Claudia Jones, An End to Neglect, Radical Discourse and Self Care
Claudia Jones, once banished to obscurity in the United States and elsewhere, has experienced a resurrection. The leading Black communist of her day has been featured in Twitter posts, lamented in speeches, and has even had a school named after her (Claudia Jones School for Political Education). Born on February 21, 1915, in Trinidad, Jones emigrated to the United States as a child in 1924. Her mother passed away while she was in high school, and after graduation, she became a member of the working poor. Her radicalization was solidified when she organized with the Scottsboro Boys in 1936, leading her to begin writing for newspapers and eventually an editor. It was the strength of her pen that cemented her presence in the world as a radical, Communist leader. In 1936 she became a member of the Communist Party and Young Communist Leader. Her work began with the Youth and it makes sense that her legacy would resonate with the youth of today.
The internet is a powerful resource and has been ground zero for some young people as their radicalization point. Whether it is tweeting about the treatment of the working class or shared experiences of oppression and discrimination - the power of finding common ground has since opened the discussion of political and social alternatives. While some are just dipping their feet into the pool of leftist ideologies, many Black youth are finding role models and texts that were once reserved only for the academia set. Access to this type of knowledge has created a burgeoning communist and socialist community among those who otherwise felt hopeless in the sea of capitalist propaganda.
This has led to an exploration of the praxis of the media industry. The visibility of Black and marginalized groups in big budget film and television has instigated the conversation of the reality of those who live these lives outside of the silver screen. In For New Approaches to Our Work among Women and An End to Neglect, Claudia discussed the “triple oppressions” of Black women (notably an earlier version of Intersectionality within Feminism coined by Kimberle Crenshaw), and how the Communist Party were among the first to recognize the complexities of Black women’s existence. With Black women taking the forefront of television and film (Shonda Rhimes, Issa Rae), it was only a matter of time before the topic of how the content shapes Black women’s lives in everyday life.
While Black characters are being written by Black writers, there still remains an expectation of the characters being palatable for mainstream consumption. After all, the media industry is about fiscal gains and not so much about the authenticity of its storytelling. Media representation was a topic discussed in Claudia's work, Davies* mentioned: “Ahead of her time, Claudia correctly identifies media representations of Black women as one of the sources for maintaining this identification of Black women in services roles as well as the work that the ‘mammy’ stereotype did in this process.” With the influx of diverse roles within television and film, there has been no shortage of discourse surrounding the effects of positive representation of Black women. However, the representations are still solidified within capitalist assimilation and doesn’t hold a mirror up to the movement of Black radical feminism burgeoning in the real world.
To do so would be dangerous, considering that Jones stated “The bourgeoisie is fearful of the militancy of the Negro woman, and for good reason. The capitalists know, far better than many progressives seem to know, that once Negro women undertake action, the militancy of the whole Negro people, and thus of the anti-imperialist coalition, is greatly enhanced.” Despite this, stories concerning the plight of Black Americans and global diaspora have persisted, closing the argument for those who say “Things have changed”. Twitter and other social media outlets are known for heavily moderating such discussions, opposite their complete and total apathy towards white supremacists and users who consistently berate and abuse Black women online. Jones was quick to have pointed out the hypocrisies of similar arguments in her time, saying “Consider the hypocrisy of the Truman administration, which boasts about “exporting democracy throughout the world” while the state of Georgia keeps a widowed Negro mother of 12 children under lock and key. Her crime? She defended her life and dignity – aided by her two sons – from the attacks of a “white supremacist”. Such stories are still gracing headlines today and can be dissected by the everyday person. For Twitter to ban and modify these types of threads only adds fuel to the flames of those Black women who have found the social flaws they suspected as concrete proof that radical change is needed.
While Claudia died prematurely as a consequence of her commitment to working towards the greater cause, her work was not done in vain. It is my sincerest hope that we can continue Claudia’s legacy of resistance and critical thought as we go forward in a world that is increasingly becoming more aware of the inadequacies, hypocrisies, and false narratives that continue to oppress the Black diaspora.
***Carol Boyce Davies, a college professor at Florida International University, released her poignant study of the revered activist in 2008, providing an intricate look into Claudia’s life, on which I based this essay upon. ***