3 chapters across the catalog
Danny Rubin of the Communist Party USA discusses the party's role in financing and organizing early civil rights efforts, including the Youth March and the Montgomery Bus Boycott. The hosts examine the "friendly" relationship between the party and Rosa Parks, noting that her radicalism was often sanitized to protect the image of Martin Luther King Jr. They also mention the influence of Bayard Rustin as a key strategist.
Leonard Patterson, a former high-ranking member of the Communist Party who trained at Lenin University in Moscow, explains why he eventually defected. He describes his rise through the National Executive Committee and his realization that the party was using black Americans as "cannon fodder" for a bloody revolution. Patterson warns that the goal of the movement was the establishment of a Soviet-style dictatorship in America.
Danny Rubin, former National Youth Secretary of the Communist Party, discusses the party's role in financing and organizing buses for civil rights marches. Rubin claims the party had a significant influence on early activists, including Rosa Parks, who was active in the Southern Negro Youth Congress. J. Edgar Hoover labeled Rubin one of the most dangerous men in America due to his influence on youth.
