Skip to main content

How Alabama Communists Organized in the Jim Crow South

Robin D.G. Kelly, Daniel Denvir Jacobin
In 1930s Alabama, Communist Party members fought brutal repression to organize black and white workers in the Jim Crow South. Their efforts remain a source of inspiration for those fighting racism and exploitation today.

books

How German Atheists Made America Great Again

S. C. Gwynne New York Times
What was the Civil War about? In a word, slavery. The driving force in American politics in the decades after the American Revolution was the rise of an arrogant, ruthless, parasitic oligarchy in the South, built on God-ordained economic inequality.

Do It Yourself, Brother: Cultural Autonomy and the New Thing

Christian Noakes Monthly Review
The story of the struggle to liberate jazz from the exploitative, white-controlled music industry in 1950s, the seminal events of the movement and backlash from white civil society and the legacy of Black cultural autonomy and resistance.

This Week in People’s History, Feb 27-Mar 4

Portside
United Auto Workers sit-down strikers in 1937 A Big Loss for Labor (in 1939), Legal Lynching is Still Lynching (1919), Women Hold Up Half the Sky (1864), Nuclear Test Disaster (1954), Disability Inclusion's Ancient Roots (1829), This is Freedom of the Press? (1919), Science, What Is It Good For?

This Week in People’s History, Feb 20–26

Portside
Poster advertising German American Bund Rally Nazis Parade in Manhattan (in 1939), Imperialists Fight Dirty (1934), Calling a Fraud a Fraud (1989), Vaccines Save Lives (1954), Outlawing Child Labor Isn't Easy (1919), Keep Calm and Carry On (1939), Hitler Takes a Slap on the Wrist (1924)

This Week in People’s History, Feb 13–19

Portside
Parliament asserts its power over the British monarchy in 1689 The Original Bill of Rights (in 1689), OSHA Comes of Age (1974), Shake, Rattle, and Roll (1954), A Win for Black Studies in Dixie (1969), FBI Frame-Up Falls Apart (1999), Compensation for Black Lung (1969), A Rare Espionage Act Acquittal (1919)

This Week in People’s History, Feb 6–12

Portside
Cartoon showing Uncle Sam, John Bull, and the Kaiser riding heavily on the shoulders of servants of colorof A Sad Day for Liberty (in 1899), Strikers Kill a Wage Cut (1894), If Men Were Angels (1788), Women Close in on the Right to Vote (1919), The Times They Are a-Changing' (1964), Strikers Shut Seattle Down (1919), Nixon in Crisis (1974)

This Week in People’s History, Jan 23–29

Portside
Photo of Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell, the first woman to graduate from a U.S. medical school Healthcare Gets a Powerful Woman Advocate (in 1849), Go Home Nazi! (1949), Work Shouldn't Make You Sick (1979), The Apollo Gets a New Groove (1934), Two Wins for Strike-Breaking (1914), Later for Woman Suffrage (1869), Gallows Humor (1964)
Subscribe to U.S. history