A review by fibula_rasa
Left of Karl Marx: The Political Life of Black Communist Claudia Jones by Carole Boyce Davies

challenging informative medium-paced

3.5

To preface: Left of Karl Marx was edifying and I think Boyce Davies did achieve the goals she set out in the introduction of the book. I definitely left with a stronger understanding of Jones’ (previously minimized/erased) place in the constellation of activists in 20th century America—especially in regard to feminism, Black liberation, and anti-imperialism, and decolonization. (Some of the angles on Jones’ Communism are lacking, but there’s a repeated implication in Left of Karl Marx that Boyce Davies’ writing might be in conversation of sorts with John H. McClendon III’s work on Jones, which I haven’t read yet!) As someone who has read/written a lot about identity construction and immigration, I found Boyce Davies’ segments about Jones and transnationalism particularly interesting. 

It’s unfortunate that the book is so poorly edited. There’s a lot of unmotivated repetition, tautologies, notes that don’t quite line up with the text (or are also repetitive), and asides by the author about Jones’ appearance and assumptions about Jones’ thoughts and feelings that felt out of place. That said, I look forward to reading Boyce Davies’ collection of Jones’ writing. It’s apparent regardless of my criticisms that Boyce Davies did a remarkable mass of invaluable research for this project!