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| A Dancer in the Revolution : Stretch Johnson, Harlem Communist at the Cotton Club
ISBN: 9780823256556
Platform/Publisher: Ebook Central / Fordham University Press
Digital rights: Users: Unlimited; Printing: Limited; Download: 7 Days at a Time
Subjects: Political Science; Social Science;
A Cotton Club dancer and Communist Party leader shares the story of his life in arts and activism from the Harlem Renaissance through the Civil Rights Era.
Through his extraordinary life, Howard "Stretch" Johnson epitomized the generation of African Americans who broke through boundaries to make the United States more democratic. In this lively and engaging memoir, Johnson traces his path to becoming a dancer in Harlem's historic Cotton Club, a communist youth leader and, later, a professor of Black studies.
A Dancer in the Revolution is a powerful story of Black resilience and triumph, as well as a window into Harlem's neighborhood life, culture, and politics from the 1930s to the 1970s. Johnson thrived as a leader in the Harlem Communist Party, using his connections as a dancer to forge alliances between the party and the Black community. But Johnson also exposes another--often ignored--aspect of Harlem life: the homoerotic tourism that flourished there in the 1930s.
Johnson's journey bears witness to critical times and events that shaped the Black condition and American society in the process. It also illustrates how political activism can be a powerful force, not only for social change, but also personal fulfillment.
Howard "Stretch" Eugene Johnson (1915-2000) was a former Communist Party leader, Cotton Club dancer, World War II veteran, and academic. His final years were spent as a professor of Black studies at SUNY New Paltz and as an ongoing activist in Hawai'i, where he helped achieve state recognition of Martin Luther King's birthday as a bank holiday, marching until the age of 80 in Paris, France, and Harlem for causes he believed just.Wendy Johnson is the eldest of Stretch and Martha Sherman Johnson's three daughters. She has worked as an activist, translator, and teacher of English. She lives in Paris.Mark D. Naison is Professor of History and African American Studies at Fordham University, where he also directs the Bronx African American History Project. He is the author of three books, including Communists in Harlem During the Depression. |
