Winner of the 1999 Gordon K. Lewis Memorial Award for Caribbean Scholarship

Marcus Garvey, Claude McKay, Claudia Jones, C.L.R. James, Stokely Carmichael, Louis Farakhan — the roster of immigrants from the Caribbean who have made a profound impact on the development of radical politics in the United States is extensive. In this magisterial and lavishly illustrated work, Winston James focuses on the twentieth century's first waves of immigrants from the Caribbean and their contribution to political dissidence in America.

Examining the way in which the characteristics of the societies they left shaped their perceptions of the land to which they traveled, Winston James draws sharp differences between Hispanic and English-speaking arrivals. He explores the interconnections between the Cuban independence struggle, Puerto Rican nationalism, Afro-American feminism, and black communism in the first turbulent decades of the twentieth century. He also provides fascinating insights into the impact of Puerto Rican radicalism in New York City and recounts the remarkable story of Afro-Cuban radicalism in Florida.

“A truly prodigious and imaginative reconstruction [which] heralds a genuine renascence of radical scholarship in the best Caribbean tradition.” — Robert A. Hill, University of California, Los Angeles

“Powerfully argued and provocative, Holding Aloft the Banner of Ethiopia literally reframes our understanding of the African-American experience.” — Thomas C. Holt, University of Chicago

“James's book will survive for many years as the standard work on the subject and establishes the author as one of the premier scholars of the African Diaspora.” — Colin Palmer, City University of New York

“A major historical contribution to the 'hidden history' of the African diaspora ... richly detailed, powerful and compelling.” — Stuart Hall

Winston James teaches history at Columbia University, New York. His previous books include Inside Babylon: The Caribbean Diaspora in Britain, edited with Clive Harris; and A Fierce Hatred of Injustice: Claude McKay's Jamaican Poetry of Rebellion, also from Verso.