Hubert Harrison
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Hubert Henry Harrison (April 27, 1883 – December 17, 1927) was a West Indian-American writer, orator, educator, critic, race and class conscious political activist, and radical internationalist based in
Harlem, New York Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan ...
. He was described by activist A. Philip Randolph as "the father of Harlem radicalism" and by the historian Joel Augustus Rogers as "the foremost Afro-American intellect of his time." John G. Jackson of
American Atheists American Atheists is a non-profit organization in the United States dedicated to defending the civil liberties of atheists and advocating complete separation of church and state. It provides speakers for colleges, universities, clubs, and th ...
described him as "The Black
Socrates Socrates (; ; – 399 BC) was a Ancient Greek philosophy, Greek philosopher from Classical Athens, Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and as among the first moral philosophers of the Ethics, ethical tradition ...
". An immigrant from St. Croix at the age of 17, Harrison played significant roles in the largest radical class and race movements in the United States. In 1912–14, he was the leading Black organizer in the
Socialist Party of America The Socialist Party of America (SPA) was a socialist political party in the United States formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party of America and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party of America ...
. In 1917 he founded the Liberty League and ''The Voice'', the first organization and the first newspaper of the race-conscious " New Negro" movement. From his Liberty League and ''Voice'' came the core leadership of individuals and race-conscious program of the Garvey movement. Harrison was a seminal and influential thinker who encouraged the development of class consciousness among workers, black pride, agnostic atheism,
secular humanism Secular humanism is a philosophy, belief system, or life stance that embraces human reason, logic, secular ethics, and philosophical naturalism, while specifically rejecting religious dogma, supernaturalism, and superstition as the basi ...
, social progressivism, and
freethought Freethought (sometimes spelled free thought) is an unorthodox attitude or belief. A freethinker holds that beliefs should not be formed on the basis of authority, tradition, revelation, or dogma, and should instead be reached by other meth ...
. He was also a self-described "radical internationalist" and contributed significantly to the Caribbean radical tradition. Harrison profoundly influenced a generation of "New Negro" militants, including A. Philip Randolph, Chandler Owen,
Marcus Garvey Marcus Mosiah Garvey Jr. (17 August 188710 June 1940) was a Jamaican political activist. He was the founder and first President-General of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA-ACL) (commonly known a ...
, Richard Benjamin Moore, W. A. Domingo, Williana Burroughs, and Cyril Briggs.


Early life

Hubert was born to Cecilia Elizabeth Haines, a working-class woman, on Estate Concordia, St. Croix, Danish West Indies. His biological father, Adolphus Harrison, was born enslaved. One account from the 1920s suggested that Harrison's father owned a substantial estate. Harrison's biographer, however, found no such landholding and writes that "there is no indication that Adolphus, a laborer his entire life, ever owned, or even rented, land". As a youth, Harrison knew poverty but also learned of African customs and the Crucian people's rich history of direct action mass struggles. Among his schoolmates was his lifelong friend, the future Crucian labor leader and social activist, D. Hamilton Jackson. In later life Harrison worked with many Virgin Islands-born activists, including James C. Canegata, Anselmo Jackson, Rothschild Francis, Elizabeth Hendrikson,
Casper Holstein Casper Holstein (December 6, 1877 – April 5, 1944) was a prominent New York mobster involved in the Harlem " numbers rackets" during the Harlem Renaissance. Early life Born of mixed African and Danish descent in St. Croix, Danish Wes ...
, and Frank Rudolph Crosswaith. He was especially active in Virgin Island causes after the March 1917 U.S. purchase of the Virgin Islands, and subsequent abuses under the U.S. naval occupation of the islands.


Emigration and education

Harrison came to New York in 1900 as a 17-year-old orphan and joined his older sister. He confronted a racial oppression unlike anything he previously knew, as only the United States had such a binary color line. In the Caribbean, social relations were more fluid. Harrison was especially "shocked" by the virulent white-supremacy typified by
lynching Lynching is an extrajudicial killing by a group. It is most often used to characterize informal public executions by a mob in order to punish an alleged or convicted transgressor or to intimidate others. It can also be an extreme form of i ...
s, which were reaching a peak in these years in the South. They were a horror that had not existed in St. Croix or other Caribbean islands. In addition, the fact that in most places blacks and people of color far outnumbered whites meant they had more social spaces in which to operate away from the oversight of whites. In the beginning, Harrison worked low-paying service jobs while attending high school at night. For the rest of his life, Harrison continued to study as an autodidact. While he was still in high school, his intellectual gifts were recognized. He was described as a "genius" in '' The World'', a New York daily newspaper. At age 20, he had an early letter published by ''The New York Times'' in 1903. He became an American citizen and lived in the United States the rest of his life.


Marriage and family

In 1909 Harrison married Irene Louise Horton. They had four daughters and one son.


