Hubert Harrison

**Hubert Henry Harrison** (April 27, 1883 – December 17, 1927) na he be West Indian-American writer, orator, educator, critic, race den class conscious political activist, den radical internationalist wey base insyd Harlem, New York. Na activist A. Philip Randolph describe am as "de father of Harlem radicalism" den by de historian Joel Augustus Rogers as "de foremost Afro-American intellect of ein time." John G. Jackson of American Atheists describe am as "De Black Socrates".

An immigrant wey komot St. Croix at de age of 17, na Harrison play significant roles insyd de largest radical class den race movements insyd de United States. Insyd 1912–14, na he be de leading Black organizer insyd de Socialist Party of America. Insyd 1917 na he found de Liberty League den *The Voice*, de first organization den de first newspaper of de race-conscious "New Negro" movement. From ein Liberty League den *Voice* cam de core leadership of individuals den race-conscious program of de Garvey movement.

Na Harrison be a seminal den influential thinker wey encourage de development of class consciousness among workers, black pride, agnostic atheism, secular humanism, social progressivism, den freethought. Na he sanso be a self-described "radical internationalist" wey na he contribute significantly to de Caribbean radical tradition. Na Harrison profoundly influence a generation of "New Negro" militants, wey dey include A. Philip Randolph, Chandler Owen, Marcus Garvey, Richard Benjamin Moore, W. A. Domingo, Williana Burroughs, den Cyril Briggs.

## Early life
Na dem born Hubert to Cecilia Elizabeth Haines, a working-class woman, on Estate Concordia, St. Croix, Danish West Indies. Na dem born ein biological poppie, Adolphus Harrison, enslaved. Na one account from de 1920s suggest dat na Harrison ein poppie own a substantial estate. Na Harrison ein biographer, however, find no such landholding wey he dey wrep say "der be no indication say Adolphus, a laborer ein entire life, ever own, anaa even rent, land". As a youth, na Harrison know poverty buh he sanso learn of African customs den de Crucian people dema rich history of direct action mass struggles. Na among ein schoolmates be ein lifelong paddie, de future Crucian labor leader den social activist, D. Hamilton Jackson. Insyd later life na Harrison work plus chaw Virgin Islands-born activists, wey dey include James C. Canegata, Anselmo Jackson, Rothschild Francis, Elizabeth Hendrikson, Casper Holstein, den Frank Rudolph Crosswaith. Na he be especially active insyd Virgin Island causes after de March 1917 U.S. purchase of de Virgin Islands, den subsequent abuses under de U.S. naval occupation of de islands.
## Oda reading

### Writings by Hubert H. Harrison

* *A Hubert Harrison Reader,* ed. with introduction and notes by Jeffrey B. Perry (Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 2001).
* "Hubert H. Harrison Papers, 1893-1927: Finding Aid," Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University. A list of Harrison's writings available at Columbia. On Columbia's acquisition of the Papers see "Rare Book and Manuscript Library Acquires the Papers of Hubert Harrison." The Father of Harlem Radicalism," *Columbia University Library News*. Columbia also plans to put Harrison's Writings online.
* Harrison, Hubert H., "A Negro on Chicken Stealing", Letter to the editor, *The New York Times*, December 11, 1904, p.&nbsp;6.
* Harrison, Hubert, *The Black Man's Burden* [1915].
* Harrison, Hubert H., *The Negro and Nation* (New York: Cosmo-Advocate Publishing Company, 1917).
* Harrison, Hubert, "On A Certain Condescension in White Publishers," *Negro World*, March 1922.
* Harrison, Hubert H., ** (New York: Porro Press, 1920), New Expanded Edition, edited with notes and a new introduction by Jeffrey B. Perry (New York: Diasporic Africa Press, 2015).
* "Transfer Day: Hubert Harrison's Analysis", *Virgin Islands Daily News,* March 31.

### Personal biographical sketches

* Jackson, John G., "Hubert Henry Harrison: The Black Socrates", *American Atheists,* February 1987.
* Moore, Richard B., "Hubert Henry Harrison (1883-1927)", in Rayford W. Logan and Michael R. Winston (eds), *Dictionary of American Negro Biography* (New York: W. W. Norton, 1982), 292–93.
* Rogers, Joel A., "Hubert Harrison: Intellectual Giant and Free-Lance Educator", in Joel A. Rogers, *World's Great Men of Color,* ed. John Henrik Clarke, 2 vols (1946–47; New York: Collier Books, 1972), 2:432-42.

