Talk given by the co-leader of United American Indians of New England at the Massachusetts State House in Boston on July 12 at a vigil to close migrant detention camps.

I am here as an Indigenous person to support migrant and refugee communities, whether from Haiti or Syria or El Salvador. In doing so, I want to remind everyone that we are NOT all a nation of immigrants, as some people are fond of saying. So we begin by acknowledging that we are in Sha-uh-mut on the traditional, stolen and unceded lands of the Massachusett Indigenous people, a place where Indigenous people from many Nations lived for thousands of years and where Indigenous people continue to live.

I’m glad to see you here tonight, and to know that people are turning out at hundreds of events like this all over the United States. 

We demand an end to the torturous conditions of children and adults caged in government detention centers. We are here to demand an end to the vicious raids and deportations that Brown and Black migrant communities have experienced for many years now, even before Trump came along. And we are here to demand life instead of death for the desperate asylum-seekers trying to cross the U.S.-Mexico border.

The borderlands where people are dying are not our Indigenous borders. I remind you that many of those suffering are Indigenous, not Hispanic or Latinx. Many do not even speak Spanish but instead speak their own Indigenous languages. They have ancestral rights to cross freely.

If you think that the kind of human rights abuses happening in the U.S. right now are unusual or exceptional, you are wrong. Our Indigenous families were separated for generations as a matter of U.S. government policy, our Indigenous children stolen and forced into residential schools or adopted by white families or put into foster care.

Did you know that there were concentration camps for Indigenous people, including right here in the Boston Harbor on Deer Island in the 1670s? There were concentration camps for Indigenous peoples when we were  herded onto reservations to starve, and when our ancestors were captured and imprisoned in places such as Fort Sill in Oklahoma.

There were concentration camps for Black people during and after the Civil War. Even after being supposedly freed from slavery, Black people were forced by Union Army soldiers into so-called contraband slave camps in the South, where they died by the thousands of starvation and disease and being worked to death.

And during World War II, 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry were rounded up by the U.S. government, their property seized, and they were locked into isolated camps for years.

I’m sure all the guards and soldiers who guarded those concentration camps of the past said they were just following orders, the same as the Nazis. I’m sure there were individuals and companies that filled their pockets as a result of this misery.

I want to ask everyone here to commit to authentic resistance to what is happening. From a place of love and solidarity, let’s all accept migrants and refugees as our most beloved family, as our children and siblings and parents, regardless of where they come from. 

Writing letters to politicians is not going to be enough to help our beloved family and spare them more trauma, is it? This is an emergency. We need to be bold, not meek, in order to save lives!

We can follow the example of the Wayfair workers who recently walked out, and of the Latinx, Black, Jewish and other youth who have been arrested at ICE facilities. We can refuse to collaborate with or spend money with any individual or company who supports these concentration camps and raids, anyone who is profiting from the imprisonment of our refugee relatives. 

We can intervene in an organized way to fight back against raids and against ICE, Border Patrol, and the other agencies that say they are just following orders. We have to make “just following orders” impossible. 

Let’s support the frontline community organizations that are already doing this work and put ourselves on the line, too. Commit now to finding out what you can do and how you can help.

We are so strong when we join together. Let’s close the camps now!

Most timelines of today’s crisis in Sudan start with rapid price increases for wheat and fuel under President Omar al-Bashir beginning in 2018. It is, however, important to take a look at what other forces may have triggered this inflation.

A thorough analysis done last March by Magdi el Gizouli drew on International Monetary Fund (IMF) correspondence with the government of Sudan in 2017. Gizouli is a fellow of the Rift Valley Institute who regularly writes on Sudanese affairs in the Review of African Political Economy. 

Regarding the economic turmoil of 2018, Gizouli writes: “Sudan’s post-oil economic woes came to a peak in 2018 with the collapse of the Sudanese pound, an acute shortage of foreign currency, runaway prices and inflation rates beyond 60 percent. The rise in prices is the third-fastest in the world in recent months, behind war-torn South Sudan and Venezuela.” (Venezuela has also been suffering under severe U.S. sanctions.)

“To protect the Sudanese pound, the Bank of Sudan ordered severe restrictions on cash withdrawals, resulting in an extreme liquidity crunch. Bank customers were initially barred from withdrawing more than the equivalent of US$160 in February and March 2017 going down to no more than US$17 a day in September 2017.” This further especially frustrated the professional sectors of the Sudanese and spurred them to action.

According to Gizouli, as of March 2019: “So far, army officers are the only absentees from the list of modern professionals, doctors, lawyers, engineers, judges, etc., who constitute the umbrella Sudanese Professionals Association.”

The foundation of the current economic crisis severely affecting all Sudanese had its start in 1978, according to Gizouli, when an earlier Sudanese government signed a series of agreements with the IMF and World Bank called the Economic Recovery Programme: 

“The highlights of this agenda included currency devaluation; liberalization of trade; bank credit restrictions; interest rate increases; curtailment of the money supply; reduction of the government’s budget through social spending cuts, massive layoffs and removal of subsidies on goods and other consumption items; removal of all controls on profit repatriation; privatisation of government-owned enterprises and social services.”

