Category Archives: Abolition Of Work

Northerners get much of the credit for pushing to abolish slavery in the United States.

But it was an East Tennessean, four decades before the Civil War, who took the extraordinary step of publishing the first newspaper in the world dedicated to ending the slave trade.

"It is something paradoxical that a man should refuse to buy a stolen sheep, or to eat a piece of one that is stolen, and should not have the same scruples respecting a stolen man," Jonesborough's Elihu Embree declared in his self-financed "The Emancipator" newspaper in 1820.

It's also paradoxical, to quote the publishing pioneer, that he should be the one to seek an end to slavery because Embree, 38, held owned slaves himself in Washington County, Tennessee. In fact, it was his wish in death that one of his slaves and her five children finally get their freedom.

Embree's life is the story of a man of some means determined in his day to right a wrong. But he was also a man who wrestled with his own internal and material conflicts.

"I think it just speaks to how deeply complicated the history and issue of slavery was," said historian Anne Mason, executive director of the Heritage Alliance of Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia, who has studied Embree's life.

Two hundred years later, many have forgotten his deeds. Indeed, no one can say for certain just where Embree's remains now rest.

History is rarely simple or etched in black and white.

Embree's family, led by pastor Thomas Embree, moved to East Tennessee in the late 1700s when Embree, born in 1782, was a young man. They were prominent, operating an iron mining business that helped Washington County thrive into the 19th century.

They were also Quakers, a Christian movement that started in England and spread into the New World in the 1600s. Among the Quaker edicts, God exists in all of us, every human being. And people don't enslave other people.

Most of the family moved on in the early 1800s, heading for Ohio. But Elihu stayed back and continued to run the business. His brother, Elijah, who would marry Gov. John Sevier's granddaughter and enjoy an affluent life, joined him.

Elihu had two wives, the first of whom died after they had two girls together. His second wife was a slave owner. Embree himself acquired slaves.

Along with mining, Embree got into the shipping business, mostly to major northeastern cities like Philadelphia and Boston, Mason said.

He'd grown distant from his Quaker faith, but his business contacts proved influential in drawing him back into the teachings of the Religious Society of Friends as it was more formally known, said Mason.

Toward the end of his life, Embree would free most, but not all, of his slaves. He used a woman named Nancy and her five children as collateral in a land deal. So he wasn't in a legal position to free them when he died, Mason said.

Embree got involved in what was called the manumission movement, which sought the legal release of people currently enslaved. He joined the Manumission Society of Tennessee, an anti-slavery group that started in Jefferson County in 1815.

One of their objectives: Amend the Tennessee Constitution to outlaw slavery. At the time, one could openly challenge the norm of slavery. By the 1840s, it would no longer be acceptable as the nation rumbled closer to war, Mason said.

Embree first got involved in printing the society's newspaper, which championed eliminating slavery but also ran other news. It was called the Manumission Intelligencer.

According to the Tennessee Encyclopedia, published by the Tennessee Historical Society, the society's constitution required that everyone approve what went into the newspaper. They didn't meet very often, and that affected the publishing schedule.

A frustrated Embree ended up leaving the society, deciding to publish his own newspaper devoted exclusively to the abolition of slavery.

He called it The Emancipator. He prepared it in Jonesborough and took it down Main Street to a printer named Jacob Howard for a press run. The first edition appeared in April 1820 with an annual subscription price of $1 a year.

Mason suspects Embree may have had some health problems and sensed he needed to hurry up and get the paper out.

"This paper is especially designed by the editor to advocate the abolition of slavery, and to be a repository of tracts on that interesting and important subject," Embree wrote.

He'd spent several thousand dollars of his own money to get started, he told readers.

The paper printed what news he could find in the world about slavery and the slave trade as well as letters from readers, to which Embree would respond.

He made sure to send the paper to Southern governors, some of whom didn't appreciate his publication, scolding him for trying to "divide" the country, Mason said.

By issue No. 5, Embree was ready to reveal a surprising piece of information about himself.

A letter writer named "G.M." from the Nashville area alerted Embree that someone was going around telling people that Embree previously had owned slaves.

And of course, the letter writer stated, he couldn't see how that was true. Right?

"...for I know you are engaged in a work, which exposes you to censure, calumny and implacable hatred; but there are some no doubt who feed on this report with as much pleasure as a Buzzard would on Carrion," G.M. wrote.

Sadly, Embree replied, it was true. He had owned slaves.

"To my shame be it also said, I have denied for years the truth of the christian (sic) religion; and during these years I became possessed of slaves," he wrote.

He continued: "...I repent that I ever owned one."

Embree recognized and regretted his mistakes, Mason said.

"He says, the time may come where if you have messed up like I have, you may not be celebrated anymore. And he said, that's OK. Because it means we've gotten better, hopefully. So he was just really honest about what the future may look like and his own shortcomings," she said.

It was Embree's goal to publish the paper once a month for many years to come. But after his seventh edition, he could do no more.

Embree fell ill and in December 1820, he died. "Bilious fever" was the cited reason, often a reference to what we know as typhoid or malaria.

He was 38. By then, the paper had a national distribution of about 2,000, sizeable for its time.

It was Embree's wish in his final will, to be carried out by brother Elijah, that the slave woman known as Nancy and her children be freed.

Whether that really happened scholars including Mason just don't know. What happened to Nancy, who was close in age to Embree, also is unknown.

Mason last year wrote a play about Nancy, offering her interpretation about who she was and what may have happened to her.

Why Embree took pains to look out for Nancy and the children, we don't know. Is it possible he fathered one or more of the children? Mason has thought of that but can't confirm it.

Embree left behind a struggling business, a big family and a lot of debt.

Today, he is remembered by the Heritage Alliance in a museum in downtown Jonesborough.

There's also a push happening right now by Boston University and The Boston Globe to reimagine The Emancipator, to restart the conversation about race in America and give voice to those who have gone unheard in the past.

Read more here:

TN abolitionist's work lives on, grave remains a mystery - WBIR.com

We should all know the story of Deliverance Symonds.

Dill, as she was called, was enslaved in 1766 and freed in 1783, when she moved from Danvers to Salem.

As researcher Sheila Cooke-Kayser told reporter Taylor Ann Bradford, Dill was an excellent cook and poet. Married twice, she had six children, six grandchildren and several great-grandchildren. Eleven men in her family sailed on Salem ships between 1790 and 1855, when that city was one of the busiest ports in the world. One grandson, William Fowler, served in the U.S. Navy during the Civil War.

