The Messenger. Vol 8 No. 8. August, 1926.

Contents: How Railway Labor Act Will Work by Donald A. Richberg, Silk Stockings by Anita Scott Coleman, To the New Youth by Winslow Oldsmith, Quoth Brigham Young: This is the Place by Wallace Thurman, Karma by Georgia Douglas Johnson, What Are We Negroes or Americans? by A. Rogers, Shafts and Darts by Geo. S. Schuyler, Editorials, Formula by Langston Hughes, The Truth Neglected in the Virgin Islands by Ashley L. Totten, The Theatre by Theophilus Lewis, Sports by Dr. Edwin B. Henderson, Book Reviews, An Open Letter to Frank Lowden by A. Philip Randolph, Letter from Donald Richberg.

The Messenger was founded and published in New York City by A. Phillip Randolph and Chandler Owen in 1917 after they both joined the Socialist Party of America. The Messenger opposed World War I, conscription and supported the Bolshevik Revolution, though it remained loyal to the Socialist Party when the left split in 1919. It sought to promote a labor-orientated Black leadership, “New Crowd Negroes,” as explicitly opposed to the positions of both WEB DuBois and Booker T Washington at the time. Both Owen and Randolph were arrested under the Espionage Act in an attempt to disrupt The Messenger. Eventually, The Messenger became less political and more trade union focused. After the departure of and Owen, the focus again shifted to arts and culture. The Messenger ceased publishing in 1928. Its early issues contain invaluable articles on the early Black left.

PDF of full issue: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/messenger/v8n08-aug-1926-Messinger-RIAZ.pdf