Malcolm X, Black Liberation, and the Road to Workers Power
The foundations for the explosive rise of the Black liberation struggle in the US beginning in the mid-1950s were laid by the massive migration of Blacks from the rural South to cities and factories across the continent, drawn by capital's insatiable need for labor power—and cannon fodder for its wars. Malcolm X emerged from this rising struggle as its outstanding single leader. He insisted that colossal movement was part of a worldwide revolutionary battle for human rights. A clash “between those who want freedom, justice, and equality and those who want to continue the systems of exploitation.”
Drawing lessons from a century and a half of struggle, this book helps us understand why it is the revolutionary conquest of power by the working class that will make possible the final battle for Black freedom—and open the way to a world based not on exploitation, violence, and racism, but human solidarity. A socialist world.
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“Clearly written and easy to read.…Each reader will grasp different threads that add to the continued interest and literature on Malcolm.”
“In Barnes’s view…the new bourgeoisie, including Obama, is an ‘enlightened meritocracy’ comprised ‘of all colors and hues’ that, while ‘cadging’ the wealth created by capitalists exploiting producers, ‘fear at some point being pushed back to the working classes,’ making a divide-and-conquer strategy all the more important.”
“This book examines the life and work of Malcolm X, placing his efforts to achieve black liberation into the context of a larger revolutionary struggle for socialism and analyzing current events in terms of their potential for black liberation.”
“According to Barnes, [this] is a “book about the last year of Malcolm X's life. About how he became the face and the authentic voice of the forces of the coming American revolution.”
“A powerful and persuasive political testimony, enhanced with black-and-white photographs, a glossary, and an index.”
“The book actually takes up the last year of Malcolm X's life, and how he became the face and the authentic voice of the coming American revolution.”
“This new book uses the last ‘fifty weeks’ of Malcolm X’s life to anchor a trenchant socialist analysis of American class and race politics.…People who are interested in the history of civil rights, political theory, or socialism will find it fascinating.” —Foreword Reviews
“The author argues that the coming battles for Black liberation will have a working class leadership.”
“Barnes was ... one of the last people to interview Malcolm X before his 1965 assassination."
“Especially illuminating are the photographs within the book, which document the workers' movement world-wide. The photographs are accompanied by Barnes's captions, which serve to further emphasize the major themes of the book—that of the history of the global struggle of the proletariat for equality and dignity, and that of the political importance and evolution of Malcolm X.”
