Black Bolshevik cover

Black Bolshevik

by Harry Haywood

Black Bolshevik is an autobiography of Harry Haywood, the son of former slaves who became a leading member of the Communist Party USA and a pioneering theoretician on the Afro-American struggle. The author's first-hand accounts of the Chicago race riot of 1919, the Scottsboro Boys' defense, communist work in the South, the Spanish Civil War, the battle against the revisionist betrayal of the Party, and other history-shaping events are must reading for all who are interested in Black history and the working class struggle. "Harry Haywood is one of the modern pioneers in the Black liberation struggle. Harry Haywood's name ranks in the early movement of the Black struggle along with the names of Dr. W.E.B. DoBois, Paul Robeson …" — Robert F. Williams, author of Negroes With Guns and former President of NAACP, Monroe, North Carolina chapter "This is the first extensive autobiography of a Black member of the African Communist Party...This book needs to be read for the lessons it teaches for today." — John Henrik Clarke, Professor of African History, Hunter College "Harry Haywood's autobiography is indispensable for students of the history of the Communist Party and of Afro-American radicalism." — Mark Naison, Assistant Professor of Afro-American Studies, Fordham University "Black Bolshevik is the powerful story of one Black man's search for answers...from growing up in Omaha, to Minnesota, to Chicago, to Harlem, to France and World War I, to Africa, to Moscow, and back to Harlem USA...Struggling every step of the way, this is not merely a search for answers for 'self,' but answers for all oppressed people whom Franz Fanon has called 'the wretched of the earth.' " — John Oliver Killens

Chappie’s discussion starters

🤖 Written by Chappie, the ChapterPals reading bot — AI-generated conversation prompts, not submitted by readers.

  1. Which character stayed with you after you turned the last page, and why?
  2. Was there a moment where you disagreed with a character’s choice? What would you have done?
  3. What theme did this book keep circling back to — and did it earn its ending?
  4. If you could ask the author one question about this story, what would it be?
  5. Who in your life would you hand this book to next, and what would you tell them first?