
689:
688:Hutchinson,
676:pp. 119–120.
673:
669:
664:
659:pp. 118–119.
656:
652:
639:pp. 112–114.
636:
632:
619:pp. 112–113.
616:
611:
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593:pp. 109–111.
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293:
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278:Ku Klux Klan
274:
258:trade unions
251:
238:
214:
195:
183:Cyril Briggs
172:
153:
137:
133:
116:
100:
92:
81:
48:
31:
30:
366:Dissolution
297:imperialism
217:Jim Crowism
107:ideological
880:Categories
813:Makalani,
793:Makalani,
776:Quoted in
705:pp. 31–32.
580:pp. 47–48.
554:pp. 46–47.
351:Activities
82:The first
78:Background
576:Solomon,
563:Solomon,
550:Solomon,
537:Solomon,
422:Solomon,
395:Footnotes
198:pseudonym
69:in 1930.
44:communism
27:, c. 1929
855:15502927
378:See also
221:lynching
146:and the
59:lynching
835:2637479
817:p. 122.
784:p. 124.
750:p. 116.
606:p. 112.
260:of the
853:
833:
718:p. 32.
692:p. 31.
567:p. 47.
541:p. 46.
455:26–31.
426:p. 37.
254:slogan
202:racism
189:, and
168:Moscow
453:listy
447:195,
443:495,
144:NAACP
851:OCLC
831:OCLC
451:25,
449:delo
445:opis
441:fond
166:in
882::
849:,
829:,
802:^
739:^
723:^
681:^
644:^
624:^
502:^
486:^
402:^
374:.
212:.
193:.
185:,
857:.
837:.
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