Career

In his first decade in New York, Harrison started writing letters to the editor of ''The New York Times'' on topics such as lynching,
Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English Natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...
's
theory of Evolution Evolution is the change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, resulting in certai ...
and
literary criticism A genre of arts criticism, literary criticism or literary studies is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical analysis of literature's ...
. He also began lecturing on such subjects as the poetry of
Paul Laurence Dunbar Paul Laurence Dunbar (June 27, 1872 – February 9, 1906) was an American poet, novelist, and short story writer of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Born in Dayton, Ohio, to parents who had been enslaved in Kentucky before the American C ...
and
Reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology *Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *''Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Union ...
. As part of his civic efforts, Harrison worked with St. Benedict's Lyceum (along with bibliophile Arthur Schomburg from
Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...
, journalist John Edward Bruce, and activist Samuel Duncan); St. Mark's Lyceum (with bibliophile George Young, educator/activist John Dotha Jones, and actor/activist Charles Burroughs); the White Rose Home (with educator/activist Frances Reynolds Keyser), and the Colored
YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...
. In this period, Harrison also became interested in the
freethought Freethought (sometimes spelled free thought) is an unorthodox attitude or belief. A freethinker holds that beliefs should not be formed on the basis of authority, tradition, revelation, or dogma, and should instead be reached by other meth ...
movement, which encouraged use of the
scientific method The scientific method is an Empirical evidence, empirical method for acquiring knowledge that has been referred to while doing science since at least the 17th century. Historically, it was developed through the centuries from the ancient and ...
,
empiricism In philosophy, empiricism is an epistemological view which holds that true knowledge or justification comes only or primarily from sensory experience and empirical evidence. It is one of several competing views within epistemology, along ...
, and
reason Reason is the capacity of consciously applying logic by drawing valid conclusions from new or existing information, with the aim of seeking the truth. It is associated with such characteristically human activities as philosophy, religion, scien ...
to solve problems in place of theistic
dogma Dogma, in its broadest sense, is any belief held definitively and without the possibility of reform. It may be in the form of an official system of principles or doctrines of a religion, such as Judaism, Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, or Islam ...
. He deconverted from
Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...
and became an agnostic atheist similar to
Thomas Huxley Thomas Henry Huxley (4 May 1825 – 29 June 1895) was an English biologist and anthropologist who specialized in comparative anatomy. He has become known as "Darwin's Bulldog" for his advocacy of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. The stor ...
, one of his influences. Harrison's new worldview placed humanity, not god, at its center. Like Huxley, Harrison became a relentless foe of theism and
religious faith Faith is confidence or trust in a person, thing, or concept. In the context of religion, faith is "belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion". According to the Merriam-Webster's Dictionary, faith has multiple definitions, includ ...
for the rest of his life. He denounced the Bible as a slave master's book, said that black Christians needed their heads examined, and refused to exalt a "lily white God " and "Jim Crow Jesus." He rebuked the famous motto, "Take the world, but give me Jesus", saying that it legitimized anti-black racism and
discrimination Discrimination is the process of making unfair or prejudicial distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong, such as race, gender, age, class, religion, or sex ...
. He also said that he preferred going to hell rather than heaven since Satan and his demons were black while God, Jesus, and the angels were white. Harrison repeatedly offered scathing rebuttals to both the
Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...
and the existence of God in his sociopolitical commentary. Theists, incensed at his outspoken disbelief, often rioted during his lectures and public speeches. During one such incident, Harrison disarmed and chased off a religious extremist who attacked him with a crowbar. A policeman arrested Harrison for assault, letting the assailant get away. A judge found Harrison innocent on grounds of
self-defense Self-defense (self-defence primarily in Commonwealth English) is a countermeasure that involves defending the health and well-being of oneself from harm. The use of the right of self-defense as a legal justification for the use of Force (law), ...
and admonished the officer for detaining the wrong person. Harrison had been arguing at his event for
birth control Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth control only be ...
, and castigating Churches for advancing
racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...
,
superstition A superstition is any belief or practice considered by non-practitioners to be irrational or supernatural, attributed to fate or magic (supernatural), magic, perceived supernatural influence, or fear of that which is unknown. It is commonly app ...
, ignorance, and
poverty Poverty is a state or condition in which an individual lacks the financial resources and essentials for a basic standard of living. Poverty can have diverse Biophysical environmen ...
. Harrison was a firm advocate for
separation of Church and State The separation of church and state is a philosophical and Jurisprudence, jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the State (polity), state. Conceptually, the term refers to ...
,
taxation A tax is a mandatory financial charge or levy imposed on an individual or legal person, legal entity by a governmental organization to support government spending and public expenditures collectively or to Pigouvian tax, regulate and reduce nega ...
of religious organizations, and teaching
evolution Evolution is the change in the heritable Phenotypic trait, characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, re ...
in schools. He said that Caucasians were more like apes than
black people Black is a racial classification of people, usually a political and skin color-based category for specific populations with a mid- to dark brown complexion. Not all people considered "black" have dark skin and often additional phenotypical ...
, having straight hair and fair skin. He also famously remarked, "Show me a population that is deeply religious, and I will show you a servile population, content with whips and chains, contumely and the gibbet, content to eat the bread of sorrow and drink the waters of affliction." Harrison wrote in his 1914 book ''The Negro Conservative'' that "It should seem that Negroes, of all Americans, would be found in the Free-thought fold, since they have suffered more than any other class of Americans from the dubious blessings of Christianity." In 1907 Harrison obtained a job at the
United States Post Office The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal serv ...
. Harrison was an early supporter of the protest philosophies of
W. E. B. Du Bois William Edward Burghardt Du Bois ( ; February 23, 1868 – August 27, 1963) was an American sociologist, socialist, historian, and Pan-Africanist civil rights activist. Born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, Du Bois grew up in a relativel ...
and William Monroe Trotter. Particularly after the Brownsville Affair, Harrison became an outspoken critic of Presidents
Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...
and
William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) served as the 27th president of the United States from 1909 to 1913 and the tenth chief justice of the United States from 1921 to 1930. He is the only person to have held both offices. ...
, and of the Republican Party. Harrison expressed disapproval of Booker T. Washington, a prominent Black leader, characterizing his political philosophy as subservient. In 1910, Harrison wrote two critical letters to the New York Sun, challenging Washington's statements. As a result of the influential " Tuskegee Machine" led by Washington, Harrison lost his postal job. The sequence of events involved Charles W. Anderson, a prominent Black Republican, Emmett Scott, Washington's assistant, and Edward M. Morgan, the New York Postmaster.


