Red Seas Ferdinand Smith & Radical Black Sailors in the United States & Jamaica

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"Red Seas is biographical history at its best. It provides a glimpse into the life of one of the most powerful Black labor leaders in U.S. history, describes the trials and tribulations, the successes and failures, of building an independent, Communist-led union, and gives the reader a general feeling for the times. Horne has done all trade-unionist and working-class people a service with Red Seas. It is highly recommended."

—Political Affairs

"The political connections of Harlem and the British West Indies have been crucial for at least a century, but until recent times almost invisible except to those intimately involvedà. We are now, at long last, beginning to get a better grasp, and Gerald Horne's Red Seas is a huge contribution to our understanding."

—Paul Buhle, Monthly Review

"Horne's latest work is a forceful tract that all scholars writing about radical maritime politics, unionism, and race must take into account. Horne thus sets the standard for future scholars in this area."

—Working USA

"In our own age of global commerce and U.S. hyperpower, what could be more instructive than the story of Ferdinand Smith, the Caribbean Communist who led a genuinely international, multicultural union in the years that birthed the American century? Gerald Horne's remarkable biography should be required reading for those who want to glimpse the potential power of that seafaring proletariat, in the last century as well as ours."

—Nelson Lichtenstein, author of State of the Union: A Century of American Labor

"A major achievement. It not only illuminates the maritime sources of 20th century working class black radicalism, but reveals its ongoing and complicated interplay with racism and class struggle on a global scale."

—Joe W. Trotter, Jr., Carnegie Mellon University

"A brilliant political biography--we are in Gerald Horne's debt for bringing to life a towering figure of the 20th century. A radical labor leader in the US and Jamaica who felt the sting of anticommunism on both shores, Ferdinand Smith also laid the groundwork for the modern civil rights movement."

—Martha Biondi, author of To Stand and Fight: the Struggle for Civil Rights in Postwar New York City

"Exhaustively researched, this is a pioneering, insightful, sympathetic, and brilliant portrait of the life of Ferdinand Smith. A wonderful book."

—Colin Palmer, Dodge Professor of History, Princeton University

"Red Seas offers a rich account of the Communist Party's centrality in twentieth- century anti-racist struggles, the critical role workers of colour and anti-racism played in the rise and decline of organized labor, and the tragedy of paths not taken, particularly toward the international labour alliances and organizing that might have forestalled the current international "race to the bottom."

—International Journal of Maritime History

During the heyday of the U.S. and international labor movements in the 1930s and 1940s, Ferdinand Smith, the Jamaican-born co-founder and second-in-command of the National Maritime Union (NMU), stands out as one of the most—if not the most—powerful black labor leaders in the United States. Smith's active membership in the Communist Party, however, coupled with his bold labor radicalism and shaky immigration status, brought him under continual surveillance by U.S. authorities, especially during the Red Scare in the 1950s. Smith was eventually deported to his homeland of Jamaica, where he continued his radical labor and political organizing until his death in 1961.

Gerald Horne draws on Smith's life to make insightful connections between labor radicalism and the Civil Rights Movement—demonstrating that the gains of the latter were propelled by the former and undermined by anticommunism. Moreover, Red Seas uncovers the little-known experiences of black sailors and their contribution to the struggle for labor and civil rights, the history of the Communist Party and its black members, and the significant dimensions of Jamaican labor and political radicalism.

“Horne's latest work is a forceful tract that all scholars writing about radical maritime politics, unionism, and race must take into account. Horne thus sets the standard for future scholars in this area.”

-Working USA,

“In our own age of global commerce and U.S. hyperpower, what could be more instructive than the story of Ferdinand Smith, the Caribbean Communist who led a genuinely international, multicultural union in the years that birthed the American century? Gerald Horne's remarkable biography should be required reading for those who want to glimpse the potential power of that seafaring proletariat, in the last century as well as ours.”

-Nelson Lichtenstein,author of State of the Union: A Century of American Labor

“This book opens a window on Popular Front activities that might otherwise be forgotten... The book is an important study of the labor movement in the 20th century, and the National Maritime Union in particular, a mighty voice for the seamen during its years of greatest strength.”

-The Journal of African American History,

“The political connections of Harlem and the British West Indies have been crucial for at least a century, but until recent times almost invisible except to those intimately involved.... We are now, at long last, beginning to get a better grasp, and Gerald Horne's Red Seas is a huge contribution to our understanding.”

