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A Freedom Budget for All Americans: Recapturing the Promise of the Civil Rights Movement in the Struggle for Economic Justice Today
"Exciting and unique, especially for students, activists, and scholars. An important challenge to the neoliberal agenda."
-Immanuel Ness, Editor, WorkingUSA: The Journal of Labor and Society
While the Civil Rights Movement is remembered for efforts to end segregation and secure the rights of African Americans, the larger economic vision that animated much of the movement is often overlooked today. That vision sought economic justice for every person in the United States, regardless of race. It favored production for social use instead of profit; social ownership; and democratic control over major economic decisions. The document that best captured this vision was the Freedom Budget for All Americans: Budgeting Our Resources, 1966-1975, To Achieve Freedom from Want published by the A. Philip Randolph Institute and endorsed by a virtual 'who's who' of U.S. left liberalism and radicalism. Now, two of today's leading socialist thinkers return to the Freedom Budget and its program for economic justice. Paul Le Blanc and Michael D. Yates explain the origins of the Freedom Budget, how it sought to achieve "freedom from want" for all people, and how it might be reimagined for our current moment. Combining historical perspective with clear-sighted economic proposals, the authors make a concrete case for reviving the spirit of the Civil Rights Movement and building the society of economic security and democratic control envisioned by the movement's leaders--a struggle that continues to this day.
Paul LeBlanc is Professor of History at La Roche College and the author of many titles, including "From Marc to Gramsci" and "Marx, Lenin and the Revolutionary Experience."
Michael D. Yates is Associate Editor of "Monthly Review" and the author of "Why Unions Matter" and "The ABC's of Economic Crisis" (with Fred Magdoff).
-Immanuel Ness, Editor, WorkingUSA: The Journal of Labor and Society
While the Civil Rights Movement is remembered for efforts to end segregation and secure the rights of African Americans, the larger economic vision that animated much of the movement is often overlooked today. That vision sought economic justice for every person in the United States, regardless of race. It favored production for social use instead of profit; social ownership; and democratic control over major economic decisions. The document that best captured this vision was the Freedom Budget for All Americans: Budgeting Our Resources, 1966-1975, To Achieve Freedom from Want published by the A. Philip Randolph Institute and endorsed by a virtual 'who's who' of U.S. left liberalism and radicalism. Now, two of today's leading socialist thinkers return to the Freedom Budget and its program for economic justice. Paul Le Blanc and Michael D. Yates explain the origins of the Freedom Budget, how it sought to achieve "freedom from want" for all people, and how it might be reimagined for our current moment. Combining historical perspective with clear-sighted economic proposals, the authors make a concrete case for reviving the spirit of the Civil Rights Movement and building the society of economic security and democratic control envisioned by the movement's leaders--a struggle that continues to this day.
Paul LeBlanc is Professor of History at La Roche College and the author of many titles, including "From Marc to Gramsci" and "Marx, Lenin and the Revolutionary Experience."
Michael D. Yates is Associate Editor of "Monthly Review" and the author of "Why Unions Matter" and "The ABC's of Economic Crisis" (with Fred Magdoff).
272 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 2013
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91 people want to read
About the author
Paul Le Blanc
57 books21 followersPaul Le Blanc is an American historian at La Roche University in Pittsburgh as well as labor and socialist activist who has written or edited more than 30 books on topics such as Leon Trotsky and Rosa Luxemburg.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
November 12, 2013
This is an outstanding book, surely among the best in history and policy in 2013. It tells several complicated stories in a cohesive and highly readable narrative, making a large contribution to history and offering us tangible ideas for policy in our time.
One of these stories is the historic march on Washington led by Martin Luther King, Jr., and the social movement preceding and following that event. It documents the involvement of socialists and communists in the movement, with particular attention on the work of A. Philip Randolph and Bayard Rustin.
The organizational work is one story, but there is also a political story, about a moment where differing theories came together brilliantly and were soon dispersed again, in large part because of the Vietnam war's escalation and disagreement about how to proceed with respect to President Johnson, the Democratic party, and to the capitalist system itself. Some, including Dr. King, saw economic justice as the natural culmination of the civil rights struggle -- that racial equality meant little in the context of economic injustice, unemployment, and poverty. This contribution to a coherent history of the U.S. left is invaluable.
There is also the story of a much-forgotten document produced by these civil rights leaders, a shadow budget, a "freedom budget for all Americans" reflecting the budgeting and political economy of a good society, an attempt at a comprehensive policy approach to realizing the dream. This is a story that ends sadly, as the politics of the Vietnam war plays a large role in deflating the movement behind the freedom budget, until it languishes as a footnote and is largely forgotten.
