Published: The Workers’ Advocate, Vol. 2, No. 3-4, March-April 1970.
Transcription, Editing and Markup: Paul Saba
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As the struggles of the working class, Afro-Americans and other oppressed people in the U.S. rise wave upon wave, the monopoly capitalist class, in mortal fear of being swamped, increasingly resorts to open fascist violence to repress the people and completely deny their democratic right to organize politically.
To this Chairman Mao Tsetung has answered, “It is right to rebel against reactionaries!” and communists have come forward to organize on this basis! At the historic First National conference of the American Student Movement (Anti-Imperialist), held March 6-13 in Cleveland, Ohio, it was proven beyond a doubt that when the revolutionary forces come forward to apply invincible Mao Tsetung Thought as a guide to action and use the mass democratic method in organizing the people, a clear line of distinction is drawn between enemies and friends, the reactionaries wildly try to suppress the people’s rights and the masses of workers and oppressed people come forward to fight for their liberation.
Called to develop methods of work in building the anti-imperialist movement, this conference immediately sent its delegates forth to arouse the people in the communities, on the job, and in the schools. The people stood up, first to take Chairman Mao’s teachings and other revolutionary literature as their own, then to carry out mass democratic struggles in support of these Ideas in various places, and finally to defend the communists from fascist attacks in mass struggle for the right to organize politically.
Refuting the slander that American workers are racist and anti-communist, the communists boldly announced for all to hear that Chairman Mao is our Chairman and that we will defend the People’s Republic of China, the bastion of world revolution and best friend of the world’s people. A warm welcome was found among workers for Chairman Mao’s 1968 ”Statement in Support of the Afro-American Struggle against Violent Repression”: “The struggle of the Black people in the United States IS BOUND TO MERGE with the American workers’ movement and this will eventually bring to an end the criminal rule of the U.S. monopoly capital class.” Daily, teams of delegates sold Chairman Mao’s writings, The Workers’ Advocate and the The American Student and distributed Chairman Mao’s statement by the hundreds to both workers and students. Black people were most happy to see the statement and often took copies to give to their friends. Black and white workers and students bought the bright red newspapers and works of Chairman Mao eagerly. One Black man followed a delegate around shouting, “She’s selling socialism.” and telling everyone to buy the paper. A white worker said, “I’ll buy “anything with red on it!” A worker from Palestine said, “’Smash the Old to Build the New!’ Good.’ That means revolution, doesn’t it?” Many working people were uninterested until they heard it was a communist paper and they then bought it immediately. Hundreds of copies of The Workers’ Advocate were sold and hundreds of people showed interest in the five revolutionary rallies that were held each night of the conference.
In this way the communists put full faith in the people and for this, reason the people prove, the truth of Chairman Mao’s great statement: “The masses have a potentially inexhaustible enthusiasm for socialism.”
This revolutionary enthusiasm reflects the excellent situation in the U.S. and the world, where the people’s forces are everywhere awakening. In response, the reactionary forces everywhere are carrying out last desperate struggles before extinction, wildly suppressing the people’s political rights.
At the conference these ghosts and monsters first crawled out to oppose the workers at University Hospitals, where wide mass work was done. Because the workers read communist literature with great interest, the administration first pleaded with, then threatened the communists in order to prevent the democratic development of ideas. But the workers are determined to carry on the struggle.
The night after a militant rally in support of the national liberation struggle of the people of Palestine, the next attack on the right to organize was organized by the fascist city police. After two days of mobilizing, these running dogs, led by a member of the “subversive squad”, were able to muster only thirty fascists to attack the conference. Facing clubs, blackjacks and guns, the conference delegates followed Chairman Mao’s spirit of ”being resolute, fearing no sacrifice,” and drove these vermin from the parking lot of the hall. It was later learned that these fascist came from families that betrayed their people during World War II to follow Hitler and oppose the national liberation struggle of the people of Yugoslavia. Like all reactionaries when faced with the people’s wrath, they proved to be nothing but paper tigers. That night an even more militant rally was held to support the national liberation struggle of the people of Quebec.
Thus another great truth of Chairman Mao’s was proven: “It is good if we are attacked by the enemy, since it proves that we have drawn a clear line of demarcation between the enemy and ourselves. It is still better if the enemy attacks us wildly and paints us as utterly black and without a single virtue; it demonstrates that we have not only drawn a clear line of demarcation between the enemy and ourselves but achieved a great deal in our “work.”
