During the Great Depression; black intellectuals; labor organizers; and artists formed the National Negro Congress (NNC) to demand a "second emancipation" in America. Over the next decade; the NNC and its offshoot; the Southern Negro Youth Congress; sought to coordinate and catalyze local antiracist activism into a national movement to undermine the Jim Crow system of racial and economic exploitation. In this pioneering study; Erik S. Gellman shows how the NNC agitated for the first-class citizenship of African Americans and all members of the working class; establishing civil rights as necessary for reinvigorating American democracy. Much more than just a precursor to the 1960s civil rights movement; this activism created the most militant interracial freedom movement since Reconstruction; one that sought to empower the American labor movement to make demands on industrialists; white supremacists; and the state as never before. By focusing on the complex alliances between unions; civic groups; and the Communist Party in five geographic regions; Gellman explains how the NNC and its allies developed and implemented creative grassroots strategies to weaken Jim Crow; if not deal it the "death blow" they sought.
#1398693 in Books The University of North Carolina Press 2004-11-25Ingredients: Example IngredientsOriginal language:EnglishPDF # 1 .90 x 6.48 x 9.54l; 1.15 #File Name: 0807828963264 pages
Review
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful. A MUST read for those with interest in the Civil War--By MBCWhile Civil War buffs typically read about the subject for its military bent; this book is highly recommended for its explanation of how the Civil War became defined among the American populace in the years after the war; especially in the South. If you're looking to understand the Lost Cause whether you believe in its precepts or not; this is a must read.
