Dr. Gerald Horne, author of Black Revolutionary: William Patterson and the Globalization of the African American Freedom Struggle, discusses the role this prominent communist played in the struggles for civil rights for African Americans.
At its height the International Labor Defense (ILD), a civil liberties organization that predated the ACLU was the largest and most influential organization of its type. Founded in response to the anti-immigrant Red Scare and Palmer Raids, the ILD was led by the brilliant young San Francisco–born Black attorney, William L. Patterson.
Probably best known for his leadership to save the Scottsboro defendants, nine African American youth falsely accused of raping a white women, and as the director of the Civil Rights Congress, which was widely viewed as the legal defense arm of the broad African American freedom struggle, Patterson also served as a national leader of the Communist Party USA.
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The Communist Party USA is a revolutionary working-class political party founded in 1919 in Chicago, IL.
The Communist Party stands for the interests of the American working class and the American people. It stands for our interests in both the present and the future. Solidarity with workers of other countries is also part of our work. We work in coalition with the labor movement, the peace movement, the student movement, organizations fighting for equality and social justice, the environmental movement, immigrants rights groups and the health care for all campaign.
But to win a better life for working families, we believe that we must go further. We believe that the American people can replace capitalism with a system that puts people before profit — socialism.
We are rooted in our country's revolutionary history and its struggles for democracy. We call for "Bill of Rights" socialism, guaranteeing full individual freedoms.
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