Tag: Black history

Struggle to desegregate Boston’s schools

By JOE AUCIELLO — BOSTON — This current academic year marks the 40th anniversary of the struggle to desegregate the Boston Public Schools. No celebrations were held to mark the event; there was no commemoration and little public commentary. Local television stations made no use of the ample film footage they possessed and broadcast no … Continue reading Struggle to desegregate Boston’s schools →

Film: Baseball legend Jackie Robinson

By GAETANA CALDWELL-SMITH “42,” written and directed by Brian Helgeland, starring Chadwick Bosemen, Harrison Ford, and Nicole Beharie. “42” is a fictionalized film biography that covers the years 1945 to 1947 in the life of baseball legend Jackie Robinson, when he rose from the Kansas City Monarchs, a Negro League team, to play with the … Continue reading Film: Baseball legend Jackie Robinson →

Black self-determination & socialism

To commemorate Black History Month, we are reprinting the first part of the 1992 Socialist Action resolution, “Black Self-Determination and Socialist Revolution in the United States.”  African Americans are an integral part of the American working class. They are also an oppressed nationality, and we support their right to self-determination up to and including the … Continue reading Black self-determination & socialism →

Django: Pulp Western look at slavery

By GAETANA CALDWELL-SMITH Django Unchained, a film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. “Django Unchained” takes place in 1858, two years before the Civil War—the year that William Wells Brown published the first Black drama, “Leap to Freedom,” John Brown held an anti-slavery convention, Abraham Lincoln said  “A house divided against itself cannot stand,” and … Continue reading Django: Pulp Western look at slavery →