I just bought a box of Political Affairs magazines from the late 40’s-early 50’s at a library sale. This was the official magazine of the Communist Party USA.
This issue makes it obvious that the peace movement didn’t start in the 60’s! And publishing this during McCarthyism took serious courage.
I have it up on eBay now. It has “reports from the 15th National Convention of the Communist Party USA held in Dec. 1950. Large, expanded issue. William Foster, Gus Hall, Henry Winston, John Gates, Robert Thompson, Claudia Jones, others.”
“Omigod”, you say, “Communists?” Well, if it wasn’t for communists and socialists organizing in the labor unions in the 30’s, we might still not have the 40 hour work week, health insurance, and safety regulations. You think the capitalists just freely granted those benefits to the workers?
Organizing is in the DNA of socialists, something the rest of the world accepts with little furor. Indeed, socialists are in the parliaments of most European countries. It’s only in the US that (some) people shriek when the word “communism” is mentioned.
But then, as a Communist friend who lives in the US says, “It’s amazing how much you can get accomplished when no one knows you’re here.”