Claude M. Lightfoot was an African-American activist, politician, and author. In 1955, during the McCarthy era

McCarthyism

McCarthyism is the practice of making accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason without proper regard for evidence. The term has its origins in the period in the United States known as the Second Red Scare, lasting roughly from the late 1940s to the late 1950s and characterized by...

, he was indicted based on the Smith Act

Smith Act

The Alien Registration Act or Smith Act of 1940 is a United States federal statute that set criminal penalties for advocating the overthrow of the U.S...

 and put on trial. While previous Smith Act indictments had been of individuals accused directly of attempting to overthrow the US government by force or violence, Lightfoot was indicted merely for being a member of the Communist Party, which, in turn, was alleged to be attempting to overthrow the government. Having moved to Chicago's South Side in 1917, Lightfoot joined the struggles of Black workers in the 1920s. In 1932 he ran for the Illinois State Legislature on the Communist ticket, receiving 33,000 votes. After three and a half years of service in World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, he rose to the top leadership of the Illinois Communist Party.

His autobiography, also his thesis at the University of Illinois, is: From Chicago's Ghetto to World Politics : The Life and Struggles of Claude M. Lightfoot. It was first published as Black America and the World Revolution (New York: New Outlook Publishers, 1970). A later augmented edition was titled Chicago Slums to World Politics.

Major publications

• An American looks at Russia: Can we live together in peace? (New York : New Century Publishers, 1951), 23 pp.
• The Negro Question in the U.S.A. (New York: New Century Publishers, 1960).
• Turning point in Freedom Road: The fight to end Jim Crow now (New York: New Century Publishers, 1962), 46 pp.
• Black power and liberation: A communist view (New York: New Outlook Publishers, 1967), 46 pp.
• Ghetto rebellion to black liberation (New York, International Publishers, 1968), 192 pp.
• The Civil War and black liberation today (New York : New Outlook Publishers, 1969), 45 p.
• Racism and human survival: Lessons of Nazi Germany for today's world (New York, International Publishers, 1972), 287 pp. illus.
• The effect of education on racism; the two German states and the USA (New York, New Outlook, 1973).
• Human rights U.S. style: From colonial times through the New Deal (New York: International Publishers, 1977), 229 pages.
• Salute to Black history honoring Dr. Claude Lightfoot (Salsedo Press, Chicago: 1979), pamphlet.