This policy occurred under the government of Jaafar Nimeiry and points to the fact that the hands of the U.S.-dominated IMF and the World Bank can be found at the root of this latest turmoil in the Sudanese economy.

IMF ‘suggests’ repealing subsidies for staples

In November 2017, the IMF presented their “suggestions” to the al-Bashir government regarding the removal of subsidies, including for staples like bread and fuel. Remember, these “suggestions” from financial powers like the IMF can determine whether or not a country receives a loan.

The government therefore decided in January 2018 to devalue the Sudanese pound by around 60 percent, as the IMF suggested, “and launched a new unified official exchange rate while the parallel rate continued to jump ahead.”

This fluctuation in currency rates contributed to the lack of confidence of international investors, exacerbating Sudan’s financial woes. And the desperate attempts by Omar al-Bashir to manipulate currency and raise taxes to make up for the economic sabotage created by the IMF also exacerbated the situation and reduced investor confidence still further.

The IMF stated in its November 2017 report which social programs they were going after: “Sudan maintains a number of consumer subsidies which ostensibly are aimed at protecting socially vulnerable groups. These primarily include subsidies on energy (fuel products and electricity) and wheat products. However, there is a large body of international experience showing that subsidies are an inefficient policy instrument to protect lower income groups.”

In spite of the IMF caring so much for “lower income groups,” it admitted that cutting those and other programs targeted would result in a 216 percent increase in retail prices of fuel products, bread and electricity tariffs, with a real income loss of about 15 percent per capita, considering indirect effects of this policy.

Most of the wheat consumed by Sudan is imported–around 2.5 billion tons per year. When South Sudan chose independence in 2011, after years of civil war–some of which was promoted by U.S. military support for various factions there–the north lost most of its oil and gas resources and could no longer produce the amount of fuel needed domestically. 

The breakup of Sudan was devastating. The Khartoum government in the north lost 75 percent of its foreign exchange earnings and 45 percent of general government finances immediately, a loss equivalent to $300 million per month. Inflation rose to 40 percent and currency was devalued by 60 percent.

In the years after South Sudan’s independence, and as the situation economically worsened in the north, Gizouli points out, Sudan made the decision to favor subsidizing import traders over subsidizing bread.

However, the roots of this crisis go even deeper than 2011 or 1978. We need to back up even further.

U.S. role in civil war and environmental devastation

Former President George W. Bush, representing a U.S. ruling class that has committed and enabled genocide all over the world, killing tens of millions with nuclear bombs, invasions, sanctions, proxy wars, covert interventions and direct military support to fascist governments and monarchs, tried for the second time in 2007 to level charges of genocide against Sudan. 

The first attempt was made by former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell in 2004. However, a United Nations commission in 2005 investigating alleged atrocities said the Sudan government was not guilty of genocide. Many in the international community agreed with this U.N. commission.

What the U.N. said about the crisis in Sudan after the second U.S. charge in 2007, however, points the finger of guilt right back at the U.S. and other imperialist countries.

In June of that year, the U.N. Environmental Program (UNEP) published an 18-month study that blamed environmental factors as the root causes of the violence in Sudan. It warned that inaction would spread violence well beyond Sudan’s borders. The U.N. report found that the desert in northern Sudan had advanced southwards by 60 miles over the past 40 years and that rainfall in the area had dropped by 16 to 30 percent.

“It [the U.N. report] illustrates and demonstrates what is increasingly becoming a global concern,” said Achim Steiner, UNEP’s executive director. “It doesn’t take a genius to work out that as the desert moves southwards, there is a physical limit to what systems can sustain, and so you get one group displacing another.”

The U.N. study also found that there could be a drop of up to 70 percent in crop yields, devastating areas from Senegal to Sudan.

Before rebel groupings attacked government forces in 2003, sparking another civil war in Sudan, the rains had diminished and the desert was growing by over a mile per year.

Why didn’t the government of Sudan do more to avert this environmental crisis? One thing is for sure—British, French and U.S. interference, past and present, in the affairs of Sudan had an extremely draining effect on its resources and ability to develop economically, let alone defend itself from natural disaster. Sanctions, especially those from the U.S. that intensified from 1997 to 2017, made this an “unnatural” catastrophe.

Regarding more covert U.S. interference, in 2003 the intensified spread of war from the southern Sudan to the Darfur region was exacerbated greatly by the U.S. supporting the Sudanese People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) in southern Sudan. The SPLA was the nucleus for the Sudanese Liberation Army fighting in Darfur. Fueled by U.S. dollars, that war in the south helped drain Sudan’s economy and discouraged the development of its oil resources.

In fact, according to the book “Dangerous Liaison” by Alexander Cockburn, collaboration between the CIA and Israeli intelligence to support a secessionist movement in Sudan can be traced back to at least 1968.

Over the years since then, the U.S. kept up a campaign to destabilize Sudan. On Nov. 10, 1996, the Washington Post reported that the U.S. would send $20 million in military equipment to Ethiopia, Eritrea and Uganda, even though these three countries were embroiled in a bloody war in southern Sudan.