Her legacy carries on to this day.

Something that I was amazed to find was that she has living descendants today, Cooke-Kayser said. That is something I never thought we would find.

Cooke-Kayser, a former National Park Service employee, was scheduled to share her findings with the public Wednesday night at a forum sponsored by the Danvers Historical Society.

We should also know the story of Brutus Julius Mozambique, an African who was bought in Brazil, taken to Beverly, and trained as an indentured servant. And of Lucy Foster, born into slavery in Boston in 1767, and given to Hannah Foster of Andover at the age of 4 as a wedding gift.

Their stories are our stories. And we are hearing them thanks to the hard work and fearlessness of local historians.

While Cooke-Kaysers presentation was part of the observance of Black History Month, the contributions of the Danvers and other local historical societies and museums has not been limited to the month of February. Rather, they are playing a vitally important role in ensuring the regions complicated past isnt lost to time. For example:

The Marblehead Museum has launched The Free and Enslaved People of Color in Marblehead, an online database that shares the stories of Black and Indigenous residents of the town through the 19th century.

The Museum of Newbury in Newburyport is a driving force behind the Newburyport Black History Initiative, which looks to bring the citys Black history to light through interpretive signs, lectures, panel discussions, and workshops.

In Gloucester, the Cape Ann Slavery and Abolition Trust, which grew out of the Unitarian Universalist congregations in Rockport and Gloucester, manages a website of its own, Cape Ann Slavery & Abolition, which documents how the nations oldest seaport benefitted from the slave trade.

And the Beverly Historical Societys exhibition, Set at Liberty: Stories of the Enslaved in a New England Town, lays bare how many of the towns founding fathers built their fortunes, and thus their lasting reputations, aided by generations of slavery. As Set at Liberty details, the 1754 census of Negro Slaves that found Beverly had 28 slaves, 12 males and 16 females over the age of 16.

Why are these stories important, some 150 to 200 years later? The murders of George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery and the death of Breonna Taylor brought several months of protests by Black Lives Matters activists and a long-overdue reckoning with racism in America.

For those of us in the seemingly progressive Northeast, it is easy to see those events as happening somewhere else, in places with histories fraught with discrimination and outright oppression. The work of local historians is a bracing rebuke to the notion that our history is somehow kinder and gentler. We owe them our thanks, this and every month.

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Our view: Telling the stories of the enslaved | Opinion | salemnews.com - The Salem News

On February 9, Tamil Nadu observed the Bonded Labour Abolition Day for theto mark the anniversary of the Bonded Labour System Abolition Act that was passed on the same day in 1976.

For the last few years, there has been a demand for the observance of this day, particularly from The Released Bonded Labour Association (RBLU), an organisation with a presence in several states like Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Odisha. It was formed by survivors of bonded labour to help each other.

However, it is only now in 2020that the Tamil Nadu government decided to designate a day to the cause. Government officials pledged to end bonded labour, and all stakeholders collaborated to raise awareness about this issue.

The Tamil Nadu Labour Welfare and Skill Development Department also issued the amended Standard Operating Procedure for bonded labour. The TN government claims to have made significant progress in the last one year, rescuing 201 bonded labours in 28 rescue operations through collaborations with NGOs across the state.

The Citizen takes a look at the big picture, how the bonded labour system works, how they are rescued, rehabilitated and what are the legal provisions that deal with bonded labour.

A maximum number of bonded labourers are found in brick kilns, sheep grazing and goat grazing units, packaging units, agriculture units, coir making units, domestic servitude, tree cutting industries and textiles. .

The ones who are targeted are usually those from the most vulnerable communities, those who are uneducated and those who have no other source of income. The offenders, who are owners of these units are usually bigwigs with political connections and influence on the police. They have middlemen who work for them and go to rural areas to bring labourers.

The trap

Once they identify the most vulnerable people, who are often desperately in need of money they offer an advance. The vulnerable people immediately accept the offer as they have no other choice. The minute they do, they are trapped. The sharks then tell the targets that in order to pay off their debts, they would have to come work for him. Initially, it sounds like a good plan. Sometimes, the middle men bring single men, sometimes they bring the whole family, so that they don't have a reason to leave. The advance amount is the main hold on them because they become liable to pay it back.

Life in bonded labour

After coming to the site of work, the labourers realise that nothing that was promised has happened. For instance, in the brick kilns, they are told they would get a certain sum every week, depending on how many bricks are made. But when it's payday, they are given a meager amount of around Rs 300 per week. When they question the owner about it, he says he has deducated it from the advance.

Gradually, days turn into months and months to years, and they still continue working for the same wages, not knowing when they will be able to clear the debts. Whenever they try to question the owner about how much debt is remaining, he increases the amount saying he needs to include the interest. Because the labourers are illiterate and don't understand the concept of interest or know how to calculate, they are taken advantage of. They are made to believe that they are liable to stay and work.

There are often trigger situations, for instance, when there is a family function or a funeral in the family. When they ask the owner for permission to visit their hometown, they are denied permission. In rare cases where they are allowed to go, the owner keeps their children or family with him so that he has some hold and assurance that the labourer will return.

Sometimes, the labourers experience verbal and physical abuse. The owners also scare them saying the police and politicians are on their side. If anyone tries to escape, they beat them up and show them as an example to others.

In Tamil Nadu, these labourers are mostly from the Irula tribe. They are physically strong people. They do hard labour - backbreaking work for almost 18 hours. In many cases, there are generations of bonded labour. The children are not allowed to go to school. They are also asked to help their parents work in order to reduce the pay off time. The owners know that if someone is educated, they will definitely fight back.

Since they are not allowed outside, they are also denied medical attention. They use their own traditional healing methods. The owners do not let them go to the hospital, even for delivery. There are some cases where the babies have died because of no medical attention. After delivery, mothers are required to get back to work immediately.

The Rescue process

The ultimate authority is the Revenue Divisional Officer. He decides whether it is a legitimate case of bonded labour or not. The information comes to him through different sources. Sometimes, it's through someone who's managed to escape and knows about others who are still trapped, sometimes it's through NGOs and sometimes the victims themselves call or approach.

Once the information is received, the RDO goes to the site to inspect. There are certain SOPs to be followed once it is decided that it's a bonded labour case. The RDO questions the labourers. The SOP requires that the labourer cannot be questioned in front of the owner, so he uses police protection to separate the owner and labourer and also has a social worker nearby to facilitate communication and help them understand that they are indeed there to help. The officer keeps all information confidential. This is how it should be, but most of the time is not.

