Report on Red Flag here ♦ Red Flag/Bandera Roja collective here ♦
Report on Red Flag to the Conference in El Salvador
This report is from young comrades in El Salvador who form a key part of the Red Flag Editorial Collective:
When I was in the summer projects in the US years ago, we began a collective process of learning and struggle to be part of the collective that produces Red Flag. But it was in 2018 that I fully committed myself. It has been a process that has served to advance and strengthen the leadership of women, since most of us in this group are women.
At the conference, while we were listening to the report from the maquilas, the comrade mentioned that the workers were interested in knowing what the process of publishing each edition of Red Flag was like. So I would like to share general aspects of how it is carried out.
Upon receiving the articles or letters written by workers, soldiers, farmworkers, and students, these are translated and discussed in two meetings by the collective. Suggestions are sent back to the people who have written the article or letter. Then comes the layout of the paper, giving priority to those articles that reflect struggles and this is when the newspaper is edited. Finally, it is published and sent to be printed.
Currently there are readers from many parts of the world, but we are interested in how we are struggling politically with our base more than numbers. It would be very helpful to see more letters and articles in the newspaper reflecting how we are struggling with others using Red Flag.
Red Flag is the fundamental weapon that we have today. It strongly represents our International Communist Workers’ Party. That is why we must know how important it is. But what are we mainly referring to when we say that Red Flag is important?
Our Party has learned valuable lessons about the importance of a coherent, unified organization and also the key role that Red Flag plays in creating a new generation of communists.
In the newspaper our political line and our main objective, to mobilize the masses for communism, are made clear.
By distributing the paper massively or hand-to-hand, we take this line to many workers. We are planting communist ideas as well as informing in a real way what is happening in the world. When we create these networks of Red Flag readers, debates, discussions, and contradictions arise that soon become an advance for our party.
We call on all of us to feel part of the Red Flag process both technically and politically. We will achieve that by writing more, discussing what is written, being critical, and self-critical and distributing our communist newspaper.
-Young Comrades in El Salvador
My Experience in the Bandera Roja/Red Flag Collective
I remember the first time I was invited to a political gathering with workers organized in the International Communist Workers’ Party. Hearing all the lived experiences and sacrifices that they have to go through day by day, I was inspired and wanted to continue to be an active part of this communist struggle.
It is gratifying for me to be a part of the ICWP and the RED FLAG newspaper. When they invited me, I felt great joy and happiness because in this way I am part of the change. And it inspires me to know that through the newspaper we can reach the largest number of workers, who are not alone; that we are an international party.
We fight to change the oppressive capitalist system that is bleeding us. The solution is an equitable communist society where we have a common good in unity and harmony.
The Red Flag collective receives letters and articles from different parts of the world. As a member of the collective, I translate and send the translations to the collective so that they can be analyzed in the virtual meetings. I feel very grateful and happy to do this.
Each member of the collective shares their suggestions and additional opinions of the work carried out by each member. If there are errors in the text, we discuss changes needed in editing.
I am in a learning process to help publish the paper. I am proud to learn from each member of the collective. It is a very hard but significant job.
Our newspaper is a very powerful weapon because thanks to it, the membership of the ICWP continues to grow. It is a constant struggle. We see all this reflected in new letters with suggestions or experiences people had when reading an article or the political struggle with new comrades who send us letters. There are letters and articles from those who were invited to a group or who were spoken to and shared our newspaper RED FLAG.
I feel responsible for making the ideology of the ICWP and our RED FLAG newspaper reach many more people to encourage them, and, in turn, they will share with other people and thus mobilize the masses for the communist struggle.
Comrade in El Salvador
See Previous Article:
Red Flag: Voices of Workers and Youth
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