Socialism

Harrison was an early advocate of the
Georgist Georgism, in modern times also called Geoism, and known historically as the single tax movement, is an economic ideology holding that people should own the value that they produce themselves, while the economic rent derived from land—includ ...
economic philosophy and later clarified that he had believed Georgism was the same thing as socialism. In 1911, after his postal firing, Harrison began full-time work with the
Socialist Party of America The Socialist Party of America (SPA) was a socialist political party in the United States formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party of America and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party of America ...
and became America's leading Black Socialist. He lectured widely against capitalism, campaigned for the party presidential candidate Eugene V. Debs in 1912, and founded the Colored Socialist Club (the Socialist's first effort at reaching African Americans). He developed two important and pioneering theoretical series on "The Negro and Socialism" for the socialist newspaper the ''New York Call'' and for the socialist monthly '' International Socialist Review''. In these articles Harrison outlined a
materialist Materialism is a form of philosophical monism according to which matter is the fundamental substance in nature, and all things, including mental states and consciousness, are results of material interactions. According to philosophical materia ...
analysis of racism, arguing that it resulted from "the fallacy of economic fear" and economic competition, and that capitalists had an interest in maintaining economic discrimination based on racism, as "they can always use it as a club for the other workers". He maintained that it was the principal "duty" of the Socialists to "champion the cause of the African American and that the Socialists should undertake special efforts to reach African Americans as they had done with foreigners and women." Perhaps most importantly, he emphasized that "Politically, the Negro is the touchstone of the modern democratic idea" and that true democracy and equality implies "a revolution... startling even to think of." Harrison moved to the left in the Socialist Party. He supported the socialistic, egalitarian, and militantly radical
Industrial Workers of the World The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), whose members are nicknamed "Wobblies", is an international labor union founded in Chicago, United States in 1905. The nickname's origin is uncertain. Its ideology combines general unionism with indu ...
(IWW). He was a prominent speaker along with IWW leaders Bill Haywood, Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, Carlo Tresca, and Patrick Quinlan at the historic 1913 Paterson Silk Strike of 1913. He also supported IWW advocacy of
direct action Direct action is a term for economic and political behavior in which participants use agency—for example economic or physical power—to achieve their goals. The aim of direct action is to either obstruct a certain practice (such as a governm ...
and
sabotage Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, government, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, demoralization (warfare), demoralization, destabilization, divide and rule, division, social disruption, disrupti ...
. He commended the interracial, IWW-influenced, Brotherhood of Timber Workers efforts in the
Deep South The Deep South or the Lower South is a cultural and geographic subregion of the Southern United States. The term is used to describe the states which were most economically dependent on Plantation complexes in the Southern United States, plant ...
. Despite his efforts, Socialist Party practice and positions included segregated locals in the South and racist positions on Asian immigration. Harrison's position in the Party was also affected by his alignment with its left-wing and the IWW, who were engaged in factional struggle with its right-wing faction: many leftists exited after Haywood (who had been a member of the SPA's executive committee) was expelled from the Party in 1912. The Socialist Party of New York was led by Morris Hillquit, a prominent figure on the right, and party leaders in New York City began restricting Harrison's activities, including preventing his own branch from having him as a speaker. Harrison concluded that Socialist Party leaders, like organized labor, put the white "Race first and class after." After writing a note to the NYC executive committee telling it to "go chase itself", he was suspended from the Party for three months: he resigned from the Socialist Party in 1918, before his suspension was over, but was periodically referred to as a socialist by others for years afterwards. After resigning from the Socialist Party, Harrison increased his activism within the 1920s Single-Tax movement.