In the few cases when the survivors are actually rescued, they undergo medical tests. Their statements are recorded by the authorities. The RDO then gives them certificates as proof that they have been released from bonded labour. This is crucial because they have no other identification documents. It is the release certificate that helps them open bank accounts, apply for ration cards. They are then entitled to all government provisions. They are sent back to their villages and local police are informed, as often they need protection from those who had kept them bonded. For the next few years, they are given survival training and rehabilitated with the help of NGOs.

"I worked for three years, but the debt was not settled"

Vasantha Elumalai, a mother of two and a survivor recalls her life in a brick kiln. " I grew up in Kavaniyathur, Thiruvanamalai in a thatched house. It was falling apart and I needed money to build it. My father was not keeping well either. So I went looking for loans. I was told that the foreman gives out loans. So I approached him and he gave me a loan of Rs 20,000. I must have been 16 years old at the time. I took the money, built a shed and took my father to the hospital. I also had a little baby then. The foreman told me that in order to pay off the debt, I would have to work for him, along with my family. He told me a bus would come to pick us up after Diwali. So we, along with five other families from my village went to work for him in a town called Ponneri."

"It was a brick kiln. There was no house, just an asbestos sheet. The place was filthy. We tidied it up and got some vegetables to start cooking. The routine was challenging. In the morning, the men wet the sand, after that I would finish cooking and other house work and then the women joined the men at work. Again at around 2am in the night, we left, along with our children,for the site. They would pay the whole family just Rs 300 per week. If we ask them for more, they'll say they have reduced it because of the advance we have taken. We also thought it's ok because anyway we would have to pay the sum later, so it's better they take it from our wages."

"Meanwhile, my father's condition worsened. My mother told me to come visit him. I asked the owner if I could go. He told me that there was a lot of work to do and he couldn't afford to let me go. My father passed away and I couldn't even meet him. It was heartbreaking. When I asked him to at least let me go for the funeral, he said I could go alone, leaving my husband and children there. He didn't give me any money to travel. I had an old gold earring. I sold that and came for the funeral."

"I thought to myself, even when my own father died, the owner didn't let me go. I wondered if I would ever be able to leave. The situation at the site was unbearable. We used to keep one day's food for two to three days. We even faced abuse. When my husband asked him permission to go to the funeral, he beat him up back and blue. I worked for three years, but they kept saying the debt was not paid. He kept talking about other expenses that they have paid on our behalf. They never explained it to us properly and we were afraid to ask."

"It was then that we heard about some people who escaped earlier. They gave us some contacts. We were afraid the owner would come to know if we made the call. But we gave it a try and told them everything. It was during monsoon. The heavy rains had damaged our roof. The six families huddled up, trying to protect ourselves from the heavy rain. Suddenly, we saw that an officer had come. We were curious, but the owner told us that he didn't come for us and shooed us away. The officer and the advocate with him saw us and said that they had indeed come to see us. It was like seeing God. All of us rushed to him, fell at his feet and begged him to take us away from there. If he didn't come that day, we don't know if we would even be alive."

"We weren't sure if we would ever be able to get out of there or ever see our loved ones. The day we were released, we were taken to the RD office and given biryani. That's the first time we tasted biriyani. They told us that all our debts have been extinguished."

"Now, we live in a community built exclusively for released bonded labourers. There are about 100 houses in Thiruvanamalai. Here, we have jobs like charcoal making, cow farm, petrol bunk, etc. We were bonded there, but now we own our own businesses. We are so much happier here. Even our children get to go to school."

Muniappan P, who was taken away from his village when he was just about 13 years old. Muniappan used to live with his grandmother and go to school in Thiruvanamalai. But his parents were bonded labourers in a tree cutting unit. One day, he received news that his father had suddenly died while at work. The cause of death was not revealed. It was summer vacation time and the owner of the tree cutting unit sent a middleman to get him.

They told him he could help his handicapped mother out by spending the vacation there and helping with work. Although he was hesitant, he went because his mother pushed him to accept the offer as there was no other way for her to pay off my father's debts. The job required him to move from place to place. He worked for close to three months and his school was about to reopen. He was excited and mentioned it to the owner. That's when he realised he was trapped. The owner told him he would not let him go. He said he would have to pay off the debts first.

Muniappan says, "Both my mother and I didn't know how much advance my father had taken. We just kept working. I worked for about six years. We got about 300 rs per month. The owner used to give us rice infested with worms. We would clean it up and eat. If I asked him how much of the debt was left, he would beat me up. Meanwhile, my mother got me married to a relative who lived nearby. After the wedding, the owner told my wife that she would also have to work for him. My in-laws came to visit once. The owner asked who they were. Then, he told us that they would not be allowed to visit us unless they also work there. So they left."

"When my wife was six months pregnant with our first child, we asked him if we could go to the hospital. He said you are all Irulas, your women deliver at home, why do you need to go to the hospital all of a sudden. I was shocked. A few months later, my mother in law died. She had wanted to see her daughter till the day before she died, but when my wife approached the owner, he asked her sarcastically, 'can the dead pay off your debts?' Anyway, he let us go on the condition that we leave my mother behind. So we did."

"When we returned, out of the three families that were with us, one couple had tried to escape. But the owner caught him, brought him back, tied him to a tree and beat him up so badly to set an example for us. There was someone outside our shelter to keep a watch on us all the time, so that they could alert the owner in case we tried to escape."

"Finally, one day, our freedom came when, out of the blue, the RDO came to the site, rescued us and brought us back to Thiruvanamalai. After coming to my hometown, everyone looked at us with suspicion because the owner had told them we complained against him. But gradually they understood we were the victims and started being happy for us. We got all our identification documents like Aadhaar and ration card. We were happy for two years. Then suddenly one day, we were told that there's a case against us by the owner. We were really scared if we'd have to go back to that life. But we spoke to the NGO that was helping us and they told us that we were just called to give a testimony against the owner."

"After that, till today, we haven't had any problems. We are able to send our child to school, meet medical expenses, the children even have a park to play nearby. I feel like I am reborn now. We even have solar power. Our life has literally and metaphorically turned from darkness to light."

