National Negro Congress

The National Negro Congress (NNC) (1936–ca. 1946) was an American organization formed in 1936[1][2] at Howard University as a broadly based coalition organization with the goal of fighting for Black liberation; it subsumed the League of Struggle for Negro Rights. Although an idea which came out of the American Communist Party, the Congress organization and model stressed broad coalition of different ideologies and groups in "an unprecedented confluence of civic, civil rights, labor, and religious groups from across the nation," united, not by any theory, but for practical advances in African American civil and employment rights.[3] During the Great Depression, the Party turned from doctrine to popular-front coalition method and worked in the United States to unite black and white workers and intellectuals in the fight for racial justice. This period represented the Party's peak of prestige in African-American communities. NNC was opposed to war, fascism, and discrimination, especially racial discrimination. During the Great Depression era, a majority of Americans faced immense economic problems. Many lost their jobs and as a result, were forced to live at the margins of society. The crisis highlighted inequities for many African Americans, who were unemployed at higher rates than white.

Historically, many black workers were segregated and more often than not, racially discriminated in the labor force. In order to combat racism within their respective jobs, they had to establish a union. However, many of the unions around the depression era had exclusively white members, excluding African Americans from their protection and benefits. Black workers took initiative to unite against racism and classism. "John P. Davis and Communist Party leader James W. Ford decided to bring together meaningful organizations that would be dedicated in the ongoing fight against racial discrimination."[4] Class does not embody one particular race, but transcends racial borders to integrate many ethnic groups alike to face a similar struggle: a class struggle. When, after the 1939 Pact between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, Communist and Fascist, the Party turned again to Communist Internationale work, the NNC's broad coalition disintegrated.[3]

  1. ^ Teal, Orion A. (2009). "National Negro Congress". In Finkelman, Paul (ed.). Encyclopedia of African American History, 1896 to the Present: from the Age of Segregation to the Twenty-first Century. Oxford University Press. pp. 454–455. ISBN 978-0-19-516779-5. OCLC 312624445.
  2. ^ Teal, Orion A. (February 9, 2009). "National Negro Congress". African American Studies Center (Report). Oxford African American Studies Center. doi:10.1093/acref/9780195301731.013.45977. ISBN 978-0-19-530173-1.
  3. ^ a b Salter, Daren (2007-01-18). "National Negro Congress (1935-1940s)". Black Past. Retrieved 2024-08-26.
  4. ^ "Black Radical Congress – The liberation of the child". Retrieved 2019-06-13.