Day 21 of the 28 Days of Black Liberation 2023 series
Claudia Cumberbatch (Claudia Jones) was born on February 21, 1915 in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad. Claudia’s family migrated to the United States in 1924 and resided in Harlem, New York. Claudia’s mom passed away when she was 12 years old due to working conditions at her job, instantly causing her family to live in poverty. Claudia dropped out of high school but continued educating herself politically.
One event that would change her life was the frame of the rape of the nine Scottsboro Boys. She wrote several articles regarding this case (a case the NAACP did not want to assist with but the communist party did and provided financial and legal guidance.)
In Claudia’s autobiography she stated she was drawn to communism because they recognized the Black struggle and were able to connect the dots between capitalism and anti-blackness. Claudia joined the Young Communist League at 18, eventually writing weekly articles in the Harvard Journal of Negro Affairs and the Daily Worker as a journalist and giving them a new perspective. Claudia was able to see the Black women struggle was a unique experience of its own. She was involved with and led several movements including: the African American liberation movement in the United States, the International Communist Movement, the struggle for the rights of women, the battle for world peace, and the Caribbean fight for independence and unity. Because Claudia identified as a communist after the Cold War and actively did revolutionary work this led to several arrests, in 1948 and 1955. Due to her immigration status she was deported to England in 1955 after her arrest.
While in England, the Communist Party did not fully accept her because she was Black woman who confronted racism. In the mid 1950’s London was the home of new Black Caribbean immigrants. When they arrived in England hostility was something they were facing on a daily basis. Since Claudia had experienced this racism first hand in America, she knew exactly what to do. While in England she created a newspaper called West Indian Gazette once again connecting the Black struggles, working class struggles, colonialism with each global struggle. Claudia worked with organizations on housing injustices, discrimination in the workplace, women’s rights and racist immigration policies. She also enjoyed the joys of being Black West Indian starting London’s very first carnival (Notting Hill Carnival).
Claudia passed away at the young age of 49 on December 25 ,1964. She was buried in the same graveyard as Karl Marx.
“No peace can be obtained if any women, especially those who are oppressed and impoverished, are left out of the conversation.”
Learn more
Claudia Jones – Brief life of an intersectional activist: 1915-1964