Legal provisions

Speaking about the legal provisions that deal with bonded labour, advocate Rajkumar explained, "The predominant act to address this issue is the Bonded Labour System Abolition Act 1976. This act defines bonded labour and makes the district administration responsible. In Tamil Nadu, it is the Revenue Divisional Officer or collector. They are responsible to identify and rescue bonded labourers under section 10 and 11 of the act."

"Another important part is the definition clause, it deals with the definition of bonded labour, which is usually a debt system. For the purpose of exploitation, if someone is paying an advance, or if there are other obligations like caste, community, or customary obligations, it is bonded labour. When these obligations are there, they will forfeit some rights like the right to receive minimum wage, freedom of employment, right to move freely throughout India or the right to sell goods at market value. If any of these components are violated, it comes under bonded labour."

The maximum punishment is three years for the ones who are exploiting, but there are many IPC offenses that can be considered too. For instance, when there is exploitation, it comes under trafficking, under IPC section 370. So that has at least 10 years imprisonment or even life imprisonment. In cases of physical offense (IPC 323, 326) will cover it and wrongful restrainment will be covered by section 341."

"When the act was promulgated in 1976, immediately, all the debt pending before the owners was extinguished at the stroke of the signature of the President. Now, if someone is giving such an advance, it will be treated as illegal advance and is also punishable under section 17."

"Under this act, two vigilance committees must be formulated by the district administration. One is under the chairmanship of the collector or officers nominated by the collector. The other is the sub divisional committee which comprises the RDO, social workers and bank managers for the rehabilitation process. These people monitor the implementation of the act."

"In 1992, the Supreme Court said payments less than minimum wage amounts to forced labour. If they can get a better wage outside, but they still stay there, it means there is a force, even if there is no gate or wall. There's another judgement which encourages the role of NGOs."

Challenges

"There are some challenges in the provisions of this act. For instance, when the owners don't pay the advance upfront. There is a promise of advance, but it's never given. In such cases, it cannot be covered under the act. In the textile industry, they promise that if you work for a certain period, a lump sum will be given at the end.

So, parents of young people who have dropped out of school in areas like Dindigul, Coimbatore and Tirupur, the textile belt, think it is a good option to save up for their marriage. But once they start working, they are exploited. They work for 12-18 hours a day with no additional wages. This cannot be covered under the bonded labour system abolition act because the advance is only promised, it's not given."

"Another challenge is the rehabilitation process. The scheme provided by the central government was initially Rs 1000 for the initial amount and Rs 20,000 for the final amount. Now they have increased it considerably to Rs 1 lakh for an adult male and Rs 2 lakh for an adult female. The initial amount that is provided on the day of release is also increased to Rs 30,000. However, the problem is that the remaining amount is only paid after proof of bondage. This is usually debated in parliament, in the TN assembly. And as you know, criminal trials can take several years, so when will these people be rehabilitated? It should not be like this because many SC judgements say that if an offence has been committed, if the prosecution takes time to prove the offence, why must the victim suffer. That aspect needs to be addressed.

Photograph credit: Joshua Joel Prakash

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Bonded in Labour - A Life in Hell - The Citizen

Photo by Nate Billings, The Oklahoman

By Luke Kyaw and Mathew Seibert

SACRAMENTO, CA The Golden State has had a long, conflicted history of heated political battles over the existence of the death penalty. Now legislation is being introduced to end or mitigate death row.

Alexei Koseff, author of the report Is This Another Way to End Californias Death Penalty? reveals these ongoing disputes about capital punishment in his writings.

Koseff argues that despite having housed the first ever court in the nation to rule the penalty as unconstitutional, California today has the largest death row among all the other states, at 694 inmates according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Koseff then explains that on Feb. 18, 1972, the California Supreme Court declared the death penalty unconstitutional. However, it was short-lived when voters voted later in the same year to add a constitutional amendment that overturned the ruling.

When initiatives to abolish the death penalty appeared on the ballot in 2012 and 2016, voters rejected them and once again upheld the death penaltyalbeit by a narrow margin.

Prosecutors praised this turnout, claiming that it is imperative to maintain the death penalty as the ultimate punishment as well as an effective bargaining tool for plea deals.

Opponents of the death penalty argue that it is too painful and cruel to the victims and their families, unfair, and just doesnt work as a deterrent to the crime. And, increasingly, groups like the Innocence Project are finding and exonerating, people on death row.

And despite the death penalty being maintained, Koseff emphasizes the fact that no one has been executed in the state since 2006 after a Death Row inmate challenged the constitutionality of lethal injection on the primary basis of excessive pain.

However, after 15 years of court appeals, the new lethal injection protocol is about to be finalized.

In light of this, Gov. Gavin Newsoma staunch believer in repealing the death penaltyissued an executive order in 2019 closing down the death chamber at San Quentin and urged voters to reconsider their stance on the death penalty.

As a result, death row opponents are now considering another path: reducing the size of death row.

A report by the state Committee on Revision of the Penal Codewhich unanimously recommended the steps to reduce the size of death rowhas already introduced a pair of bills which are currently moving through legislation.

Assembly Bill 256 by Assemblymember Ash Kalra will extend a law that was implemented in 2020 that allowed for easier opportunities to challenge racially biased convictions and sentences. This allows inmates that experienced capital punishment injustice through racial bias to be able to overturn their conviction.

Senate Bill 300 by Sen. Dave Cortese (SB 300) will limit the punishments for people convicted for being an accomplice in a homicide. This would help protect individuals who were deemed a major proponent of the crime but did not actually kill someone.

Koseff explained that SB 300 barely made it through the Senate last session and now faces an assembly where bills regarding the reducing of criminal sentences typically face overwhelming resistance.

California voters have increasingly supported initiatives that aim to ease the states history of harsh criminal sentencing, Cortese said.

Koseff then questions the Golden States capital punishment policies with, The end of Californias Death Row?

With rehabilitation as the backbone, Gov. Newsom alongside advocates for abolition plan on completely disbanding the death row facility at San Quentin, Koseff said. The prison officials plan on moving condemned inmates around to free up this space and allow prisoners easier access to work and pay restitution.

Legal Director and General Counsel for Criminal Justice Legal Foundation Kent Scheidegger explained how the death row facilities drive up costs substantially. However, advocates for the death penalty in California said Newsoms actions are essentially a slap in the face for the families of murder victims.

During an appearance in Los Angeles, Newsom said he looks forward to advancing more leadership on reforming the death penalty. We talk justice, we preach justice. But as a nation we dont practice it on death row.

See more here:

CA Opponents of Death Penalty Look to Alternatives, from Abolition to Reducing Size of Death Row New Laws to Ban Executions Introduced - The Peoples...