Race radicalism and the New Negro Movement

In 1914–15, after withdrawing from the Socialist Party, Harrison began work with freethinkers, the freethought/
anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...
-influenced Modern School Movement (started by the martyred Spanish anarchist/educator Francisco Ferrer), and his own Radical Forum. He also spoke widely on topics such as
birth control Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth control only be ...
,
evolution Evolution is the change in the heritable Phenotypic trait, characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, re ...
,
literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...
, nonbelief, and the racial aspects of
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. His outdoor talks and free speech efforts were instrumental in developing a Harlem tradition of militant street corner oratory. He paved the way for those who followed, including A. Philip Randolph,
Marcus Garvey Marcus Mosiah Garvey Jr. (17 August 188710 June 1940) was a Jamaican political activist. He was the founder and first President-General of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA-ACL) (commonly known a ...
, Richard B. Moore, and (later)
Malcolm X Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little, later el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz; May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965) was an African American revolutionary, Islam in the United States, Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a prominent figur ...
. In 1915–16, after a ''New York Age'' editorial by
James Weldon Johnson James Weldon Johnson (June 17, 1871June 26, 1938) was an American writer and civil rights activist. He was married to civil rights activist Grace Nail Johnson. Johnson was a leader of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People ...
praised his street lectures, Harrison decided to concentrate his work in Harlem's Black community. He wrote reviews on the developing Black Theatre and the pioneering Lafayette Players of the Lafayette Theatre (Harlem). He emphasized how the "Negro Theater" helped express the psychology of the "Negro" and how it called attention to color consciousness within the African-American community. In response to the "white first" attitude of the organized labor movement and the Socialists, Harrison provided a "race first" political perspective. He founded the " New Negro Movement," as a race-conscious, internationalist, mass-based, radical movement for equality, justice, opportunity, and economic power. This "New Negro" movement laid the basis for the Garvey movement. It encouraged mass interest in literature and the arts, and paved the way for publication of Alain Locke's well-known ''The New Negro'' eight years later. Harrison's mass-based political movement was noticeably different from the more middle-class and apolitical movement associated with Locke. In 1917, African Americans and others were asked to 'Make the World Safe for Democracy" by fighting during World War I. In the United States, lynchings, racial segregation and discrimination continued. Harrison founded the Liberty League and the ''Voice: A Newspaper for the New Negro'', as a radical alternative to the
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an American civil rights organization formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du&nbs ...
(NAACP). The Liberty League aimed at the Black masses beyond "The
Talented Tenth The talented tenth is a term that designated a leadership class of African Americans in the early 20th century. Although the term was created by white Northern philanthropists, it is primarily associated with W. E. B. Du Bois, who used it as the ...
". Its program advocated internationalism, political independence, and class and race consciousness. It called for full equality, federal anti-lynching legislation, enforcement of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments, labor organizing, support for socialist and
anti-imperialist Anti-imperialism in political science and international relations is opposition to imperialism or neocolonialism. Anti-imperialist sentiment typically manifests as a political principle in independence struggles against intervention or influenc ...
causes, armed self-defense, and mass-based political efforts. Meanwhile, the Voice achieved circulation of up to 10,000 per issue, however it ceased publication in November 1917 after five months, after refusing to accept advertising for products Harrison felt were damaging to racial pride such as hair straighteners and skin lighteners, and due to poor financial management. Harrison pointed to Ireland and the
Irish Home Rule movement The Home Rule movement was a movement that campaigned for Devolution, self-government (or "home rule") for Ireland within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It was the dominant political movement of Irish nationalism from 1870 to ...
as an example to emulate. In 1918 Harrison briefly served as an organizer for the
American Federation of Labor The American Federation of Labor (A.F. of L.) was a national federation of labor unions in the United States that continues today as the AFL-CIO. It was founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1886 by an alliance of craft unions eager to provide mutual ...
(AFL). He chaired the Negro-American Liberty Congress (co-headed by William Monroe Trotter.) The latter was the major wartime protest effort of African Americans. The Liberty Congress pushed demands against discrimination and
racial segregation in the United States Facilities and services such as housing, healthcare, education, employment, and transportation have been systematically separated in the United States based on racial categorizations. Notably, racial segregation in the United States was the leg ...
. It submitted a petition to the U. S. Congress for federal anti-lynching legislation, which the NAACP did not demand at that time. Harrison commented on domestic and international aspects of the war, writing: "During the war the idea of democracy was widely advertised, especially in the English-speaking world, mainly as a convenient camouflage behind which competing imperialists masked their sordid aims... oweverthose who so loudly proclaimed and formulated the new democratic demands never had the slightest intention of extending the limits or the applications of 'democracy.'" The autonomous Liberty Congress effort was undermined by the U.S. Army's anti-radical Military Intelligence Bureau (MIB) in a campaign that included NAACP leader Joel E. Spingarn (a Major in Military Intelligence) and
W. E. B. Du Bois William Edward Burghardt Du Bois ( ; February 23, 1868 – August 27, 1963) was an American sociologist, socialist, historian, and Pan-Africanist civil rights activist. Born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, Du Bois grew up in a relativel ...
(who applied for a Captaincy in Military Intelligence). The Liberty Congress protest efforts in wartime can be seen as precursors to the A. Philip Randolph-led
March on Washington The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom (commonly known as the March on Washington or the Great March on Washington) was held in Washington, D.C., on August 28, 1963. The purpose of the march was to advocate for the civil and economic rig ...
Movement during World War II, and to the Randolph and
Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, civil and political rights, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights move ...
-led
March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom (commonly known as the March on Washington or the Great March on Washington) was held in Washington, D.C., on August 28, 1963. The purpose of the march was to advocate for the civil and economic righ ...
during the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
. In 1919 Harrison edited the monthly '' New Negro'' magazine, which was "intended as an organ of the international consciousness of the darker races--especially of the Negro race". Harrison's concentration on international matters continued. Over the next several years, he wrote many powerful pieces critical of imperialism and supportive of internationalism. His writings and talks over his last decade revealed a deep understanding of developments in
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
,
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
,
Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...
,
Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...
, the
Islamic world The terms Islamic world and Muslim world commonly refer to the Islamic community, which is also known as the Ummah. This consists of all those who adhere to the religious beliefs, politics, and laws of Islam or to societies in which Islam is ...
, and the
Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...
. Harrison repeatedly began his analysis of contemporary situations from an international perspective. Though a strong advocate of armed self-defense for African Americans, he also praised the mass-based non-violent efforts of Mohandas K. Gandhi.


