The sheer number present on the day, estimated at half a million, points to organisational acumen and bodes well for developing the movement, says DIANE ABBOTT
THERE are a number of writers and journalists I really admire. Sometimes it’s for the quality of their writing. Sometimes it’s for what they have to say. Sometimes, though much more rarely, it’s both.
Two writers immediately come to mind who fit the double category. James Baldwin is one of them. I think both his non-fiction and fictional works are rarely surpassed by anyone, with the possible exception of Toni Morrison.
The other one is Claudia Jones. As I write this, on February 21 2022, I celebrate her birthday. She shares her birthday with the publication of the Communist Manifesto and the day the legendary Malcolm X was gunned down in New York City in 1965.
The pioneering activist understood that freedom could only be won through solidarity across communities. Her legacy offers vital lessons at a time when progressive politics risks losing that shared purpose
The Morning Star republishes PRAGNA PATEL’s speech at the annual commemoration of Claudia Jones on February 22 2026
On the 121st anniversary of communist Claudia Jones’s birth ROGER McKENZIE looks at political events that shaped her, and those she helped shape
DAVID HORSLEY reminds us of the roots and staying power of one of the most iconic festivals around
As global fascism grows, ROGER McKENZIE urges the left to reclaim May Day’s revolutionary roots — not as an act of nostalgia, but as fuel for building a ‘community of resistance’ against exploitation and the rise of fascism



