vaticerratic's review against another edition
5.0
Hammer and Hoe reads like the hyper serious, judicious, sober, and even dry work of academic history that it is. But unlike so many comparably sober histories, Hammer and Hoe is a cult book.
I’m not sure I can identify one single reason for this, but I would chalk it up this:
-The topic he’s picked is important—the interplay of race and class in leftwing politics in the early 20C.
-He takes abstract ideas about Black Marxism from his mentor Cedric Robinson, and he demonstrates how concrete they were, not only for intellectuals but many common Black people in the interwar period. In this way, he achieves something that many left historians dream of: a story about truly working-class, Gramscian “organic” intellectuals.
-He does an admirably nuanced job of tracing the complex interplay between the social dynamics in a way that I’m not sure everyone could accomplish.
-He draws attention to the most militant part of the the fiercest labor movement in US history—Southern Communists during the Great Depression, most of whom were Black—but which had been (unsurprisingly) neglected in the historiography.
-He makes lots of important arguments: the Civil Rights Movement, in his telling, grew out of Black Communist activism; Communism in the South was seen as a Black phenomenon; Black Communists had an autonomous political culture that interacted with, but wasn't subordinate to or derivative of, and was not infrequently in tension with, white Communist culture in the US (this is the working-class corollary to Robinson’s high-theory argument, though Kelley is less hostile to White Marxism than Robinson was); the mainstream New Deal and Democrats failed Black workers during the Depression (i.e., in the 90s Kelley anticipated the Black radical critique of the New Deal that seems more common today); etc
This is the kind of book where I’ve basically taken notes on every page. I wouldn’t recommend it exactly, bc it’s not fun reading, however rewarding it ultimately is. I actually read it for a BISR class I took in '21, taught by Nara Silva, which forced me to read closely.
I’m not sure I can identify one single reason for this, but I would chalk it up this:
-The topic he’s picked is important—the interplay of race and class in leftwing politics in the early 20C.
-He takes abstract ideas about Black Marxism from his mentor Cedric Robinson, and he demonstrates how concrete they were, not only for intellectuals but many common Black people in the interwar period. In this way, he achieves something that many left historians dream of: a story about truly working-class, Gramscian “organic” intellectuals.
-He does an admirably nuanced job of tracing the complex interplay between the social dynamics in a way that I’m not sure everyone could accomplish.
-He draws attention to the most militant part of the the fiercest labor movement in US history—Southern Communists during the Great Depression, most of whom were Black—but which had been (unsurprisingly) neglected in the historiography.
-He makes lots of important arguments: the Civil Rights Movement, in his telling, grew out of Black Communist activism; Communism in the South was seen as a Black phenomenon; Black Communists had an autonomous political culture that interacted with, but wasn't subordinate to or derivative of, and was not infrequently in tension with, white Communist culture in the US (this is the working-class corollary to Robinson’s high-theory argument, though Kelley is less hostile to White Marxism than Robinson was); the mainstream New Deal and Democrats failed Black workers during the Depression (i.e., in the 90s Kelley anticipated the Black radical critique of the New Deal that seems more common today); etc
This is the kind of book where I’ve basically taken notes on every page. I wouldn’t recommend it exactly, bc it’s not fun reading, however rewarding it ultimately is. I actually read it for a BISR class I took in '21, taught by Nara Silva, which forced me to read closely.
conflagrationinthenight's review against another edition
5.0
Absolutely incredible for anyone living in the American South who's interested in the history of Communist organizing. So fascinating how racial politics shaped the workers' struggle. I hope we can take the information compiled here and use it to strengthen the movement.
megapolisomancy's review against another edition
5.0
Well, everyone knows the CPUSA was composed of white urban laborers. What this book presupposes is... maybe it wasn't.
mer_dont_care's review against another edition
5.0
I was recommended this book by a friend and was not not disappointed. Very interesting part of history I never learned about in school. A lot of acronyms, but so well researched and fascinating. Author did a great job really painting a picture of these people’s lives and I was impressed with how many of them she interviewed in person.
margaret_j_c's review against another edition
4.0
Thorough and impeccably researched. A tremendous resource on an understudied movement.
asunnybooknook's review against another edition
5.0
fascinating and densely packed with largely untold history! Southern communists ahhhh