Abstract
In his revolutionary activities and writings from 1913 to the fourth Comintern Congress in 1922, V. I. Lenin didn’t merely analyze the function of black labor in the process of capitalist development. He also had something to say about the role that black people themselves would play in their own emancipation. His posthumously published article Russians and Negroes is particularly insightful. The guiding motto of the Comintern under the direction of Lenin—‘Workers and oppressed peoples of all countries, unite!’ fused the destinies of the racially subjugated black communities and working class in their struggles against imperialism. This article argues that Lenin showed a keen interest in what was then called the ‘Black Question’. It shows that he adopted a non-reductive approach that highlighted the special character of black oppression in comparison to other forms. It concludes that his ideas remain relevant for the black liberation struggle today.
Highlights
The scholarly literature on black history has paid little attention to the ideas of V
Lenin didn’t merely analyse the function of black labour in the process of capitalist development. He had something to say about the role that black people themselves would play in their own emancipation
Lenin’s 1913 article Russians and Negroes is his earliest work on black people, though it was published for the first time a year after he died, in 1925
Summary
The scholarly literature on black history has paid little attention to the ideas of V. The founder of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the leader of the world’s first socialist state.[1] This oversight is understandable, since Lenin’s writings on the subject comprise a small portion of his work It is unfortunate, since in his activities and writings from 1913 to the fourth Comintern Congress in 1922, the Russian Marxist didn’t merely analyse the function of black labour in the process of capitalist development. Some Marxists may well have deployed a class reductionist analysis that undermined the credibility of their arguments, Lenin did not He developed a nonreductionist approach that highlighted the unique and special character of black oppression in comparison to other forms. The conclusion highlights the significance of his ideas for comprehending and supporting the contemporary black struggle
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