Jake Cooper
Encyclopedia
Jake Cooper was an American
Socialist. He was active in the Minneapolis Teamsters Strike of 1934
led by the Communist League of America
and later became a member of the Socialist Workers Party
and as a leading member of the SWP he was imprisoned under the Smith Act
together with many other SWP leaders for opposing the US involvement in the Second World War. Cooper was also a founding member of the Fourth International
.
In 1940, Jake Cooper was selected by the Socialist Workers Party to go to Mexico City
and work as a bodyguard for Leon Trotsky
, the exiled Russia
n Bolshevik
leader. “I’m honored by the fact that I was selected because perhaps it tells you that they thought I was not only a militant, but that I was honest and would go there to die for our ideas if necessary” said Cooper in an interview in 1988.
Jake Cooper remained a Trotskyist
his entire life. When the Socialist Workers Party
leadership faction of Jack Barnes
abandoned Trotskyism in the 1980s and expelled the Trotskyist factions, Jake Cooper joined those who were expelled in the group called Socialist Action (US)
. As a member of Socialist Action Jake Cooper was, among other things, very active in supporting the UFCW
Local P-9 strike
of meat packing workers against Hormel Foods
in Austin
, Minnesota
. As a supporter of the strike he actively gathered large amounts of food for the workers and advocated the kinds of militant tactics that he was part of in the Minneapolis Teamsters Strike of 1934
.
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United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Socialist. He was active in the Minneapolis Teamsters Strike of 1934
Minneapolis Teamsters Strike of 1934
The Minneapolis General Strike of 1934 grew out of a strike by Teamsters against most of the trucking companies operating in Minneapolis, a major distribution center for the Upper Midwest. The strike began on May 16, 1934 in the Market District and ensuing violence lasted periodically throughout...
led by the Communist League of America
Communist League of America
The Communist League of America was founded by James P. Cannon, Max Shachtman and Martin Abern late in 1928 after their expulsion from the Communist Party USA for Trotskyism. The CLA was the United States section of Leon Trotsky's International Left Opposition and initially positioned itself as...
and later became a member of the Socialist Workers Party
Socialist Workers Party (United States)
The Socialist Workers Party is a far-left political organization in the United States. The group places a priority on "solidarity work" to aid strikes and is strongly supportive of Cuba...
and as a leading member of the SWP he was imprisoned under the Smith Act
Smith Act
The Alien Registration Act or Smith Act of 1940 is a United States federal statute that set criminal penalties for advocating the overthrow of the U.S...
together with many other SWP leaders for opposing the US involvement in the Second World War. Cooper was also a founding member of the Fourth International
Fourth International
The Fourth International is the communist international organisation consisting of followers of Leon Trotsky , with the declared dedicated goal of helping the working class bring about socialism...
.
In 1940, Jake Cooper was selected by the Socialist Workers Party to go to Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
and work as a bodyguard for Leon Trotsky
Leon Trotsky
Leon Trotsky , born Lev Davidovich Bronshtein, was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and theorist, Soviet politician, and the founder and first leader of the Red Army....
, the exiled Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n Bolshevik
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....
leader. “I’m honored by the fact that I was selected because perhaps it tells you that they thought I was not only a militant, but that I was honest and would go there to die for our ideas if necessary” said Cooper in an interview in 1988.
Jake Cooper remained a Trotskyist
Trotskyism
Trotskyism is the theory of Marxism as advocated by Leon Trotsky. Trotsky considered himself an orthodox Marxist and Bolshevik-Leninist, arguing for the establishment of a vanguard party of the working-class...
his entire life. When the Socialist Workers Party
Socialist Workers Party (United States)
The Socialist Workers Party is a far-left political organization in the United States. The group places a priority on "solidarity work" to aid strikes and is strongly supportive of Cuba...
leadership faction of Jack Barnes
Jack Barnes
Jack Whittier Barnes is an American Communist and the National Secretary of the Socialist Workers Party. Barnes was elected the party's national secretary in 1972, replacing the retiring Farrell Dobbs. He had joined the SWP in the early 1960s as a student at Carleton College in Minnesota and...
abandoned Trotskyism in the 1980s and expelled the Trotskyist factions, Jake Cooper joined those who were expelled in the group called Socialist Action (US)
Socialist Action (US)
Socialist Action is a Trotskyist political party in the United States. It publishes the monthly Socialist Action newspaper, has a youth affiliate called Youth for Socialist Action , and is associated with the Fourth International.-Origins:...
. As a member of Socialist Action Jake Cooper was, among other things, very active in supporting the UFCW
United Food and Commercial Workers
The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union is a labor union representing approximately 1.3 million workers in the United States and Canada in many industries, including agriculture, health care, meatpacking, poultry and food processing, manufacturing, textile, G4S Security, chemical...
Local P-9 strike
Strike action
Strike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...
of meat packing workers against Hormel Foods
Hormel
Hormel Foods Corporation is a food company based in southeastern Minnesota , perhaps best known as the producer of Spam luncheon meat. The company was founded as George A. Hormel & Company in Austin, Minnesota, U.S., by George A. Hormel in 1891. The company changed its name to Hormel Foods...
in Austin
Austin, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there were 23,314 people, 9,897 households, and 6,076 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,168.2 people per square mile . There were 10,261 housing units at an average density of 954.3 per square mile...
, Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
. As a supporter of the strike he actively gathered large amounts of food for the workers and advocated the kinds of militant tactics that he was part of in the Minneapolis Teamsters Strike of 1934
Minneapolis Teamsters Strike of 1934
The Minneapolis General Strike of 1934 grew out of a strike by Teamsters against most of the trucking companies operating in Minneapolis, a major distribution center for the Upper Midwest. The strike began on May 16, 1934 in the Market District and ensuing violence lasted periodically throughout...
.
Sources
- Memories of Trotsky by Jake Cooper
- On the 65th anniversary of the death of Leon Trotsky, a 1988 reminiscence from Jake Cooper
- Cooper, Jake. Lessons of the P-9 Strike. Socialist Action Books. 298 Valencia St., San Francisco CA 94103.
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