Hammer and Hoe: Alabama Communists During the Great Depression

Hammer and Hoe is a groundbreaking exploration of the Alabama Communist Party, a movement comprised of black laborers, sharecroppers, and a few whites, including unemployed industrial workers and housewives. This unique political culture, shaped by the experiences of its members, challenged the repressive, racist police state of Alabama to fight for economic justice, civil and political rights, and racial equality. Robin D. G. Kelley reveals how these working people, without a Euro-American radical political tradition, forged a remarkably resilient movement in a world that had little tolerance for radicals. In a new preface for this twenty-fifth-anniversary edition, Kelley reflects on the lessons that this militantly antiracist, radical movement in the heart of Dixie might offer to contemporary social movements confronting issues such as rampant inequality, police violence, mass incarceration, and neoliberalism. This book is not just a historical account but a call to action for those seeking to understand and address the persistent challenges of our time.