Wright, Padmore, James, and Du Bois founded Black revolutionary theory

Evidence

Very little remains then of the Wright that Harold Cruse presents to us. Perhaps, like Baldwin, Cruse had also felt the need “to kill the father.” Doubtless, too, the explanation for Cruse’s error is much more complex. But irrespective of the origins of Cruse’s portrait of Wright, a closer reading of the central works written by Wright over a span of more than two decades reveals a most powerful and self-possessed Black thinker. Wright struggled toward a synthesis of Marxism and Black nationalist thought to match those of his colleagues, George Padmore and C. L. R. James. And together, their several works—along with those of Du Bois—are an extraordinary legacy to Blacks in the Western hemisphere and elsewhere. In them, one can discover an independent and richly suggestive critique of the modern world—a critique whose voice is the most authentic sounding of the brutal depths of Western civilization and its history. There lies, in those works, the beginnings of Black revolutionary theory. “[A]t the moment when a people begin to realize a meaning in their suffering, the civilization that engenders that suffering is doomed.” — Cedric J. Robinson, Black Marxism_ The Making of the Black…, 1424

Categorization

• XREF: Directly relevant to reader’s stated goal of the rise of the Black radical tradition — names its founding figures and moment. — connects to: Ethiopia, Spain, and the Caribbean convinced James that Black armed rebellion was feasible; Studying colonial archives crystallized James’s conviction in self-government — Cedric J. Robinson, Black Marxism_ The Making of the Black…, 1209; Radical Pan-Africanism emerged in the early 1930s led by Du Bois, James, and Wright (+1 more)
• DEFINE: Defines the core canon and origin of the Black radical tradition, central to the reader’s purpose.
• SEED: The ‘critique whose voice is the most authentic sounding of the brutal depths of Western civilization’ is a strong framing for an essay on what makes the Black radical tradition distinct from European radicalism.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Cedric J. Robinson, Black Marxism_ The Making of the Black…, 1424

Broader Connections

• Radical Pan-Africanism emerged in the early 1930s led by Du Bois, James, and Wright #corroborates (0.70)
• Du Bois, James, and Wright found rather than invented Black radicalism in mass movements. #qualifies (0.60)