Nelson Peery (June 22, 1923 – September 6, 2015) was an American political activist and author. Peery spent over 60 years in the revolutionary movement, and was active in the

Communist Party USA The Communist Party USA, officially the Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA), is a communist party in the United States which was established in 1919 after a split in the Socialist Party of America following the Russian Revo ...

(CPUSA), the Provisional Organizing Committee to Reconstitute the Marxist–Leninist Party (POC), the Communist League (CL), the Communist Labor Party (CLP), and the League of Revolutionaries for a New America (LRNA). He grew up in rural

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the List of U.S. states and territories by population, 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minne ...

, the son of a postal service worker in the only black family in the town. His older brother was the physicist and astronomer Benjamin Peery. He hoboed across the western United States and joined the U.S. Army in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. These experiences, which became the subject of his memoir ''Black Fire: The Making of an American Revolutionary'', shaped his ideas about racism and the American economy. In his sequel ''Black Radical: The Education of an American Revolutionary'', Peery wrote about his re-entry into civilian life following the war. The book offers a perspective on the historically significant period from 1946–68, including the postwar, grassroots movement for equality and democracy led by black veterans, the battles of the black Left and revolutionaries during the

McCarthy era McCarthyism is the practice of making false or unfounded accusations of subversion and treason, especially when related to anarchism, communism and socialism, and especially when done in a public and attention-grabbing manner. The term origina ...

and their role in the Freedom Movement, and the 1965 Watts Riots in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

, where Peery and his family were living at the time. Peery compares these political goals to those of the United States in World War II. He died on September 6, 2015, at the age of 92.Notice of death of Nelson Peery
peoplestribune.org; accessed September 13, 2015.

Works

* ''Black Radical: The Education of an American Revolutionary, 1946-1968'', (2007) *
The Future Is Up To Us: A Revolutionary Talking Politics with the American People
' (2002) * ''Moving Onward: From Racial Division to Class Unity'' with Brooke Heagerty, (2000) * ''Black Fire: The Making of an American Revolutionary'' (1994)

(1993) * ''African American Liberation and Revolution in the United States'' (1992) * ''The Negro National-Colonial Question'' (1975)

References

1923 births 2015 deaths African-American writers Activists for African-American civil rights African-American communists American Marxists United States Army personnel of World War II American political writers American male non-fiction writers American socialists Anti-revisionists Marxist theorists Marxist writers {{US-activist-stub