The Garvey Movement

In January 1920 Harrison became principal editor of the '' Negro World'', the newspaper of
Marcus Garvey Marcus Mosiah Garvey Jr. (17 August 188710 June 1940) was a Jamaican political activist. He was the founder and first President-General of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA-ACL) (commonly known a ...
's Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA). Over the next eight months, he developed it into the leading race-conscious, radical and literary publication of the day. By the August 1920 UNIA convention, Harrison had grown increasingly critical of Garvey. Harrison criticized Garvey for exaggerations, financial schemes, and a desire for an empire. In contrast to Garvey, Harrison emphasized that African Americans' principal struggle was in the United States, not in Africa. Harrison did however contribute to the UNIA's 1920 "Declaration of the Negro Peoples of the World". Though Harrison continued to write for the ''Negro World'' into 1922, he looked to develop political alternatives to Garvey.


Later years

In the 1920s, after breaking with Garvey, Harrison continued public speaking, writing, and organizing. He lectured on politics history, science, literature, social sciences, international affairs, and the arts for the
New York City Board of Education The Panel for Educational Policy of the Department of Education of the City School District of the City of New York, abbreviated as the Panel for Educational Policy and also known as the New York City Board of Education, is the governing body of ...
, and was one of the first to use radio to discuss topics in which he had expertise. In early July 1923, he spoke on "The Negro and The Nation" over New York station WEAF. His book and theater reviews and other writings appeared in many of the leading periodicals of the day—including ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', ''
New York Tribune The ''New-York Tribune'' (from 1914: ''New York Tribune'') was an American newspaper founded in 1841 by editor Horace Greeley. It bore the moniker ''New-York Daily Tribune'' from 1842 to 1866 before returning to its original name. From the 1840s ...
'', '' Pittsburgh Courier'', ''
Chicago Defender ''The Chicago Defender'' is a Chicago-based online African-American newspaper. It was founded in 1905 by Robert S. Abbott and was once considered the "most important" newspaper of its kind. Abbott's newspaper reported and campaigned against Jim ...
'', '' Amsterdam News'', '' New York World'', ''
Nation A nation is a type of social organization where a collective Identity (social science), identity, a national identity, has emerged from a combination of shared features across a given population, such as language, history, ethnicity, culture, t ...
'', '' New Republic'', ''Modern Quarterly'', ''Boston Chronicle'', and '' Opportunity'' magazine. He openly criticized the
Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to KKK or Klan, is an American Protestant-led Christian terrorism, Christian extremist, white supremacist, Right-wing terrorism, far-right hate group. It was founded in 1865 during Reconstruction era, ...
and the racist attacks of the " Tulsa Race Riot" of 1921. He worked with various groups, including the Virgin Island Congressional Council, the Democratic Party, the Farmer-Labor Party, the
single tax A single tax is a system of taxation based mainly or exclusively on one tax, typically chosen for its special properties, often being a tax on land value. Pierre Le Pesant, sieur de Boisguilbert and Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban were ear ...
movement inspired by
Henry George Henry George (September 2, 1839 – October 29, 1897) was an American political economist, Social philosophy, social philosopher and journalist. His writing was immensely popular in 19th-century America and sparked several reform movements of ...
, the American Friends Service Committee, the
Urban League The National Urban League (NUL), formerly known as the National League on Urban Conditions Among Negroes, is a nonpartisan historic civil rights organization based in New York City that advocates on behalf of economic and social justice for Afri ...
, the American Negro Labor Congress, and the Workers (Communist) Party (the name at that time of the
Communist Party USA The Communist Party USA (CPUSA), officially the Communist Party of the United States of America, also referred to as the American Communist Party mainly during the 20th century, is a communist party in the United States. It was established ...
). In 1924 Harrison founded the International Colored Unity League (ICUL), which was his most broadly unitary effort. The ICUL urged Black people to develop "race consciousness" as a defensive measure—to be aware of their racial oppression and to use that awareness to unite, organize, and respond as a group. The ICUL program sought political rights, economic power, and social justice; urged self-reliance, self-sufficiency, and cooperative efforts; and called for the founding of "a Negro state" in the U.S. (not in Africa, as Garvey advocated). In 1927 Harrison edited the ICUL's ''Voice of the Negro'' until shortly before his death that year. In his last lecture, Harrison told his listeners that he had appendicitis and would be getting surgery. Afterwards, he said he would be giving another lecture. He died on the operating table, at the age of 44.


