4.0

This book was really a delight. I strongly recommend getting the 25th-anniversary edition if you can find it, because my #1 favorite part was in that (a quotation from Lemon Johnson--god it was so good, ahh.) In a lot of ways, this is definitely a product of its time; it reads just like an old-school labor history book, and it can be very easy to get lost amid all the names and acronyms (and Kelley for some reason decided to just dive into those and not do like a first-reference full name thing, which was a Choice for sure) but also it's an incredible story of Black radical politics and Black folks doing what they can and organizing to survive. WITH added 'well-meaning white Communists fucking up' which is my favorite genre. Overall a great read, and a deep reminder of what I love about history.