When the New Communist Movement (NCM) first began to take shape and spread nationally in the early 1970s, hopes for a unified U.S. Maoism quickly disappeared. Even when the NCM divided into four distinct tendencies – pro-Deng Xiaoping, pro-Gang of Four, pro-Enver Hoxha and “anti-dogmatist” – each pool of forces expected to prevail as the recognized “true” Marxist-Leninists. But with a few exceptions, the remaining New Communists of the late 1970s saw all their efforts fall into deeper fragmentation and relative isolation.
Initially, the heart of every debate was China’s post-Cultural Revolution foreign policy, and the responsibility of U.S. communists in response to Beijing’s turn to an anti-Soviet alliance with Washington. The debate was sharpened in 1977 when China’s long-time ally, the Party of Labor of Albania (PLA), openly attacked the “Theory of Three Worlds” with its polemic “The Theory and Practice of the Revolution.” The Albanians argued that the “Three Worlds Theory” ignored the fundamental contradiction between capitalism and socialism and called on the working class to unite with capitalists in “third” and “second” world countries to stop “superpower hegemony.” The effect of “Theory and Practice…” was to split the world Marxist-Leninist movement into a pro-“three worlds theory” camp that continued to support the Communist Party of China (CPC) and an opposing camp that supported the PLA’s polemic. This was the largest split in world Maoism since its formation in 1963 and it would only deepen as China continued to turn its back on the Cultural Revolution and strengthen its policy of alliance with US imperialism.
In the U.S., the Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist) (CPML) reaffirmed its support for the Communist Party of China, the overthrow of the “gang of four,” and the “three worlds theory”. The Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP) maintained a silence on events in China until late 1977 when the organization fractured into two camps: a pro-Deng, pro-“three worlds” minority squaring off against the majority led by Chairman Bob Avakian, who argued that a pro-capitalist coup had taken place with the arrest of the “gang of four.” The result was a split that saw over a third of the Party leave to form the Revolutionary Workers Headquarters.
The RCP majority argued that the “Three Worlds Theory” promoted by Deng was a distortion of Mao’s thesis, and that favoring one superpower over another amounted to class collaboration. Even before Mao’s death, it had tried to distance itself from certain aspects of the Chinese line on the international situation, maintaining opposition to regimes that were finding favor with Beijing as anti-Soviet allies, such as the Shah’s Iran and Mobutu’s Zaire.
The forces outside the two largest NCM groups – RCP and CPML – diverged toward either pro-Deng or pro-Albania positions, without seeking unity with either Party. Years of bitter sectarian battles took their toll. Some groups converged in the pro-Deng camp, but rather than growing, the CPML began to implode for ideological more than political reasons. Its decline paralleled the rise of the League of Revolutionary Struggle (LRS), which brought together groups of mostly Asian (I Wor Kuen, et al) and Chicano (August 29th Movement) Marxist-Leninists. Rather than bolstering the pro-Deng camp, the rise of the LRS further polarized forces in and around the CPML. The LRS went on to merge with Revolutionary Communist League (MLM), led by the venerable black nationalist leader Amiri Baraka in 1979.
The PLA’s initial attack on the “three worlds theory” didn’t mention China or directly criticize Mao. And many of the groups that initially supported the Albanian position, still supported Mao and Cultural Revolution policies of the CPC. But by 1978, the PLA began to widen its attack: accusing the CPC of wavering in its struggle against modern revisionism and charging that Mao had never really been a Marxist-Leninist (pro-Albania groups in the U.S. quickly followed the PLA lead). The response of the CPC was to cut aid to Albania.
The newly pro-Albania groups circulated Hoxha’s brand-new polemics against “Maoism” as a deviation on a par with Trotskyism. For the PLA, the classical Soviet world outlook of two camps – capitalist and socialist – still held, even if the socialist camp was reduced to one country – Albania. But while their newfound hostility to Maoism was retroactive, their previous support for positions that Albania had defended when it was allied with China, were not reconsidered.
While some groups made direct contact with the Albanian Party of Labor to declare their solidarity, the PLA declined to grant “official” recognition to any of them. The two most prominent pro-Albania groups were the Marxist-Leninist Organizing Committee (MLOC) and the Central Organization of US Marxist-Leninists (COUSML). Both soon moved to declare themselves “the Party.” MLOC, a split-off from the Black Workers Congress, formed the Communist Party USA/Marxist-Leninist (CPUSA/ML, easily confused with CPML) in 1978, and shortly after, suffered a split. COUSML became the Marxist-Leninist Party in 1980.
Political differences on international line – big and small – are detailed in the polemics of the period, but the practical implications of these differences were less clear. The RCP’s previous orientation toward work in unions went with the RWH split-off; concentrating on low-income neighborhoods, the RCP later dropped the word ’Worker’ from the name of its paper. Its approach to street demos switched from ’mass’ to small but militant. Pro-Albania groups turned to Third Period Comintern-era ideology to replace Cultural Revolution-era Maoism. In 1979, the Communist Workers Party – formerly the Workers Viewpoint Organization – made headlines across the country and around the world when five of its members were gunned down in Greensboro, North Carolina during an anti-Klan rally by a combined KKK/Nazis death squad.
Numerous smaller Marxist-Leninist collectives around the country continued to maintain their independence, declining to join any of the larger national formations. And, while concern with “line development” and sectaria began to recede in importance for many, to be replaced by an emphasis on organizing and recruitment, the pattern of fragmentation had become the dominant feature of the movement, and proved irreversible.
On the Roots of Revisionism. A Political Analysis of the International Communist Movement and the CPUSA 1919-1945 by the Bay Area Study Group
Whither Maoism? by the Progressive Labor Party
More “Great Disorder Under Heaven” by the Communist Workers Group (Marxist-Leninist)
“These Are the Worst of Times, They Are the Best of Times” by Ray O. Light
Homosexuality: A Political and Historical Analysis by the San Diego Research Group
Rectification: For What and Against What? by the Proletarian Unity League
Split and Decayed – The Present State of the Opportunist Movement by the Committee of U.S. Bolsheviks
Moving On: Facts from the 70s, Lessons for the 80s by the Proletarian Unity League
“Radicals” Arrested in China from Challenge
The Situation in China and Social-Chauvinism in Our Movement by the Communist Workers Group (ML) and the Organization of Communist Workers (ML) [Canada]
Whither China? from Challenge
China Struggle Intensifies by the Communist Labor Party
A Week of Struggle from Challenge
China Crushes ’Gang of Four’ from The Call
Progressive Labor Party Editorial: China: Factional Struggle Without Principle from Challenge
China: The Reversal of Socialism. How the “Gang of Four” Betrayed the Left in the Cultural Revolution by the Progressive labor Party
Class Struggle Sharpens in China by the Marxist-Leninist Organizing Committee
Revolution and Production in China from The Call
Hua Kuo-feng Is Successor To Chairman Mao’s Great Cause from The Call
China: The Return of Teng Hsiao-ping from Challenge
’Situation is Excellent’: China’s People’s Congress denounces ’gang of four’ from The Call
Revisionism Is the Main Danger by the Workers Congress (Marxist-Leninist)
Long Live the Great, Glorious and Correct Communist Party of China! by the League for Proletarian Revolution (Marxist-Leninist)
Support for Chairman Hua Kuo-Feng Affirmed: World communists denounce ’gang of four’ from The Call
Victory in China, victory for entire working class: Masses Rout ’Gang of 4’ by the August 29th Movement
Hua Kuo-feng sums up China’s struggle against ’gang of four’ from The Call
Supporting Revisionism: RCP Takes Stand with ’Gang’ by the October League (Marxist-Leninist)
The Struggle in China: The East Stays Red by Martin Nicolaus
Armed Struggle in China from Challenge
Seattle Communist Workers Group on the “Gang of Four”
World communists support Chairman Hua Kuo-feng from The Call
Chiang Ching’s Reactionary Line on the Woman Question from The Call
Revisionists are Revisionists and Must Not Be Supported; Revolutionaries are Revolutionaries and Must Be Supported by Bob Avakian
The Central Committee Report on China is a Counter-Revolutionary Document and Must be Criticized by the Revolutionary Workers Headquarters
China Advances Along the Socialist Road: The Gang of Four Were Counter-Revolutionaries and Revolutionaries Cannot Support Them by the Revolutionary Workers Headquarters
SDOC (M-L) Comments: Uphold Our International Leadership! by the San Diego Organizing Committee (Marxist-Leninist)
Behind WVO’s ’Silence’ on China and the ’Gang of Four’ from The Call
The Capitalist Roaders Are Still on the Capitalist Road. The Two-Line Struggle and the Revisionist Seizure of Power in China by the China Study Group
Analyzing China Since Mao’s Death (Part 1), (Part 2) and (Part 3) by Harry Eastmarsh, [Theoretical Review]
RCL’s Position on the Gang of Four (Part 1) by the Revolutionary Communist League (M-L-M)
China and the Gang of Four by Bill Ricaro and Jim Griffin [Philadelphia Workers Organizing Committee]
Open Letter to U.S. Communists Who Support the Struggle in China Against Wang, Chang, Chiang and Yao by the Pacific Collective (M-L)
Against the Revisionist Take-Over in China: In Defense of Marxism-Leninism-Mao Tse-Tung Thought and Proletarian Revolution by the Witchita Communist Cell
China’s Great Leap Backward – A Review; and “A Short Note on Deng Xiaoping and the Present Line of the CCP” by Harry Eastmarsh
Analyzing China Since Mao’s Death (Part 4) by Harry Eastmarsh
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In April 1974, the recently rehabilitated Chinese leader Teng Hsiao-Ping made a speech to a Special Session of the U.N. General Assembly in which he articulated a framework for analyzing international conflicts which would later come to be called “the theory of three worlds.” The framework divided the world into the “two superpowers” (US and USSR), the “third world” (the countries of Asia, Africa, and Latin America), and the “second world” (the countries of Europe, Canada, and Japan).
At the time, this approach was relatively uncontroversial in the U.S. new communist movement. Only the Communist League openly questioned the framework, for which it was severely criticized by the October League and the Revolutionary Union, and in the pages of the Guardian. By 1977, however, the consequences of the theory for both Chinese foreign policy and its line on the strategy and tactics of the international communist movement were apparent: the “main blow” was to be directed against the USSR. Reactionary regimes in the third world which opposed “Soviet social imperialism” were to be supported and the “second world” was now viewed as a potential ally in the struggle against “hegemonism”.
While the Guardian newspaper began raising concerns about the policy implications of the theory of three worlds as early as late 1975, it was not until 1977 when the Albanian Party of Labor openly attacked the theory with its polemic, “The Theory and Practice of the Revolution.” As a result, Marxist-Leninist parties and groups throughout the world began lining up both in support or in opposition to the theory and issuing polemics explaining their positions. In the United States, organizations supporting the Chinese leadership strongly defended the theory and, following China’s lead, attributed it to Mao, while the RCP, defenders of the deposed Gang of Four, argued that the theory was a deviation from Mao’s strategic analysis. The Communist Workers Party, staked out its own unique position on the issue, holding that the “theory of three worlds” was indeed Mao's creation, but that it was being abandoned and betrayed by the post-Mao Deng-Hua leadership in China. Some increasingly vociferous opponents of the theory, accepting the attribution to Mao, soon expanded their critique from a rejection of the theory of three worlds to a rejection of Maoism itself, thereby deepening divisions in an already deeply fragmented new communist movement.
