Rest in Power, John Lewis
With the death of John Lewis, we’ve lost another giant of the Civil Rights Movement. It’s up to us to carry on the struggle for the “beautiful community” he spent his whole life fighting for.
15 Articles by: Robert Greene II
Robert Greene II is an assistant professor of history at Claflin University and the book review editor for the Society of US Intellectual Historians' blog.
When Nelson Mandela Came to America
In the summer of 1990, Nelson Mandela toured the United States to raise money for the South African anti-apartheid struggle. His trip highlighted the historic links between the struggle for freedom in South Africa with the Civil Rights Movement in the US — a spirit of international solidarity that the US left must rekindle.
We Are Living in a Red Spring
In the Red Summer of 1919, racist violence hit America as the Spanish flu ravaged the country. With mass protests against police murders sweeping the pandemic-plagued United States, it appears we might be now living in a Red Spring.
Down With Florida’s Poll Tax
Florida Republicans just passed a poll tax that disenfranchises many of the same felons who recently won the right to vote. It's a chilling throwback to previous eras of black voter suppression — and a reminder that we still have to fight for basic democratic rights today.
Memory Matters
We should remember the Civil War and Reconstruction for what they were: periods of liberation that were snuffed out by white elites.
The Legacy of Black Reconstruction
W. E. B. Du Bois's Black Reconstruction in America thrust African Americans into the role of historical actors and showed that the black freedom struggle has always been one for radical democracy.
For Democracy, At Home and Abroad
On VE Day, we remember black Americans' Double V campaign: victory in Europe against fascism, victory at home against racism.
The Promised Land Is Still Not Here
The Left struggles to speak with the kind of moral clarity Martin Luther King exemplified — but that shouldn't stop us from trying.
Completing the Revolution
Black voters will be at the core of any resurgence in left politics in the South.
Debating Black Freedom
A look back at Liberator, an anticolonial magazine that operated during a golden age for black radical publications.
The Left After Charlottesville
The Left can't allow itself to be consumed by debates about antifa. We need a proactive program and patient organizing.
Remembering the Black Panther Party
More than five decades after its founding, the Black Panther Party's antiracist, anticapitalist vision remains just as relevant today.
The Forgotten Coalition
African Americans were willing and able participants of the New Deal — reshaping the very meaning of American liberalism.
The South Still Has Something to Say
No political revolution in the United States can succeed without the South.
The Socialism of the Black Panthers
A new documentary on the Black Panther Party overlooks the group’s socialist core.