Holding Aloft the Banner of Ethiopia: Caribbean Radicalism in Early Twentieth Century America [Paperback]

Winston James (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 1999

Marcus Garvey, Claude McKay, Claudia Jones, C.L.R. James, Stokely Carmichael, Louis Farakhan -- the roster of immigrants from the Caribbean who have made a profound impact on the development of radical politics in the United States is extensive. In this magisterial and lavishly illustrated work, Winston James focuses on the twentieth century's first waves of immigrants from the Caribbean and their contribution to political dissidence in America. Examining the way in which the characteristics of the societies they left shaped their perceptions of the land to which they traveled, Winston James draws sharp differences between Hispanic, Anglophone, and other non-Hispanic arrivals. He explores the interconnections between the Cuban independence struggle, Puerto Rican nationalism, Afro-American feminism, and black communism in the first turbulent decades of the twentieth century. He also provides fascinating insights into the peculiarities of Puerto Rican radicalism's impact in New York City and recounts the remarkable story of Afro-Cuban radicalism in Florida. Virgin Islander Hubert Harrison, whom A. Philip Randolph dubbed 'the father of Harlem radicalism', is rescued from the historical shadows by James's analysis of his pioneering contribution to Afro-America's radical tradition. In addition to a subtle re-examination of Garvey's Universal Negro Movement Association - including the exertions and contributions of its female members - James provides the most detailed exploration so far undertaken of Cyril Briggs and his little-known but important African Blood Brotherhood. This diligently researched, wide ranging and sophisticated book will be welcomed by all those interested in the Caribbean and its emigres, the Afro-American current within America's radical tradition, and the history, politics, and culture of the African diaspora.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A gripping study of Cuban, Puerto Rican, Jamaican, Trinidadian, and Barbadian radicals who went to the US and played a crucial role in radical politics here. Superbly written, full of well-digested and considered detail, it is a heroic chronicle. -- Edward Said

A major historical contribution to the "hidden history" of the African diaspora . . . richly detailed, powerful and compelling. -- Stuart Hall, The Open University

Imaginatively written in addition to its solid scholarly base, this book breaks significant new ground in our understanding of modern black American radicalism. -- Arnold Rampersad, Princeton University

In this thoroughly researched and tightly argued book James has revealed and explained the prominent role of Afro-Caribbean immigrants in socialist, communist, and nationalist struggles in the United States, while rescuing the topic from the stereotypes that have long surrounded it. -- David Montgomery, Yale University

Powerfully argued and provocative, Holding Aloft the Banner of Ethiopia literally reframes our understanding of the African-American experience. -- Thomas C. Holt, University of Chicago

Well-researched and tightly argued are just the most basic of praises one can lavish on Winston James's extraordinary new study of Caribbean immigrants in the United States . . . -- The Front Table

About the Author

Winston James, who grew up in Jamaica and Britain, earned his doctorate at the London School of Economics and teaches History at Columbia University. His previous publications include Inside Babylon: The Caribbean Diaspora in Britain (Verso 1993), edited with Clive Harris. His Claude McKay: The Making of a Black Bolshevik, 1989-1923 will be published next year.

Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Verso (May 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1859841406
• ISBN-13: 978-1859841402
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #432,968 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #41 in Books > History > Africa > Ethiopia

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Professor James has written a pathbreaking history ..., March 8, 1999

By 

[e-mail], Komozi Woodard, author... (Bronxville, New York, Sarah Lawrence College) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Holding Aloft the Banner of Ethiopia: Caribbean Radicalism in Early Twentieth-Century America (Hardcover)

Holding Aloft the Banner of Ethiopia is required reading for anyone interested in the history of Black radicalism in the United States, particularly the singular role played by people of Caribbean descent. Professor James skillfully examines the history and political economy of race relations in the French and Spanish speaking Caribbean. Here is the background of the African Blood Brotherhood led by Cyril Briggs and the Universal Negro Improvement Association led by Marcus Garvey. Moreover, this is the background of the singular Arthur Schomburg (actually Arturo Schomburg) who founded the pivotal Harlem library and research center. There is an important analysis of Hubert H. Harrison's role in inspiring Harlem's Black radicalism. Furthermore, this is the complex history of Jesus Colon's ideas on race and class. In conclusion, this book is essential to an understanding of 20th Black radicalism, modern Black leadership, and the background to Black Power. While we are waiting for Jeff Perry's biography of Hubert H. Harrison, the Black Socrates of the Harlem Renaissance, this is as good as it gets!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A STORY OF CARIBBEANS IN THE US, 1900- 1930s, September 21, 2007

By 

Roy Wilson (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Holding Aloft the Banner of Ethiopia: Caribbean Radicalism in Early Twentieth Century America (Paperback)

Winston James' Holding Aloft the Banner of Ethiopia will clarify our understanding of Afro-Caribbean migrants in the US. It sheds more light on not just Hispanics but non-Hispanics as well.

His thesis is expository. He explains the "scale and determinants of Caribbean migration to the United States and the migrants' political behavior from the turn of the century up to the Great Depression."

Some well-known but poorly constructed and substantiated arguments, advanced by scholars about the political behavior of Caribbeans in their States of origin and as migrants in America are rejected by James. It could well be that literature on the subject--Afro-Caribbeans political views/behaviour--is just sparse. Then James is right, much more scholarly work on the people who came to America from the Caribbean should be done.

The book is fairly comprehensive in its study, by looking beyond the English speaking Caribbean to the Spanish speakers as well, covering the period 1900-1932.

His stated objectives for the book are:

i.) To present historical evidence and analysis to of arguments claiming that Caribbean migrants changed from "conservatism" in the Caribbean to "radicalism" in America;
ii.) To broaden the discussion beyond the Anglophone Caribbean to the Hispanic Caribbean;
iii.) To contribute to the wider understanding of the African Diaspora; and
iv.) To throw new light on the historical and cultural complexity and heterogeneity of the Caribbean Region and variations in it's Diaspora in the USA.

Of the Afro-Cubans in Florida, James tell a beautiful, yet sad story of a community of Cuban tabaqueros, cigar makers, who worked for Vincente Martínez Ybor the Cuban, anti-colonialism cigar producer who established a Cuban cigar factory in Tampa Florida. Some of these workers were leaders in the "Union de Tabaqueros," founded in 1879.

Strong class solidarity existed between whites and Afro-Cubans during this period. This cohesion was reinforced by the leadership of Jose Marti, the Cuban Nationalist who denounced racism and attempted to militarily remove the Spanish and to establish a Cuba, free from racism and intolerance.

James explained how the racial harmony of Cuban workers in Ybor City succumbed to bigotry and hatred by 1923.

The change was not instigated by white America's racial practices alone but by a combination of:
a) The change in the principled leadership of the Cuban-American Community after Jose Marti, was killed in battle to liberate Cuba;
b) The implementation of Apartheid in Ybor City by America's Jim Crow laws;
c) Penetration of the Cuban Community by other people living in the surrounding cities;
d) White Cubans realigning themselves for the privileges associated with whiteness.

I recommend this work for students, general readers and especially those with an interest in history, politics, literature and the development of the Society!

See Also:

Ready for Revolution: The Life and Struggles of Stokely Carmichael (Kwame Ture)

In-Dependence from Bondage: Claude McKay and Michael Manley: Defying the Ideological Clash and Policy Gaps in African Diaspora Relations

The Groundings With My Brothers

Cuba: A Revolution in Motion