Seattle: Life at the Table here ♦ May Day in Los Angeles here ♦ Letter: Hope reignited here ♦
Los Angeles (USA) May Day, 2025
Seattle ICWP at the May Day Rally: “Life at the Table”—Communism was the topic
SEATTLE (USA) May 1—“May Day has been celebrated by workers all over the world since 1886, when Chicago workers demonstrated in Haymarket Square demanding the establishment of the eight-hour day.”
This was part of one of the many conversations we had this May Day with the mostly young workers, students and activists who stopped at our ICWP table set up in the park where the march began.
The march and rally were organized by a broad coalition of reformist groups, some of them socialists. But only ICWP called for Communist Revolution. The majority of the people we met asked the same question, “What is the difference between socialism and communism?”
This is a great question, because it leads into many areas of life that people are very stressed and angry about right now. We said workers will always be exploited under capitalism because we are wage slaves. The bosses will do everything they can to hold onto their power. Socialism may seem more democratic, but it does not do away with the basic evils of capitalism. Communism will do away with classes, the wage system, private ownership of land, separate nations with borders, and finance (money). People were very open to this idea.
Some other questions were related to fear of openly calling ourselves communists, and how we should deal with security. Not surprising, especially during these times. We explained that we have to be open and honest with our friends and coworkers and not be like the bosses who cover up and lie to us constantly. That we have to develop close relationships with other workers/soldiers/students and be a part of their struggle, not push them away. That is the security we need.
ICWP came away from this May Day with several victories. A comrade and a close friend of the Party spent three hours having conversations at the table, while others distributed hundreds of Red Flags in the crowd. This friend was very helpful and made a great team with an experienced comrade.
We had seven people who signed a contact list. One person who signed is very eager to meet up and continue our conversation. This is what we need to make our party grow!
May Day in Los Angeles: Workers and Youth Are Open to Communism!
LOS ANGELES (USA), May 1— “ ‘Communism!’ a worker said to me in surprise when I offered her a copy of Red Flag,” reported a comrade. “She looked at the cover and, smiling, said, ‘Give me some more for my coworkers.’ ”
ICWP was present this May Day in two marches: one in the morning and the other in the afternoon. We distributed 1200 Red Flag newspapers overall
“There were many contingents, mainly workers. There were also young people, students, and teachers. We went from contingent to contingent offering Red Flag. We explained to everyone that we are fighting for a communist revolution, for a society without wage slavery, genocide, or money, that we are fighting to build a mass revolutionary communist party throughout the world,” reported another comrade.
It was a good struggle. Many of the contingents we were able to reach accepted the newspaper. In some cases, there was an intense political struggle, mainly about socialism versus communism and the need for revolution.
One worker declared himself a revolutionary. We agreed that a more energetic struggle and more serious organizing are needed right now. We exchanged contact information and will meet.
In another case, a young man, after hearing why we fight directly for communism, not socialism, gave us his contact information, saying he wants to learn more.
One contingent was people who work in animation and stagecraft. Several gladly accepted Red Flag. We said to them, “We need more graphics and cartoons in our newspaper, something that young people would like.” We asked them to help. A couple of them nodded.
A young man took the newspaper when we told him it was a communist newspaper with articles written by workers around the world. He replied, “Thank you very much. I’ll check out your website.” He said goodbye with a firm handshake.
Dozens of people took photos of our banners calling for “A Communist World Without Borders” and those that read “It’s Not Just Trump, It’s Capitalism! Let’s Fight for Communism.”
During the morning march, a group of protesters joined in our communist slogans and watched our contingent with great admiration. Throughout the march, a young woman comrade led the singing of revolutionary songs like “Bella Ciao” and “Bandera Roja.”
The massive participation of a diverse multitude in this year’s May Day marches was noticeable. The rulers have increased and expanded their attacks on all sectors of the working class. As more people see the need to join the class struggle, more opportunities open up for our party and for the mobilization for communism.
Self-critically, we should have fought more sharply and strategically to mobilize more comrades and friends, especially young people, to these marches. May Day is a great opportunity to see the enthusiasm and seriousness of those who welcome our communist literature, and the potential for recruiting new members to the Party.
Letter: Hope Reignited
Something interesting happened this May Day 2025 in Los Angeles, California. I began gathering content for a podcast I was starting. I asked participants: 1) What brings you here today? 2) What do you hope to accomplish? 3) Do you think it’s possible to have a world without borders or bosses? I asked about twenty people these questions and was surprised to learn that most do believe we can create a world without borders and bosses.
I received mostly general answers to the first question, such as, “To support union rights…Time for people to come together…Things need to change.”
Responses to my second question started to get more specific, with many saying things like, “We’re here to show some power, some people power. They might have the billions. We have the people.” And “Working class people demonstrate that we have the power to be able to change the systems around us.”
The final question had the most interesting responses because I did not expect so many people who could see living in a world without borders or bosses. Most said things such as, “You cannot treat millions and billions of people like dirt forever and expect them not to rise up.” And “I think it’s definitely possible. We’ve seen examples of countries, at least, that have tried to create more equal societies. So, I think it is possible. We just have to be able to believe in it and work towards it.”
The masses at May Day this year seemed to have a higher class consciousness than what I’ve heard in the past. The bosses use their lackeys like Bernie (Sanders) and AOC (Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, two USA liberals, to convince the masses that capitalism is not the problem, that it can be reformed. However, it was refreshing to hear that the masses are not falling for it. They are more and more convinced that capitalism does not work for us and see the possibility of creating something better!
—Love * Abundance * Unity
Podcast link:
https://podcastle.ai/show/create-love-abundance-and-unity-Efa35cgb/may-day-2025-3IKkjEYF
Read Our Pamphlet;
Mobilize the Masses for Communism:
here