Otto Huiswoud and the Demise of the Red Black Atlantic

This essay focuses on the activities of Otto Huiswoud from 1934 to 1937, when he was secretary of the International Trade Union Committee of Negro Workers (ITUCNW) and closely operated within the circuits of the Red International of Labour Unions and the Third (Communist) International. During these years, Otto Huiswoud and his wife, Hermina, tried to reinvigorate the ITUCNW and its network in the African Atlantic. After the introduction of the “popular front” tactics by the Comintern, Huiswoud proposed in October 1935 a thorough reorganization of the ITUCNW, although his plan remained a mere blueprint. Huiswoud’s activities came to an end when the Comintern liquidated the ITUCNW in July 1937.