Cedric de Leon, "Freedom Train: Black Politics and the Story of Interracial Labor Solidarity" (U California Press, 2025)

About this episode

Cedric de Leon discusses his book 'Freedom Train', which explores the history of Black political organizing in the U.S. labor movement and the dynamics of interracial labor solidarity.

Our guest today is Cedric de Leon, author of Freedom Train: Black Politics and the Story of Interracial Labor Solidarity (U California Press, 2025). In this book, de Leon explores the complex and often overlooked history of Black political organizing within the U.S. labor movement. Rather than presenting a simple story of unity, he highlights the tensions, debates, and internal conflicts within Black civil society that ultimately strengthened movements for interracial labor solidarity. The book traces key organizations, leaders, and events from early socialist influences in Harlem to the rise of labor coalitions and the Memphis sanitation strike; demonstrating how Black workers and leaders actively shaped strategies for liberation. By focusing on both cooperation and disagreement, de Leon argues that Black political agency is best understood through this dynamic interplay. Freedom Train ultimately reframes labor history by centering Black voices and showing how their activism was crucial in pushing forward both civil rights and workers’ rights in America. Our guest, Cedric de Leon, is a Professor of Sociology and Labor studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. From 2018…

People in this episode

Guest: Cedric de Leon

Topics covered

• Black political organizing
• labor movement
• interracial labor solidarity
• civil rights
• workers' rights
• Black voices in history

Keywords

• Black politics
• labor history
• interracial solidarity
• civil rights
• activism
• socialism
• Memphis sanitation strike

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: U California Press, University of Massachusetts Amherst, UMass Amherst Labor Center

More episodes of New Books in African American Studies

• Terese Mason Pierre, "As the Earth Dreams: Black Canadian Speculative Stories" (Spiderline, 2025) · June 8, 2026 · 42 min
• Javier Arbona-Homar, "Explosivity: Following What Remains" (U Minnesota Press, 2025) · June 8, 2026 · 1h 6m
• Bruce Dearstyne, "Revolutionary New York: 250 Years of Social Change" (SUNY Press, 2026) · June 8, 2026 · 31 min
• Allyson Nadia Field, "Acts of Love: Black Performance and the Kiss That Changed Film History" (U California Press, 2026) · June 6, 2026 · 49 min
• David Cunningham on Contesting Confederate Monuments (JP) · June 4, 2026 · 51 min
• Mollie Barnes, "Paper Heroines: Women Writers in Conversation and Community Across the Sea Islands, 1838-1902" (U South Carolina Press, 2026) · June 4, 2026 · 50 min