The Liberator (Boston, Massachusetts), November 7, 1931
Nat Turner Marches On
Nat Turner—forgotten, ignored or distorted by the Negro upholders of the “white supremacy” system such as the N.A.A.C.P.—is deeply entrenched in the hearts of revolutionary workers, both Negro and white.
Notwithstanding all his religious fantasies, Nat Turner, in deeds, was a revolutionary leader of the enslaved Negroes. With the utmost courage and determination he led the slaves of Virginia with his sword and musket against the slaveowners. No idle dreams of freedom were his. He fought for freedom, leading the slaves in battle. The revolt led by him was one of the most powerful of the 30 slave revolts recorded in this country. He lost—his remains were scattered among the white land owners as souvenirs—but his revolt added new strength to the revolutionary traditions of the Negro people. He added to that tradition, which took root in the first courageous resistance of the Negro tribes against the slave raiders on the African coasts, grew in the revolts on the horrible slave ships, progressed with the earliest slave revolts in this country, bloomed into temporary success in the Haitian Revolution and expanded with the revolutionary struggles in the West Indies.
Today, this revolutionary tradition of which Nat Turner was a bearer is alive and growing. It finds expression in the revolutionary movement directed at the slavery today, which still holds the Negro people in subjection. This revolutionary tradition is maturing and fusing itself with the whole revolutionary tradition of the working class. Just as Nat Turner led his followers against chattel slavery in 1831, today, 100 years later, modern day revolutionists, the Communists, are leading both white and Negro masses against the system that breeds starvation and mass misery.
The Communist Party and the League of Struggle for Negro Rights is in the forefront of the struggle for the 9,000,000 Black Peons of the South, leading the struggle for the right of self-determination—the right of the Negro majority of the Black Belt to set up their own government, proclaim their own state unity and determine for themselves their relation with other governments, especially the U.S.
A new march is on the way. It is forming in all four corners of this country. It is a march representing the starving millions of white and Negro toilers. In its columns march white and Negro proletarians. They will reach Washington on December 7, when Congress convenes, and demand a lump sum of $150 for each unemployed worker for the winter, $50 for each dependent and unemployment insurance. They will sweep aside all jim-crow barriers in the onward march of the working class.
In the National Hunger March, the tradition of Nat Turner will go marching on. Starving Negro toilers of the cities and farms, march in solid ranks with starving white workers!
Long live the Tradition of Nat Turner! Join the National Hunger March!