African Blood Brotherhood, Independent Marxist during the Harlem Renaissance

Abstract

Very little is known about the African Blood Brotherhood, and what limited information is known is discussed with adumbration. Yet, the African Blood Brotherhood was an unusual Afro-Marxist organization operative in New York City's Harlem during the period commonly referred to as the "Harlem Renaissance." The African Blood Brotherhood, or ABB as it is sometimes called, is certainly an extension of an antecedent socio-political heritage dating back to the early nineteenth century. In fact, there is a relatively long history of persons of African descent in America being affiliated with socialist organizations and ideals (Foner, 1977; Pease & Pease, 1963). And, the ABB is a continuation of this association. However, the ABB is the first independent socialist/communist organization composed exclusively of persons of African descent in the United States. Therefore, its historical significance lies in the fact that not only is the ABB a consequence of a preceding socio-political tradition, but it was the first of its kind and so a forerunner of later radical African American political organizations. Consequently, this makes the study of the ABB appurtenant to African American social and political history. The African Blood Brotherhood emerged within a socio-political climate influenced by World I, dissention within the white socialist movement, a rift among Harlem's African American and West Indian socialists, a renaissance among Harlem's African American creative intellectuals, and the beginning of a popular and invigorating Marcus Garvey movement. During World War I an impressive group of young African American and West Indian radicals emerged in Harlem who were enthusiastic about socialism and committed to the struggle for African American liberation. Harlem was becoming a mecca of fraternal societies, street corner orators, and intellectual activity. Men such as Hubert H. Harrison, an influential member of the Socialist Party's local branch 5 of Harlem and organizer of the Colored Socialist Club and 21st AD Socialist Club, and A. Philip Randolph and Chandler Owen, two of the most important African American socialists during this period and publishers of The Messenger, were deeply involved in Harlem radical politics and responsible for attracting militant, vocal young people of African descent to socialism (Turner & Turner, 1988; Foner, 1977). However, when the Socialist Party split in 1919 over support for the Russian Revolution, it also influenced a rift among African American and West Indian socialists. Randolph and Owen refused to join the Communists and remained with the Social Democrats of the Second International while others, primarily West Indians, moved toward the Communist and the Third International (Cruse, 1967; Haywood, 1978; Naison, 1985). This was also a period which witnessed the emergence of the African American creative writer which has been variously called the "Harlem Renaissance," the "Black Renaissance," and the "New Negro Movement." It was an era when, described by John Hope Franklin (1994): "America became somewhat more conscious of the race problem and was willing to listen to what the African American had to say about it" (362). Also, this was a time when Marcus Garvey and his Universal Negro Improvement Association captured the imagination of the African American masses. The UNIA has been described as the largest mass based African American organization in American history (Vincent, 1971; Martin, 1976). Thus, within this milieu Cyril V. Briggs, a West Indian immigrant and publisher of the Crusader magazine, organized the African Blood Brotherhood. It is unclear when exactly the organization was initiated, but the date is somewhere between 1917 and 1919 (Turner & Turner, 1988, 34). A precipitating event leading to the inception of the ABB was an encounter with Algernon Lee, ranking member of the Socialist Party and director of the Rand School of Social Science. …