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"Don't Buy Where You Can't Work": Political Activism in Depression-Era Harlem

This text highlights the growth of political activism that took place in Harlem during the Great Depression. Discriminatory hiring practices and widespread unemployment triggered job campaigns focused on increasing black employment in the largely white-owned business sector of Harlem and creating more opportunities for qualified blacks in non-menial (white-collar) jobs. This chapter discusses both the successes and the failures of these campaigns that were influenced by the economically and politically diverse population that was Harlem.


Source | Cheryl Lynn Greenberg,"Don't Buy Where You Can't Work," in "Or Does It Explode?": Black Harlem in The Great Depression (New York: Oxford University Press, 1991), 115-139.
Creator | Cheryl Lynn Greenberg
Rights | Used by permission of the author.
Item Type | Book (excerpt)
Cite This document | Cheryl Lynn Greenberg, “"Don't Buy Where You Can't Work": Political Activism in Depression-Era Harlem,” SHEC: Resources for Teachers, accessed March 19, 2024, https://shec.ashp.cuny.edu/items/show/595.

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