Anatole Dolgoff

Peter Cole's marvelous history recounts the life and times of a great man, little known today. Ben Fletcher, among the blackest of men, was the key organizer of Local 8, the union of longshoremen who toiled on the Philadelphia waterfront over one hundred years ago. He led thousands of men, mostly black but also white, under the banner of the fully integrated, revoutionary -- and visionary-- Industrial Workers of the World (or Wobblies).All this before Martin Luther King was born. For his efforts Ben was sent to Leavenworth Penitentiary during the first Red Scare of 1918. It is a shame he is not written about and celebrated by chroniclers of black history today. Peter Cole has stepped in to fill this void and brings Ben's humor, tragedy, and courage to life.