Abraham Johannes Muste or better known as A. J. was a Dutch-born American Clergyman and political activist. He was born on January 8th, 1885 in Zierikzee Netherlands and died February 10th, 1967 in New York, New York. At a young age Muste attended seminary school and had particular interest in social cultures, which emphasized the use of Christian ideologies to conquer social and economic issues. He is best known for his role in labor and left-wing movements during the 1920s and 1930s. He also played a major leadership role in the American Peace Movement from 1941 up until his death in 1967. During his time in the American Peace Movement he became a critic of protestant ideologies and had pacifist views. Muste led many strikes in textile factories in Massachusetts during the 1920s. Muste and others had founded the CPLA (Congress of Progressive Labor Action) to help create a unionized industrial labor sector.
In 1933 the CPLA turned into the AWP (American Workers Party), which focused primarily on workers rights and had strong leftist values. In 1935 Muste became national secretary of the American Workers Party. Just a year after that Muste had a profound religious epiphany, which made him break from his previous Marxist beliefs, he then became a Christian pacifist. He wrote a well-known book Nonviolence In an Aggressive World (1940). His goal was to educate people in nonviolent approaches to racial segregation. In 1947 Muste published Not By Might, which focused on draft resistance and tax reform. In 1948 Muste became chairmen of a radical leftist group called Peacemakers. During the civil rights era he served as an advisor to Martin Luther King Jr. and Bayard Rustin two very well known civil rights activists. What inspired me about Muste was his beliefs in racial segregation at such a time where racial pressures were very high. He took on these people who were for racial segregation with a passion and had produced a lot of changes within these communities.
Works Cited
Danielson, L. (2015, February). There Is No Way to Peace, Peace Is the Way. Retrieved from http://origins.osu.edu/review/there-no-way-peace-peace-way-aj-muste-and-american-radical-pacifism
Danielson, L. (2019, January 04). A.J. Muste. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/biography/A-J-Muste