Beloved Party For Socialism and Liberation member and volunteer with Nuestro Barrio Liberation Center, Thomas Crowe-Allbritton, passed away on Friday morning, June 5th, 2026.
A community organizer for much of his life, Thomas dedicated himself to building the PSL in North Carolina. He lived in Durham at the time of his death, where he was a much-loved member of the Triangle Branch.
Born in Dothan, Alabama, Thomas moved all across the South, witnessing firsthand how, in his words, “beautiful souls are crushed” by capitalism. He spent much of his youth in Oxford, North Carolina (he would later joke about dreaming of one day moving to “the big city,” Durham). At 14 years old, Thomas was diagnosed with epithelioid hemangioendothelioma, also known as EHE, a rare form of cancer that affects the blood vessels and bone marrow. Tests revealed three tumors in his skull, two in his spine, and that the blood vessels in his lungs were covered with bean-sized tumors.
In the years following, Thomas went through round after round of treatment and chemotherapy while navigating the expensive and insufficient U.S. healthcare system. He was thrown off Medicaid twice while on treatment and later stopped treatment altogether due to not being able to afford the thousands of dollars of monthly costs.
Amid these immense health challenges, Thomas poured into his community and vowed to spend his life fighting for a system in which every person lives in dignity. “The diagnosis forced me to take a look at myself and see what I’m doing with my life,” he said. “I don’t know how long I have because it’s such a rare cancer. I might have it for the rest of my life and live healthy. I might die when I’m 30. It’s important that I focus on the time I have now and do as much as I can for others.”
After graduating high school, Thomas studied history at UNC Pembroke. He immersed himself in campus life and student organizing, serving as the Student Government Association President and a proud member of the Eta Beta Chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia. His time in Pembroke was heavily politicized by social justice movements, from the struggle against the Atlantic Coast Pipeline’s construction through Lumbee lands to the Black Lives Matter uprisings that led to protests and racial confrontations in Pembroke. Despite online threats from white supremacists and being flashed a gun at a BLM protest in Pembroke, Thomas never retreated from his deep convictions for justice for all working and oppressed people.
Thomas at BLM Protest at Pembroke June 26th, 2020
Always with a thick book in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other, Thomas had a passion for learning and educating. After graduating from UNC Pembroke, he pursued a master’s degree in public policy at Duke. He got involved in student and community organizing through joining the Duke Graduate Student Union, interning at Democracy North Carolina, and leading Changed Paths, a mutual aid project in East Durham. Through his historical study, experience in labor organizing and mutual aid, participation in the mass movement for the liberation of Palestine, and through his personal battle with the U.S. healthcare system, Thomas formed a deep understanding that something is fundamentally wrong with the system that dominates our world and puts profit over people at every turn.
Determined to change the world, Thomas joined the Party for Socialism and Liberation in November 2024. He threw himself into the party, traveling across North Carolina to support local struggles and build class consciousness. Thomas was a key organizer against the anti-immigrant bill SB-153, helping lead press conferences, protests, and outreach sessions. In Durham, Thomas helped defeat developers’ efforts to rezone Heritage Square by canvassing and delivering fiery speeches at City Council meetings. He facilitated popular education on topics from fair housing to imperialism. In Fayetteville, he supported comrades waging a fight against a dangerous curfew policy targeting Black youth.
Throughout his time in the PSL, Thomas held a deep belief in the working class. He would talk to anyone and saw potential in everyone. He often cited the words of Rev. Dr. Sam Wells on the importance of being with people rather than working for them.
Thomas speaking at a protest against Border Patrol Deployment to Charlotte Nov 16th, 2025
In his final months, Thomas refused to let his failing health stop him from fighting for the liberation of working people in North Carolina and across the globe.
When the Trump Administration sent Border Patrol to Charlotte in November of 2025, Thomas helped lead a march at the state capitol, where he called out the Democratic Party in NC for welcoming ICE with open arms.
At Nuestro Barrio Liberation Center, he coordinated screenings of the People’s Forum Hidden Histories of Rebellion course, introducing dozens of new people to an untold history of the United States.
Just this past March, Thomas traveled to Wilmington, NC after the murder of 21-year-old Edilberto Espinoza-Sierra by Wilmington Police. He supported local protests, did outreach to spread the word, and connected with Edilberto’s family to uplift their story.
Thomas was also a proud union organizer with the Union of Southern Service Workers. At USSW, he built deep relationships with workers at Amazon, Duke University and Hospital, and in the service and hospitality sector. It would be difficult to find a Marco’s Pizza or a Bojangles in Durham that didn’t hear Thomas’s Alabama twang asking workers, “They workin y’all to death out here!” Or his signature “how you living off only $10hr in Durham?!” Even
after flare-ups would put him back in the hospital, Thomas would preach to the night-shift nurses and convince them to sign the Durham Rising petition.
Everywhere Thomas went, he was a servant of the people. Whether it was handing out food, building homes with Habitat, organizing workplaces, or his vigorous research and study of history to learn how to win a society where everyone has the right to a dignified life, Thomas was a champion of humanity who inspired thousands of people across North Carolina. His example of self-sacrifice, genuineness, and devotion to learning is what we should all aspire to.
Rest in peace and power to our dear comrade, Thomas Crowe-Allbritton.