Chinese Foreign Policy during the Maoist Era and its Lessons for Today by the MLM Revolutionary Study Group in the U.S.
Speech By Chairman of the Delegation of the People’s Republic of China, Deng Xiaoping, At the Special Session of the U.N. General Assembly by Deng Xiaoping
Chairman Mao’s Theory of the Differentiation of the Three Worlds is a Major Contribution to Marxism-Leninism by the Editorial Department of Renmin Ribao (People’s Daily)
Open Letter of the Revolutionary Communist Party of Chile to the Communist Party of China
Theory and Practice of the Revolution by the Party of Labor of Albania
China’s Foreign Policy: Alliance with U.S. Imperialism by the Progressive Labor Party
Revolutionary Workers Collective Position on the International Situation
Flimsy Fraud, Desperate Gamble by the Central Organization of U.S. Marxist-Leninists
People’s Daily Editorial on Theory of Three Worlds: ’A Major Contribution to Marxism’ by the Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist)
LPR’s Views on the International Situation by the League for Proletarian Revolution (Marxist-Leninist)
“Three Worlds” Theory: Anti-Leninist Deception of the Masses by the Communist Committee
Theory of Three Worlds: A Major Contribution to Marxism-Leninism by I Wor Kuen
A Great Strategic Concept: In Defense of Chairman Mao Tsetung’s Theory of the Differentiation of the Three Worlds by the Workers Congress (Marxist-Leninist)
Study Theory of Three Worlds by The New Voice
In Defense of Marxism-Leninism on the International Situation by the Marxist-Leninist Organizing Committee
Theory of the “Three Worlds” Opposes Marxism-Leninism by the Marxist-Leninist Organizing Committee
Statement on the ’Third World’ by the Marxist-Leninist Collective
Statement on the ’Third World’, Part 2 by the Marxist-Leninist Collective
The Fight for the Marxist-Leninist Line on the International Situation Intensifies. Every Genuine Marxist-Leninist Party and Organization Must Take a Stand by The Leninist Core to Found the U.S. Bolshevik Party
The Albania Critique of the Theory of ’Three Worlds’ by the Theoretical Review
RCP Vacillates on Theory of the “Three Worlds” by the Marxist-Leninist Organizing Committee
The Theory of Three Worlds and the Middle East Situation Today by the Marxist-Leninist Collective
Close Encounters With the Three Worlds by Modern Times [Hawaii]
The International Situation: Concerning our Views by the Red Dawn Committee (Marxist-Leninist)
The Struggle Against Imperialism Requires Unyielding Struggle Against the New International Opportunist Trend Based on “Three Worlds” by the Central Organization of U.S. Marxist-Leninists
Attack on Mao quoted in Daily World: Silber Scores with Revisionists by the Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist)
Repulse the Bankrupt Theory of the “Three” Worlds – Revolution on the Order of the Day! by the Leninist Core to Found the U.S. Bolshevik Party
Getting A Grasp on the Situation: A woman’s perspective on the USSR, China, Albania and the theory of ’three worlds’ by andrea gabriel
Bankruptcy of “Three Worlds Theory”: Where Does Revisionism Find Its Source of Strength? A Comment on the “CP(M-L)” “Three Worlders”, “C”PUSA Revisionists and the “New Militancy” of the Labor Traitors by the Central Organization of U.S. Marxist-Leninists
“Three Worlds” Strategy: Apology for Capitulation by the Revolutionary Communist Party
Study Column on the Theory of the Three Worlds by the League of Revolutionary Struggle (M-L)
World Imperialism and Marxist Theory: On the International Line of the Communist Movement by Paul Costello
Defend Mao’s Theory of the Differentiation of the Three Worlds Against Trotskyism and Revisionism by the C. W. Li [Communist Workers Party]
Chairman Mao’s (or Deng Xiaoping’s) Theory of the Three Worlds is a Major Deviation from Marxism-Leninism by Robert Seltzer and Irwin Silber
China and Its Supporters Were Wrong about USSR by Harry Haywood
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In 1977, Albania began to publicly if indirectly distance itself from Chinese foreign policy, as exemplified by the Zëri i Popullit editorial, “Theory and Practice of the Revolution”. By the following year, however, the break became an open one with the publication and translation into numerous foreign languages of Enver Hoxha’s book, Imperialism and the Revolution, which not only took issue with the “theory of three worlds” but criticized Mao Tse-Tung Thought as an “anti-Marxist theory”.
The Chinese reaction soon followed. In July 1978, the Chinese government notified the Albanian government that it was stopping its economic and military aid to Albania and recalling its economic and military experts. The Albanians replied with a letter accusing the Chinese leadership of using technical problems as a cover for the real reason – political disagreements over China’s foreign policy.
Many new communist movement groups quickly took sides in the dispute. A number of groups which had previously opposed the “theory of three worlds,” including the Central Organization of U.S. Marxist-Leninist, the Marxist-Leninist Organizing Committee, and the Leninist Core, quickly expanded their critique of Chinese foreign policy to open opposition to Maoism. Some of these groups, which had been among the most zealous proponents of “Mao Tse-Tung Thought,” now viewed with each other to prove who was the most critical of Maoism and the most vociferous opponent of Chinese “social imperialism”.
Despite the allegiance of these groups to the Enver Hoxha and Party of Labor of Albania (PLA), the PLA did not reciprocate. The Albanians maintained a policy of recognizing a single party in a foreign country (usually based on how well the party toed the Albanian line). However, the PLA distanced itself from the US groups over fears of “CIA infiltration.”
The Revolutionary Communist Party, on the other hand, rejected the Albanian attack on Mao, arguing that the “theory of three worlds” was not Mao’s, but that of Chinese revisionists. Many supporters of the “theory of three worlds” either ignored or played down the China-Albania break.
Imperialism and the Revolution by Enver Hoxha
The Marxist-Leninist Movement and the World Crisis of Capitalism by Enver Hoxha
Reflections on China, Volume I by Enver Hoxha
Reflections on China, Volume II by Enver Hoxha
A Tactical Dispute Among Social-Chauvinists – The PLA’s 7th Congress and the CPC by the Communist Workers Group (Marxist-Leninist)
In Support of the Struggle of the Party of Labor of Albania Against Revisionism by Ray O. Light
Statement of the National Executive Committee of the Central Organization of U.S. Marxist-Leninist Against the Betrayal of the Chinese Revisionists: Defense of the Glorious People’s Socialist Republic of Albania is the Sacred Duty of the International Proletariat by the Central Organization of U.S. Marxist-Leninists
Defend Socialist Albania! Editorial of The Workers’ Advocateby the Central Organization of U.S. Marxist-Leninists
Editorial: Albania Party letter full of slanders and distortions by the League of Revolutionary Struggle (M-L)
Two Articles: “On the Historical Merit of Mao Tsetung and Socialism in China” and “The PLA’s Treacherous Reversal: An Analysis of the PLA Letter“ by the Chicago Committee for a Communist Party and former members of the Committee for a Proletarian Party
Joint Statement in Opposition to the Cutting Off of Aid to Socialist Albania by the Government of China by Demarcation, Kansas City Revolutionary Workers Collective-Wichita Communist Cell, Marxist-Leninist Collective, Workers Revolutionary Organizing Committee, and Comrades in the Bay Area
Regarding China’s Withdrawl of Aid from Albania by The Leninist Core to Found the U.S. Bolshevik Party
“Mao Tse Tung Thought” A Counter-Revolutionary Concept by The U.S. Leninist Core
The Theory and Practice of Chinese Revisionism and Social Imperalism by The U.S. Leninist Core
The Anti-Leninist Theory of “three worlds” in Service to the Warmongering U.S.-China Alliance by the Central Organization of U.S. Marxist-Leninists
Enver Hoxha Exposes Opportunism–His Own by the Revolutionary Communist Party
Down with the “RCP-USA’s” Shameful Anti-Communist Attack on the Glorious Party of Labor of Albania! by the Central Organization of U.S. Marxist-Leninists
Mao Tsetung and Mao Tsetung Thought are Anti-Marxist-Leninist and Revisionist by the Central Organization of U.S. Marxist-Leninists
In Defense of Marxism-Leninism on the International Situation [Denver forum]
Enver Hoxha and the PLA: For Imperialism, Against Revolution by the League for Proletarian Revolution (Marxist-Leninist)
Beat Back the Dogmato-Revisionist Attack on Mao Tsetung Thought. Comments on Enver Hoxha’s Imperialism and the Revolution by J. Werner (Revolutionary Communist Party)
Hoxha book reminiscent of Trotsky’s ’leftism’ by The Call
Enver Hoxha and the Crisis of Anti-Revisionism by Neil Eriksen-Schmidt & Paul Costello
Hoxhaism or Leninism? A Review of Enver Hoxha’s ’Imperialism and the Revolution’ by A Chicago Study Group
The U.S.-China Alliance and the Question of the Main Enemy by Ray O. Light
Initial Views: On the Role of Mao Tsetung... in the Rise of Revisionism in the Communist Party of China by the Communist Party, USA (Marxist-Leninist)
Once Again in Support of the Struggle of the Party of Labor of Albania against Revisionism by Ray O. Light
On the Influence of Mao Tsetung Thought on the Revolution in the U.S. by the Communist Party, USA (Marxist-Leninist)
The Theory of Three Worlds by the Red Dawn Committee (Marxist-Leninist)
In Defense of Mao Tsetung’s Contributions to Materialist Dialectics by Former Members of the Committee for a Proletarian Party
Reports on the Dialectics Section of the National Joint Study (NJS) of the Hoxha-Mao Differences by ex-MLC and A. Green
Socialism Cannot Be Built in Alliance with the Bourgeoisie. The Experience of the Revolutions in Albania and China by Jim Washington
New Democracy and the Transition to Socialism in China: A Polemic Against Jim Washington by ex-members of the Marxist-Leninist Collective and A. Green
Against the Maoist critique of the PLA: How the Maoist RCP,USA defends the basic ideas of ’three worldism’ by the Marxist-Leninist Party
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During this period, one of the most controversial debates within the pro-China forces in the New Communist Movement concerned the issue of what role, if any, U.S. imperialism could play in the international struggle against “hegemonism”. In the late 1970s, I Wor Kuen warned the U.S. against “appeasing” Soviet social-imperialism and by 1980, CPML chair Mike Klonsky was stating that the U.S. has a role to play in the worldwide anti-hegemonic front, while The Call was writing about a Soviet “master plan for conquest.” The question was posed most starkly by the Communist Unity Organization, which published the pamphlet Sooner or Later in 1980. Sooner or Later called for an alliance with U.S. imperialism in the “world anti-hegemonist front,” and illustrated the consequences of its position by opposing “appeasement” and the withdrawal of U.S. bases from the Philippines or Puerto Rico, while expressing support for a strengthened U.S. military.
