Jack Shulman
Encyclopedia
- This article is about the political activist Jack Shulman, born in 1914, Rochester, New York, died in 1999 in New York City. See below for other persons named Jack Shulman.
Jack Shulman, Jacob Shulman, is notable mainly for his dissatisfaction with the Communist Party USA
Communist Party USA
The Communist Party USA is a Marxist political party in the United States, established in 1919. It has a long, complex history that is closely related to the histories of similar communist parties worldwide and the U.S. labor movement....
's turn away from Stalinism
Stalinism
Stalinism refers to the ideology that Joseph Stalin conceived and implemented in the Soviet Union, and is generally considered a branch of Marxist–Leninist ideology but considered by some historians to be a significant deviation from this philosophy...
following Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964...
's secret speech in 1956. Following his resignation from the Party Shulman traveled to Albania and China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
in pursuit of his political objectives. He was born and raised in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, was a member of the Young Communist League
Young Communist League
The Young Communist League was or is the name used by the youth wing of various Communist parties around the world. The name YCL of XXX was generally taken by all sections of the Communist Youth International.Examples of YCLs:...
from 1930 and served in the Lincoln Brigade during the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
and in United States Army during World War II. In the early 1950s he worked in the South in the Party's organizing efforts with African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
s. He was for several years William Z. Foster
William Z. Foster
William Foster was a radical American labor organizer and Marxist politician, whose career included a lengthy stint as General Secretary of the Communist Party USA...
's secretary. Foster, who died in the Soviet Union in 1961 while seeking medical treatment was also dissatisfied with the Soviet turn toward revisionism.
Shulman visited Albania then worked as an editor of English language publications during the Cultural Revolution
Cultural Revolution
The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, commonly known as the Cultural Revolution , was a socio-political movement that took place in the People's Republic of China from 1966 through 1976...
in Beijing. As China itself began to display revisionist tendencies Shulman grew closer to the Albanian Party of Labor. He returned to the United States, published Albania Report and organized the USA-Albania Friendship Association. He had good relationships with the India-Albania Friendship Association
India-Albania Friendship Association
The India–Albania Friendship Association was an organisation in India. Moni Guha was one of its founders. The association published Socialist Albania. Some of the organisers of the association later started the periodical Revolutionary Democracy...
and Indian Marxist-Leninists. After the fall of communism in Albania he participated in the Alliance Marxist-Leninist (North America) and supported International Struggle Marxist-Leninist (ISML). He was associated with the British Marxist-Leninist W. B. Bland. He was married three times. The ashes of his third wife, Ruth, are buried in the Martyr's Hill in Tirana
Tirana
Tirana is the capital and the largest city of Albania. Modern Tirana was founded as an Ottoman town in 1614 by Sulejman Bargjini, a local ruler from Mullet, although the area has been continuously inhabited since antiquity. Tirana became Albania's capital city in 1920 and has a population of over...
.
His son Norman, an American draft dodger who joined him in China during the Vietnam War, married Jan Wong
Jan Wong
Jan Wong is a Canadian journalist of Chinese ancestry. Wong worked for The Globe and Mail, serving as Beijing correspondent from 1988 to 1994, when she returned to write from Canada....
, a Canadian journalist, after the Shulmans left China during the turmoil of the Cultural Revolution
Cultural Revolution
The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, commonly known as the Cultural Revolution , was a socio-political movement that took place in the People's Republic of China from 1966 through 1976...
.
Other Jack Shulmans
- Jack Shulman, musician and composer: Pieces by the composer Jack Shulman