Sojourners for Truth and Justice (1951)

More than a decade before the 1963 March on Washington, there was the Sojourners for Truth and Justice. In 1951, this group of black women organized and descended upon Washington, D.C.

They were explicit in condemning the state’s complicity in racist violence, particularly against black women. Combining socialist concepts with black nationalism, the group sought to mobilize black women in domestic fights and international fights for justice, protesting against Jim Crow as well as the United States’ Cold War policies. While the radical protest organization was short-lived, it was the first communist-left group to be led by black women.