Lesson of strategy and tactics: The Direction of the Main Blow by the October League (Marxist-Leninist)
The Soviet Union: Is it the Nazi Germany of Today? by the Communist Committee
Strategy and Tactics: OL & RCP Revise Marxism on the International Situation by the Workers Viewpoint Organization
Whitewashing Enemies and Slandering Friends: An exposure of the RCP’s revisionist line on the international situation by Eileen Klehr [October League (M-L)]
Once Again on the OL’s Social-Chauvinist Theory of “Directing the Main Blow at Soviet Social-Imperialism” by the Central Organization of U.S. Marxist-Leninists
CP(ML) Cries Appeasement by the Marxist-Leninist Organizing Committee
OC Draft Program: Proletarian Internationalism Or Social-Chauvinism by the Workers Congress (Marxist-Leninist)
Under a False Flag: How the OL Social-Chauvinists Present Support for U.S. Imperialist Aggression as “Internationalism” by the Central Organization of U.S. Marxist-Leninists
Commentary: Some perspectives on appeasement and the danger of world war by I Wor Kuen
Questions on Our International Line: Class Struggle interview with CPML Chairman Michael Klonsky
Soviet Union – Central Problem of World Politics. Affects Struggle for Socialism in U.S. by The New Voice
WW Three: Questions & Answers by The New Voice
Sooner or Later. Questions & Answers on War, Peace & the United Front by the Communist Unity Organization
New book downplays struggle against U.S. superpower: A one-sided view of united front by C. E., Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist)
Book Review: Sooner or Later? by The New Voice
A Debate: Should Johnny Get His Gun? [letters to The Call]
More debate on ’Sooner or Later’: How serious is the Soviet Threat? by the Communist Unity Organization
Maoists Debate: All the Way With the USA? by Young Spartacus
Debate: Two Puerto Ricans say U.S. is no ally [letters to The Call]
Book Review: Sooner or Later [from MIM Theory, Nos. 9, 10, 9/20/87]
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The Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist) began 1978 on a note of optimism. The previous year had seen the Party's founding with much fanfare followed by its welcome in China as a recognized representative of the U.S. revollutionary movement. The period 1978-1980, however, would see steady progress from these seemingly promising achievements.
CPML efforts to unite with other major Marxist-Leninist groups, kicked off in December 1977 with the formation of a Committee to Unite Marxist-Leninists (CUML) to “serve as a unifying center for all U.S. Marxist-Leninists” [discussed below in the section Unification Efforts of Pro-China Groups] failed to bear fruit. Domestically, the Party energetically pursued campaigns in the labor movement, the Black liberation movement, and among the youth. However, policies which the CPML later acknowledged to be dogmatic, sectarian and ultra-left, prevented the Party from significantly increasing its influence in the working class, among national minorities, in the women’s movement, or in the mass organizations in which it was active..
Internationally, during this period, the CPML was vociferous in a number of causes. One was a defense of the Kampuchean Revolution under Pol Pot, most notably with The Call editor Daniel Burstein providing glowing reports in the paper on the situation in Kampuchea, where he and three other Call staffers were the first U.S. journalists to visit since the Khmer Rouge took power. The CPML also came out strongly in support of China’s 1979 invasion of Vietnam, and against Soviet intervention in Afghanistan.
However, by 1980, the CPML entered into a period of crisis. China appeared to have withdrawn its exclusive recognition of the Party, its unification efforts had failed to produce results, and a decline in membership and Call circulation combined to inaugurate a period of questioning and debate which was increasingly played out in the pages of The Call.
Reformism–Key Link in CP(ML) Campaign by the Revolutionary Communist Party
CP(M-L) Tells Masses “Let’s Go Backwards”: Hawaii Eviction Fight by the Revolutionary Communist Party
Communist Party M-L Sponsors Pep Rally: D.C. March Promotes Illusion of Job Concessions by the Marxist-Leninist Organizing Committee
CP(M-L) Builds New Unity Committee; Unity of Opportunists Built on Shifting Sand by the Marxist-Leninist Organizing Committee
CP-ML on Zaire – Spreading the Word for Brzezinski by Jennie Quinn [from the Philadelphia Workers Organizing Committee]
Against Opportunism in the Struggle to Free Gary Tyler [from the Marxist-Leninist Organizing Committee’s Class Against Class, #11, August 1978]
Who Supports Police Strikes? by The New Voice
The New Voice to CPML by The New Voice
CPML Caught in Dilemma: How to Attack Mao While Pretending to Uphold Him by the Revolutionary Communist Party
Wm. Z. Foster, A Kruschevite Revisionist; “C”P “ML”, Fosterite Revisionists by The U.S. Leninist Core [Bolshevik, Vol. 8, No. 4, n.d.]
Guilty By Omission: “C”P “ML”, Program 2: “We are fighting for the abolition of Class Society” or Chapter 2 in Lessons in Revisionism: “ We are fighting against the Establishment of the Dictatorship of the Proletariat” by The U.S. Leninist Core [Bolshevik, Vol. 8, No. 4, n.d.]
Ex-Member Exposes CPML: Blind Tagging Behind China Demanded by the Revolutionary Communist Party
Response to anti-China lies of RCP’s New Hero by the Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist)
Interview Provokes Foaming CP ML Response: Stuck Pigs Squeal by the Revolutionary Communist Party
One Step Behind Bourgeoisie: CPML Discovers Class Struggle in Iran by the Revolutionary Communist Party
A Letter to the Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist) on Trade Union Issues: Our Experience in One Workplace by W.C., Proletarian Unity League
RCP satirical issue of the CP(ML)’s The Call newspaper
CP-ML and PWOC on International Line by Ron Whitehorne
Red, White & Blue “Communists” on Afghanistan: Is It Time? Is It Newsweek? No–It’s The Call! by the Revolutionary Communist Party
“C”PML Works with Cops in Feb 2nd Demo by the Communist Workers Party
Call Editorial: Looking at the New Year with Optimism
Training Backbone Party Members. CPML holds first cadre school
Ex-’Wing’ Member Supports Unity Call
Learn from Organizing Committee’s Work
How RCP Defends Chauvinism and Anti-Party Blocs. A Reply to ’The Communist’ on the National Liaison Committee by An Observer
’We Look Forward to Communist Unity’: Call Interviews Hawaii Communists
2nd anniversary of weekly Call–Support voice of people’s struggle
May Day celebrated across the country
May Day Speech by Carl Davidson of the CPML: ’A time to unite real friends to defeat real enemies’
Much to celebrate in CPML’s First Year
Joyous Celebration of the CPML’s First Anniversary
Excerpts from June 11 Addresses: Speakers Salute CPML’s First Year
Klonsky’s Speech to the First Anniversary Celebration
’Our Parties Are Bound Together’. Speech by Pal Steigan, Chairman of the AKP-ML
* * *
Successful CPML conference on nationalities work
Memorials Salute Mao’s Legacy and China Today
Unity statement from CLH: Hawaii Communists Join CPML
Speech by Michael Klonsky: Mao Tsetung’s Legacy for Our Struggle
A self-criticism: Overcoming sectarian errors in Call coverage
Building The Call at Chevy Forge
New Years Editorial: 1979 begins on victory note
RCP’s racist attack on Harry Haywood by Sherman Miller
Step towards single communist party: Red Star Unity Collective Merges with the CPML
Leadership analyzes two years of struggle. CPML sum-up: turn the Party into a major force
Response to the debate among the anti-’lefts’. Soviet Union: Friend or Enemy? by Carl Davidson
An appeal by CPML Chairman Michael Klonsky–We’re asking you to make a commitment
Bob Avakian: Dangerous, yes, but not to capitalism
A Party for revolution – A Party for religious freedom
Letter to The Call by the Proletarian Unity League
Fight on Two Fronts by Carl Davidson
Third conference of the Communist Youth Organization: CYO charts new course for ’80s
L.A. Conference Discusses Tasks: Building Class Struggle Unions
Fight for Jobs: A Communist View
2,200 March on Capital – Demand Jobs Now!
Down With the Racist Bakke Decision! A selection of articles from The Call
Exposed Enemies, United Friends: Lessons of the Miners’ Strike
The CPUSA Is a Reactionary Force for War. An Exposure of Revisionism on ’Detente’ by Eileen Klehr
Student Movement–Upsurge on the Horizon by Roy Smith, Chairman of the Communist Youth Organization
Labor movement needs revolutionary leadership
CPUSA switches on ERA to sabotage women’s fight
After year of advances: 5th USCPFA convention set for San Francisco
Hits Cuts and Bakke: CYO launches fall campaign on campus
USCPFA reaffirms support for People’s China
Lessons from the Gary Tyler Campaign by Shedrach Harris
Daily World Covers It Up: Jonestown massacre: the Soviet connection
Communist organizing tactics in the labor movement. Part 1–Pay attention to concrete conditions
Fightback meet targets Carter ’anti-inflation’ plan for ’79
Communist organizing tactics the labor movement. Part 2–How to expose the union misleaders
Why unite with reformist union leaders? A debate on tactics
Taking Up the Woman Question. Work Summary of CPML factory organizers
Hall promotes arms race and reformism: CP plan to derail anti-nuke struggle
Black Power and the fight for socialism by Harry Haywood
White Workers Speak Out: How to fight for unity on the national question
Self-determination: Where does the CPUSA Stand? by Harry Wells
Corrupt local kicked out at Stewart-Warner: Birth of a rank-and-file union
The Call asks CYO leader: How should we oppose the draft?
A Party that fights for women’s freedom: Interview with CPML Vice-Chairman Eileen Klehr
Why oppose the draft? (and how to go about it) by Carl Davidson
Letter to The Call: Wrong emphasis in draft coverage
An alternative to two-party system? Citizens Party founding draws 500 by Carl Davidson
Does labor need its own party? by Carl Davidson
Desegregation: Another look. One activist thinks that school desegregation is not always desirable, and can even hurt minorities by John Martin
Debate on How to Fight Discrimination: Keep segregation under fire by Carl Davidson
CPML leader: ’We’re on the eve of a Black upsurge’
Chicano identity and revolution by J. Espinoza
Perspectives: Another View of Citizens Party by John Martin
Silber claims U.S. domination is eternal. Guardian Says World War ’not possible’
Attack on Mao quoted in Daily World: Silber Scores with Revisionists
Soviets Move to Challenge Yankees in Latin America
Eurorevisionism: The New Face of Treachery in the Second World by Dan Burstein
U.S. business dollars appease Soviet fascists
Marx laid basis for 3 worlds theory
U.S. actions undermine anti-Soviet unity by David Kline
Dissident trials pose question. Soviet Union today: socialist or fascist?
