James, Cyril (1901-1989), was a distinguished Black Trinidadian writer and social activist. He was a powerful advocate of left-wing philosophy and one of the most versatile intellectuals of his generation. James became best known for his history of the revolution in Haiti in the early 1800’s, The Black Jacobins: Toussaint L’Ouverture and the San Domingo Revolution (1938). This penetrating study strongly influenced intellectual life in the Caribbean as well as African independence leaders.
James’s many other books include the novel Minty Alley (1936), which deals with life among the lower middle class and poor class in the urban Caribbean. Beyond a Boundary (1963) examines the politics of the sport of cricket in the Caribbean.
James turned to Marxism to understand colonial social change. He was an early Caribbean nationalist, and his writings emphasize the importance of enslaved Black people and their descendants in anticolonial struggles. He became involved in socialism and the Pan-African movement, which strives for the unity of Black people. During the late 1950’s and early 1960’s, he participated in independence movements in Trinidad and Ghana.
Cyril Lionel Robert James was born on Jan. 4, 1901, in Tunapuna, near Port-of-Spain. He started his writing career in the 1920’s, editing the literary review Trinidad. He moved to England in 1936 and gained a reputation as a writer on cricket. He lived in the United States from 1939 until he was expelled in 1953 for his political activities, and he returned to England. He died there on May 31, 1989.
