First Published: Workers Viewpoint, Vol. 5, No. 32, September 1-7,1980.
Transcription, Editing and Markup: Paul Saba
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OAKLAND, Ca., July 26 – “What are you going to do in the 80’s? Which side are you on? You must decide.” The May Day Singers welcomed workers from hotels, glass factories, housing project in East Oakland and various independent Marxist Leninists who came to hear Leo Harris, leader of the Miami Rebellion, and Jerry Tung, General Secretary of the Communist Workers Party. One brother said, “I was active in the 60’s and 70’s and heard about Greensboro. I came to hear the CWP’s comprehensive analysis of the 80’s.” Another one said, “I want to hear how they did in Miami!”
Leo Harris, a shop steward from Miami, started by saying, “The rebellion wasn’t spontaneous. The media has blocked out the rioting that has been going on in Miami for the last three years. The day before the verdict, 2-3,000 people stood at each street corner, organizing, preparing, waiting for the verdict. When it came, we gave them revolutionary justice. Over the dead body of one pig was a copy of the Communist Manifesto. In this last round, the media accused us of arson. The businesses that were burned down were the bloodsuckers who sold bad meat. Some of the businesses hired people to burn – because Carter said he would give money to them.”
“Now in the period of one month, Carter came to Miami four times. Everytime he said there was something wrong with the black leadership of Miami. When Andy Young came, this well-educated diplomat was speechless. He said, ‘I came to cool you guys down.’ A 14-year old who stood next to me said, ’I should kill the nigger!’ I told him ’he isn’t worth it.’ Benjamin Hooks, came with all this jewelry but he was fearful for his safety and health. People like Andy Young and Benjamin have no credibility in the black community. They will be dumped by Carter. We call these ’dog boys,’ useless in the fields.
“And the media said it was a racial thing. There were white and Puerto Rican comrades fighting right alongside of the blacks. During the curfew, they would drive the cars with four or five blacks in the back seat. We received letters from Iran, Mozambique, Libya and ten other countries giving us support.
“The thing is that there isn’t just one Miami. There are Miamis all over. We’re going to make sure it won’t be business as usual. Now Carter once complained about his hemorrhoids, we are going to aggravate those hemorrhoids even more!”
Mr. Harris was applauded with a standing ovation. A woman glass worker loved his speech because people of Miami did what she would have loved to do and showed her that it can be done. The May Day Singers appropriately followed with a poem by Langston Hughes and another inspired by the Communist Workers Party 5, the five comrades assassinated on November 3 in Greensboro, N.C. by the Klan/Nazis and the U.S. government through the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
Then came what everybody had been waiting for, the presentation by the CWP’s General Secretary, Jerry Tung. He explained why we can and will win in the struggle to seize power and establish workers’ rule, and what we must do now in this pre-revolutionary situation to prepare for the momentous battles to come.
Today the capitalists increasingly cannot rule in the old way, entangled and weakened as they are, and people more and more cannot live in the same way, and are forced into risking their lives for change. These are the ingredients of a spontaneous revolutionary situation, not because people want revolution or understand fully its meaning but because it’s a chance to fight for life rather than face a slow, certain death. Americans will make revolution out of necessity, and whether it is successful or not, how many casualties the people suffer, depends on leadership. This is the significance of the CWP’s reaching out to the majority of Americans–200 million strong.
Winning the majority doesn’t mean that millions will join the Party. Only under workers’ rule, when we workers have the power of the media and the schools in our hands can millions be fully educated on the need for workers’ rule and the power of Marxism as the way to view the world in order to change it. Winning the majority means that everyone must know of the CWP’s political program and its ability to fight. This work cannot wait until a revolutionary situation snowballs.
“By then it’s too late,” said the General Secretary, “The key thing is to prepare now, by the time masses are voting with their feet, we want to affect which way they’re going. To wait for the snowball effect is to approach revolution incrementally in steps, what the Italian revisionists are known for. History doesn’t progress in increments, it sometimes takes a leap. We cannot take over one school, one union, at a time and wait until we have all the unions and schools then call for seizure of state power. This would objectively lead to pessimism. In fact some comrades say, ’I can’t even win one worker into the Party, how can we win over the majority? He respects us and all, when push comes to shove, he’ll come along. But he won’t join the Party now.’ This is one of the ways that an incremental approach to revolution comes out. The key is to win over independent unions and pacesetting unions, like Local 2, so that when one goes, all the others come along.”
Jerry Tung was also applauded with a standing ovation. During the intermission, the emcee was barraged with questions. One sister wanted the General Secretary to give more perspective on the disorientation of Americans and more clarification on “winning over the majority.” “To give some historical perspective, the Bolsheviks did not have the majority; in fact the Russian proletariat only composed 10-20% of the population. But between April and July, the Bolsheviks grew very fast. Their sharp line was crystalized in the transitional demand, ’bread, peace and land,’ and they were able to seize state power. In China, the Communist Party of China did not have a majority either. In fact if there was a vote, the KMT would probably have won, because who would have voted anyway? That’s why the key is to run the line and let the majority of American people know the Party’s firing power.”
Another person asked, “is the Republican Party’s program fascist? Will Reagan impose martial law?” “The Republican Party’s program isn’t that important because if Reagan gets elected, he still has to carry out the reindustrialization program. There is no other way out for the bourgeoisie,” said General Secretary Tung. “Carter is trying to impose fascism now, with the assassination of the CWP 5, whipping up chauvinism around the Iranians. In fact there is martial law in Liberty City.”
Then a sister from Local 2 got up. She had been itching to speak all night and refused to have her questions read by the emcee. She wanted to speak for herself. “I am 41-years old and I have been the trade unions for eight years. I have been fighting all my life because I know my class and I have principles. I think the only way out is socialist revolution, but you can’t just tell people that. You have to fight with people and gain their confidence. You’ve been talking all night about revolution, do you believe in righting for immediate gains?” Jerry Tung answered: “We do believe in fighting for immediate gains; that hasn’t been the problem. Our problem has been narrow scope, not being able to explain beyond the immediate issues. But I disagree with you that you have to gain people’s confidence first before you raise socialism, because people are disoriented in a big way. It’s proven by our practice all over the country. In fact, if you wait and don’t raise socialism as the only solution until you gain people’s confidence you’ll mislead them. For example, the Local 2 strike is a good thing; it’s a preparatory school for war, but it’s not war itself. If you bank on winning the strike, you’ll mislead a lot of workers.”
There were still a lot of unanswered questions but it was already past twelve. People went away with much food for thought, inspired by the Miami Rebellion and challenged by the General Secretary’s presentation of our tasks in the 80’s. The janitor, there since 5 p.m. to help set up, stood up the whole night listening. Unlike others in the past, he did not tell us to end the program at 11 pm. When asked about the evening, he said, “Those guys up there really made sense. I wish more people could hear them.”