Using newspapers, election materials and historical documents, this webinar explores the unique set of circumstances leading to Ben Davis Jr. becoming a “communist councilman” from Harlem and the persecution he faced at the beginning of the Red Scare.
Davis was sentenced to five years in prison after he was a defendant in the first of the Smith Act Trials. Dr. White considers lessons from his life, the way he was portrayed in media and reassess his impact on the American left and working-class movement.
Editor’s Note: Dr. Prince White, the author of this webinar, passed away after a brief illness earlier this year.
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The Communist Party USA is a working class organization 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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