Virtual May Day Rally Breaks National Borders, Builds International Fight for Communism
AROUND THE WORLD, May 3—”I will be a loyal member of the party and I will do anything to advance the fight for communism,” said a new comrade in Malaysia who has decided to join our International Communist Workers’ Party.
A comrade in South Africa said: “It was inspiring, especially breaking international borders, a true reflection of internationalism and our interconnectedness.”
Comrades from many parts of the world were inspired by our virtual rally commemorating May Day, the international working-class day. Seventy devices were connected and many were watched by two or more people.
This year, due to the pandemic and the mandatory quarantines that different governments have implemented, the usual marches could not be carried out. We organized the virtual rally several weeks in advance so that people who had not used the meeting program knew how to do it on the day of the conference.
Young comrades stepped forward. This is a concrete advance in the world-historical task of developing a new generation of party leadership committed to the line and practice of building an international party.
Comrades in South Africa, the US, Mexico, Spain, El Salvador and Puerto Rico read greetings and reports. Comrades in the US read greetings from Malaysia and India. We shared poems, songs, and videos. Comrades spoke over the open mic to relay spontaneous greetings.
It was not without mistakes — as expected when we are learning new ways to communicate. Many of us have had to adapt to new technologies, but it is part of our growth and enriching our relationships.
We saw comrades we hadn’t seen in decades, and for others it was the first time that they were in an ICWP activity. This was the case with a bus driver in Los Angeles. “I Take Away One Idea. The Unity of the Working Class,” she texted. “In 20 minutes, I saw the 2015 memories [from South Africa, El Salvador}, a poem [Everything or Nothing, All of Us or None] & Transit Workers.”
A worker in El Salvador said: “It was a success, since it was one more experience of meeting more members, the comrades of Puerto Rico and many more members. We can see that the party is spreading worldwide and that encourages me to continue in the work of building the party.”
Another comrade from South Africa wrote, “I think we can build some close relationships with comrades in other parts of the world which in turn will help us share our different experiences and our struggles and ultimately advance our organization’s struggle. This conference was very helpful.”
This is a test and a rehearsal for future meetings, conferences, and study groups. Our party has to open deeper discussions about our line and about the obstacles that we are having in our areas. The party can grow through meetings through this platform.
We have a communist world to win.
May Day 2020: A Communist World to Win
May Day, Los Angeles, USA
Welcome to the International Communist Workers’ Party 2020 May Day virtual rally. Our comrades live in South Africa, Canada, El Salvador, United States, India, Pakistan, Spain, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Malaysia and other places. We need workers all over the world to unite and join us to mobilize the masses to win a communist system.
Global pandemics, poverty, racism, sexism, xenophobia, police brutality, imperialist war – all created by capitalism – are among the reasons we need a communist revolution.
The deadly and brutal reaction of governments all over the world to the Covid 19 pandemic is to separate our working class into “essential” or “nonessential” groups. Force “essential” workers to continue to work for profits and paychecks in unsafe environments where they are at high risk to catch or spread the virus. Force “nonessential” workers to figure out how to make it with no funds or maybe some can continue to make bosses’ profits from their home.
We fight for a communist system where we eliminate money and produce for the need of masses. We would work together collectively all over the world, sharing our technology and resources to ensure safe treatments to fight the virus and to ensure appropriate care for all of the working class. Profits would play no factor in determining the worth of our health for all workers.
The global pandemic, in addition to numerous capitalist crises, is why ICWP needs to mobilize masses now more aggressively than ever. We have to fight.
This May Day virtual rally is to strengthen our fight and grow a communist party that will win the communist world we need. Let’s begin now!