The Hong Kong Government published the Employment and Retirement Schemes Legislation (Offsetting Arrangement) (Amendment) Bill 2022 (Amendment Bill) on 11 February 2022 to implement the proposal to abolish the use of the accrued benefits of employers mandatory contributions under the Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) system to offset statutory severance payment and long service payment (SP/LSP) commonly known as the MPF Offsetting Arrangement.

Abolition of the MPF Offsetting Arrangement

Employers are currently entitled to make use of the MPF Offsetting Arrangement to reduce the SP/LSP payable to their employees upon termination of employment. After the proposed amendments come into effect on a date to be appointed by after the enactment of the Amendment Bill (Transition Date), the MPF Offsetting Arrangement will be abolished and employers could no longer use its MPF mandatory contributions to offset the SP/LSP entitlements in respect of their employees employment period starting from the Transition Date (but not before). In essence, under the Amendment Bill, the SP/LSP payable to an employee whose employment ends on or after the Transition Date will be divided into two components:-

Despite the above, voluntary contributions which employers make in excess of the mandatory requirement (and the returns derived therefrom) can continue to be used to offset both Pre- and Post-Transition SP/LSP. Offsetting by using gratuities based on length of service is also likewise not affected by the Amendment Bill.

As for MPF-exempted occupational retirement schemes under the Occupational Retirement Schemes Ordinance, the offsetting arrangement will also be abolished with respect to non-offsettable benefits.

The calculation of SP/LSP will also be updated following the enactment of the Amendment Bill. Whilst the payment rate (i.e. 2/3 x monthly wages x years of service) and payment cap (i.e. HK$390,000) for monthly rated employees will remain unchanged, the monthly wages used to determine the Pre-Transition SP/LSP will generally be the monthly wages immediately preceding the Transition Date, whereas the monthly wages for calculating the Post-Transition SP/LSP will generally be the last monthly wages before the relevant date of termination. Where an employee has work for a long period such that his/her aggregate SP/LSP exceeds HK$390,000, the Post-Transition SP/LSP will be the remainder of HK$390,000 after first deducting the Pre-Transition SP/LSP.

Government subsidisation

Bearing in mind that the new regime would lead to additional financial burden being incurred by employers, the Government will put in place supporting measures to facilitate the transition. Based on the Legislative Council Brief issued on 8 October 2021, the current plan of the Government is to set up a 25-year subsidy scheme details of which are summarised as follows:

The Government subsidy scheme will likely be implemented through a reimbursement approach whereby employers will have to first settle any SP/LSP that arises and the Government will calculate and disburse the subsidy upon subsequent application.

Employers obligations

The Amendment Bill also seeks to amend the record-keeping provisions of the Employment Ordinance to require employers to keep wage and employment records of their employees covering the 12 months of the employees employment (or a shorter period for an employee who has worked for less than 12 months) immediately preceding the Transition Date.

In addition, and in connection with the Government subsidy scheme, the Government intends to introduce a Designated Saving Accounts (DSA) Scheme under which employers will be required to make mandatory contributions to designated accounts for meeting their future SP/LSP liabilities. Separate legislative amendments will be made.

What should employers do?

As evident from the above, the Amendment Bill contains technical amendments which may not be easy to follow in practice. As such, although it is expected that the amendments will not be implemented until at least 2025, it is advisable for employers to familiarise themselves with this new regime and seek professional advice where necessary to facilitate compliance.

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Government Published Amendment Bill to Abolish MPF Offsetting Arrangement after Years of Consultation - Lexology

What would inspire you to use your body to block traffic or go on a hunger strike? Some profound, personal injustice that was being overlooked by seemingly everyone around you?

The driving force behind many of historys greatest social movements whether for the abolition of slavery, womens rights, or racial justice is the energy generated in the space between an injustice not being acknowledged and the recourse that it demands.

For a growing movement of young people around the world, the most salient injustice is the climate and biodiversity crisis. And the gap between people in power acknowledging its severity and taking appropriate action is enormous.

So these young people are doing everything they can to disrupt the status quo with the means available to them.

But its not easy to keep protests going for weeks and months at a time. Often, protesters and organizers face arrest and harassment, lose their jobs, and have to pay for everyday expenses out of dwindling bank accounts. This additional burden of having to afford survival leads to high attrition rates in social movements.

Now, the Climate Emergency Fund is working to ease this financial burden by giving organizers and climate groups timely grants, resource support, and networking capabilities. Insulated from money concerns, organizers can focus on carrying out actions, building the movement, and making sure their message is heard loud and clear.

Movements are how societies make important changes, Margaret Klein Salamon, executive director of the Climate Emergency Fund, told Global Citizen. And in this case, in this absurd situation, as the movie Dont Look Up portrays, we are at this point of horrible existential risk, a truly catastrophic situation, and the vast majority of Americans and people in other countries are still in normal mode, acting like things are basically fine and we should continue as is."

But more and more people are waking up from that, through organizations like Extinction Rebellion and others who engage in civil disobedience and high stakes actions to fight public complacency, she added.

Demonstrators hold up posters outside the Portuguese parliament in Lisbon during a climate strike of school students as part of the Fridays for Future movements Friday, May 24, 2019.Image: Armando Franca/AP

Protest movements, while guided by big-picture concerns, often need to act swiftly in response to current events, especially when it comes to local chapters who depend on teams of volunteers.

Receiving a grant can be key, but the process of actually getting one can be lengthy and complicated, with applicants having to fill out various forms, undergo rounds of interviews, and then wait to be vetted before a final decision comes through.

By the time money clears, objectives may have changed, teams may have fragmented, and momentum may have stalled.

The Climate Emergency Fund operates in this space, trying to get money to action-oriented groups as fast as possible to ensure momentum accelerates.

Formed in 2019 by three millionaires Aileen Getty, Rory Kennedy, and Trevor Neilson the organization seeks to turbocharge protests as theyre happening now in order to bolster the larger movement and secure decisive grassroots victories.

The smartest place for philanthropists to invest is in this new generation of activists who refuse to accept the excuses of the adults whose lazy approach to climate is leading us off a cliff, Neilson told the New York Times. The era of gradualism in environmental activism is over.

The founders perform advisory roles nowadays, alongside a host of environmental advocates, while the day-to-day work of supporting climate organizations and identifying grantees falls to a small team of four women Salamon, Development Director Rowena Koenig, Operations Manager Sophie Tong-Try, and Grants Manager Ananda Ambrose.

