"Ragged-Trousered Philanthropists": Great socialist novel marks 100th anniversary
Frank Owen, a socialist house painter, repeatedly attempts to convert his coworkers to his way of thinking: one part of the novel is melodrama the other part social and economic satire.
Abraham Galloway biography provides truer picture of Civil War
Abraham Galloway, an African-American bricklayer by trade, became a leader of the abolition cause and built a network of freedom fighters deep in the Slave South.
A largely forgotten tale: Communist Party's role in the South
The Unemployed People's Movement: Leftists, Liberals, and Labor in Georgia, 1929-1941 challenges the notion that Southern white workers were incapable of action with African Americans.
“Roberta’s Fire”: Homophobia, hate, redemption in a Texas town
I had some mind-traveling to do in reading "Roberta's Fire," by Texas songwriter-singer-journalist Kelly Sinclair.
"Reds At The Blackboard": More positive view of today's Communist teachers
More historians are beginning to paint a more objective, balanced, and positive picture of the role of the CPUSA in the U.S. labor movement.
“Opposing Jim Crow”: How African Americans helped shape Soviet antiracism
"Opposing Jim Crow: African Americans and the Soviet Indictment of U.S. Racism, 1928-1937" critically investigates what she calls "Soviet antiracism."
“Club Red”: Vacation, Soviet-style
Koenker also paints a vivid, detailed picture of a government sincerely attempting to live up to its promise of "the good life" for its citizens.
Black superheroes forever changed comic books
Adilifu Nama's Super Black: American Pop Culture and Black Superheroes does a great job of introducing many of today's comic book fans with the history of African Americans in comic books and pop culture generally.
“Night People”: Humanity, New York style
Night People and Other Tales of Working New York is a new collection of short stories and poems reflecting the struggles of average citizens and workers in New York City and beyond.
McBride's "Good Lord Bird," Packer's "Unwinding": National Book Award winners
The Good Lord Bird, the adventures of a disguised black child caught up in John Brown's abolitionist crusade, was the winner of the National Book Award for fiction.
