Nelson Peery
Encyclopedia
Nelson Peery is an American
political activist and author
. Peery spent over 60 years in the revolutionary movement, and has been active in the Communist Party USA
(CP-USA), the Provisional Organizing Committee to Reconstitute the Marxist-Leninist Party (POC), the Communist League (CL), the Communist Labor Party (CLP), and the League of Revolutionaries for a New America
(LRNA).
He grew up in rural Minnesota
, the son of a postal service worker in the only black family in the town.
He hoboed across the western United States and joined the U.S. Army in World War II
. These experiences, which became the subject of his memoir Black Fire: The Making of an American Revolutionary, shaped his ideas about racism and the American economy.
In his sequel Black Radical: The Education of an American Revolutionary, Peery wrote about his re-entry into civilian life following the war. This book offers a perspective on the historically significant period from 1946 to 1968, including the postwar, grassroots movement for equality and democracy led by black veterans, the battles of the black Left and revolutionaries during the McCarthy era
and their role in the Freedom Movement, and the 1965 Watts Riots
in Los Angeles
, where Peery and his family were living at the time. Peery compares these political goals to those of the United States in World War II.
The Future Is Up To Us: A Revolutionary Talking Politics with the American People (2002)
Moving Onward: From Racial Division to Class Unity with Brooke Heagerty (2000)
Black Fire: The Making of an American Revolutionary (1994)
Entering an Epoch of Social Revolution (1993)
African American Liberation and Revolution in the United States (1992)
The Negro National-Colonial Question (1975)
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
political activist and author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
. Peery spent over 60 years in the revolutionary movement, and has been active in 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....
(CP-USA), the Provisional Organizing Committee to Reconstitute the Marxist-Leninist Party (POC), the Communist League (CL), the Communist Labor Party (CLP), and the League of Revolutionaries for a New America
League of Revolutionaries for a New America
The League of Revolutionaries for a New America is an organization of revolutionaries in the United States formed with the stated goal of "educating revolutionaries and winning them over to a cooperative communist resolution to the problems faced in the economy and society." The League was...
(LRNA).
He grew up in rural 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...
, the son of a postal service worker in the only black family in the town.
He hoboed across the western United States and joined the U.S. Army in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. These experiences, which became the subject of his memoir Black Fire: The Making of an American Revolutionary, shaped his ideas about racism and the American economy.
In his sequel Black Radical: The Education of an American Revolutionary, Peery wrote about his re-entry into civilian life following the war. This book offers a perspective on the historically significant period from 1946 to 1968, including the postwar, grassroots movement for equality and democracy led by black veterans, the battles of the black Left and revolutionaries during the McCarthy era
McCarthyism
McCarthyism is the practice of making accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason without proper regard for evidence. The term has its origins in the period in the United States known as the Second Red Scare, lasting roughly from the late 1940s to the late 1950s and characterized by...
and their role in the Freedom Movement, and the 1965 Watts Riots
Watts Riots
The Watts Riots or the Watts Rebellion was a civil disturbance in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles, California from August 11 to August 15, 1965. The 5-day riot resulted in 34 deaths, 1,032 injuries, and 3,438 arrests...
in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, where Peery and his family were living at the time. Peery compares these political goals to those of the United States in World War II.
Works
Black Radical: The Education of an American Revolutionary, 1946-1968 (2007)The Future Is Up To Us: A Revolutionary Talking Politics with the American People (2002)
Moving Onward: From Racial Division to Class Unity with Brooke Heagerty (2000)
Black Fire: The Making of an American Revolutionary (1994)
Entering an Epoch of Social Revolution (1993)
African American Liberation and Revolution in the United States (1992)
The Negro National-Colonial Question (1975)