Then and Now: Trotskyism Serves Fascism
Appeasement Hastens the Outbreak of War, part 1
Appeasement Hastens the Outbreak of War, part 2
Appeasement Hastens the Outbreak of War, part 3
Great Democratic Debate Sweeps China
Deng’s visit: new era of friendship
Editorial: USSR-Vietnam to blame for Asia fighting
Moscow Hatches anti-Maoist crusade
Behind China’s counter-strike in Vietnam: Questions and Answers on the China-Vietnam Conflict
Appeasement aids soviet war machine
Should we speak out on Hanoi’s atrocities? by Carl Davidson
Hua on Class Struggle Under Socialism by Charles Elias
Exclusive: Afghan rebels on the march by David Kline
Commentary by CPML Chairman: Socialist modernization and the class struggle in China today by Michael Klonsky
Editorial: Mao Zedong’s ideas are guiding China
Afghan rebels loosen Soviet grip by David Kline
Our Stand on the Hostages: Questions and answers on Iran crisis
Call Editorial: Moscow’s new invasion: A grim warning
Call Editorial: New forces critical of Soviet aggression
CPML Chairman: Looking at China, Mao & the Cultural Revolution by Michael Klonsky
Tito: Fighter for National Independence by Charles Elias
Soviet Invasion Finds a ’Left’ Defender by Bill Owens
A break from Cultural Revolution: China restores Liu Shaoqi’s name by Charles Elias
Afghan resistance tackles big problems by David Kline
Carter Iran Policy Plays into Russian hands by Lynn Middleton
Yugoslavia’s Tito: Strong fighter for independence
U.S. Actions Undermine Anti-Soviet Unity by David Kline
Questions on Our International Line: Class Struggle interview with CPML Chairman Michael Klonsky
Commentary: Reagan stumbling on China issue by Jim Hamilton
China takes new look at Mao and the past by Lynn Middleton
Slanders can’t halt revolution in Kampuchea
Speech by Dan Burstein [at a banquet for Call reporters in Phnom Penh April 22]
News Conference Refutes Press Lies: ’Kampuchea Doing Fine’ Say 1st U.S. Visitors
Call Editor Speaks on TV: Exposes Lies on Kampuchea
Communist Party of Kampuchea Greets CPML
Exclusive Eyewitness Report from Kampuchea [First of a series by Call editor Dan Burstein]
The Call’s eyewitness report: A visit to a Cooperative
The great battle to liberate Phnom Penh
Ancient symbol of masses’ creativity: Kampuchea’s Angkor Wat
Report from Kampuchea: Why Phnom Penh was evacuated
Young people are a vital force in the new Kampuchea
U.S. Bombed Cambodia Long After War
Interview with Deputy Prime Minister Ieng Sary, Part I: How Kampuchea Made its Revolution
Interview with Ieng Sary of Kampuchea, Part II: ’We Were Able to Inspire the People’
Conclusion of Call Interview with Kampuchea’s Ieng Sary: Socialist Construction Moving Forward
Kampuchea: ’People will know the truth’
* * *
Kampuchea Takes the Socialist Road. An interview with Dan Burstein
CPML Salutes 18th Year of Kampuchea CP
Call journalists speak in 17 cities. Tour educates thousands on Kampuchea
Editor Denies Cambodian Horrors by Billie Cheney Speed
On Cambodia: But, Yet by Daniel Burstein
Editorial: Kampuchea: A just cause will prevail
On eve of Vietnamese invasion: Canadian M-L delegation visits Kampuchea
CPML statement to Kampuchean leaders: ’Soviet and Vietnamese aggressors will fail’
Opportunists cheer invasion of Kampuchea
Kampuchea. A photo-record of the First American visit to Cambodia since April 1975
Vietnam’s Vietnam. Background to the Invasion of Kampuchea by Daniel Burstein
Kampuchea’s Foreign Minister talks to The Call: Sary confident of victory as resistance regroups by Dan Burstein
Pol Pot gives first interview since Vietnamese invasion
Setting the Record Straight on Kampuchea by Dan Burstein
Mass Rally Honors Norwegian Party
Canadian Communist League Holds Second Congress
Unity around three worlds theory: Statement of CPML and Dominican Communists
Norway’s Pal Steigan to speak June 11 [at CPML anniversary meeting]
CPML of Argentina and CPML of the U.S. Sign Joint Communique
May Day in Europe: two special reports
Hoxha book reminiscent of Trotsky’s ’leftism’
Hoxhaism or Leninism? A Review of Enver Hoxha’s ’Imperialism and the Revolution’ by A Chicago Study Group
Two parties establish fraternal relations: ORT of Spain and CPML issue communiqué
A look at Russian Leader 100 years after his birth: Stalin was key to growth of socialism
The National Question and Party Building. The historic fight between communism and white chauvinism by Michael Klonsky
The Fight for a Single Party. Lessons for Today from the Struggle for Communist Unity after World War I by Barry Litt
Communist Movement in 1970’s: Strengths and Weaknesses by Daniel Burstein
Debate: What Road for Communists in the ’80s? by Charles Loren
Debate: What Road for Communists in the ’80s? by Daniel Burstein
Two Letters on Burstein-Loren Debate
A look at first Three Years of CPML by Michael Klonsky
Letter to The Call on [CPML] Self-criticism by the Proletarian Unity League
Moving On: Facts from the 70s, Lessons for the 80s by the Proletarian Unity League
Summing Up the CPML’s Experiences in Trade Union Work by Charles Costigan
Report on the Readers’ Survey by The Call Staff
A self-critical look at CPML work in the Lawyers Guild by Barry Litt
Criticism of The Call’s Coverage: Looking at China Realistically
Political Report (Workling Draft) [On the Crisis of the CPML and its Origins] by Dan Burstein
Open Letter to CPML by The New Voice
Lessons from the Collapse of the Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist) by Carl Davidson
[Back to top]
In the 1978-1980 period, the larger pro-China New Communist Movement organizations made determined efforts both to absorb smaller groups and to unite with one another. If they were somewhat successful in the former regard, they were noticeably unsuccessful in the latter.
Unity efforts were kicked off in December 1977 when the Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist) (CPML) proposed the formation of a Committee to Unite Marxist-Leninists (CUML) to “serve as a unifying center for all U.S. Marxist-Leninists.” In May 1978, the August Twenty-Ninth Movement (M-L) (ATM) and I Wor Kuen (IWK) announced that they would work jointly with the CPML in the formation of such a Committee. Other smaller groups also welcomed the initiative. At the same time, however, the ATM and IWK were also moving closer together, independently of the CPML. In September 1978 they merged to form the League of Revolutionary Struggle (Marxist-Leninist) (LRS).
The LRS also absorbed a number of smaller groups, including East Wind Collective of Japanese Americans in Los Angeles and the Seize the Time Collective of Chicanos and African Americans in San Francisco in 1979. That same year, BACU joined the RWHq. Early in 1980 the LRS merged with the Revolutionary Communist League (Marxist-Leninist-Mao Tse-tung Thought) led by Amiri Baraka. Also in 1980, the predominantly Puerto Rican League for Proletarian Revolution (ML) united with the predominantly Chicano Colorado Organization of Revolutionary Struggle (Marxism-Leninism-Mao Tsetung Thought) to form the Marxist-Leninist League.
Another notable attempt to bring together pro-China forces involved a number of the pro-China groups, including the CPML, LRS, Revolutionary Workers Headquarters (RWHq), the Proletarian Unity League (PUL), and the Bay Area Communist Union (BACU), who undertook a joint trip to China in early 1979. The trip may have been an effort on the part of the participants to build unity among all those who supported the Communist Party of China and the “Three Worlds” Theory, but, if so, it was largely a failure. The Chinese did not press the groups to unite, although they effectively withdrew their former designation of the CP(ML) as “the” party in the U.S., a designation which appeared to have been granted when CPML Chairman Mike Klonsky visited China to much fanfare in July 1977.
In January 1980, the CP-ML, the LRS and the RWHg announced their decision to “hold a series of meetings to seek greater unity. ” Those meetings were in their words: “a step forward in the process forging a single, unified communist party.” In an interview in the LRS paper, Unity, simultaneous with this announcement, a League spokesperson, William Gallegos, justified this new unity effort by stating that the Committee to Unite Marxist-Leninists which had been touted as a joint party building effort of the CP-ML, the IWK, ATM and others “had never existed.” This acknowledgement (which was never publicly disputed by the CPML) generated a certain amount of outrage among other pro-China groups, including the Workers Congress and the League for Proletarian Revolution, which alleged that they had been mislead about the Committee’s status. Like the CUML (real or not) before it, these new tri-lateral meetings failed to unite the participants and this failure only served to deepen the growing crisis within this sector of the New Communist Movement.
Marxism-Leninism-Mao Tsetung Thought. Resolutions of our Fourth General Meeting (July, 1977) by the Bay Area Communist Union
Editorial: Practice Marxism Not Revisionism. ATM Cadre Reject Splitters by the August 29th Movement (Marxist-Leninist)
Editorial: Build the Unity of the Working Class and Oppressed Nationalities by the August 29th Movement (Marxist-Leninist)
Learning From Past Mistakes to Avoid Future Ones in the Struggle for Unity. An Urgent Letter to Comrades in the ATM, the CPML, IWK, and the MLOC, With a Word to Those Who Would not Touch Either Unity Plan With a Ten-Foot Pole by the Pacific Collective (Marxist-Leninist)
More Conspiracies, More Intrigue, Getting Together by The Leninist Core to Found the U.S. Bolshevik Party
U.S. Marxist-Leninists delegation returns from China by The Call
Editorial: The Road to Communist Unity by the Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist)
Editorial: Repudiate the Call For Menshevik Unity! by the Revolutionary Communist Party
Behind RCP’s Attack on Our Unity Efforts by the Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist)
Welcome Proposal for Unity Committee by The New Voice
OL-CP’s “Marxist-Leninist Unity Committee” is Not the Road to Communist Unity by the League for Proletarian Revolution
Learn from Organizing Committee’s Work by the Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist)
Letter to a West Coast Collective by the Proletarian Unity League
Reject the CPML Unity Call by the Workers Congress (M-L)
Joint Statement of ATM, CP (M-L) and IWK for Marxist-Leninist Unity
Editorial: Build the Committee to Unite Marxist-Leninists! by the August 29th Movement
Call Editorial: Important step to Marxist-Leninist unity by the Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist)
Notice on Unity Committee by The New Voice
Unity Committee: Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil, See No Evil by the League for Proletarian Revolution (Marxist-Leninist)
Third Worldists in Disarray: THE DIRT COMES OUT! by The U.S. Leninist Core
Joint Statement by CPML LRSML and RWH
In the CUML: Party Building What is the Road? by the Marxist-Leninist League
[Back to top]
In the 1978-1980 period, while many New Communist Movement groups suffered crises and splits, one unification process proved a success. It began in 1978 when the ATM and IWK began moving closer together, hammering out their differences and exploring joint work. In September 1978 they merged to form the League of Revolutionary Struggle (Marxist-Leninist) (LRS).
The success of this merger proved attractive to other smaller, pro-China organizations. As a result, LRS went on to absorb a number of smaller groups, including the East Wind Collective of Japanese Americans in Los Angeles and the Seize the Time Collective of Chicanos and African Americans in San Francisco in 1979. Finally, early in 1980 the LRS unification process scored another success, merging with the Revolutionary Communist League (Marxist-Leninist-Mao Tse-tung Thought) led by Amiri Baraka.
Fred Ho’s Tribute to the Black Arts Movement: Personal and Political Impact and Analysis
Reflections on Amiri Baraka, Oct. 7, 1934–Jan. 9, 2014 by David Hungerford
A Letter to the League of Revolutionary Struggle by the Proletarian Unity League
A Letter to the Revolutionary Communist League by the Proletarian Unity League
ATM-IWK newspapers to merge by The Call
League of Revolutionary Struggle (M-L) Founded!
