African Americican Writers

Howard "Stretch" Johnson, a charismatic Harlemite who graduated from Cotton Club dancer to Communist Party youth leader, once claimed that in late 1930s New York "75% of black cultural figures had Party membership or maintained regular meaningful contact with the Party." He stretched the truth, but barely. The magnetic appeal of communism for African American writers … [Read more...] about Friday Morning Thread: Black and Red – The History of African-Americans and Communism