And, finally, one more story: the story of how a new "freedom budget" might be designed for consideration, debate, and implementation in our time.
To achieve all of that in such a slender volume, in a book so enjoyable to read, is quite remarkable. This is one to pass around, friends.
One of these stories is the historic march on Washington led by Martin Luther King, Jr., and the social movement preceding and following that event. It documents the involvement of socialists and communists in the movement, with particular attention on the work of A. Philip Randolph and Bayard Rustin.
The organizational work is one story, but there is also a political story, about a moment where differing theories came together brilliantly and were soon dispersed again, in large part because of the Vietnam war's escalation and disagreement about how to proceed with respect to President Johnson, the Democratic party, and to the capitalist system itself. Some, including Dr. King, saw economic justice as the natural culmination of the civil rights struggle -- that racial equality meant little in the context of economic injustice, unemployment, and poverty. This contribution to a coherent history of the U.S. left is invaluable.
There is also the story of a much-forgotten document produced by these civil rights leaders, a shadow budget, a "freedom budget for all Americans" reflecting the budgeting and political economy of a good society, an attempt at a comprehensive policy approach to realizing the dream. This is a story that ends sadly, as the politics of the Vietnam war plays a large role in deflating the movement behind the freedom budget, until it languishes as a footnote and is largely forgotten.
And, finally, one more story: the story of how a new "freedom budget" might be designed for consideration, debate, and implementation in our time.
To achieve all of that in such a slender volume, in a book so enjoyable to read, is quite remarkable. This is one to pass around, friends.
December 11, 2025
I picked up this book in hopes to understand further the specifics of what the Freedom Budget proposed, how it produces or reinforces efforts for economic justice, and how - as in the title - in may be recaptured today.
Unfortunately, what instead I found was a well-written history text on the interorganizational politics of the black civil rights and socialist movements with noteworthy remarks on how and why the policies they sought to implement (which were rather generalized) failed to come to fruition.
That said, the book is a well written history book, but otherwise disappointing in its effort to truly explain the policies that could achieve economic justice and how they are relevant to present day conversations and considerations. To the authors' credit, as they cite in the final chapters, much of the Freedom Budget did not actually contain the essential specifics necessary for ensuring the policies could take root. The book ends strong with discussions of current socioeconomic conditions today and how we might reconsider the policies.
Even so, the book is a lengthy read due to the incredible detail and excessive wordiness it maintains in most of its chapters. I feel it could be far more accessible and useful if about half of the chapters delineating every single blessed idea from every single blessed socialist and how each one circulated and created conflict with every other person in the movement were cut from the book, but I imagine other people may find that content more valuable than I did.
The concluding chapters do a great job of summarizing the changes needed for truly achieving significant victories for the people of the United States to secure true economic freedom, and in spectacular socialist fashion, but sadly come up short - and admittedly so - to expressing and explaining precisely how to achieve these ends.
Unfortunately, what instead I found was a well-written history text on the interorganizational politics of the black civil rights and socialist movements with noteworthy remarks on how and why the policies they sought to implement (which were rather generalized) failed to come to fruition.
That said, the book is a well written history book, but otherwise disappointing in its effort to truly explain the policies that could achieve economic justice and how they are relevant to present day conversations and considerations. To the authors' credit, as they cite in the final chapters, much of the Freedom Budget did not actually contain the essential specifics necessary for ensuring the policies could take root. The book ends strong with discussions of current socioeconomic conditions today and how we might reconsider the policies.
Even so, the book is a lengthy read due to the incredible detail and excessive wordiness it maintains in most of its chapters. I feel it could be far more accessible and useful if about half of the chapters delineating every single blessed idea from every single blessed socialist and how each one circulated and created conflict with every other person in the movement were cut from the book, but I imagine other people may find that content more valuable than I did.
The concluding chapters do a great job of summarizing the changes needed for truly achieving significant victories for the people of the United States to secure true economic freedom, and in spectacular socialist fashion, but sadly come up short - and admittedly so - to expressing and explaining precisely how to achieve these ends.
December 21, 2025
Read this in a very choppy uneven way (picked it up and dropped it every few months/weeks) so this colors my interpretation. Keeping that in mind this is a somewhat interesting meditation on the failures and possibilities of the center piece of the civil rights-labor coalition known as the Freedom Budget. I have to say the main effect of this book on me is to lower my opinion even further of Bayard Rustin who I went from admiring in my youth to souring a bit on to now regarding as something of a genuine villain. There are certain social democrat factions today that could learn a few things from this but I doubt they will. Be that as it may they cover coalitional struggles as well as anyone could.
July 30, 2016
A very good piece on a part of the civil rights movement that is missing from America's historical awareness.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews