On this page: Demonstration Against Police Murder of Dijon Kizzee here ♦ International Meeting here ♦
Los Angeles, USA, September 19—An ICWP contingent went to a protest and march against the murder of Dijon Kizzee at the hands of the Los Angeles Sheriffs on August 31. Two young comrades carried a banner. The murder occurred a few blocks from where they live. They had been absent from the party for a while. They were very encouraged by their participation in the march and agreed to form an ICWP club and meet regularly. Along the march, we distributed more than 200 copies of Red Flag. We met a South African friend we knew from a previous march. We showed her the photo of her in Red Flag from that march and the text that accompanied it. She was incredibly pleased. She indicated that she could help translate Red Flag into South African languages that she understands.
International Committee Meeting Focuses on Developing New Communist Leaders
Revolution Might Be in the Air, but We Need to Strengthen Communist Ties with Workers to Bring It Down to Earth
“I appreciate the comments made by the transit worker,” said a Texas comrade after the September International Committee meeting.
The transit worker, a new comrade, described how he gets to know his fellow workers. He never misses an opportunity to inquire after their health and financial well-being. And he’s always willing to help!
At a follow up meeting of mechanics and other workers he went into more detail.
“I’ve tried two approaches,” he said, referring to his attempts to expand the party’s reach and recruit new members. Sometimes he just bombarded his friends with political ideas. Other times, he developed close multi-racial friendships as well. He thought the second option worked better.
This strategy rang true with the Texas comrade.
She has marched with anti-racist protestors (alongside members of her family) as have almost all of our friends and comrades. She described the extensive network of friends she has and the many social/political groups she participates in. She thinks the way to spread these communist politics requires that you really know people.
“I haven’t been as active as I should be,” she admitted to other comrades after the meeting. “I can do more.” After discussions with other comrades, she made a plan to contribute to Red Flag and help form a new Texas ICWP collective.
Newly active comrades like these point the way forward. They are focused on spreading communist ideas and recruiting to the International Communist Workers’ Party.
Progress Means More ICWP Communist Organizers
The meeting featured similar progress in many places. New communist organizers are emerging in India. They are visiting striking auto, mining and garment workers. Comrades in the El Salvador maquilas described their multi-year development of larger and larger collectives in the factories.
In the US, rejuvenated comrades in older concentrations are stepping up. Also, our orbit is expanding to new locations. New Red Flag voices from New Jersey, Texas, and Portland, to name a few, are reporting on local anti-racist, anti-fascist fights they have joined.
The struggle to bring communist politics upfront intensified. For example, comrades at the meeting asked questions about how to overcome obstacles to expand the circulation of our paper, especially as we are involved mass struggle. We have to continue to work on this, having confidence in and relying on our friends and their friends.
New ICWP Leadership Emerges
We heard from a multi-racial cadre of next-generation leaders who organized an international forum on putting communism up front in the fight against racism and fascism. The next forum will focus on bringing this struggle from the streets to the schools and worksites.
Our party and the working class need more communist organizers like them.
But nothing is guaranteed. Neither the mass militancy on the streets, nor the increasing activism of our members and friends will spontaneously lead to communism. Widespread anger has brought multitudes into the streets. But even that is not enough to produce communist organizers.
Our collectives must make plans to spread our ideas, and recruit and develop new communists, no matter what the activity. If the first plan does not work, we must have backup plans. Where we have a cluster of party friends, establishing new party collectives must be a priority.
Millions of workers and students are in the streets. Millions more debate the issues at their workplaces, at school, and among family and friends.
At this time, mobilizing the masses for communism requires that we concentrate our efforts on developing the new leaders necessary to bring communism to as many of these battles as possible. Everything should be geared to recruiting, rejuvenating and developing communist fighters.
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