At the height of its popularity in 1927–1929, ICU had between a hundred thousand and two hundred and fifty thousand members, according to various estimates. The ICU helped to establish a tradition of black worker resistance—that is, of racial solidarity unconcerned with tribe. As one member put it, “Although the initials [ICU] stood for a fancy title, to us it meant basically: when you ill-treat the African people, I See You; if you kick them off the pavements and say they must go together with the cars and the ox-carts, I See You.… When you kick my brother, I See You.”
