Angela Davis’ speech at Henry Winston’s Centennial (2012)

Henry Winston, originally from Mississippi, became active in the unemployed struggles of the 1930s and soon became a leader in the Young Communist League. He worked with William L Patterson and others to help free the Scottsboro defendants, displaying extraordinary political and organizational skills. He soon become a national leader of the Communist Party and served for many years as its organizational secretary. In the 1950s he served eight years in prison under the Smith Act, during which time he lost his sight because of medical neglect. A campaign to win his release was waged in the U.S. and abroad. Writer Richard Wright headed a French/American committee to free him. After his release from prison, Winston went on to become the Communist Party national chairman where he worked side-by-side with its general secretary, Gus Hall, until Winston’s death in 1986. “Winnie,” as he was called by friends and co-workers, wrote extensively on civil rights, labor and international issues, authoring two books, “Strategy for a Black Agenda,” and “Class, Race, and Black Liberation,” as well as several pamphlets. He played a signal role in the movement to develop comprehensive mandatory sanctions against South Africa’s racist government and was well regarded by its liberation movement. On learning of his death, African National Congress leader Alfred Nzo remarked, “We had come to regard Winston as one of our own.”