Black Liberation and Socialism – Ahmed Shawki
At least I have something to be pleased about: I finished another book this week and am moving at a rapid pace, consuming anything that’s available.
I bought Ahmed Shawki’s book, Black Liberation and Socialism early this year, but I didn’t start reading it until mid-year, as I was consuming another half dozen or so books beforehand. I quickly consumed over half of it in a week, and then my mind wandered and I got hooked on something else. It wasn’t that the book was bad, it’s the fact that there are so many good books out there and I don’t want to be taken away by just the one book at the one time.
After finishing The Pilo Family Circus, I went back to it and quickly finished the rest. The book is about the Black liberation struggles from slavery up until the present, and of course, it’s connection with the struggle for Socialism. Shawki’s a member of the ISO in the U.S. as well as the editor of ISR, so it’s no surprise that I agree with his politics.
The depth of information and real evidence is invaluable, particularly the success of the first desegregated unions. But above all, the depth and clarity of the book comes from the fact that he quotes extensively from Black liberation activists including Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jnr. Their words and their confidence are an inspiration to anyone who wants to rid racism from the world. It’s certainly a book that I’ll be reading again, as well as a handy reference for future debates.
Rating: 
i’m glad this book resonates with anti-racists and revolutionaries across the ocean! growing up in the US it was vastly helpful for me to understand what is still probably the most pervasive divide in the US working class and how to fight it. I’m probably going to have to read it five more times to really absorb the lessons and analysis.