The teams nimbleness means that they can maximize the amount of money that goes to frontline activism and organizing.

Taking cues from groups like Extinction Rebellion and the Sunrise Movement, the Climate Emergency Fund perceives the climate crisis as a siren going off, demanding immediate intervention.

We need to enter into emergency mode collectively, Salamon said. Its not a choice. Its transform or collapse time.

If we want to continue on with the human experiment and work toward a better future, theres just no alternative to getting to zero emissions as quickly as possible and I think we can do it, she said. The other option is just genocidal, catastrophic collapse.

Since 2019, the nonprofit has supported 71 organizations, trained 12,495 activists, and mobilized 1 million more. Last year alone, 35 grantees received $1.5 million in funds.

Current grantees are grouped among five categories: building pressure on policymakers; strategic action at COP26; confronting deadly climate science on TV news; building movement infrastructure; climate emergency campaigning; and bringing the movement back to the streets.

The overarching theme, however, is growing the global movement so that it can fully meet the challenges ahead.

Image: Kirsty O'Connor/PA/AP

Before joining the Climate Emergency Fund, Salamon was a Climate Emergency Fund grantee working at The Climate Mobilization, an organization that helped to get more than 2,000 municipalities to declare a climate emergency.

Declaring an emergency is step one. The next step is taking action.

Social movements at their heart are about spreading an uncomfortable truth to the public, she said. Its a factual truth and also a moral truth. Like the abolitionists, we say look at what this system actually is. So its an anti-denial campaign. Atrocities are being justified in the name of silence and normalcy, but if we really shine a light on it and make people confront these things then we can get the political motivation for transformative change.

Its fundamentally democratic, she said. People are taking back power, and in terms of tactics and high stakes organizing, definitely one thing that distinguishes the Climate Emergency Fund is our willingness to fund the vanguard, the hunger strikers and roadblocks, and the Extinction Rebellion and so forth.

Roadblocks, hunger strikes, digging tunnels underground, kayaking out to deepwater oil rigs, shutting down coal plants these are some of the tactics of the vanguard of the movement, the people who are standing in the way of heavy industries stripping the Earth bare for fossil fuels and then burning them to turn the atmosphere into a gauze of smoggy heat.

Salamon argues that these actions gain their power as a kind of symbolic rupture of norms. As onlookers get awoken from a state of complacency, they might recognize the gravity of the situation for what it is.

Theyre nonviolent in character, but theyre frequently subjected to violence. What a horrible thing who would want to go sit in the road to face down angry drivers and then get arrested and sit in jail? This is such an extreme act that it sends a clear message to the public.

In recent years, climate protest movements have proliferated around the world, driven mostly by young people. Millions of students have participated in Fridays for Future school strikes, following the example of Greta Thunberg.

Government and corporate leaders have increasingly adopted the language of climate activists and the movement for zero emissions has gained pledges, but in the words of Thunberg, all of this amounts to blah, blah, blah, or empty signaling, without an immediate reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. On the contrary, emissions are rising and show no signs of slowing down.

What would it take to actually transform the status quo?

The political scientist Erica Chenoweth reviewed hundreds of social movements over the past century to find markers of success. She found, for example, that nonviolent protests are twice as likely as violent protests to achieve their goals. In that same vein, size seems to matter. Once a protest movement gets to 3.5% of a given population, the odds of success are greatly amplified.

The 3.5 rule guides a lot of Salamons thinking. She has a PhD in clinical psychology and is keenly interested in understanding what it takes to nudge people from indifference or avoidance about the climate crisis into active embrace of the movement.

Im basically coming at it from the question of, What is wrong with us psychologically that we are letting this happen and how do we wake up and treat this like the emergency that this is? she said. Social movement is the answer to that question.

Think about it like this: All of these actions stopping cars in rush hour traffic, halting industrial construction projects, subjecting your body to extreme deprivation carry the same fundamental message: stop!

There are different objectives, of course, but theyre all calling for the state of environmental decline to stop.

And the more onlookers stop, the more likely theyll take a look around and see the situation for what it is. And the more they do that, the more likely theyll join the movement.

Then, if and when that 3.5% target is reached, the transformative change Salamon spoke of might actually be possible.

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Meet the Team Turbocharging the Global Climate Movement - Global Citizen

Made of a red shweshwe dress, reminiscent of a family heirloom, the deconstruction and reconstruction of the fabric allows a new design to emerge from the mass of dots. (The Norval Sovereign African Art Prize)

Norval Foundation and The Sovereign Art Foundation (SAF) declared Bonolo Kavula as the winner of The Norval Sovereign African Art Prize for their work Tswelopele. The artists work is focused on abstraction, repetition and design, to create layered and multidimensional installations. Made of a red shweshwe dress, reminiscent of a family heirloom, the deconstruction and reconstruction of the fabric allows a new design to emerge from the mass of dots, leaving space for the viewer to interpret the work as they choose.

Kavula, represented by SMAC Gallery in Cape Town, is the first ever winner of this annual Prize for contemporary artists from Africa and its diaspora. They were selected from a shortlist of 30 artists hailing from 18 countries of which South Africa has the strongest representation, followed by Zimbabwe, Angola, Morocco, and Nigeria.

In addition to the title and cash award of R500 000, Kavula will be offered the opportunity to hold a solo exhibition at Norval Foundation, in which the winning work will feature. In addition, aer capturing the attention of the public who placed votes at the exhibition and online, Ren Tavares, of This Is Not A White Cube, Luanda and Lisbon, and Galeire Alex Serra, Cologne is awarded the Public Vote Prize and R25,000 for their piece 'Sia dona um, 2021, retratos pra Ingls ver sries.' A work in which the plantations in So Tom and the period aer the abolition of slavery remind us of a historical past that is important to recover and reckon with.

A board of 53 independent arts professionals, comprising curators and academics who work closely with artists in their respective regions, nominated 158 artists for the Prize.The 30 finalists were shortlisted by a Judging Panel of five world-class art specialists, namely: writer, curator, and museum director David Ellio; Exhibitions Director, Museum of African Contemporary Art Al Maaden, Janine Galle Dieudji; Curator, Norval Foundation, Khanya Mashabela; exhibition curator and contemporary art consultant, Marie-AnnYemsi; and Chief Executive and Director, Design Museum, London,Tim Marlow.

