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Black Freedom Fighters in Steel: The Struggle for Democratic Unionism (ILR Press books)

Black Freedom Fighters in Steel: The Struggle for Democratic Unionism (ILR Press books)

by RuthNeedleman (Author)

  • New

    Paperback 2003

    $57.92
Synopsis

Thousands of African Americans poured into northwest Indiana in the 1920s dreaming of decent-paying jobs and a life without Klansmen, chain gangs, and cotton. Black Freedom Fighters in Steel: The Struggle for Democratic Unionism by Ruth Needleman adds a new dimension to the literature on race and labor. It tells the story of five men born in the South who migrated north for a chance to work the dirtiest and most dangerous jobs in the steel mills. Individually they fought for equality and justice; collectively they helped construct economic and union democracy in postwar America. George Kimbley, the oldest, grew up in Kentucky across the street from the family who had owned his parents. He fought with a French regiment in World War I and then settled in Gary, Indiana, in 1920 to work in steel. He joined the Steelworkers Organizing Committee and became the first African American member of its full-time staff in 1938. The youngest, Jonathan Comer, picked cotton on his father's land in Alabama, stood up to racism in the military during World War II, and became the first African American to be president of a basic steel local union. This is a book about the integration of unions, as well as about five remarkable individuals. It focuses on the decisive role of African American leaders in building interracial unionism. One chapter deals with the African American struggle for representation, highlighting the importance of independent black organization within the union. Needleman also presents a conversation among two pioneering steelworkers and current African American union leaders about the racial politics of union activism.

$57.92

Quantity

20+ in stock

More Information

Format: Paperback
 Pages: 320
 Publisher: ILR Press
Published: 03 Apr 2003
ISBN 10: 0801488583
ISBN 13: 9780801488580

Media Reviews
Needleman, a professor of labor studies at Indiana University Northwest, takes a look at the struggles and victories of African-American steelworkers who worked in the region mills and factories in the first half of the 20th century. The 242-page book takes a look at the trials and tribulations of five former workers and, through them, also presents a history of African Americans unheard until now. -Tim Shellberg, Vidette Times, May 2003.
Yes, Needleman said, workers like Comer would meet, drink, and play cards with other workers. But they always shared the miseries of their jobs and what was needed to change that. Needleman, who began collecting information for the book in 1984, said this region's labor movement has lost touch with the people and communities that once stoked its fire. Today, with only 13 percent of American workers being unionized, the movement is clearly being doused from many sides, she said. 'Everyone has dropped the ball.' -Jerry Davich, Northwest Indiana Times, September 2003.
This book describes the struggle of black union activists to secure civil rights in steel mills in the Calumet region near Chicago. Needleman (labor studies, Indiana Univ. Northwest) begins with biographical sketches of five African American union leaders, whose experiences covered the period from WWI to the late 20th Century. She then analyzes the efforts of black militants within the United Steelworkers of America, which culminated in the Consent Decree negotiated in 1974 by the USWA, employers, and the federal government. . . Overall, it is a valuable historical study of race and labor relations in the US. Summing Up: Highly Recommended. Upper-division undergraduate through professional collections. -Choice, March 2004
Needleman assembled a group of past and present USWA activists, male and female, for a free-wheeling discussion of their experiences. The participants noted that blacks were not drawn to the union simply to gain rights on the job but also as an 'organization that would protect their social and political rights.' -Steve Early, Working USA, Winter 2004
Ruth Needleman's examination of black steelworkers in the Calumet region . . . stylistically forges new ground and may prod many to adopt her method of retelling history. Needleman presents a clear sense of the opportunities that were and were not available to black workers, of the role that blacks played in building the union, and of the ideological and strategic differences that existed between union men. -Peter B. Levy, York College, Journal of American History, June 2004
As a source of material on fighting racism at work, or on union organizing in general, this book is extremely valuable. -Diane Fieldes, The Journal of Industrial Relations, 46:2, June 2004
This remarkable book reveals the hidden history of long-forgotten black steelworkers and their seminal role in the struggle for union democracy and workers' rights on the shop floor. Ruth Needleman's book is a critical text in the history of black industrial workers' struggles and their contributions to working people regardless of where they may have toiled. -Studs Terkel
Black Freedom Fighters in Steel is a beautiful story of five black union organizers, long-distance runners who were indispensable to building the steel workers union as well as the civil rights movement in northwest Indiana. And they never stopped struggling, despite having to battle generations of white racism and intransigence in their own union. Ruth Needleman proves once again that African American workers have consistently sustained the most inclusive, radical vision of working class solidarity the U.S. labor movement has ever known. -Robin D. G. Kelley, author of Freedom Dreams: The Black Radical Imagination
Inspiring and thought-provoking, Ruth Needleman's book reveals an often overlooked segment of black working-class history. This compelling analysis provides a foundation for considering strategies of labor renewal and black worker power. -Bill Fletcher, Jr., President, TransAfrica Forum