Red Emma’s

Included are classics such as Claudia Jones’ “An End to the Neglect…” and Louise Thompson Patterson’s “Toward a Brighter Dawn,” along with pieces that have yet to be widely republished, such as Mary Inman’s controversial “In Woman’s Defense” and essays from Angela Davis’ vice-presidential campaign.

Serving as both a theoretical reader and a documentary history, HALF THE WORLD seeks to repopularize the work of Communist women whose innovative work has been overlooked for far too long. The collection ranges from the early work of women like Margaret Cowl, Anna Damon, and Grace Campbell, to later leaders like Charlene Mitchell, Clara Colón, and Elisabeth Armstrong. Bennett Shoop’s Half the World tells a story of radical women whose determination built and led a century of working-class struggles.

Bennett Shoop is the co-director of the Claudia Jones School for Political Education in Washington, D.C. and a historian of feminism, LGBTQ+ liberation, and the U.S. Left.

Ryann Perkins is a movement accessibility organizer and the co-director of the Claudia Jones School for Political Education in Washington, D.C.