Seattle here ♦ Los Angeles here ♦
Marching on May Day, Making Communist Plans
SEATTLE (USA), May1— “I’m so glad I came today!” said a friend who hadn’t done much with ICWP during the pandemic year. “It was great to see all these people out, especially the young people.”
This year’s May Day was organized under the shadow of the pandemic and a local COVID surge. Some friends remarked, “We’ve been trained to isolate for a long time.”
They came with us to the march anyway, after a long discussion about the exciting communist history of May Day locally and globally. We reviewed the 1886 rebellion in Chicago that led to the first Communist International call for global May Day demonstrations. We touched on various world highlights, ending with the mass rebellions that occurred at Seattle May Days in the last decade.
Some retired Boeing workers hesitated to come out to the march because they were worried about the local spike. The growing global pandemic catastrophe was driving their hesitancy. They saw the terrible toll taken on the Indian working class. One worker we couldn’t convince to march has since agreed to help us organize one of a series of smaller social/political gatherings to plan our work going forward.
The march was much smaller than usual, drawing about 250 people. Usually thousands march. Nonetheless, the march was spirited, with young people leading the way. Our modest contingent distributed nearly 300 Red Flags to participants and onlookers.
The idea of fighting directly for communism, without any stage of socialism or reforms in between, was well received by younger people and May Day veterans alike who said, “We need more communists!” And “I’m glad to see you here.”
After marching, a comrade high school teacher, who was very involved in the anti-racism fights last summer, wanted to discuss plans for this summer. The local party has rekindled its focus on building communist relationships with those who welcomed us at demonstrations and whom we know from the schools and factories. The comrade teacher agreed to participate in a social/political meeting that other friends who marched on May Day are organizing.
Meanwhile, three comrades are visiting six people in Portland we haven’t been able to meet with because of the pandemic. Our task now is to struggle with them and our expanding circles of activists to share Red Flag with their friends and families and join a party collective. More communist organizers is our goal.
We are inviting all May Day marchers, would-be marchers and their friends to participate in our Zoom forum on May 23.
“It was good to get out there and march, raise our fists and struggle for communism,” was how one comrade summed up this year’s May Day. We’ve put ourselves in a better position. Now the crucial follow-up begins.
Communist Work in India Inspires May Day Marchers in Los Angeles
LOS ANGELES (USA)—The International Communist Workers’ Party’s successful multi-racial and multi-generational contingent at the May Day March made a big impression on many other marchers. Close to 800 marchers took Red Flag newspapers. Comrades distributed hundreds of leaflets about the Covid situation in India: “Capitalism is Murder for Profit.” We explained that India is a top producer of medicines, yet people are dying from lack of medicine and oxygen because of profits, and that communist revolution is the solution.
Many were moved by this. One person approached us and said, “You are the group that is doing work in India, right? That’s great!” He was excited to get Red Flag. A young woman said she wasn’t in any group and would like to know more about us. She gave us her contact information and wants to get the paper regularly.
Some comrades joined the caravan, their cars decorated with Party flags and signs. Most marched wearing red Party t-shirts and carrying two communist banners, red flags and communist signs. The daughter of comrades, and others, led communist chants in Spanish and in English, including “Asian, Latin, Black and White, to Smash Capitalism We Must Unite” and “This is the fist of the hour. Workers to Power!”
Four MTA transit workers came and were very inspired. Two of them marched on May Day with ICWP for the first time. One donated $40 for his ICWP T-shirt.
Before and during the march, comrades gave speeches in English and Spanish denouncing capitalism but also uplifting communism and the need to join ICWP to mobilize the masses for communism.
Many young marchers were socialists. Comrades had conversations with some, explaining that socialism never has and never will lead to communism. That Marx thought a transition stage was needed because he believed the masses couldn’t be won to communism in capitalism. But he underestimated what a mass party could do that mobilized masses directly for communism. That’s the party we’re building now. Some listened intently and thanked us for the explanation.
Many marchers want reforms, short term solutions, but they took the paper and said they would read it. We explained that reforms won’t solve the problem and we need communist revolution.
A young comrade leader felt that this May Day was a learning experience, like other years, but that it showed more clearly the need for us to build more of a base with youth. The younger comrades who attended can make important contributions to this organizing.
This comrade hopes to organize more of his coworkers and friends to join the party and for next year’s May Day. He looks forward to having our own May Day March as in the past. This would show our collective struggle to mobilize a mass party of workers of all ages, students, soldiers and our families. And in this way, sooner rather than later, to achieve our goal of destroying the capitalist state.
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