-Paul Buhle,Monthly Review

“Red Seas is biographical history at its best. It provides a glimpse into the life of one of the most powerful Black labor leaders in U.S. history, describes the trials and tribulations, the successes and failures, of building an independent, Communist-led union, and gives the reader a general feeling for the times. Horne has done all trade-unionist and working-class people a service with Red Seas. It is highly recommended.”

“This book opens a window on Popular Front activities that might otherwise be forgotten... The book is an important study of the labor movement in the 20th century, and the National Maritime Union in particular, a mighty voice for the seamen during its years of greatest strength.”

“The political connections of Harlem and the British West Indies have been crucial for at least a century, but until recent times almost invisible except to those intimately involved…. We are now, at long last, beginning to get a better grasp, and Gerald Horne's Red Seas is a huge contribution to our understanding.”

“Horne's latest work is a forceful tract that all scholars writing about radical maritime politics, unionism, and race must take into account. Horne thus sets the standard for future scholars in this area.”

“In our own age of global commerce and U.S. hyperpower, what could be more instructive than the story of Ferdinand Smith, the Caribbean Communist who led a genuinely international, multicultural union in the years that birthed the American century? Gerald Horne's remarkable biography should be required reading for those who want to glimpse the potential power of that seafaring proletariat, in the last century as well as ours.”

"This collection of 17 essays examines poverty and its causes from a variety of angles. The common thread is a concern for the structural causes of poverty; the book therefore offers a welcome alternative to the dominant ideological views that portray poverty as a result of individuals' decisions, attributes and/or moral failings...The authors show the connections between capitalism, slavery and the development of state policies and ideologies that maintained the oppressed and exploited status of African Americans after the Civil War and constituted the basis for the emergence of white identity and privilege to the detriment of working class identities based on a recognition of the common plight of workers, regardless of skin color...this is an outstanding collection, useful for courses in social stratification, the sociology of work, and race and ethnic relations." -Science and Society,

During the heyday of the U.S. and international labor movements in the 1930s and 1940s, Ferdinand Smith, the Jamaican-born co-founder and second-in-command of the National Maritime Union (NMU), stands out as one of the most—if not the most—powerful black labor leaders in the United States. Smith's active membership in the Communist Party, however, coupled with his bold labor radicalism and shaky immigration status, brought him under continual surveillance by U.S. authorities, especially during the Red Scare in the 1950s. Smith was eventually deported to his homeland of Jamaica, where he continued his radical labor and political organizing until his death in 1961.

Gerald Horne draws on Smith's life to make insightful connections between labor radicalism and the Civil Rights Movement—demonstrating that the gains of the latter were propelled by the former and undermined by anticommunism. Moreover, Red Seas uncovers the little-known experiences of black sailors and their contribution to the struggle for labor and civil rights, the history of the Communist Party and its black members, and the significant dimensions of Jamaican labor and political radicalism.

Since the end of the Second World War, poverty in the United States has been a persistent focus of social anxiety, public debate, and federal policy. This volume argues convincingly that we will not be able to reduce or eliminate poverty until we take the political factors that contribute to its continuation into account.

Ideal for course use, A New Introduction to Poverty opens with a historical overview of the major intellectual and political debates surrounding poverty in the United States. Several factors have received inadequate attention: the impact of poverty on women; the synergy of racism and poverty; race and gender stratification of the workplace; and, crucially, the ways in which the powerful use their resources to maintain the economic status quo.

Contributors include Mimi Abramovitz, Peter Alcock, Bonnie Thornton Dill, Raymond Franklin, Herman George Jr., Michael B. Katz, Marlene Kim, Rebecca Morales, Sandra Patton, Valerie Polakow, Jackie Pope, Jill Quadagno, David C. Ranney, Barbara Ransby, Bette Woody, and Maxine Baca Zinn.

Louis Kushnick is Director of the Centre for the Study of Globalisation, Eurocentrism, and Marginality in the Department of Sociology in Manchester, where he is a Senior Lecturer. Author of Race, Class, and Struggle: Essays on Racism and Inequality in Britain and the United States and Western Europe, he is currently Vice Chair of the Institute of Race Relations and has been the editor of Sage Race Relations Abstracts since 1980.

James Jennings is Professor of Political Science and Africana Studies at the University of Massachusetts, Boston. Director of the Trotter Institute, he is the author of numerous books, including The Politics of Black Empowerment, Understanding the Nature of Poverty in Urban America, Race and Politics, and Blacks, Latinos, and Asians: Status and Prospects for Activism.