Letters, Vol 11, No 2

Distributing Red Flag in El Salvador

Comradely greetings to all the men and women comrades of the International Communist Workers’ Party all around the world.

Very enthusiastically I write to you for allowing me to be part of the Party. I have no doubt that the struggle to change this system is very much alive. In the ICWP, we are making a daily struggle for more men and women workers to organize with us.

One day this week I went to distribute our Red Flag newspaper at the maquiladora factory I was fired from last month. When I heard that there was going to be a distribution of the party’s literature at that plant, I didn’t hesitate for a moment to volunteer to help the comrades who were going to carry this out.

While I was distributing the newspaper, I met many former co-workers. They were very happy to receive the newspaper from me. It was a great experience for me, because it was the first time I distributed Red Flag. I was thinking about how my former co-workers would react. But I saw that they received it with a lot of hope that one day the bosses’ system will end.

I am still looking for another job and the comrades have helped me. I have felt that the ICWP has not abandoned me. That encourages me much more to always continue forward and fight for a better world.

—Comrade Worker

Workers need revolution, not a halftime show

“Who do you think did better?” asked my mother after we watched the 2020 Super Bowl half-time show. The show featured singers Shakira and Jennifer Lopez, the first time the show had featured two Latinx women.

As a communist I was more interested in the politics. Jennifer Lopez’ performance had a few political messages of patriotism and a call for justice for the migrant children who are being detained in cages. Unfortunately, Lopez’s statement is not enough to give workers the kind of justice that we need.

Lopez’s performance became political when her daughter sang Born in the USA with other Latinx children in cages. This imagery criticized the U.S. government for the detainment of undocumented children. Lopez joined her daughter in song with a cape that had the America flag on one side. As she continued in her performance, she opened it up to reveal a Puerto Rican flag.

Puerto Rico is a colony of the US. People who live on the Island are not allowed to vote for president and do not have any political power. “Latinos,” she yelled out to the crowd proudly as she flaunted her patriotism and dual identity as a Latinx person who is also an American.

However, this is not enough. We need to be united under one flag and that’s the Red Flag. While Lopez attempted to be political with this statement, there are no long-lasting after-effects or move towards progress of the working class.

Patriotism is not the answer

We need communism and nothing less. While I can understand showing cultural pride, I cannot think that that is enough of a political statement to help the working class. Workers of all races, ethnicities and creeds will be appreciated and united when we have communism because the first thing that will be done away with are borders. Singing the praises of a nation that oppresses the very people you are trying to lift up is not political at all.

Here in Los Angeles, people of different ethnicities drape their lawns and cars with the flags of their countries of origin to show pride, but does that keep us from being one paycheck away from poverty? Patriotism is not what we need. We need to unite all workers for a cause that is greater than celebrating our differences. We must celebrate our similarities as well.

We are the working class. As such, we are all subject to wage slavery, discrimination, and economic inequality, deportations, and homelessness to varying degrees. No celebrity or singer can make things better for workers by waving a flag in protest or in celebration. We need to unite all workers, black, Asian, Latinx, and white and understand that we all must unite, not as one nation, but as the working class worldwide to put an end to all workers’ suffering for good.

—A Comrade

New High School Comrade: “Creating a Free and Just World for Everyone”

My name is G.  and I am part of a high school student collective here in Los Angeles, CA, USA.  In preparation for the 10-Year Anniversary Conference of the ICWP my high school club read the Maquila Report from El Salvador that identified some of the major obstacles that our comrades there are faced with in mobilizing the masses for communism.  We also started to read the Party’s pamphlet on Dialectical Materialism.

In one of our meetings we tried to tackle the question, “What would hold someone back from being part of our movement of mobilizing the masses for communism and becoming a communist organizer”?

We said that it could be a lack of knowledge of the history of the fight for communism, not having an understanding of the victories and the failures of that history. I added that it was the fear of being criticized by people, friends and family.  We all agreed that we would think more on identifying more internal contradictions and how to overcome them.

The January 18th, 2020, conference was intriguing. My club leader and I were the only ones from our club that actually were able to make it. The other club members were not able to participate because of unforeseen family responsibilities.  My knowledge on the topic of how we live in a capitalist world and how to inform the high school population on communism has grown exponentially. I was pumped to hear the reports from the others.

My experience was new and as my first communist outing I liked it. Thanks to this experience I gained more knowledge than expected and I really enjoyed it. I learned that capitalism is something taught to us at a very young age, even in school, and its part of our life. But with support, and group members we can mobilize the masses for communism and fight this capitalist world.  I learned that communist collective thought and action can defeat individualist capitalist thought and action. I have the confidence that once and for all we can create a free and just world for everyone.   I want to be part of all of this. For this reason I have made the decision of joining the Party.

