If There Is No Struggle There Is No Progress: Black Politics in Twentieth-Century Philadelphia

by Heather Ann Thompson, James Wolfinger (Editor)

Philadelphia has long been a crucial site for the development of Black politics across the nation. If There Is No Struggle There Is No Progress provides an in-depth historical analysis—from the days of the Great Migration to the present—of the people and movements that made the city a center of political activism. The editor and contributors show how Black activists have long protested against police abuse, pushed for education reform, challenged job and housing discrimination, and put presidents in the White House. If There Is No Struggle There Is No Progress emphasizes the strength of political strategies such as the “Don’t Buy Where You Can’t Work” movement and the Double V campaign. It demonstrates how Black activism helped shift Philadelphia from the Republican machine to Democratic leaders in the 1950s and highlights the election of politicians like Robert N. C. Nix, Sr., the first African American representative from Philadelphia. In addition, it focuses on grassroots movements and the intersection of race, gender, class, and politics in the 1960s, and shows how African Americans from the 1970s to the present challenged Mayor Frank Rizzo and helped elect Mayors Wilson Goode, John Street, and Michael Nutter. If There Is No Struggle There Is No Progress cogently makes the case that Black activism has long been a powerful force in Philadelphia politics.

259 pages, Hardcover

Published July 8, 2022

About the author

HEATHER ANN THOMPSON is an award-winning historian at the University of Michigan. She has written on the history of mass incarceration, as well as its current impact, for The New York Times, Time, The Atlantic, Salon, Dissent, New Labor Forum, and The Huffington Post. She served on a National Academy of Sciences blue-ribbon panel that studied the causes and consequences of mass incarcerations in the United States and has given Congressional briefings on this subject. Thompson is also the author of Whose Detroit?: Politics, Labor, and Race in a Modern American City and editor of Speaking Out: Activism and Protest in the 1960s and 1970s.

Reviews

[Viral · Rating 4 out of 5]

Black urban politics in Philadelphia can tell us a lot about the dynamics of 20th/21st century municipal politics. This anthology does a great job outlining that history and showing how Philadelphia, one of the poorest and Blackest big cities in America, was shaped by decades of Black organizing.

Starting from its historical connections to free Blacks making it one of the Blackest cities north of the Mason-Dixon Line in the late 1800s and early 1900s, we see how the Black community attempted to find a home within the Republican Party. But as time went on, the growing struggles of working class Black folks led more and more folks to shift into the Democratic Party, but the shift was slower than in other cities. During the New Deal/WWII era, Black politics in the city really began to take power, and new movements like the "Don't Buy Where You Can't Work" movement made early progress on desegregation. Alongside this, new grassroots organizing (most famously including folks like Cecil B. Moore) shifted the conversation and mobilized new folks. A white backlash to this, which reached its peak under the tenure of the infamous white supremacist mayor Frank Rizzo, dominated the 70s, and defined much of Black politics since. Many tensions have existed since, as Philly remains a deeply segregated and impoverished city that struggles with an increasingly agitated Black working class governed by a Black political class that works alongside the white business elite of the city. In the last few decades, this has especially taken root in battles over policing and city investments - culminating in the election of progressive prosecutor Larry Krasner and the corresponding battles he has faced with the police and the city's ruling class.

I love Philly with all of my heart. And this book does a great job showing the struggles of everyday people as they've fought to make it a better place for Black working class people. A very valuable anthology of critical moments in modern Philly history and a valuable tool for further critical urban studies.