Intellectual and educational work

Harrison's appeal was both mass and individual. His race-conscious mass appeal utilized newspapers, popular lectures, and street-corner talks. This was in contrast to the approaches of Booker T. Washington, who relied on white patrons and a Black political machine, and
W. E. B. Du Bois William Edward Burghardt Du Bois ( ; February 23, 1868 – August 27, 1963) was an American sociologist, socialist, historian, and Pan-Africanist civil rights activist. Born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, Du Bois grew up in a relativel ...
, who focused on the "
Talented Tenth The talented tenth is a term that designated a leadership class of African Americans in the early 20th century. Although the term was created by white Northern philanthropists, it is primarily associated with W. E. B. Du Bois, who used it as the ...
of the Negro Race". Harrison's appeal (later identified with that of Garvey) was aimed directly at the masses. His class- and race-conscious radicalism, though neglected at some periods, laid out the contours of much subsequent debate and discussion of African-American social activists. It is being increasingly studied. For many years after his 1927 death, Harrison was much neglected. However, recent scholarship on Harrison's life and the Columbia University Library's acquisition of his papers show renewed interest. Columbia published the "Hubert H. Harrison Papers, 1893-1927: Finding Aid", and plans to make Harrison's writings available on the internet. The forthcoming Columbia University Press two-volume Harrison biography also reflects the growing interest in Harrison's life and thought.


Legacy and honors

Biographer Jeffrey B. Perry writes that, among the African-American leaders of his era, Harrison was "the most class conscious of the race radicals and the most race conscious of the class radicals." Perry emphasized that Harrison was a key unifying figure between two major trends of African-American struggle—the labor/civil rights trend (identified with Randolph and Owen, and later with
Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, civil and political rights, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights move ...
) and the race/nationalist trend (identified with Garvey, and later with
Malcolm X Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little, later el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz; May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965) was an African American revolutionary, Islam in the United States, Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a prominent figur ...
). Harrison has been described as "the most distinguished, if not the most well-known, Caribbean radical in the United States in the early twentieth century" by historian Winston James. As an intellectual, Harrison was an unrivaled soapbox
orator An orator, or oratist, is a public speaker, especially one who is eloquent or skilled. Etymology Recorded in English c. 1374, with a meaning of "one who pleads or argues for a cause", from Anglo-French ''oratour'', Old French ''orateur'' (14 ...
, a featured lecturer for the
New York City Board of Education The Panel for Educational Policy of the Department of Education of the City School District of the City of New York, abbreviated as the Panel for Educational Policy and also known as the New York City Board of Education, is the governing body of ...
's prestigious "Trend of the Times" series, a prolific and influential writer, and, reportedly, the first Black person to write regularly published
book reviews A book review is a form of literary criticism in which a book is merely described (summary review) or analyzed based on content, style, and merit. A book review may be a primary source, an opinion piece, a summary review, or a scholarly view. B ...
in history. His efforts in these areas were lauded by both black and white writers, intellectuals, and activists such as
Eugene O'Neill Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was an American playwright. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama techniques of Realism (theatre), realism, earlier associated with ...
,
James Weldon Johnson James Weldon Johnson (June 17, 1871June 26, 1938) was an American writer and civil rights activist. He was married to civil rights activist Grace Nail Johnson. Johnson was a leader of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People ...
, Henry Miller, Hermie Huiswoud, William Pickens, Bertha Howe, Hodge Kirnon, and Oscar Benson. Harrison aided Black writers and artists, including Charles Gilpin, Andy Razaf, J. A. Rogers,
Eubie Blake James Hubert "Eubie" Blake (February 7, 1887 – February 12, 1983) was an American pianist and composer of ragtime, jazz, and popular music. Blake began his career in 1912, and during World War I he worked in partnership with the singer, drum ...
, Walter Everette Hawkins,
Claude McKay Festus Claudius "Claude" McKay OJ (September 15, 1890See Wayne F. Cooper, ''Claude McKay, Rebel Sojourner In The Harlem Renaissance'' (New York, Schocken, 1987) p. 377 n. 19. As Cooper's authoritative biography explains, McKay's family predate ...
, Solomon Tshekisho Plaatje, Lucian B. Watkins, and Augusta Savage. He was a pioneer Black participant in the
freethought Freethought (sometimes spelled free thought) is an unorthodox attitude or belief. A freethinker holds that beliefs should not be formed on the basis of authority, tradition, revelation, or dogma, and should instead be reached by other meth ...
and
birth control Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth control only be ...
movements as well as being a
bibliophile A bookworm or bibliophile is an individual who loves and frequently reads or collects books. Bibliophilia or bibliophilism is the love of books. Bibliophiles may have large, specialized book collections. They may highly value old editions, aut ...
and library popularizer. He created "Poetry for the People" columns in various publications, including the ''New Negro'' magazine (1919), Garvey's '' Negro World'' (1920), and the International Colored Unity League's ''The Voice of the Negro'' (1927). A sampling of his varied work and poetry appears in the edited collection ''A Hubert Harrison Reader'' (2001). His collected writings are found in the Hubert H. Harrison Papers (which also contain a detaile
Finding Aid
at the Rare Book and Manuscript Library of Columbia University. Other writings appear in his two books ''The Negro and the Nation'' (1917) and ''When Africa Awakes''. A two-volume biography by Jeffrey B. Perry is being published by
Columbia University Press Columbia University Press is a university press based in New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's la ...
. The first volume, ''The Voice of Harlem Radicalism, 1883-1918'',Jeffrey B. Perry
Jeffrey B. Perry, "Hubert Harrison: The Voice of Harlem Radicalism, 1883-1918"
, Vol. 1 (New York: Columbia University Press, November, 2008).
was published in November 2008 (an excerpt is available online). In 2005 Columbia University's Rare Book and Manuscript Library acquired Harrison's papers and the digitalized papers were made available through Columbia's Digital Library Collections website in 2020 .


Other reading


Writings by Hubert H. Harrison

*''A Hubert Harrison Reader,'' ed. with introduction and notes by Jeffrey B. Perry (Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 2001). *"Hubert H. Harrison Papers, 1893-1927: Finding Aid," Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University. A list of Harrison's writings available at Columbia. On Columbia's acquisition of the Papers see "Rare Book and Manuscript Library Acquires the Papers of Hubert Harrison." The Father of Harlem Radicalism," ''Columbia University Library News''. Columbia also plans to put Harrison's Writings online. *Harrison, Hubert H., "A Negro on Chicken Stealing", Letter to the editor, ''The New York Times'', December 11, 1904, p. 6. *Harrison, Hubert, ''The Black Man's Burden''
915 Year 915 ( CMXV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Summer – Battle of Garigliano: The Christian League, personally led by Pope John X, lays siege to Garigliano (a fortified Ar ...
*Harrison, Hubert H., ''The Negro and Nation'' (New York: Cosmo-Advocate Publishing Company, 1917). *Harrison, Hubert, "On A Certain Condescension in White Publishers," ''Negro World'', March 1922. *Harrison, Hubert H., '' When Africa Awakes: The "Inside Story" of the Stirrings and Strivings of the New Negro in the Western World'' (New York: Porro Press, 1920), New Expanded Edition, edited with notes and a new introduction by Jeffrey B. Perry (New York: Diasporic Africa Press, 2015).
"Transfer Day: Hubert Harrison's Analysis"
''Virgin Islands Daily News,'' March 31.


Personal biographical sketches

*Jackson, John G., "Hubert Henry Harrison: The Black Socrates", ''American Atheists,'' February 1987. *Moore, Richard B., "Hubert Henry Harrison (1883-1927)", in Rayford W. Logan and Michael R. Winston (eds), ''Dictionary of American Negro Biography'' (New York: W. W. Norton, 1982), 292–93. *Rogers, Joel A., "Hubert Harrison: Intellectual Giant and Free-Lance Educator", in Joel A. Rogers, ''World's Great Men of Color,'' ed. John Henrik Clarke, 2 vols (1946–47; New York: Collier Books, 1972), 2:432-42.


Main biographical portraits

* Foner, Philip S., "Local New York, the Colored Socialist Club, Hubert H. Harrison, and W. E. B. Du Bois", in Philip S. Foner, ''American Socialism and Black Americans: From the Age of Jackson to World War II'' (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1977), 202–19. *Innis, Patrick, "Hubert Henry Harrison: Great African American Freethinker", Secular Subjects (St. Louis: Rationalist Society of St. Louis, 1992), rpt. in ''American Atheists Examiner.''''AAH Examiner'' article
at www.secularhumanism.org
See also Inniss, Patrick in ''AAH Examiner'', vol. 4, no. 4, Winter 1994. * James, Portia, "Hubert H. Harrison and the New Negro Movement", ''Western Journal of Black Studies'', 13, no. 2 (1989): 82–91. *James, Winston, "Dimensions and Main Currents of Caribbean Radicalism in America: Hubert Harrison, the African Blood Brotherhood, and the UNIA," in Winston James, ''Holding Aloft the Banner of Ethiopia: Caribbean Radicalism in Early Twentieth-Century America'' (New York: Verso, 1998), 122–84. *Perry, Jeffrey B., "The Developing Conjuncture and Some Insights from Hubert Harrison and Theodore W. Allen on the Centrality of the Fight against White Supremacy,
''Cultural Logic''
2010. *Perry, Jeffrey, "An Introduction to Hubert Harrison, 'The Father of Harlem Radicalism,'

2, no. 1 (Winter 2000), 38–54. *Perry, Jeffrey B., "Hubert Harrison: Race Consciousness and the Struggle for Socialism", ''Socialism and Democracy,'' vol. 17, no. 2 (Summer–Fall 2003), 103–30. *Perry, Jeffrey B., "Hubert Harrison: The Voice of Early 20th Century Harlem Radicalism," ''BlackPast.org,'' October 2008."Hubert Harrison"
, BlackPast.
*Perry, Jeffrey B.
''Hubert Harrison: The Voice of Harlem Radicalism, 1883-1918''
(New York: Columbia University Press, 2008), *Perry, Jeffrey B., "Hubert Henry Harrison 'The Father of Harlem Radicalism': The Early Years—1883 Through the Founding of the Liberty League and The Voice in 1917" (Ph.D. diss., Columbia University, 1986), includes an extensive bibliography (pp. 711–809). *Perry, Jeffrey B.
"On Hubert Harrison's Importance"
''Virgin Islands Daily News,'' February 18, 2003. *Perry, Jeffrey B.: ''Hubert Harrison: the struggle for equality, 1918-1927'', New York : Columbia University Press,
021 069 is: * in Brazil, the telephone area code for the city of Rio de Janeiro and surrounding cities (Greater Rio de Janeiro) * in China, the telephone area code for the city of Shanghai. * in Indonesia, the area code for the city of Jakarta and su ...
*Samuels, Wilfred David, ''Five Afro-Caribbean Voices in American Culture'' (Boulder: Belmont Books a Division of Cockburn Publishing, 1977), 27–41.