Statements on the Founding of the League of Revolutionary Struggle (Marxist-Leninist)
Unity will build on the work of the Revolutionary Cause and Getting Together
Public mass meetings across the country greet League’s founding
Editorial: Another step for communist unity by The Call
Letter from League of Revolutionary Struggle [to the CPML]
Editorial: Past year presents important tasks for 1979
Statement by Seize the Time on Uniting with the League of Revolutionary Struggle (M-L)
Statement by the East Wind organization on its unity with the League
Editorial: Great advances in building Marxist-Leninist unity
UNITY meets $150,000 fund raising goal, triples subscriptions!
Statement by the New York Collective on uniting with the League of Revolutionary Struggle (M-L)
Statement by the League of Revolutionary Struggle (M-L) on the Workers Viewpoint Organization
The Revolutionary Communist League (M-L-M) and the League of Revolutionary Struggle (M-L) Unite!
New York program celebrates merger of RCL (M-L-M) and LRS (M-L)
Series of Midwest programs marks merger of RCL and LRS
Atlanta program celebrates RCL-LRS merger
Is the RCP crazy? Or is there a method to their madness?
Announcing new Chinese-language UNITY MONTHLY magazine
Build UNITY as a weapon for revolution!
League of Revolutionary Struggle (M-L) sums up: 1978 Postal Workers’ Contract Struggle, Part 1
League of Revolutionary Struggle (M-L) sums up: 1978 Postal Workers’ Contract Struggle, Part 2
Women’s Day Editorial: Improve our revolutionary work among women
All out to commemorate the Chicano Moratorium! Self-determination for the Chicano nation!
The Struggle for Chicano Liberation
Guardian union-busting: What kind of “left” paper is this?
Black human rights begins with self-determination
Commentary on the Greensboro shooting. The Klan: henchmen of imperialism
Commentary: The Black Liberation Movement and the ruling class’ move to the right
State of the Union Message: “Carter Doctrine” reflects mounting superpower contention
The 1970’s – A decade of struggle for the Chicano Liberation Movement
Chinese in U.S. enjoy cultural tradition
Build a broad movement to stop the draft
Unite everyone who can be united: Building the Chicano united front
Editorial: In defense of Black artists and the Black Liberation Movement: The case of Amiri Baraka
Revolution and Black Liberation in the 1980’s by Pili Michael L. Humphrey, Chairman of the Afro-American Commission Central Committee of the League of Revolutionary Struggle (M-L)
National Chicano student conference held in Southwest
Dynamic Atlanta forum on Black Liberation
What road to Chicano liberation? by Lucy Aguilar
Marxist-Leninists and the right of self-determination for the Chicano nation
The choice that isn’t: A communist view of the election
Opinion: Why I’m voting for Carter by Lorenzo Cañizares
Editorial. The presidential election: No support for any candidate
Opinion: Why I am not voting for the “lesser evil” by Jim Woods
The Asian national minorities in the U.S.: A struggle for equality, power and socialism
The “Conservative Mandate”: From the people, or from big business? by Mae Ngai
New Right’s “mass organizing” strategy and tactics
Defending minority workers caucuses: Lessons from a Chicago steelworkers local
Soviet and Vietnamese, get out of Kampuchea!
A Commentary: “Revolutionary Communist Party” launches open attacks on China
Editorial: Albania Party letter full of slanders and distortions
Study Column on the Theory of the Three Worlds
Viet Nam, Backed by USSR, Seizes Phnom Penh
Soviet moves in Asia designed to outflank Europe
China’s Actions Against Vietnam are Just and Courageous
Masses Overthrow Shah’s Forces in Iran
China’s actions serve the international proletariat
How can the danger of war and the arms race be ended?
Hanoi’s fascist persecution and expansionism responsible for one million refugees
People’s China: 30 years of building socialism
UNITY interviews Ieng Sary: On mass famine, Kampuchean united front, resistance and other questions
Soviet threat looms: U.S. missiles for W. Europe touch off security debate
Editorial: Condemn the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
Support the Resistance of the Afghan People! [leaflet]
Editorial: Unite the countries and peoples of the world to oppose Soviet aggression in Afghanistan!
Afghani tells UNITY of Soviet takeover: Soviets face peoples’ war in Afghanistan
Islamic movement: blow to imperialism
How Afghanistan serves Soviet strategy for world domination
Who are the Afghan guerrillas?
Communist Party of China holds Central Committee meeting; Liu Shaoqi rehabilitated
Commentary: On the Cultural Revolution in China
Josip Tito: Fighter for Yugoslavia’s independence and champion of Non-Aligned Movement
Italian Communist Party visit to China sets back Soviets
UNITY interviews a member of Ranjbaran Party. Iran today: An Iranian Marxist-Leninist View
Cuba and the Latino movements in the U.S. by William Gallegos
Kampuchea: UNITY report from behind the lines by Richard Fleming and Elizabeth Erlich
Building socialism according to Chinese conditions
China’s “gang of 4” trial highlights crimes during Cultural Revolution
[Back to top]
Although the Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP) attempted to build a unified national organization, significant regional differences in politics and loyalty remained. These differences were rooted in earlier conflicts over the nature of communist political work – with an East Coast faction heavily invested in trade union activity and concepts drawn from the 1930s years of the Communist Party. The Avakian faction, in contrast, argued for far more radical political approaches to the working class. By 1977, two years after the RCP’s September 1975 founding congress and one year after Mao’s death, the conflict reached a breaking point and erupted over the arrest of the “Gang of Four.”
In response to this event, Avakian presented a policy document to a meeting of the national central committee entitled “Revisionists Are Revisionists and Must Not Be Supported, Revolutionaries Are Revolutionaries and Must Be Supported.” It argued that the Gang’s defeat represented a "coup" by "capitalist roaders" against "Mao’s closest supporters." A significant group within the RCP’s leadership rejected this analysis, arguing that the organization should uphold the new Chinese leadership and the arrest of the Four. They included by Mickey Jarvis, the vice chairman of the RCP and Leibel Bergman, a veteran of the old CPUSA who had served as an important mentor to Avakian during the formation of the Revolutionary Union. This grouping had major support in the RCP’s East coast organization plus almost all of the leadership of the national youth organization. Avakian maintained strong support on the West Coast, the South and the Appalachian coalfields. The two factions divided the Midwest between them – particularly Chicago, the location of the national headquarters.
The meeting ultimately endorsed the Avakian position. In the aftermath of the vote, major structural and personnel changes were made in the national leadership – Jarvis (for example) was pushed into a defacto exile from his base in New York City, by being re-assigned to the organization's Denver district. As the pro-China members of the central committee returned to their areas, they decided to leave the RCP and declared a “revolt” against the central committee and its decision to uphold the Four. Between this “revolt” and the subsequent purge directed by the Avakian leadership, some 40% of the Party left the organization. These included one-half of the members of the standing bodies of the Central Committee and almost one-half of the Central Committee itself. Among them were the Vice-chair of the Central Committee and its standing bodies; the Chair of the East Coast Region; the Vice-chair of the Mid-west Region; Chairs of the Milwaukee-Minnesota, Chicago-Gary, NY-NJ, and Philadelphia-Baltimore Districts; the head of Party work in the Revolutionary Communist Youth Brigade (RCYB); the head of Party work in the National United Workers Organization (NUWO); and the head of Party work in the Unemployed Workers Organizing Committee (UWOC). The dissidents soon formed themselves into a new organization – the Revolutionary Workers Headquarters (RWHq).
Each side of the split published collections of documents that contained the major arguments of both sides. The RCP maintained the national organ Revolution, while the RWH began issuing a new newspaper, The Worker, following in the tradition of the various regional Worker newspapers that had previously been published by the Revolutionary Union.
In the years that followed, the RWHq focused heavily on trade union activity – especially in the steel industry in the Midwest. Although it shrank in numbers rapidly, its remaining forces participated in unification efforts with other pro-China groups [see section below, “Unification Efforts of Pro-China Groups“ for primary RWHq materials]. In 1979, the RWHq effected a fusion with the Bay Area Communist Union. Then, in 1985, it merged with the Proletarian Unity League and the Organization for Revolutionary Unity to form the Freedom Road Socialist Organization.
The post-split RCP took a sharp turn leftward – pulling most of its cadre out of basic industry and adopting a policy of what it called going “lower and deeper” into more oppressed sections of the working class. It also launched a series of campaigns – including a major memorial to Mao Zedung, a national campaign for a May First rally in Washington DC, and a violent demonstration in front of the White House in 1979 where 400-500 RCP members and supporters rioted to protest Deng Xiaoping’s visit to cement an alliance with the United States. As part of its continuing rivalry with the Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist), the RCP produced a satirical issue of The Call in early 1979, ridiculing the CPML’s ties to the post-Mao Chinese leadership and its objective alliance with U.S. imperialism against “Soviet hegemonism”.
The Revolutionary Communist Party and Flag Burning During Its Forgotten Years, 1974–1989 by Robert Justin Goldstein
Important Struggles in Building the Revolutionary Communist Party,USA by Bill Klingel and Joanne Psihountas
The Decline of the RCP: A Polemic by the Organization for Revolutionary Unity
Whitewashing Enemies and Slandering Friends: An exposure of the RCP’s revisionist line on the international situation by Eileen Klehr [October League (M-L)]
Party Routs Revisionist Clique: The High Road vs. The Well-Worn Rut by the Revolutionary Communist Party
Revolution and Counter-Revolution: The Revisionist Coup in China and the Struggle in The Revolutionary Communist Party, USA by The Revolutionary Communist Party
Red Papers 8: China Advances on the Socialist Road: The Gang of Four, Revolution in the US, and the Split in the Revolutionary Communist Party by the Revolutionary Workers’ Headquarters
R.C.Y.B. Conference a Big Success
Party Speech At RCYB Convention by William Klingel
Communism and Revolution Vs. Revisionism and Reformism in the Struggle to Build the Revolutionary Communist Youth Brigade by The Revolutionary Communist Party
Wrong Line On “Carter” Offensive: Reject Revisionism in Unemployed Work
NUWO Steering Committee Meets: Workers Set High Goals for Struggle
“Center of Gravity” Repudiated: Economic Struggle & Revolutionary Tasks
Mensheviks in the Slag Heap: Forging Correct Line in Steel
2nd Convention of RCYB: Firm Ground For New Advances
On the Mensheviks’ Views of Crisis: “Capitalism Works After All” by R. Lotta
Mensheviks Sow Confusion On Fusion
Vets Struggle Against Imperialist War
“Sure We’ll Fight the Capitalists–in Russia.” Mensheviks Wave Stars and Stripes at URPE Conference
RCP Splits! Gang of Four Purge Rips Apart Maoists by Workers Vanguard
Behind the Split in the RCP (Part 2) by Workers Vanguard
Attack on China Splits RCP by the Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist)
Why did the “RCP,USA” Split? by the Central Organization of U.S. Marxist-Leninists
On Party Building and the RCP Split. Line Struggle, or Squabble between Opportunists? by the League for Proletarian Revolution (Marxist-Leninist)
RCP Split Leaves Maoist Youth in Dark by Young Spartacus
Book Review: Red Papers 8 by The New Voice
Communism – Road Forward for Youth
Revolutionary March Puts Houston Pigs Against Wall
RCP Blasts U.S.-China Flag Wavers
USSR Pulls Strings – Vietnamese Revisionists Occupy Cambodia
Major Victory Against Opportunists: Revolutionary Communist Party Holds Second Congress
Communiqué on the Second Congress of the RCP
Opening Remarks at Congress by Bob Avakian
Avakian Holds 2nd Congress: Future is gloomy for RCP’s gang of China-haters by the Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist)
* * *
The Paris Commune: First Proletarian Dictatorship
Latest Back-door Attack on China: RCP Mouths ’Gang of Four’ Distortions by the Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist)
Call Attacks Dictatorship of Proletariat: Mao’s Line Offends CP(ML)
CP(M-L) Tells Masses “Let’s Go Backwards”: Hawaii Eviction Fight
Reformism–Key Link in CP(ML) Campaign
THE WORKER: Coming Out Twice a Month
How RCP Defends Chauvinism and Anti-Party Blocs. A Reply to ’The Communist’ on the National Liaison Committee by An Observer
Mao Tsetung’s Immortal Contributions by Bob Avakian
May Day Rallies Chart Revolutionary Course
Local [Hawaii] RCP Speech: High Road to Revolution – Our Only Future!
