Are there BlueSky historians like we had on Twitter? I want to know who this Chinese Communist Party official is talking to my dad in 1978. He invited my dad “and his family” and we spent 6 weeks in the PRC. It was incredible. But I was 15 and don’t remember this kind of detail - ThreadSky

wakerevolt.bsky.social • 4 days ago

Are there BlueSky historians like we had on Twitter? I want to know who this Chinese Communist Party official is talking to my dad in 1978. He invited my dad “and his family” and we spent 6 weeks in the PRC. It was incredible. But I was 15 and don’t remember this kind of detail

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natehousley.com•4 days ago

There’s a feed for historians. Putting a 🗃️ emoji in the post puts in the feed but I think you may need to be added first?
https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:6brknehpd7ecbvd56ko6mhlm/feed/aaaby3zazwhrq

wakerevolt.bsky.social•4 days ago

Thank you. It is amazing how many different weird social media app skills a person has to learn because we are basically forced to operate like a webring

natehousley.com•4 days ago

Yeah I know :/

haazah.bsky.social•4 days ago

As a late Gen Xer whose early adult years corresponded with Web 1.0, I appreciate the webring comparison.

triplingual.bsky.social•4 days ago

Also there was once #Skystorians — Perhaps they still answer to the ancient rituals.

dustinducane.bsky.social•4 days ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hua_Guofeng?wprov=sfti1

dustinducane.bsky.social•4 days ago

As somebody says in this thread.

shuwanggong.bsky.social•4 days ago

Hua Guofeng?

dustinducane.bsky.social•4 days ago

wakerevolt.bsky.social•2 days ago

I got his 1948 book back in print!

https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/2616-negro-liberation

wakerevolt.bsky.social•4 days ago

Is there a research process to identify people in photos? My historical research has been pre-photography

josephtorigian.bsky.social•4 days ago

Looks like Geng Biao maybe.

pi-weiguo.bsky.social•4 days ago

I think you are right, it looks like Geng Biao.

wakerevolt.bsky.social•3 days ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geng_Biao?wprov=sfti1

dustinducane.bsky.social•3 days ago

dustinducane.bsky.social•3 days ago

Somebody else found him. The profile matches, top diplomat and trips to fraternal nations.

wakerevolt.bsky.social•3 days ago

When I was in that room, I remember him pulling me aside with his translator to get to know me a little. I was so touched. Now I want to learn more about him.

bassoosie.bsky.social•3 days ago

Wow!!!

josephtorigian.bsky.social•3 days ago

Xi Jinping started working for him in 1979.

wakerevolt.bsky.social•3 days ago

That is crazy. I have a connection in China. Maybe I will give him a call. “I met your mentor. He was sweet to foreign kids.” 😉

wakerevolt.bsky.social•3 days ago

This was us in Harbin, Northern Manchuria, and they put on this performance for us—this is the one where a Chinese opera star sang Robeson’s Old Man River. We were brought on stage afterward. If you zoom in you can see my teenage self vibing with this adorable little boy

dustinducane.bsky.social•3 days ago

Also makes sense

historygirl.bsky.social•4 days ago

What was your dad's name? I'm assuming that there is a newspaper article associated with this event since it seems like it would be a big deal (wasn't it still technically closed to Westerners at that time?)

wakerevolt.bsky.social•3 days ago

He was a Black American communist, child of enslaved people, who was always on the run from MacCarthy, or Cointelpro. He was not considered a “Westerner,” in that sense. He was an ally. The US government hated my dad so much I was born in exile.

wakerevolt.bsky.social•3 days ago

My father was Harry Haywood.

robrakove.bsky.social•4 days ago

@josephtorigian.bsky.social

wudang.com•4 days ago

In 1978, any kind of foreign family visiting would have been a big deal. Where was this? What city?

wakerevolt.bsky.social•3 days ago

Beijing. The Chinese government paid for everything. We travelled the entire Eastern Seaboard over 6 weeks. “Canton” to Harbin. We had to arrange travel through Canada to Hong Kong and then a train into the PRC.

wudang.com•3 days ago

Best I've been able to do is another image of the same meeting. The official in the photo would have been connected to the Foreign Affairs section and a party leader. I'm trying to narrow it down. There would have been a formal invitation letter, too.

(same photo here)
https://blackthen.com/harry-haywood-communist-revolutionary-who-fought-for-black-nationalism/

wakerevolt.bsky.social•3 days ago

Thank you! I haven’t seen this article. It is much better written than his Wikipedia article on the whole. I also hate that the Wikipedia article says my dad “neglected his children.” It was much more complicated than that, because he was being hunted By the State.

wakerevolt.bsky.social•3 days ago

We don’t have the same politics, but he helped teach me how to think critically. I loved him. We spent quality time together

wakerevolt.bsky.social•2 days ago

I do not disavow his politics either, I should point out. If I had his life, I would have had his politics. And I agree with most of it now.

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