When I got back to our first club meeting after the conference, I shared my experience.  Then club members were asked if they wanted to join the Party.  “Joining the Party is like communism; it’s based on commitment and need, from each according to commitment to each according to need.  Many have different levels of commitment, many do a lot and others not so much, but we all do or contribute based on what we are able to do”, said a comrade in the club.  From this discussion two more students, A. and J., joined the Party. A third student is thinking about it.

I said, “When I first was asked to join the Party based on communism I was scared.  But seeing people all over the pages of Red Flag take it seriously and show that they really care about the cause helped me not be afraid of joining and made me more comfortable.  It’s amazing how people can come together and understand a new way of life and how we can spread out to other places that need it.”

–High School Student Comrade

Bringing Communist Ideas to U.S. Protest Against Fascism in India

One day after celebrating the ten-year anniversary of our party, ICWP, we met for another session to discuss how to move the work forward. Afterward, seven us headed to the nearby South Asian community in the city of Artesia, CA. We were comrades and friends from California, Puerto Rico and Spain.

There was a very colorful and vocal protest going on, against the latest legislation from the Modi government.

Various groups took turns passing around the microphone/bull horn, denouncing these attacks on Muslims. They led enthusiastic chants in at least three languages.

The Modi government enacted laws to speed up the immigration process for many religious minorities, with the glaring exception of Muslims. This forces an already vulnerable community into what amounts to refugee status.

No matter what the Modi government wants to call it, the policy functions as an anti-Muslim ban. Muslims will be forced into camps and likely deported. This includes some who have lived in their current state or city for at least two generations.

Our group moved among the people and distributed literature. Our copies of Red Flag were eagerly accepted. Those in attendance represented a wide range of ages and interests. Many wanted to know who we were, as we were obviously not South Asian.

We had some good conversations about Islamophobia, capitalist crisis, fascism and communist revolution. In the Indian state of Kerala, among others, the idea of communism is widely accepted in some form. One comrade was able to use the microphone to give a short message of solidarity with the mass courageous struggle against fascism in India.

She said that it shows that from India to the USA the masses need to destroy fascism with communist revolution, and they will. Her speech was warmly applauded.

We look forward to finding out if any of the people we met might want to form a more lasting relationship with our party by spreading Red Flag.

—Comrade In Los Angeles (USA)

What Does It Mean to Join the Party?

“You have read Red Flag for a while. Almost every article says, ‘Join ICWP,’” I said to a friend. She nodded. “Have you thought about joining?”

“Yes, sometimes,” she answered. “But what does that involve?”

“Being part of a collective working to advance communism,” I said. “You’d give Red Flag to people and talk to them about communism and try to recruit them to the party.   Whatever you do would be a contribution.”   She was listening.

“You would help make and carry out plans. And improve the work through open criticism and discussion of questions and disagreements. And help with money as you can,” I added.

“Let me think about it,” she said.

I recently had this conversation with two different friends. Neither has joined – yet.

But was this a good answer? What would be a better answer? What exactly does it mean to be a member of the International Communist Workers’ Party?

A comrade in South Africa wrote a letter to Red Flag (last issue) about how he tries to live as a communist “24/7.” His commitment is very inspiring!

But the letter also seemed to reflect his frustration with other comrades who don’t meet the high standards he sets for himself. I think that this impatience contradicts his effort to be a more effective communist leader. It might confuse potential members.

Building a mass communist party means welcoming as members everyone who wants to contribute to our communist goals.   We need both urgency (for the short term) and patience (for the long term). These are opposites, but they are not in contradiction. Neither should destroy the other in the way we work.

Mobilizing masses for communism – now and in the future – means embracing “uneven development.” Not all members are committed to building the Party in the same way. We must accept all contributions “from each according to commitment.” We also recognize that comrades have different abilities to contribute, based in part on their life history and situation.

Being in a collective implies being open to becoming more effective communists, with the help of our comrades. That means we struggle with each other patiently “to each according to need.”

Friends have sometimes told me that they don’t want to join the International Communist Workers’ Party because “If I join, I would want to dedicate myself 24/7.” Or because “I can’t be as active as you are.” I tell them that I don’t think these are good reasons. Every new member makes us stronger.

Do you agree? Do you want to make the Party stronger? Do you want to live in a communist world—or to help build it for future generations? That’s what matters.

—Comrade in Los Angeles (USA)

PLEASE SEND US YOUR LETTERS, RESPONSES AND SUGGESTIONS TO ICWPRedFlag@ANONYMOUSSPEECH.ORG

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