Want to Start a Revolution? Black Women Radicals Confront the Red Scare

On January 23, 2023, we hosted historian Dayo Gore in conversation with Jesse Hagopian to discuss Black women radicals who were active during the Red Scare. As one participant shared during the event, “Black women are the engine of change — were, are, and will be.”

This session was part of our monthly Teach the Black Freedom Struggle online class series. Don’t miss the 2023 lineup — register now.

Participants shared what they learned and additional reflections on the session:

The most important idea is that there were not just a few Black women leaders in our history, there were many. And we need to bring them up to the surface for all to see, learn from, and recognize. If we don’t then we are saying that they don’t exist.

I was most impacted by the roster of Black women radicals mentioned and the depth and breadth of their intellectual and political organizing despite the constellation of obstructions they faced during the era of McCarthyism.

Tonight had me considering the ways in which women’s, specifically Black women’s, contributions to movements are too often down-graded or overlooked. The view of being a helper versus a creator, a follower versus a leader, is central to how people are viewed. Tonight’s session reminded me to look for the leaders and changers in those around me that may be being pushed into the background and to help propel their voices and ideas to the forefront.

It’s powerful to learn about the buffet of organizing tactics Black radical women during the era used: due process/legal tactics, direct action, using the media, etc.

I will use these stories to empower my youth to be great thinkers for social change.

Thoughtfully organized — Dr. Gore’s speaking was riveting and I wanted to re-enroll in college at age 55 to re-engage my history learning at this level all over again!

The theoretical work that radical Black women did in the 1950s with the Communist Party did not die with McCarthyism — they carried it on in other organizations and by other means!

There is so much to process but the most important thing was to be active, show up to these school board meetings, and fight for educational rights! I learned about some new stories that I am eager to research and read about. I will be purchasing the recommended books. I am extremely grateful for this resource and tonight’s session.

I have been to many sessions and I do enjoy the time when we spend with others to help connect our learning. I greatly appreciate all of the presenters that have shared with us.

Event Recording

Recording of the full session, except for the breakout rooms.

Audiogram

In this ninety-second audiogram, Dr. Gore describes the legacies of struggle that Black women spearheaded during the Red Scare and beyond.

Highlights

Selected remarks from session in a tweet thread by Ursula Wolfe-Rocca, high school teacher and Zinn Education Project team member.

Jesse asks about what impact women like Thema Dale, Claudia Jones, & other Black women had on the Communist Party. Gore says, collectively, they create space to consider race & gender (& the experiences of Black women) in the Party.

— Ursula Wolfe-Rocca (@LadyOfSardines) January 24, 2023

The case of Rosa Lee Ingram resonates so deeply with these women activists, says Gore, because it speaks to the experiences of so many Black women. The case was also a main focus of The Sojourners for Truth and Justice. https://t.co/KWs05MJloS

— Ursula Wolfe-Rocca (@LadyOfSardines) January 24, 2023

Someone asks: where do we start teaching this history in a K-12 classroom? Gore encourages us to start with the women’s lives, to access (when possible) their archives online, & to read the poetry of Beah Richardson!

— Ursula Wolfe-Rocca (@LadyOfSardines) January 24, 2023

Resources

Many of the lessons, books, and articles recommended by the presenters and participants.

Lessons

Books

Articles, Art, and Archives

This Day In History

Participant Reflections

With more than 200 attendees, polls showed almost 55% were teachers or teacher educators, while another 10% of attendees were librarians and historians. Here are more comments that participants shared in their end-of-session evaluation. 

What was the most important thing (story, idea) you learned today?

Oh my goodness, too many to count; I have a page full of notes. I love the paucity of frameworks and the ways Black women formed spaces of liberation and solidarity.

Black women were integral in organizing and leading grassroots organizations in the McCarthy Era. Their individual stories are impactful.

One very important idea that I will use in my classes, is to share the stories with my students using poetry and news articles written by these ladies. My students really resonate with poetry and can really see connections between the poetry and the history.

Reminder of the importance of community; activism built from collective efforts. Even when organizations disappear, the connections often sustain and inspire the next iteration.

The importance of teaching female activism and agency.

The importance of intersectionality in teaching the truth.

There were so many stories that Dr. Gore shared as well as Jesse. . . it’s hard to pick one.

There were many stories of individual women that I was not aware of. I am an immigrant to this nation; not sure if this is also a reason much of this is so new. I was struck by the connection to the Communist Party. This will be anathema to teach in Florida, however! But the parallels to McCarthyism have been helpful and inspiring.

The people doing the work aren’t often in the spotlight, but we need community to survive and to do the work.

It was all important. The most important thing was that there is a beautiful community of like-minded individuals.

What will you do with what you learned?

I will incorporate this information into the unit I am currently teaching on the novel 1984 during the Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action as we connect the themes of the book to the activist struggles from Orwell’s time and today.

I really appreciated the entry points discussed and suggestions towards the final discussion. There is so much information and rich resources that suggestions for entry points and for conversation starters are really appreciated!

As a librarian I will bring more books about Black girls and women.

Grateful to have more resources to help me show students that organizing is messy and that it takes all of us!

I will teach about the intersectional racial justice work being done within the Communist Party — not separating the Civil Rights Movement and the McCarthy era.

I’ll definitely include these women as part of a project on Black radicals that my students are already doing.

I will use this in my U.S. Government class as an example of historical figures making change, to use as an example for my student’s action project about how they can make change.

Presenters

Dayo F. Gore is associate professor in the Department of African American Studies at Georgetown University, author of Radicalism at the Crossroads: African American Women Activists in the Cold War, and co-editor of Want to Start a Revolution?: Radical Women in the Black Freedom Struggle. Gore is a member of Scholars for Social Justice and currently working on a book length study of African American women’s transnational travels and activism in the 20th century.

Jesse Hagopian teaches Ethnic Studies and is the co-adviser to the Black Student Union at Garfield High School in Seattle. He is an editor for Rethinking Schools, the co-editor of Teaching for Black Lives, editor of More Than a Score: The New Uprising Against High-Stakes Testing, and on the staff of the Zinn Education Project.