Herndon Addresses the Court (1933)

Mon Jan 16, 1933

Angelo Herndon (1913 - 1997) was a communist labor leader convicted of insurrection after attempting to organize black and white workers in Atlanta, Georgia. He addressed the court on this day in 1933, stating “You cannot kill the working class”.

After nearly 1,000 unemployed workers, both black and white, demonstrated at the Atlanta federal courthouse on June 30th, 1932, local officials began to monitor known and suspected radicals. On July 11th, Herndon, an active labor organizer in the area, was arrested while checking on his mail. A few days later his hotel room was searched, and Communist Party publications were found.

Herndon was charged with insurrection under a Georgia Reconstruction era law. His case went to the Supreme Court twice, and Herndon was freed when the insurrection charge was finally ruled unconstitutional in 1937.

Here is an excerpt of what Herndon said to the court on January 16th, 1933, at 19 years of age:

"You may do what you will with Angelo Herndon. You may indict him. You may put him in jail. But there will come thousands of Angelo Herndons. If you really want to do anything about the case, you must go out and indict the social system. But this you will not do, for your role is to defend the system under which the toiling masses are robbed and oppressed…

You may succeed in killing one, two, even a score of working-class organizers. But you cannot kill the working class."

• Date: 1933-01-16
• Learn More: www.blackpast.org, en.wikipedia.org, www.georgiaencyclopedia.org.
• Tags: #Communism, #Labor.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org