The awards were given at a private event in the presence of the Judging Panel at the Finalists Exhibition at Norval Foundation, Cape Town on 15 February 2022. The public are invited to view the shortlisted artworks at the exhibition which is open 9am-5pm (daily except Tuesdays) until 28 February 2022 inclusive.

The Prize aims to raise significant funds for the shortlisted artists and for Norval Foundations Educational Programme as proceeds from the sale will be split equally between the Foundation and the artists.

Anna Lejerskar, President of the Learn for Life Foundation, the non-profit arm of EON Reality, commented on the partnership:

Creativity is viewed as the driving force behind innovation, as a fuel to inspire and enrich. For EON Reality, the parallels between art and technology are evident, both provide the means to learn about ourselves and the world in new and different ways, and an invitation to rethink and reinvent.

The EON Reality, through its not-for-profit arm Learn for Life Foundation is proud to be sponsoring The Norval Sovereign African Art Prize in a cause that is closely aligned with the organizations commitment to education, arts and the community.

The cooperation between Learn for Life Foundation and the Norval Sovereign African Art Prize marks our shared vision to harness the power of creativity and empower the dreams of the generations to come.

Hannah OLeary, Head of Modern & Contemporary African Art, Sothebys commented:

The Norval Sovereign African Art Prize not only provides a wonderful opportunity for the artists involved, but it also brings to the fore the vibrant, boundary-pushing artistic communities across Africa and the diaspora for the benefit of an audience worldwide. Just off the back of the exhibition in Cape Town, it is with great excitement that we are presenting the shortlisted works in an auction at Sothebys.

All shortlisted works, except for The Grand Prize Winner, are available to acquire via an auction hosted by Sothebys, open for bidding from 17h00 GMT yesterday (15 February 2022) until 22 February 2022. Please go to Sothebys auction pagefor further information and to view the works. Registration is required to place a bid.

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Tswelopele by Bonolo Kavula earns the The Norval Sovereign African Art Prize - News24

On Feb. 5, members of several progressive organizations based in the Los Angeles area joined with over 50 cities in a nationwide day of action. Demonstrators and speakers were united around a singular message: No war on Russia! The demonstration took place outside of the Wilshire Federal Building in Los Angeles, which sits across the street from the Los Angeles National Cemetery. The bodies of thousands of veterans of Americas imperial wars are buried here, with undoubtedly more joining their ranks if the U.S. march to war against Russia continues.

Those at the rally were able to come and enjoy solidarity with other activists calling for peace. Liberation News spoke with Ia Martinez, an organizer with the U.S. Hands Off Cuba Committee, who said that it was necessary to stand against a war because a full-scale war with a nuclear power is potentially suicidal. While the prospect of such a war is appalling to her, Martinez also said it was inspiring to be surrounded by other like-minded activists fighting for peace.

Speakers at the demonstration highlighted the many struggles that are inextricably linked to the struggle against U.S. imperialism. Juan Jose Gutierrez of the Full Rights for Immigrants Coalition shared the history of NATO in the context of the collapse of the Soviet Union. He described the pattern of Western imperial powers breaking promises to the Soviet Union by admitting former nations of the Warsaw Pact to NATO, a strategic alliance whose sole purpose is to militarily encircle and threaten the Soviet. He also stated the immigrant community of Los Angeles is united in calling for a de-escalation of tensions. Gutierrez also explained that just as workers living in the U.S. desire peace and financial security, so too do the people of Eastern Europe who would undoubtedly suffer the consequences of the war that the U.S. is pushing for.

Additionally, Kourosh Karimi-Cherkandi, an organizer with ANSWER Coalition Los Angeles, explained that contrary to the coverage by Western media, NATO is not on a defensive mission. He connected NATOs involvement in the continued destabilization of Afghanistan and Libya both countries now suffering from the aftermath of NATO intervention. Karimi-Cherkandi called for a united working class opposition to NATO interference and the abolition of this hostile organization to protect innocent civilians across the world.

Even now, the U.S. government, with the support of other Western powers such as the UK and Canada, is continuing to make baseless claims that a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine is imminent. Unlike the U.S., Russia is continuing to show its willingness to work through a diplomatic process to de-escalate tensions, and continuing negotiations mediated by the French prime minister Emmanuel Macron. While the U.S. government and major defense contractors in the U.S. are pushing for war because they know it will be profitable for them and their shareholders, the working class in places like Los Angeles, and throughout the world, are united in calls for peace. This struggle against imperialist war will continue until the working class wins the peace it deserves. The rallying cry remains the same: No war on Russia!

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Los Angeles activists join national day of action to say No war... - Liberation

Illustration by Sarah Brady

Ishaan Nandwani, Opinions Editor

John Henrik Clarke. Bayard Rustin. Mamphela Ramphele.

Perhaps youve heard their names before; perhaps you havent. While they may not be ubiquitously known or actively discussed in Black history, these figures have been instrumental in efforts for equality and justice for Black people on a global scale.

Clarke spearheaded the movement to bring African Studies to American universities; Rustin, a gay Black man, planned the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and Ramphele was critical in the fight for equality during the South African anti-apartheid movement.

This Black History Month, its important to celebrate not only the legacy of the Black American figures who have been revered throughout history for their instrumental efforts in fighting for civil rights Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, W.E.B. Du Bois but also the unsung heroes who have revolutionized Black history both domestically and worldwide.

Additionally, we must expand African cultural studies at both the primary and professional school levels and consider cross-cultural influences, allowing for a more comprehensive understanding of the intricate Black narratives that have laid the foundation for our society today.

This semester at VCU, Im taking Afro-Latinx Cultures, a world studies topic course exploring the vivid African influence in Latin America. The course navigates one of many facets of Black history, but in a few short weeks, Ive learned about critical aspects of Black history that I hadnt learned before in my 15 years of school.

Insightful discussions about the Underground Railroads reach into Mexico and Vicente Guerrero the first Black president of Mexico, who freed all slaves in Mexico more than 30 years prior to President Abraham Lincoln signing the Emancipation Proclamation have greatly expanded my worldview.

I had always considered Lincoln as the primary pioneer in the abolition movement from a legislative perspective; however, I hadnt considered how far ahead Mexico was in comparison to the U.S. in this respect. It had a Black president almost two centuries before the U.S.; moreover, its anti-slavery work warrants critical discussion and cross-cultural comparison.