King Legacy: Reformism and Capitulation
Opportunists Flaunt Reformism in ALD Actions
People run RCP racists out of Crown Heights by the Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist)
RCP goons escalate attacks on China by the Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist)
A Commentary: “Revolutionary Communist Party” launches open attacks on China by the League of Revolutionary Struggle (M-L)
Mao Memorial Meetings Appeal Letter
Historic Mao Memorials Combat Revisionism
Building for the Mao Memorials: Unprecedented Campaign Sweeps Country
The Loss in China and the Revolutionary Legacy of Mao Tsetung by Bob Avakian
Mao Tsetung Memorial by J. W. [Modern Times, Hawaii]
RCP gang of China-haters hits new low by the Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist)
CPML Caught in Dilemma: How to Attack Mao While Pretending to Uphold Him
Letter to the Editor [Bolshevik, Vol. 8, No. 4, n.d.]
Party Calls for Mao Tsetung Enrollment
Mao Memorial Month Final Events
Hawaii: Mao Tsetung Enrollment Hits Nerve
* * *
Hua’s Trip: All-Round Capitulation To Imperialism
Struggle Over “Gang of 5” Hits USCPFA
RCP Makes Anti-China Stand Public by The New Voice
Ex-Member Exposes CPML: Blind Tagging Behind China Demanded
Response to Anti-China lies of RCP’s New Hero by the Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist)
Interview Provokes Foaming CP ML Response: Stuck Pigs Squeal
“Three Worlds” Strategy: Apology for Capitulation
Normalization: China Joins U.S. War Bloc [flyer]
Opportunists: “Vote Your Troubles Away”
On the Role of Agitation and Propaganda
Used to Attack Mao’s Line: Reactionary Mantle of Chou En-lai
Bitter Fruit of Revisionism: Indochina Armed Clashes
Chicago Worker Conference: Mobilizing for Bi-Weekly Worker
One Step Behind Bourgeoisie: CPML Discovers Class Struggle in Iran
Harry Haywood – “My Life as a Bundist”
RCP’s racist attack on Harry Haywood by Sherman Miller
New Revolution Magazine! Party Press Moves Forward
Announcing the Revolutionary Worker
New National Weekly Revolutionary Worker: “Create Public Opinion. . . Seize Power!”
Can You Really Swallow All This? Reversal in China More Blatant
USSR Behind Occupation of Kampuchea. Vietnamese Treachery Reaches New Depths
Traitor Teng Given Fitting Welcome
“I Waved the Red Book Teng Hsiao-Ping’s Face”
Communist youths angered by Teng
Storms Are Gathering – Carry the Red Flag Forward! by Bob Avakian
Editorial: RCP’s puny anti-China provocation by The Call
China-Vietnam: Superpowers Accelerate Moves to World War III
Does the “RCP-USA” Oppose the Theory of “Three Worlds”? (Part 1) by the Central Organization of U.S. Marxist-Leninists
Does the “RCP-USA” Oppose the Theory of “Three Worlds”? (Part 2) by the Central Organization of U.S. Marxist-Leninists
Superpowers Tally Score in Asia Battles
RCP Sinks Deeper in the Swamp by the Communist Party, USA (Marxist-Leninist)
RCP Goes Nuts by Young Spartacus
RCP satirical issue of the CP(ML)’s The Call newspaper
RCP Opens Fire on Tenants: ’Like the Klan without robes’ by the Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist)
Phony Marxists Display Pro-Imperialist Wares
How Can We Apologize for Taking History into Our Hands? by Bob Avakian
Summing Up the Black Panther Party by Bob Avakian
Avenge the Murder of Melvin Black [flyer]
The Chicano Struggle and the Struggle for Socialism
Forward to Revolutionary May Day, 1980!
Revisionist Pipe Dream Goes Up in Smoke. The Destruction of China’s Socialist Economy
Questions on the Revolutionary Communist Party by S. Wallis [Modern Times, Hawaii]
Break the Chains! Unleash the Fury of Women as a Mighty Force for Revolution
Vietnam: Miscarriage of the Revolution
Bob Avakian: Dangerous, yes, but not to capitalism by The Call
A Reply to the RCP: “Mao Defenders” Sow Ideological Confusion and Provoke Reaction by the Communist Party, USA (Marxist-Leninist)
Lenin’s Struggle Against International Opportunism: 1914-1917 [from Revolution, Vol. 4, #10-11, Oct.-Nov. 1979]
The U.S. Government Maneuvers: Secret Service Plots to Frame Bob Avakian! [flyer]
The Stakes Are Up – For Them and Us by Bob Avakian
Guardian’s Contribution to Attack on Bob Avakian
Imperialists Offer Deadly “Ceasefire” in Zimbabwe
Bob Avakian: ’The Jerk’ Is Loose! by the Bolshevik League of the United States
Red, White & Blue “Communists” on Afghanistan: Is It Time? Is It Newsweek? No–It’s The Call!
Anger of Black Community Explodes in Oakland City Council
Revisionists Bring Back China’s Khrushchev
RCP Issues Call: Enlist In Revolutionary May Day Brigades
Goon Squad Responds to NUWO Debate Challenge
New Programme and New Constitution of the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA (Drafts for Discussion)
Criticism of the RCP’s draft programme by In Struggle! [Canada]
Who the “Friends”of the Zimbabwean People Are and How They Fight the Zimbabwe Revolution. “RC”P: Turn the Guns Against Mugabe and ZANU by the Communist Workers Party
RCP’s antics earn them fistfights and garbage by the Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist)
Modern Times Editorial: Adventurism on the March? Reflections on the RCP’s May Day
The Counter-Revolutionary Activity of the RCP by the Communist Party, USA (Marxist-Leninist)
Coming from Behind to Make Revolution. A Talk by Bob Avakian
Avakian clamping down on more realistic RCPers by the Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist)
RCP Deep-Ended by the Spartacist League
Ultra-left antics leave one dead. RCP road show ends in tragedy by the Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist)
Is the RCP crazy? Or is there a method to their madness? by the League of Revolutionary Struggle (M-L)
Observing the RCP’s May Day by the Modern Times [Hawaii] staff and editors
RCP’s May Day: Not Revolutionary But Revolting! by the Bolshevik League of the United States
The international unity of the proletariat: What it is and how to fight for it
How to unite communists: The RCP-USA sidesteps the key issue by In Struggle! [Canada]
International Workers Day May 1st, 1980–The Welding of a Class-Conscious Force
RCP: On Farragos, May Day 1980 and the Echoes Today by Mike Ely
On the Question of So-Called “National Nihilism”: You Can’t Beat the Enemy While Raising His Flag
Revisionist Infighting: How Best To Attack Mao?
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The Communist Workers Party (CWP) was founded in October 1979. It had its origins in the Workers Viewpoint Organization (WVO). WVO had been briefly involved in the Revolutionary Wing in 1975-76, and as the Wing disintegrated, WVO was able to increase its membership and influence from the break-up and purges in other groups, primarily the Revolutionary Workers League (RWL). In North Carolina, for example, former members of the RWL formed the Bolshevik Organizing Collective (M-L) (BOC) which later merged with another local collective, the Communist Workers Committee (M-L) (CWC), before joining WVO.
Almost immediately after its founding, the CWP made national headlines when five of its members (former members of the BOC and CWC) were killed by Nazis in Greensboro, North Carolina. While the rhetoric and behavior of the CWP following the killings could be extreme (for example, its attack on the 1980 Democratic National Convention), by 1980 it began a process of abandoning its former leftism. This process started with a reassessment of its positions on the international situation.
Having previously championed Mao Zedong Thought and Chinese foreign policy, the CWP was silent for a long time about events in China following Mao’s death and the fall of the Gang of Four, before coming out with a position that argued that these developments represented a counter-revolutionary coup. The evolution of the CWP’s thinking continued with its abandonment of the position that capitalism had been restored in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe and its open endorsement of détente, stands which were elaborated on in General Secretary Jerry Tung’s 1981 book, The Socialist Road.
WVO Proclaims Itself General Staff by the August 29th Movement (Marxist-Leninist)
W.V.O. Kicked Out Of Chicago Forum: National Movements – Main Allies of the Working Class by the August 29th Movement (Marxist-Leninist)
The Treachery of the May Fourth Coalition Spells Defeat for the Struggles of the Masses! (An Exposure of Workers Viewpoint Organization’s Work at Brooklyn College) by the Revolutionary Collective
N.Y. May Day: 1000 Strong, Workers March Led by WVO. Major Speech from Central Committee of WVO
May Day Speech, 1978 by Jerry Tung
Former Member Denounces WVO by the Revolutionary Communist Party
WVO’s political gangsterism is despised by N.Y.’s Chinese community by Lee Chen, The Call
Statement by the League of Revolutionary Struggle (M-L) on the Workers Viewpoint Organization
Revolution in 2, 3, 5 Years Says Frenzied Mao Cult: CWP Careens into the ’80s by the Spartacist League
Long Live the Communist Workers Party, U.S.A.!
On the Founding of the Communist Workers Party, U.S.A.
Forged In 5-Years Of Glorious Struggle, CWP Charges Forward To Break The Bourgeoisie
Build the Communist Workers Party! Prepare for the D. of P.!
Communist Workers Party 5 Enrollment
Editorial: Smash Attempts to Redbait Communist Workers Party
Study Notes on “Letter to a Comrade On Our Organizational Tasks”
Spector of Communism Haunts the Bourgeoisie: The Issue Behind All Issues
Why WV Did Not Go To Press Last Week
Two Significant Victories in Beating Back Red Baiting
On the Importance of Communist Propaganda
NYC Forum: CWP General Secretary Launches Great Debate of the 80’s
Join The Revolutionary Youth League, Fight For Workers Rule
Study Marxist Philosophy: Penetrate the Appearance to Grasp the Essence
“But how do I know you Communists won’t sell out after the revolution?”
