National Negro Congress
Encyclopedia
The National Negro Congress is an organization which was put into place by the Communist Party of the United States of America in 1935 at Howard University
. It was a popular front
organization created with the goal of fighting for Black liberation and was the successor to the League of Struggle for Negro Rights
. The National Negro Congress was opposed to war, fascism
, and discrimination
, especially racial discrimination.
The National Negro Congress consisted mainly of Blacks
, but not exclusively. The people who made up the National Negro Congress came from many various and different ranks in society.
In 1936, the first national meeting of the Congress was held in Chicago. Some common things which the members in the congress stood in favor of were full rights for all black people and bringing the black laborers together in unions such as the Congress of Industrial Organizations
.
Howard University
Howard University is a federally chartered, non-profit, private, coeducational, nonsectarian, historically black university located in Washington, D.C., United States...
. It was a popular front
Popular front
A popular front is a broad coalition of different political groupings, often made up of leftists and centrists. Being very broad, they can sometimes include centrist and liberal forces as well as socialist and communist groups...
organization created with the goal of fighting for Black liberation and was the successor to the League of Struggle for Negro Rights
League of Struggle for Negro Rights
The League of Struggle for Negro Rights was organized by the Communist Party in 1930 as the successor to the American Negro Labor Congress. The League was particularly active in organizing support for the "Scottsboro Boys", nine black men sentenced to death in 1931 for crimes they had not committed...
. The National Negro Congress was opposed to war, fascism
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
, and discrimination
Discrimination
Discrimination is the prejudicial treatment of an individual based on their membership in a certain group or category. It involves the actual behaviors towards groups such as excluding or restricting members of one group from opportunities that are available to another group. The term began to be...
, especially racial discrimination.
The National Negro Congress consisted mainly of Blacks
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...
, but not exclusively. The people who made up the National Negro Congress came from many various and different ranks in society.
In 1936, the first national meeting of the Congress was held in Chicago. Some common things which the members in the congress stood in favor of were full rights for all black people and bringing the black laborers together in unions such as the Congress of Industrial Organizations
Congress of Industrial Organizations
The Congress of Industrial Organizations, or CIO, proposed by John L. Lewis in 1932, was a federation of unions that organized workers in industrial unions in the United States and Canada from 1935 to 1955. The Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 required union leaders to swear that they were not...
.