### Main biographical portraits

* Foner, Philip S., "Local New York, the Colored Socialist Club, Hubert H. Harrison, and W. E. B. Du Bois", in Philip S. Foner, *American Socialism and Black Americans: From the Age of Jackson to World War II* (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1977), 202–19.
* Innis, Patrick, "Hubert Henry Harrison: Great African American Freethinker", Secular Subjects (St. Louis: Rationalist Society of St. Louis, 1992), rpt. in *American Atheists Examiner.* See also Inniss, Patrick in *AAH Examiner*, vol. 4, no. 4, Winter 1994.
* James, Portia, "Hubert H. Harrison and the New Negro Movement", *Western Journal of Black Studies*, 13, no. 2 (1989): 82–91.
* James, Winston, "Dimensions and Main Currents of Caribbean Radicalism in America: Hubert Harrison, the African Blood Brotherhood, and the UNIA," in Winston James, *Holding Aloft the Banner of Ethiopia: Caribbean Radicalism in Early Twentieth-Century America* (New York: Verso, 1998), 122–84.
* Perry, Jeffrey B., "The Developing Conjuncture and Some Insights from Hubert Harrison and Theodore W. Allen on the Centrality of the Fight against White Supremacy," ''Cultural Logic'', 2010.
* Perry, Jeffrey, "An Introduction to Hubert Harrison, 'The Father of Harlem Radicalism,'" ''Souls'', 2, no. 1 (Winter 2000), 38–54.
* Perry, Jeffrey B., "Hubert Harrison: Race Consciousness and the Struggle for Socialism", *Socialism and Democracy,* vol. 17, no. 2 (Summer–Fall 2003), 103–30.
* Perry, Jeffrey B., "Hubert Harrison: The Voice of Early 20th Century Harlem Radicalism," *BlackPast.org,* October 2008.
* Perry, Jeffrey B., ''Hubert Harrison: The Voice of Harlem Radicalism, 1883-1918'' (New York: Columbia University Press, 2008), 
* Perry, Jeffrey B., "Hubert Henry Harrison 'The Father of Harlem Radicalism': The Early Years—1883 Through the Founding of the Liberty League and The Voice in 1917" (Ph.D. diss., Columbia University, 1986), includes an extensive bibliography (pp.&nbsp;711–809).
* Perry, Jeffrey B., "On Hubert Harrison's Importance", *Virgin Islands Daily News,* February 18, 2003.
* Perry, Jeffrey B.: *Hubert Harrison: the struggle for equality, 1918-1927*, New York : Columbia University Press, [2021], 
* Samuels, Wilfred David, *Five Afro-Caribbean Voices in American Culture* (Boulder: Belmont Books a Division of Cockburn Publishing, 1977), 27–41.

### Read further

* Paterson, David *Black, Blind, & In Charge: A Story of Visionary Leadership and Overcoming Adversity*. New York, New York, 2020
* John C. Walker,*The Harlem Fox: J. Raymond Jones at Tammany 1920:1970*, New York: State University  New York Press, 1989.
* David N. Dinkins, *A Mayor's Life: Governing New York's Gorgeous Mosaic*, PublicAffairs Books, 2013
* Rangel, Charles B.; Wynter, Leon (2007). *And I Haven't Had a Bad Day Since: From the Streets of Harlem to the Halls of Congress*. New York: St. Martin's Press.
* Baker Motley, Constance *Equal Justice Under The Law: An Autobiography*, New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1998.
* Howell, Ron *Boss of Black Brooklyn: The Life and Times of Bertram L. Baker*  Fordham University Press Bronx, New York 2018
* Jack, Hulan *Fifty Years a Democrat: The Autobiography of Hulan Jack* New Benjamin Franklin House New York, NY 1983
* Clayton-Powell, Adam *Adam by Adam: The Autobiography of Adam Clayton Powell Jr.* New York, New York 1972
* Pritchett, Wendell E. *Robert Clifton Weaver and the American City: The Life and Times of an Urban Reformer* Chicago: University of Chicago Press 2008
* Davis, Benjamin *Communist Councilman from Harlem: Autobiographical Notes Written in a Federal Penitentiary* New York, New York:International Publishers 1969

## References

## External links

*List of recent and future public events related to Hubert Harrison
* Allan, John, "The Socialism of Hubert Harrison", *News & Letters,* January 2004.
* Anderson, Charles William to Booker T. Washington, September 10, 1911, and October 30, 1911, in Louis R. Harlan and Raymond W. Smock (eds), ''The Booker T. Washington Papers'', 13 vols (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1972–1984), 11: 300-01 and 351.
* Boyd, Herb, Review of ''Hubert Harrison: The Voice of Harlem Radicalism, 1883-1918'', *Neworld Review,* May 19, 2009.
* Fletcher, Bill Jr., "Radicals Known and Unknown", *Monthly Review,* December 2001.
* "The Hubert Harrison Center", C. L. R. James Institute.
* McLemee, Scott, ''Harrison Redux'', *Columbia Journalism Review,* May 6, 2009.
* Munro, John, "Roots of Whiteness", *Labour/Le Travail,* Fall 2004.
* Perry, Jeffrey B., "The Developing Conjuncture and Insights from Hubert Harrison and Theodore W. Allen on the Centrality of the Fight Against White Supremacy", *Cultural Logic*, July 2010.
*Perry, Jeffrey B. Discusses Hubert Harrison in "Rediscovering Hubert Harrison". Interview conducted by Scott McLemeee on December 10, 2008, *Inside Higher Ed*.
* Perry, Jeffrey B. "Hubert Harrison: Race Consciousness and the Struggle for Socialism", ''Socialism and Democracy'', vol. 17 no. 2 (Summer-Fall 2003), 103–30.
* Perry, Jeffrey B. ''Hubert Harrison: The Voice of Harlem Radicalism, 1883-1918'' (New York: Columbia University Press, 2008).
* Perry, Jeffrey B. 'Hubert Harrison: The Struggle for Equality, 1918-1927'' (New York: Columbia University Press, 2020).
* Perry, Jeffrey B. (ed.), (Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 2001).
* Phelps, Christopher, "The Rediscovered Brilliance of Hubert Harrison", review of ''A Hubert Harrison Reader'', *Science and Society,* Vol. 68, no. 2 (Summer 2004), 223–230.

### Archive

* Hubert H. Harrison Papers, 1893–1927, Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University
** Finding Aid
** Digitised papers, Digital Library Collection

### Audio
* "Jeffrey Perry Discusses Hubert Harrison", Podcast Interview, *Inside Higher Ed*, December 10, 2008.

### Video
* "Hubert Harrison: The Voice of Harlem Radicalism" video of slide presentation/talk by Jeffrey B. Perry
* Jeffrey B. Perry, "On Hubert Harrison", Interview by Stella Winston, TV show "Straight Up!"
*
* "Hubert Harrison: Life, Legacy, and Some Writings."