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GUEST: Gerald Horne, Professor of History at the University of Houston, author of various books including “Black and Brown: African Americans and the Mexican Revolution, 1910-1920,” latest book is “The Final Victim of the Blacklist: John Howard Lawson, Dean of the Hollywood Ten.”

Acclaimed playwright and screenwriter John Howard Lawson was the president and organizing force of the Screen Writers’ Guild and acknowledged leader of the Communist Party in Hollywood in the late 1930s. Lawson became the first “unfriendly” witness subpoenaed to testify before the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) on October 27, 1947. History professor Gerald Horne presents the first biography of John Howard Lawson in his latest book, “The Final Victim of the Blacklist: John Howard Lawson, Dean of the Hollywood Ten.” Lawson’s life provides a lens through which to better understand McCarthyism and anti-semitism in the US, and the influence of the left on Hollywood. John Howard Lawson’s radicalism even served as a foil for launching the political careers of two presidents, Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan.

Gerald Horne will be speaking at the following events:

– Wednesday August 16th at 7 pm at 2000+ Books, 309 Pine Avenue, Long Beach, CA 90802
– Saturday, August 19th, 2 pm at 6120 South Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90044