City police and all forms of “left” opportunists tried to enter the following rallies but were turned away at the door. Most militant and jubilant of all was the final rally, in support of the People’s Republic of China and Marxism-Leninism-Mao Tsetung Thought, attended by many workers and students. Standing beneath huge silk portraits of the great fathers of the working-class movement, Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin and Mao, speakers denounced the U.S.-Soviet imperialist war plots being hatched against Socialist China and the people of the world, and stated that this is a direct result of the correct revolutionary guidance being given to the people of the world by Chairman Mao. Speakers from the Quebec Communist Movement (Marxist-Leninist), the Canadian Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist) and the American Communists Workers Movement (Marxist-Leninist) pledged to oppose counterrevolutionary war with revolutionary war, to make revolution in their own countries as the only way to defend China and their own peoples from the war of aggression. Chants rang out: “Death to U.S. Imperialism!” “Long Live Great People’s Republic of China!,” “Long Live Invincible Marxism-Leninism-Mao Tsetung Thought!” and “Long Live Chairman Mao!” “A Long, Long Life to Him!” The rally closed with the showing of “The East Is Red,” a revolutionary opera performed by workers and peasants depicting the story of the Chinese revolution.
Other rallies were held in support of the Armed Agrarian Revolution in India and in support of the struggles of the American working class and the Afro-American people. At the latter, speakers from the Black Panther Party of Iowa and the American Communist Workers Movement (M-L) pointed to the long history of struggle and its betrayal by anti-Marxist leaders of both the Afro-American people and the entire working class. They pointed out the truth of Chairman Mao’s statement that the two struggles “ARE BOUND TO MERGE” and showed how they are already merging rapidly and that this will bring about the final collapse of imperialism and all form of reaction and a world without exploitation will be built. They pledged themselves to build a new Marxist-Leninist communist party of the United States, devoted to following Chairman Mao’s Thought and able to lead the working and oppressed people of America to liberation. “Death to Fascism, ” the chants broke out, “Victory to the American Working Class!” “Victory to the Heroic Afro-American People!” “Long Live the Victory of People’s War!” and ”Long Live Chairman Mao!”
The struggle for the right to organize politically reached its peak on the campus of Cuyahoga Community College on the last day of the conference. This campus is attended by many students from working-class background and consequently news of events there travels quickly into the working class. Many workers there had bought The Workers’ Advocate and supported it. Here, faced with city and campus police and fascist students, dozens of progressive students and workers came forward to defend the right to organize politically and to discuss Mao Tsetung Thought.
Imperialist culture teaches people, especially petty bourgeoisie (middle class), to be passive, to lack daring, initiative, industriousness and faith in the people and uses these attitudes to undermine the working class movement. The line of the leading body of the conference, the American Communist Workers Movement (Marxist-Leninist) is that the question of political line is clear, and that the problem is in practicing correct methods of work. Our political line is that the U.S. reactionaries are preparing to impose fascism on the people, by doing widespread lying propaganda for racism and anti-communism and by denying the people’s democratic political rights and viciously oppressing nations and national minorities at home and throughout the world. The main political task is to organize a party of communist revolutionaries to lead the proletariat and oppressed people in defeating fascism by the armed overthrow of the U.S. monopoly capitalist class proceeding to build socialism under the dictatorship of the proletariat. The principal step at present in building this party is laying the basis for it in ideological struggle among the people. Agreed on this, the main thing that can prevent revolution is incorrect method of work.
Mass democratic method (putting all questions publicly before the people as in The Workers’ Advocate) – versus mass bureaucratic method (issuing directives from above and manipulating people from behind closed doors); this was the struggle in the conference. It is the task of the proletarian leadership to develop the method of defeating the mass bureaucratic line. At the conference it was defeated by calling on the delegates to actively go forth and do mass work among the people, and by drawing a clear line of demarcation and exposing class enemies and bourgeois ideas whenever they show up. These two aspects, one of daring to rebel against reactionaries, and the other of closely integrating among and having faith in the people, are the greatest protection against revisionism liberalism Trotskyism New Leftism and all kinds of counter-revolutionary muck.
The ASM conference has proven conclusively that the masses of working and oppressed people want revolution and are eager for Mao Tsetung Thought. They will fight for the right to organize politically. Therefore, our only path can be to follow Chairman Mao’s great statement: “It is up to us to organize the people. As for the reactionaries..., it is up to us to organize the people to overthrow them. Everything reactionary is the same; if you don’t hit it, ii won’t fall. This is also like sweeping the floor; as a rule, where the broom does not reach the dust will not vanish of itself.”
DEATH TO U.S. MONOPOLY CAPITAL! VICTORY TO THE WORKING AND OPPRESSED PEOPLE! LONG LIVE CHAIRMAN MAO! A LONG, LONG LIFE TO HIM!