Black Liberation / Red Scare

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Black Liberation/Red Scare examines the life of Ben Davis, Jr. (1904-64), an African-American Communist leader, focusing on his grassroots campaigns and the Communist Party's evolution from the 1930s to the 1960s. Gerald Horne presents a unique perspective on the rise and decline of the party through Davis's public life. The son of a prominent Atlanta publisher and a leader in the Republican Party, Davis was educated at Morehouse, Amherst, and Harvard Law School. After graduating, he joined the Communist Party, becoming a visible leader for thirty years. In 1943, he was elected to the New York City Council from Harlem, with support from figures like Roy Wilkins, Joe Louis, and Duke Ellington. Davis advocated for rent control, progressive taxation, and fought against transit fare hikes and police brutality. However, the Red Scare and Cold War marginalized Davis and the Communist Party. African-American organizations, including the NAACP, distanced themselves from him in exchange for civil rights concessions. In 1949, he was ousted from the City Council, later jailed in 1951, and released in 1956 as the civil rights movement gained momentum. His ties to the King family led to FBI surveillance of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In the 1960s, Davis's controversial campus appearances contributed to a new wave of activism. Horne argues that Davis, alongside Paul Robeson and W. E. B. Du Bois, deserves recognition as a key leader of Afri