Oakland Forum: We Can Win and We Will Win! – Jerry Tung, General Secretary, CWP
Presentation to the Central Committee, November 1980 by Jerry Tung
A Year Since the Greensboro Massacre. Speech by the Communist Workers Party
The Role of Practice in the Marxist Theory of Knowledge by Cynthia Lai
Presentation to the Party Leadership, December 1980 by Jerry Tung
30’s Depression Haunts Bourgeoisie, But Fear of 80’s Freaks Them Out!
Boston: Party/Masses Punch Out FBI
Self-Criticism for Boston Article
Editorial: U.S. People Must Prepare Against World War III and Fascism
Victory for Right to Armed Self-Defense
Greensboro Backs Down, Grants Permit from The Call
CWP Press Release [on the Feb. 2nd Anti-Klan demonstration]
“C”PML Works with Cops in Feb 2nd Demo
CWP: Communism is the only road for Afro-Americans
1980 Elections: The Real Choice is Fascism/World War or Revolutionary Socialism
“Miami Foreshadows Revolutionary Situation To Come” Jerry Tung, CWP General Secretary
Miami Conference: U.S. People Demand New Leadership For The 80’s
Just One Cop Is Not Enough, We Have To Kill The Whole System
Chattanooga! 9 Pigs Fall to People’s Armed Defense
American Dream, American Nightmare by Jack Shirai
Elections 1980: The Battle for Moral Authority by Nathan Goldstein
Extreme Times Require Extreme Measures To Save The Country
Payback: “The Communist Workers Party Stormed the Democratic Convention”
21 Officers Hurt Battling Communist Worker Groups
CWP Shuts Down Democratic Convention For Two Hours
Capitalism Destablized – How Do We Prepare To Overthrow the U.S. Government by Irene Blankenship
An Open Letter to Joe Grady, Gorrell Pierce, and All KKK Members and Sympathizers by the Workers Viewpoint Organization
“Death to the Klan” flyer by the Communist Workers Party
Greensboro Massacre: Premeditated Gov’t Assassination of Communist Workers Party Leaders
“Turn Grief Into Strength! Avenge the CWP 5!” flyer by the Communist Workers Party
Revisionists Cry Crocodile Tears Over CWP 5
Dirty Politicians Watch Out! CWP is Out for Vengeance
Mike Nathan’s Co-workers Walk Out, Carrying On His Communist Spirit
Self-criticism of Mike Nathan Article
The Lessons of the Greensboro Massacre by Ray O. Light
Commentary on the Greensboro shooting. The Klan: henchmen of imperialism by the League of Revolutionary Struggle (M-L)
“Greensboro Massacre” – video
“1979: Gov’t & KKK Murder Five Communists” – video
“Communist Workers Party 5 Died Fighting the KKK/Nazis Rather than Live as Slaves” flyer by the Communist Workers Party
Spirit of the CWP 5 Lives on: CWP Rejects Sham Capitalist Judicial System
The Greensboro Massacre: Critical Lessons for the 1980’s by the Amilcar Cabral/Paul Robeson Collective and the Greensboro Collective
Greensboro: Political Suicide With No Condolences by the Bolshevik League of the United States
Stories of the Greensboro Massacre by Tiffany George Butler Quaye
CWP’s Call: Defend and Build Independent Union
Don’t Drown In The Waterfall of Grievances, Prepare To Cut Off The Source – Capitalism
1980 Strikes–The Giant Can’t Awaken Without Breaking Labor Aristocrats Stranglehold
Decertify the Sellout ACTWU – Gardena Shoeworkers Will Be the Model!
Steward Systems: Build a Network of Leaders, Not Grievance Processors
War Preparation Delayed Todd Shipyard Strike
Symbol of Masses’ Unprecedented Openness to Party Leadership: 900 Shipyard Workers Sick Out!
Nassco Wildcat Shuts Down Shipyard: “Defend Our Leaders!”
NASSCO Shipyard Workers Taking the “War” Inside
How CWP isolated the left and hurt the NASSCO strike by the Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist)
Defend NASSCO Frame-Up Victims! [from Workers Vanguard, #269, November 28, 1980]
The NASSCO Workers Struggle: For a Fighting Union–A Communist Perspective by the Committee for a Proletarian Party
Bombing Plot Trial Nears End on Coast By Robert Lindsey [New York Times]
Justice Demands Free the NASSCO 3!
NASSCO Three Railroaded [from Workers Vanguard, #283, June 19, 1981]
NASSCO 3: In Trial’s Wake, Resolve Stronger Than Ever By Erin White
NASSCO 3 Sentenced to 2 Years By Erin White
NASSCO Conviction – A Dangerous Precedent by David Armstrong
Mark Loo: From the Streets of Chinatown to the Shipyards of San Diego by Eliot Chun
United Shipyard Workers – The New Challenge By Greg Elwood
USWU Loses Bid for Indep. Union: Organizers Poised To Renew Battle for Leadership by Tony To
Iron Workers Recast Image as Union Celebrates Its 50th Year: Though Local 627 has always had a raucous reputation, the union’s attitude toward management at the Nassco shipyard has tempered. By H. G. Reza [Los Angeles Times]
Afghanistan: Soviet Union’s Vietnam
3rd World Demands Soviets Out of Afghanistan
Zimbabwe: Landslide Election Victory, New Challenges for ZANU
Congratulations Comrade Mugabe: Letter from the Central Committee of the CWP
What’s at Stake? Tug of War Between Militants and Iranian Government
Tito – Loyal Nationalist But Renegade to Communism
U.S.-2nd World Summit: Band of Thieves Falling Apart
Scab Rulers in China Moan over Corruption
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Vietnam Out to Overthrow Cambodian Gov’t.
An Exchange on May Day... Unity at What Price? between the Revolutionary Workers Headquarters and the Philadelphia Workers Organizing Committee
Statement on the Merger of the Bay Area Communist Union into the Revolutionary Workers Headquarters
Build the Black Liberation Movement
RWH on the Black Liberation Movement: Wrong Again! by Amiri Baraka (Including “Notes on Baraka's ’RWH on the BLM: Wrong Again’ From a White Communist“ By Jim Woods)
The Worker/Workers Voice
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East Wind Collective Criticism
WC(M-L) Response to Criticism by East Wind Collective
OC Draft Program: Proletarian Internationalism Or Social-Chauvinism
Revolutionary Training [series introduction]
The Chief Means of Revolutionary Training
The Path from Fragmentation to Party Unity
Revolutionary Training and the Iskra Tactic
* * *
RWC Strike Sum-Up: Party Building Tasks by the Revolutionary Workers’ Collective
Develop Party Type Units and Nuclear Style of Work. Comments on Part 1 of the RWC’s Sum-Up by the Workers Congress (Marxist-Leninist)
RWC Strike Sum-Up: Trade Union Tasks by the Revolutionary Workers’ Collective
Develop Leadership in Mass Work. Comments on Part 2 of the RWC’s Sum-Up by the Workers Congress (Marxist-Leninist)
Comments on RWC Strike Sum-Up by the Pacific Collective
WC Commentary on Pacific Collective Views: Take Marxism-Leninism to the Working Class by the Workers Congress (Marxist-Leninist)
Open Letter on Criticism-Self-Criticism by the Workers Congress (Marxist-Leninist) and Friends from the East Coast
Pacific Collective Criticizes WC(M-L). Strike Sum-Up Series To Continue by the Workers Congress (Marxist-Leninist)
WC(M-L) to Deepen Rectification Campaign by the Workers Congress (Marxist-Leninist)
Pacific Collective Polemic with WC (ML). Part 1 – Views on the Advanced by the Pacific Collective
ML Collective Struggle: Leadership selection summed up by Friends on the East Coast
Pacific Collective Polemic with WC (ML). Part 2 – Building Communist Cores by the Pacific Collective
An Opportunist Policy: CPUSA’s “Left-Center” Coalition
Right Opportunism in Anti-Bakke Work: Response to ATM & IWK
National Proposal to Build the Anti-Bakke Movement
A Serious Mistake in Mass Work
Unity in Words – Sectarianism in Deeds: ATM/IWK and CP(ML) ’Unite’ to Exclude WC(ML) from ABDC
Unite to Build a Nationwide Campaign to Defend and Expand Affirmative Action
LPR (M-L) Supports WC (M-L) National Proposal
Commentary by Workers Congress (M-L): Learn from Past Errors of NCOBD-ABDC, Struggle Against Sectarianism [includes a reprint of a Report: Sum-Up by Members of the National Lawyers Guild: The Struggle Against Left Opportunism and Towards Unity in the Anti-Bakke Movement]
Women’s Liberation – A Revolutionary Struggle
The Example of Panama: Revolutionary Use of Reforms In International Struggle
Defend the Dictatorship of the Proletariat in China
Defend Kampuchean Communist Party
Modernization Necessary for Socialist Construction
Deng Xiaoping Cleared of False Charges
China Counter-Attacks Viet Nam Aggression
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What Do “Left” and Right Mean?
World Proletarian Strategy... Study Theory of Three Worlds
CP M-L, RCP, Guardian All Have... Opportunist Strategy for the U.S.
On Our Work: Using the Second Key Point
New Possibilities for Unity Among Marxist-Leninists: Make the Proletarian Line Central
Guidelines for Caucus-building
Struggle Is At a High Level, Defines the Tasks of Revolutionaries
RCP Makes Anti-China Stand Public
Debate: What Road for Communists in the ’80s? by Charles Loren
Debate: What Road for Communists in the ’80s? by Daniel Burstein
Two Letters on Burstein-Loren Debate
* * *
TNV’s 200th Issue: The 1970’s: A Decade Reviewed
Resist Separation Trend from the Masses
Views Changing: Does Busing Fight Racism?
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LPR(M-L) Launches Rectification Campaign
Rectify Our Style of Work! Combat Spontaneity
The Struggle to Rectify Continues
COReS (mlm) and LPR (m-l) On Road to Higher Unity
Rectification Campaign – COReS (mlm)
Progress Report: Forward COReS-LPR merger!
COReS-LPR Joint Statement: Our work within the working class movement
LPR-ML and COReS-MLM Complete Meger – Marxist-Leninist League Founded
Joint Statement on the Woman Question
Joint Statement on Party Building
Carry Out Open and Above Board Struggle
Exchange with PUL on the Trade Union Question
M-L League to Celebrate 1st Congress
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The distinct Pro-Albania trend in the New Communist Movement emerged in 1978 in response to the open polemics between the Party of Labor of Albania (PLA) and the Communist Party of China. The main organizations in this trend were:
* the Marxist-Leninist Organizing Committee (MLOC), one of the groups which had its origins in the Black Workers Congress;
* the Central Organization of U.S. Marxist-Leninists (COUSML);
* the U.S. Leninist Core, which derived from remnants of the Puerto Rican Revolutionary Workers Organization-Revolutionary Workers League alliance that formerly called itself the Revolutionary Wing;
* Demarcation, which came out of the Red Dawn Committee (M-L), which itself had come out of the New York section of the Workers Congress (M-L);
* a number of smaller collectives, primarily in the Midwest and on the West Coast.
Given their shared agreement with the line of the Party of Labor of Albania, efforts were undertaken in 1978-1980 to unify these groups in a single organization and/or party building process. In the end, however, all of these ended in failure.
