Customer Reviews

Red Seas: Ferdinand Smith and Radical Black Sailors in the United States and Jamaica

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I have not read the book yet and plan on purchasing it, but I just wanted to mention that this is my maternal great grand uncle, his sister Darlene is my maternal grandmother 2X. (Great grandmother). My mother told me about him before she died in 1988 in terms of his genealogy and work as Trade Unionist but not so much about his work in the United States as a founding member of the National Maritime Union in the early to mid 1930s.

Addendum:

I brought this book last year and read it. I did not know how much influence the Maritime National Union had in terms of imports and exports during that time or how the government permitted a "Communist" organization to have that much power in a anti - communist country but one thing I can say is that my maternal great grand uncle did not become a Communist for the sake of it, rather, my great grand uncle was all about equality for all and Capitalism (to this day i.e. different wages between men and women for the same official duties to name one) is not that. Communism declared to be class, sex and ethnic colour blind and that is why he was decided to adopt that form of government, nothing more.

An engaging, informative and well researched book about Ferdinand Smith, The National Maritime Union and the politics of the period.