Interview, Peter Cole's Blog

Black Led Antiracist Unionism: The Legacy of Ben Fletcher & I.W.W.

By CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies

February 5th, 2020

Join us to discuss the important history of the brilliant Black labor leader, Ben Fletcher, who revolutionized anti-racist unionizing in the early 20th century. Peter Cole is joined by Kafui Attoh of CUNY SLU to discuss the legacy of Fletcher and his union, the I.W.W. #BlackHistoryMonth #BLM Featuring: Peter Cole Author – Ben Fletcher: The Life and Times of a Black Wobbly Professor – Western Illinois University Kafui Attoh Professor – CUNY School of Labor & Urban Studies

Peter Coleis a professor of history at Western Illinois University in Macomb and a research associate in the Society, Work and Development Institute at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. Cole is the author of the award-winning Dockworker Power: Race and Activism in Durban and the San Francisco Bay Area and Wobblies on the Waterfront: Interracial Unionism in Progressive-Era Philadelphia. He coedited Wobblies of the World: A Global History of the IWW. He is the founder and codirector of the Chicago Race Riot of 1919 Commemoration Project.

Ben Fletcher: The Life and Times of a Black Wobbly