Initially, the MLOC sought to bring together pro-Albanian forces in support of a joint statement in support of the PLA, but in the end, only two California-based groups, the Committee for a Proletarian Party and the Sunrise Collective, united with the MLOC in its final document. A similar effort, initiated by a group of collectives in the mid-west to issue a joint statement in support Albania after China cut off aid to it, likewise united only a handful of groups.
The MLOC made further attempts to unite pro-Albanian forces around its party building work, but the only significant independent group to join in this process was the San Diego-based Committee for a Proletarian Party. In December 1978, the MLOC became the Communist Party, USA (Marxist-Leninist) (CPUSA,ML). However, within less than a year, it underwent a number of damaging splits. Chapters in New Orleans and Birmingham broke away to form the Revolutionary Political Organization (M-L) while the former Committee for a Proletarian Party and a group in Chicago also departed.
In 1979, a number of groups in the Midwest and the San Francisco Bay Area that had attempted to unify pro-PLA forces after China’s aid cut-off, proposed a multilateral conference (MULC) to advance the party-building efforts of this trend.
The Conference took place in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1979. About a dozen independent M-L groups (and a few individuals) from across the nation came together in agreement that party building was the chief task, that they would not join any of the recently created sectarian parties (CLP, CP(ML), RCP, CWP), and that theoretical work was a prime component at that time in party building. The groups also shared an opposition to the theory of three worlds, and had a favorable view of the Party of Labor of Albania as perhaps the leading international party at the time.
The Wichita Communist Cell (WCC) offered to coordinate the conference and undertook the extensive work of doing so. Considerable written discussion took place in advance about points of unity for the conference and the purpose and structure of the MULC.
The following groups took part in the Conference: Amilcar Cabral/Paul Robeson Collective (AC/PRC), ex-Committee for a Proletarian Party (XCPP), ex-Marxist Leninist Collective (XMLC), Kansas City Revolutionary Workers Collective (KCWCC), Marxist Leninist Collective (MLC), Marxist-Leninist League (MLL), Pacific Collective (M-L) (PC), Red Dawn Committee, Revolutionary Workers Collective (RWC), Revolutionary Workers Press (RWP), Some Comrades in the Bay Area (SC) (aka B.R. Johnson), and the WCC. Involved in the pre-conference discussions, but not taking part in the conference itself were the Communist Committee, Sunrise Collective, and Workers Revolutionary Organizing Committee (WROC).
Two viewpoints emerged in the planning process and at the conference itself. One was that the “Focus of struggle” at the MULC should be on party building line, by which was meant questions like the key link, fusion, advanced workers, the possibility of a joint journal, etc. The other viewpoint was that the main focus should be on identifying (and struggling over) the existing views of the circles on international and domestic line to see whether we constituted a single tendency or more than one tendency. That is, two different views on “party building line” were expressed.
In the end, the chief result of the MULC was agreement by some of the participating groups to undertake a National Joint Study (NJS), which took place in 1980.
A similar initiative to the MULC was proposed by the California-based Pacific Collective (M-L) in their lengthy book, From Circles to the Party.
During this same period, the U.S. Leninist Core and Demarcation drew closer together, uniting in 1979 in the Committee of U.S. Bolsheviks which later that year renamed itself the Bolshevik League of the United States (BL). The Bolshevik League drew close to the Bolshevik Union in Canada and the two organizations soon broke with the PLA, denouncing it with the same vehemence with which they had previously criticized the Communist Party of China.
The final pro-Albania group to declare itself a Party was COUSML which, in 1980 became the Marxist-Leninist Party (MLP). At the time of its founding, the MLP was in the process of breaking with its long-time mentor in Canada, the Communist Party of Canada (M-L) (CPCML). As a result of this break, it too, underwent a split, with forces loyal to the CPCML reforming themselves as the U.S. Marxist-Leninist Organization.
“COUSML”-“MLOC”: Cheap Tricks and Demagogy Can’t Hide Treachery – Centrism Means Unity with Social-Chauvinism by the U.S. Leninist Core
Two Articles: “On the Historical Merit of Mao Tsetung and Socialism in China” and “The PLA’s Treacherous Reversal: An Analysis of the PLA Letter“ by the Chicago Committee for a Communist Party and former members of the Committee for a Proletarian Party
The New Centrism by Demarcation
Announcement of a Multilateral Conference (MULC) on Party Building by the Witchita Communist Cell
Initial Responses to the “Announcement of a Multilateral Conference (MULC) on Party Building”
Initial Sum-up of Responses to the “Announcement of a Multilateral Conference (MULC) on Party Building” with WCC’s Suggestions to Move the MULC Forward by the Wichita Communist Cell
A Joint Counter-proposal to the Multi-lateral Conference Proposal on Party Building by Demarcation and the U.S. Leninist Core
Cheap Slanders Will Never Build a Vanguard Party. A Reply to Wichita Communist Cell and Kansas City Revolutionary Workers Collective by the Committee of U.S. Bolsheviks
The Building of the Vanguard Party of the U.S. Proletariat by the Kansas City Revolutionary Workers Collective and Witchita Communist Cell
Notes from Multilateral Conference (MULC) on Party Building
From Circles to the Party. The Tasks of Communists Outside the Existing Parties by the Pacific Collective (Marxist-Leninist)
Characteristic Features of “Left” and Right Opportunism by the Pacific Collective (Marxist-Leninist)
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The Party of the Working Class and the Small Circles of the Petit-Bourgeoisie by the Committee for a Proletarian Party
Reply to the Open Letter of the MLOC by the Central Organization of U.S. Marxist-Leninists
Party-Formation and the Circle Spirit: A Reply to the MLOC by the Pacific Collective (Marxist-Leninist)
“ML”OC vs. Leninism by Demarcation
Letter to the “CPUSA (ML)” by Demarcation
Against Social-Democratic Infiltration of the Marxist-Leninist Movement. A study of the origin, history and present role of the social-democrat Barry Weisberg and his MLOC/“CPUSA(M-L)” by the Central Organization of U.S. Marxist-Leninists
Party-Building Statement of the Committee For a Proletarian Party
Call for Joint Work on the Party Program by the Marxist-Leninist Organizing Committee
Draft Party Program by the Marxist-Leninist Organizing Committee
An Open Letter – Requesting Discussions of the Draft Party Program and the Reconstitution of the Marxist-Leninist Party of the United States by the Marxist-Leninist Organizing Committee
Communist Party M-L Sponsors Pep Rally: D.C. March Promotes Illusion of Job Concessions
Sadlowski Campaign: The Lessons Learned
CP(M-L) Builds New Unity Committee; Unity of Opportunists Built on Shifting Sand
CP(M-L) Praises the Revisionist Tito
Summing Up the Coal Strike: The Lessons to Be Learned [from Class Against Class, #11, August 1978]
Against Opportunism in the Struggle to Free Gary Tyler [from Class Against Class, #11, August 1978]
Reply to the COUSML Pamphlet: “Reply to the Open Letter of the MLOC”
Teng Comes Calling: Official Seal of Approval on U.S.-China Alliance
COUSML Gets in Step: In Case You Didn’t Notice
Agit/Prop Department Holds Seminar: Building the Party Press
The New Unionism and the Trade Union Action League (TUAL)
Afghanistan: Latest Victim of Superpower Rivalry by Emily Keppler
Rapid Capitalist Development in China
TUAL Holds Successful Conference
The 1980 Elections and the Fascist Menace
Report from the 5th Plenum of the Central Committee of the Communist Party U.S.A. (Marxist-Leninist)
Tito is Dead, Leaving a Legacy of Reaction by Emily Keppler
Fight for Full Democratic Rights
The United Front of Labor: To Defeat Reformism and Unite Against Capital by Dave Brand
Polish Strike Scores Advance for Working Class by Dave Brand
No to the CPUSA Revisionist Ticket by Barry Weisberg
Building Solidarity in Common Struggle: Interview with TUAL Organizer Matt Fusco
Counter-Revolution is Official Policy of Chinese State by Emily Keppler
Summing Up CPUSA/ML Work in the Anti-fascist Movement
Workers’ Only Choice: No Vote November 4! Statement from the Central Committee of the CPUSA/ML
The Principles of Revolutionary Trade Unionism by Dave Brand
Principles, Structure, Movement: The Building Blocks of Revolutionary Unionism
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COUSML Gets in Step: In Case You Didn’t Notice from Unite!
“Democratic” Carter Regime Bares Its Fascist Fangs
Defend Socialist Albania! Editorial of The Workers’ Advocate
There Is Nothing Good in the Alliance Between U.S. Imperialism and Chinese Revisionism!
Does the “RCP-USA” Oppose the Theory of “Three Worlds”? (Part 1)
Does the “RCP-USA” Oppose the Theory of “Three Worlds”? (Part 2)
The “CP(M-L)” Social-Chauvinists are Brazen Lackeys of Imperialism
Build the Marxist-Leninist Party Without the Social-Chauvinists and Against the Social-Chauvinists
Mao Tsetung and Mao Tsetung Thought are Anti-Marxist-Leninist and Revisionist
Chronology of Events: 1975-1981
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The Fight for the Marxist-Leninist Line on the International Situation Intensifies. Every Genuine Marxist-Leninist Party and Organization Must Take a Stand by The Leninist Core to Found the U.S. Bolshevik Party
Wm. Z. Foster, A Kruschevite Revisionist; “C”P “ML”, Fosterite Revisionists by The U.S. Leninist Core [Bolshevik, Vol. 8, No. 4, n.d.]
Guilty By Omission: C”P “ML”, Program 2: “We are fighting for the abolition of Class Society” or Chapter 2 in Lessons in Revisionism: “ We are fighting against the Establishment of the Dictatorship of the Proletariat” by The U.S. Leninist Core [Bolshevik, Vol. 8, No. 4, n.d.]
“Mao Tse Tung Thought” A Counter-Revolutionary Concept by The U.S. Leninist Core
The Theory and Practice of Chinese Revisionism and Social Imperalism by The U.S. Leninist Core
Repulse the Bankrupt Theory of the “Three” Worlds – Revolution on the Order of the Day! by the Leninist Core to Found the U.S. Bolshevik Party
Regarding China’s Withdrawl of Aid from Albania by The Leninist Core to Found the U.S. Bolshevik Party
“COUSML”-“MLOC”: Cheap Tricks and Demagogy Can’t Hide Treachery – Centrism Means Unity with Social-Chauvinism by the U.S. Leninist Core
A Joint Counter-proposal to the Multi-lateral Conference Proposal on Party Building by Demarcation and the U.S. Leninist Core
Announcement of the Formation of the Committee of U.S. Bolsheviks
Cheap Slanders Will Never Build a Vanguard Party. A Reply to Wichita Communist Cell and Kansas City Revolutionary Workers Collective by the Committee of U.S. Bolsheviks
On the Founding of the Bolshevik League and the Establishment of Bolshevik Revolution by the Bolshevik League of the United States
Report to the Founding Conference of the Bolshevik League of the United States
Regarding the Question of the Party of Labor of Albania
Faction Purged From B.L. On The Road To a Bolshevik Party by the Bolshevik League of the United States
Black Liberation and Proletarian Revolution
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