Yet our schools dont teach us that history. While Im certainly grateful for the advances weve made in expanding race-based education throughout my lifetime, including the introduction of African Studies as a primary area of study accessible at colleges and universities, more should be done to educate the general public on these important aspects of Black history that are not talked about enough.

Here at VCU, we can start by requiring an African Studies elective for all students. I suggest interweaving classes with a detailed discussion of Black history in Richmond in order for students to understand the rich and vibrant stories of the Black men and women who fought for their rights years ago on our own soil.

Additionally, classes need to teach Black history outside of the U.S., exploring how these influences have shaped our current perspective and understanding.

In order to cultivate a new generation of students with a global perspective, its essential for our education system to delve more deeply into the different facets of Black history.

Related

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Black history must be expanded in schools, global in scope The Commonwealth Times - The Commonwealth Times

Alphaeus Hunton, second from left in the foreground, along with Petitioners Julian Mayfield, Alice Windom, W.A. Jeanpierre, and Maya Angelou Make, deliver a petition to the U.S. Embassy in Accra, Ghana, in 1963. | New York Public Library

In the past few years, Tony Pencinovsky has written or edited several books which serve to highlight the experiences of communists and the Communist Party. These include Let Them Tremble: Biographical Interventions Marking 100 Years of the Communist Party, USA (2019) and Faith in the Masses: Essays Celebrating 100 Years of the Communist Party, USA. (2020). His latest book, The Cancer of Colonialism: W. Alphaeus Hunton, Black Liberation, and the Daily Worker 1944-1946, recently released by International Publishers, continues this work.

Hunton, a prominent member of the Communist Party and a leading figure in the struggle for African American equality and against colonialism, was a well-known figure from the 1930s through the 1950s. However, the silencing of the history of African American communists, beginning with the McCarthy era, has left Huntons life unexamined by historians. Pecinovsky begins the process of correcting this erasure by re-introducing Hunton through his columns in the Daily Worker and placing his theoretical and political contributions within the context of a world on the verge of decolonization.

Pecinovskys book has three parts. First, an introduction, which provides a historical background to the political climate in which Hunton lived. Secondly, a brief biography of Hunton. And third, a selection of columns written by Hunton in the Daily Worker newspaper.

The introduction sets the historical framework within which Hunton operated. Drawing upon scholarly works on this era, Pecinovsky analyzes the historical development of colonialism throughout the world in the late 19th and early 20th century as well as the attendant rise of the anti-colonial movement. Focusing on the role of the Soviet Union and the activities of the Communist International, the author describes the links between the communist movement and the anti-colonial movement.

These links included material and educational support for the struggles against the imperialist powers. Many leaders, including African American activists, attended training schools in the Soviet Union where they studied methods of organization, propaganda, and theory. These included future leaders such as Jomo Kenyatta, William Patterson, and George Padmore. He also gives brief descriptions of anti-colonial and national liberation movements in Indonesia, the Philippines, and South Africa.

Having illustrated these connections between communists and national liberation movements, in the second portion of the book Pecinovsky provides a brief biography of Hunton. Hunton was a leader in the National Negro Congress and the Civil Rights Congress and later served as the educational director of the Council on African Affairs, founded in 1937 by W.E.B. DuBois, Paul Robeson, and Max Yergan.

After World War II, Hunton began focusing on colonialism in Africa. For several years, he wrote a regular column in the Daily Worker, which often centered on the struggles to end colonialism and the possible pathways forward in building the economic structures of newly independent countries. These columns make up the heart of Pecinovskys book. They represent journalistic interventions in what Hunton would flesh out more fully in his book Decision in Africa (recently reissued by International Publishers).

The bulk of Huntons Daily Worker columns reprinted here cover the years between 1944 and 1946. Writing toward the end of World War II, Huntons analysis of the international situation was greatly influenced by the increased world legitimacy of the Soviet Union, as it had taken the brunt of the damageand had inflicted the greatest toll on Nazi Germany. Hunton wrote:

With their increasing knowledge of the Soviet Power, African leaders are more frequently citing the contrast between the failure of the European colonial administration, during a half century or longer, to provide any appreciable social advancement for the masses of Africans under their rule, and the remarkable success of the Soviet government in bringing social well-being and economic efficiency to millions of heterogeneous peoples who 25 years ago were in a state of colonial serfdom comparable of that to the most backward Africans (p. 186).

Hunton recognized that the end of the war was leading to increased demands for an end to colonialism. His outlook was that there was an alternative path of development for the colonial countrieswhich would later be referred to as the non-capitalist path of developmentand that the Soviet Union offered an historical example of the success of this path toward economic and social development.

In his columns, Hunton repeatedly emphasized the role of labor within the colonies and the dominant role workers could play in the transition from colonialism. He often pointed to the newly developed labor movements in Nigeria and South Africa as examples that could be followed by other colonies as they began their march toward independence.

In relation to South Africa, Hunton wrote:

Through their trade unions and their peoples organizations like the African National Congress, and supported by the Communist Party and a wide range of progressive elements among the Europeans, the Africans have pressed their demands for better working conditions and trade union recognition, for abolition of the pass laws, for better education (p. 215).

Huntons columns cover the anti-colonial movements throughout Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean, as well as the internal politics of the colonial powers, with titles such as Greece and the Issue of Colonial Policy, Anglo-Ethiopian Relations In the Spotlight, and U.S. Foreign Policy and the Colonies.

Hunton was addressing these issues at a time when the colonial world was just beginning to search for new ways to development as nations. In an attempt to continue their grip on the colonial territories, many imperialist powers were seeking to invite their colonial possessions into some type of relationship with the mother country. Hunton made clear that the primary issue was one of self-determination.

In a 1945 column on Self-Determination and Colonial Policy, Hunton favorably quotes Stalin, noting that, The question of the right of nations freely to secede must not be confused with the question that a nation must necessarily secede at any given moment. A people has a right to secede, but it may or may not exercise that right, according to circumstances. Hunton concludes, This is what we mean by the principle of self-determination (p. 261).

Hunton was writing at a time when these issues were at the center of discussions throughout the world. Activists and scholars interested in the anti-colonial struggles of the mid-20th century would do well to study Huntons analyses. Pecinovsky has done a great service by bringing Huntons work to the public.

The Cancer of Colonialism: W. Alphaeus Hunton, Black Liberation, and the Daily Worker, 1944-1946

Edited by Tony Pecinovsky

International Publishers: New York, 2021

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Rescuing the lost history of anti-colonial fighter and Communist W. Alphaeus Hunton - People's World