Detroit Red Books Festival Held

By Fighting Words Staff

On Saturday, February 17, 2024, a coalition of progressive and community organizations joined together for an event to mark the 176th anniversary of the publication of the Communist Manifesto authored by Karl Marx and Frederich Engels in 1848.

The event was held at the Swords into Plowshares Art Gallery located in downtown Detroit. Several organizations displayed their literature which advances the struggle of working and oppressed peoples in the United States and around the world.

The organizations which participated included Moratorium NOW! Coalition, Black Bottom Archives, Detroit Union Education League (DUEL), Detroiters for Tax Justice, Detroit Club CPUSA, International Publishers, the Michigan Peace Council, Detroit Tenants Association (DTA), Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM), General Defense Committee, Yemeni Liberation Movement, the Communist Workers League and the Michigan Action for Cuba Committee. Each organization made a brief presentation on the work they are involved with in the city.

A “Detroit Timeline of People’s Movements” was published by the organizers as a brochure.

The brochure highlighted important events in Detroit history such as the Underground Railroad from the 1830s to the 1860s; the Strawberry Strike of 1931; the Hunger March of 1932; the recognition of the UAW in 1943; The Kercheval Incident in 1966; the Walk to Freedom of June 1963; the Great Rebellion of July 1967; Black-led wildcat strikes which led to the formation of the DRUM, ELRUM, etc. in 1968; the UAW Stand-up Strike of 2023, among other historical developments.

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