Further reading

* Paterson, David '' Black, Blind, & In Charge: A Story of Visionary Leadership and Overcoming Adversity''. New York, New York, 2020 *John C. Walker,''The Harlem Fox: J. Raymond Jones at Tammany 1920:1970'', New York: State University New York Press, 1989. * David N. Dinkins, ''A Mayor's Life: Governing New York's Gorgeous Mosaic'', PublicAffairs Books, 2013 * Rangel, Charles B.; Wynter, Leon (2007). ''And I Haven't Had a Bad Day Since: From the Streets of Harlem to the Halls of Congress''. New York: St. Martin's Press. * Baker Motley, Constance ''Equal Justice Under The Law: An Autobiography'', New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1998. *Howell, Ron ''Boss of Black Brooklyn: The Life and Times of Bertram L. Baker'' Fordham University Press Bronx, New York 2018 * Jack, Hulan ''Fifty Years a Democrat: The Autobiography of Hulan Jack'' New Benjamin Franklin House New York, NY 1983 * Clayton-Powell, Adam ''Adam by Adam: The Autobiography of Adam Clayton Powell Jr.'' New York, New York 1972 *Pritchett, Wendell E. '' Robert Clifton Weaver and the American City: The Life and Times of an Urban Reformer'' Chicago: University of Chicago Press 2008 * Davis, Benjamin ''Communist Councilman from Harlem: Autobiographical Notes Written in a Federal Penitentiary'' New York, New York:International Publishers 1969


References


External links


List of recent and future public events related to Hubert Harrison
* Allan, John

''News & Letters,'' January 2004.

13 vols (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1972–1984), 11: 300-01 and 351. * ttp://digilib.nypl.org/dynaweb/ead/scm/scmgeebr/@Generic__BookTextView/135 Brown, Egbert Ethelred, Papers Description (discusses Hubert Harrison Memorial Church), Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York Public Library. * Boyd, Herb
Review of ''Hubert Harrison: The Voice of Harlem Radicalism, 1883-1918''
''Neworld Review,'' May 19, 2009. * Fletcher, Bill Jr.

''Monthly Review,'' December 2001.

C. L. R. James Institute.

* McLemee, Scott
''Harrison Redux''
''Columbia Journalism Review,'' May 6, 2009. * McWhorter, John

, ''City Journal'' online, 2–06–2009. * Munro, John
"Roots of Whiteness"
''Labour/Le Travail,'' Fall 2004. * Perry, Jeffrey B.
"The Developing Conjuncture and Insights from Hubert Harrison and Theodore W. Allen on the Centrality of the Fight Against White Supremacy"
''Cultural Logic'', July 2010.
Perry, Jeffrey B. Discusses Hubert Harrison in "Rediscovering Hubert Harrison"
Interview conducted by Scott McLemeee on December 10, 2008, ''Inside Higher Ed''. * Perry, Jeffrey B

vol. 17 no. 2 (Summer-Fall 2003), 103–30. * Perry, Jeffrey B
''Hubert Harrison: The Voice of Harlem Radicalism, 1883-1918''
(New York: Columbia University Press, 2008). * Perry, Jeffrey B
'Hubert Harrison: The Struggle for Equality, 1918-1927''
(New York: Columbia University Press, 2020). * Perry, Jeffrey B. (ed.), (Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 2001). * Phelps, Christopher
"The Rediscovered Brilliance of Hubert Harrison", review of ''A Hubert Harrison Reader''
''Science and Society,'' Vol. 68, no. 2 (Summer 2004), 223–230. * Ruff, Allen
"The Vital Legacy of Hubert Harrison"
, ''Against the Current,'' January/February 2004, no. 108, and in ''Solidarity''.


Archive

* Hubert H. Harrison Papers, 1893–1927, Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University *
Finding Aid
*
Digitised papers
Digital Library Collection


Audio


"Jeffrey Perry Discusses Hubert Harrison"
Podcast Interview, ''Inside Higher Ed'', December 10, 2008.


Video

* "Hubert Harrison: The Voice of Harlem Radicalism
video of slide presentation/talk by Jeffrey B. Perry

Jeffrey B. Perry, "On Hubert Harrison"
Interview by Stella Winston, TV show "Straight Up!" *

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison, Hubert 1883 births 1927 deaths 20th-century American philosophers 20th-century African-American scientists Activists for African-American civil rights African-American agnostics African-American philosophers African-American social scientists African-American writers American social scientists American socialists American agnostics American anti–World War I activists American columnists American humanists American people of United States Virgin Islands descent American anti-racism activists American bibliophiles Georgists Harlem Renaissance Industrial Workers of the World members Members of the Socialist Party of America Socialist Party of America politicians from New York (state) People from Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands