James W. “Jim” Ford (December 22, 1893 – June 21, 1957[1]) was an activist, a politician, and the vice-presidential candidate for the Communist Party USA in the years 1932, 1936, and 1940.

[3] At an early age Ford lost his grandfather, who was burned alive in a lynching for supposedly being too closely acquainted with a white woman.

[7] Ford became active in his union local, earned the trust of Black and white workers alike, and was elected by them as a delegate to the Chicago Federation of Labor.

It was during his time working at the post office that Ford was drawn to the political message of the CPUSA, particularly its call for self-determination for Black Americans.

Ford was ultimately fired from his job at the post office due to federal officials fearing his ability to unify Black and white workers along class lines.

[8] Progressive Era Repression and persecution Anti-war and civil rights movements Contemporary In 1925, Ford was recruited into the Chicago section of the American Negro Labor Congress (ANLC), established by the Communist Party as a mass organization of Black workers.

In August 1928, Ford attended the 6th World Congress of the Communist International on behalf of the CPUSA, where he was elected to the Comintern's Negro Commission.

In this speech, Ford consistently asserts that class struggle is the prime vehicle for the ultimate emancipation of Black people on a global scale.

[17] In outlining a program for Black liberation struggles in general, Ford voices support for the independence of Liberia, Haiti, and Jamaica (among other countries).

Within the Black Belt region, most African Americans were more concerned with getting aid for their daily lives: help with evictions, jobs, services, and civil rights.

[20] While in Hamburg, Ford participated in distributing copies of The Negro Worker via couriers to sailors on ships headed to British possessions, including Jamaica and the Union of South Africa.

In 1932 the CPUSA nominated Ford as its candidate for Vice President of the United States, running on the ticket with presidential nominee William Z.

[25] This was intended both to tighten party discipline in the organization and to lessen the influence of the more freewheeling, nationalist-inclined agitators such as Cyril Briggs and Richard B. Moore.

The "Third Period" slogan of "Self-determination for the Black Belt" was drawing to a close, in favor of a new effort to build bridges with liberals and fighting for the solution of practical problems through the New Deal.

The Harlem Communists sought to join with church and civic groups in a “Provisional Committee against Discrimination” in an effort to eliminate racism in job hiring and firing.

On March 19, 1935, Harlem was torn by a riot, caused when a manager at a Kress store on 125th Street grabbed a Black teenager for allegedly stealing a knife.

An angry crowd formed, a rock was thrown through the chain store window, and police broke up the spontaneous street meeting that had developed.

The Communist Party established connections with a number of the area's labor, religious, and political leaders in the aftermath of the March 19th event.

[28] As historian Mark Naison notes: During the next two months, the Harlem Party concentrated the efforts of its best organizers on the Mayor's Commission hearings.

In style and educational background, the leading black Communists at the hearings, James Ford, Merrill Work, Abner Barry, Ben Davis, Williana Burroughs, and Louise Thompson, had much in common with the middle-class Harlem civic leaders who also testified.

Although Communists openly used the hearings as a platform for their political views, they tried to maintain a level of professionalism in the presentation of evidence that would command the respect of their black allies and the Commission.

[citation needed] He was not re-elected to the National Committee of the party and was supplanted in his de facto role as “America's leading Black Communist” by Benjamin J.