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Also, the Updated Edition also has a nice introductory piece by Manning Marable as well as short reflective chapters written by members of the movements that the book concerns itself with. The League of Revolutionary Black Workers, Dodge Revolutionary Union Movement, and the rest of the "RUM"s in the Detroit area are all examples of the radical, black, socialist organizations discussed in this book. If your looking for a book that uses straight language and personal stories to provide a glimpse into an often neglected apect of US labor history then start here. Another book worth reading on this era from a more academic perspective is "Class, Race, and Worker Insurgency:The League of Revolutionary Black Workers" by James A. Geschwender.
My first copy came with 15 pages missing. The content of the book is fine. The production of the book is poor. The second copy came with 15 different pages missing. The publisher cannot promise a complete book for some time, so I would not suggest that anyone order it any time soon.
All of theses lessons are brought forth from the struggles of the League of Revolutionary Black Workers and all of the Revolutionary Union Movements in the Detroit area. Some lessons for activists, trade unionists, and socialists today are included by the authors.
Rarely is the working-class and trade union struggle ever revealed. We often here about the 1960s as a time of radicalization for students and mystical urban heroes.
These black revolutionaries take on the racism of the bosses, as well as the racism of the union beauracracy, in a daring and valliant attempt to bring about real social change. Partly that is because working-class struggle was not at the heart of the civil rights movement and the anti-war movement.
But Detroit: I Do Mind Dying tells a different story; one of a core of revolutionaries in the industrial heart of America within a union with a radical past. Questions of organizing white workers; the need for a national party; wildcat strikes to take on both the company and the union beauracracy; and the need to have an international perspective.
A must read for activists today.
This is simply the best book written on the radicalization of the Black (and white/arab/latino) industrial working class in the late 1960's and early 1970's. It is also rich in lessons for radical unionists and socialists today. With all the academic presses churning out tome after tome on "race relations" why doesn't one of them pick up this fascinating book
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