The paper said its congressional sources doubted the aid would be kept from rebel forces fighting the Sudanese government–virtually an admission that the aid was for that purpose.

Africa Confidential wrote on Nov. 15, 1996, “It is clear the aid is for Sudan’s armed opposition,” adding that U.S. Special Forces were on “open-ended deployment” with the rebels.

Next: Colonialism’s legacy in Sudan

Imperialism and Sudan

Part 1: What is the U.S. role in Sudan’s crisis?

Part 2: Roots of Sudan’s economic woes

Part 3: The true architects of terror and poverty

On the evening of July 13, 2019, parts of Manhattan’s Midtown and Upper West Side were plunged into darkness for several hours by an electricity outage. The outage, whose cause is still being investigated, disrupted subway service throughout the city and shut down much of the Times Square tourist district on a busy Saturday night. 

Corporate media drew comparisons to the much more serious power outage that happened exactly 42 years earlier, on July 13-14, 1977. That shutdown affected nearly all of New York City and sparked a rebellion by oppressed workers that has been slandered and demonized ever since. There is every reason to believe that a prolonged power outage could lead to a similar outbreak in today’s conditions of growing poverty and austerity, homelessness and gentrification, and racist terror by police agencies like the New York Police Department and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. 

The following article drawing the lessons of that rebellion, written by Marxist leader Sam Marcy, originally appeared in the July 22, 1977, edition of Workers World.

By Sam Marcy

The electricity blackout should not be permitted to obscure or diminish the very real importance and profound lesson of the mass rebellion which took place in New York. It should be kept in mind that it took place in widely separated areas of oppressed communities — Harlem, Bedford-Stuyvesant, East Harlem, the South Bronx, etc.

By no stretch of the imagination could it in any way be implied that there was coordination, planning or premeditation involved in the huge popular participation by the masses.

The police, the city officialdom, the bourgeois media and press would have been delighted to find some “small group of terrorists,” “arsonists” or “left adventurers” who “misled” the people. However, there simply was not the shadow of a possibility or time to concoct such convenient evidence in the present situation.

Wholly spontaneous uprising of oppressed

The uprising, and that is its right name, was of a wholly spontaneous, elemental and instinctive character. It was precisely this which invested the rebellion with a special significance. It is also what has caused the entire bourgeois establishment to become fanatically enraged and terrified.

Had the rebellion been initiated by a handful of people or had it been under the direction of some small grouping, it would surely have amounted to no more than scattered, sporadic activity and would have been doomed to sterility or died aborning. Under such circumstances it would have been justifiably condemned by the broad mass of the oppressed people.

As it developed, however, the mass character of the rebellion, and particularly its spontaneity, came out as plain as daylight and as clear as crystal. It was a popular rising — a collective coming out of the people.

The blackout merely masked the deep significance of this extraordinary event. The bourgeoisie speaks of it as an evil that happened as a result of the darkness. It was done, they say, and repeat ad nauseum, “in the dead of night.” Were it not for that, they continue, “it would not have happened.” So say all the learned bourgeois commentators with a unanimity worthy of their class interests.

But the fable that the darkness was the cause of it is a huge, unmitigated lie. It was not at all the darkness that occasioned the rising. The masses all over the world have lived in darkness over many, many centuries, and darkness has never been the cause of the hundreds and thousands of rebellions in the long struggle against the possessing classes by the oppressed masses. There was no rebellion during the blackout of 1965, when a false war prosperity meant less unemployment.

It was not the absence of light that occasioned the rising. It was the absence of the repressive state forces during the critical period of midnight to 4 a.m., when the rebellion took on full momentum and when the largest amount of participants gathered and controlled the streets. The failure of the combined forces of the state and the city to mobilize the repressive forces in time is what made the rebellion possible.

What a great lesson in the relationship between the oppressive capitalist state and the oppressed masses! Between 12 midnight and 4 a.m. more than one-third of the police force in this city did not show up at all, according to the New York Times of July 15, notwithstanding frantic calls from police headquarters and the officialdom of the city, including the mayor.

Authorities feared broadening rebellion

The failure to show up was not due to vacation time, illness or assignment to different areas for duty. Those who were mobilized moved slowly by order of the city and state authorities. This order was by no means actuated by humanitarian sentiments for the rebellious masses. It was motivated by fear of the rebellion being converted into a general conflagration.

The heavy state apparatus and all its city subsidiaries were in constant turmoil. Happily, the city and state capitalist officialdom were temporarily divided by acute contradictory, immediate, conflicting clique interests. The internal wrangling between the mayor, facing an election in a few months, and a governor mindful of his larger interests on the statewide arena made them cautious in answering calls to mobilize the National Guard. The vulnerability of the Guard was clear from the outset, as it is almost 90 percent white and from suburban areas.

Valuable time lost because of acute contradictions at the summits of the ruling capitalist establishment in the city and the state encouraged the masses to broaden the assault into the wee hours of the morning. Only when the state and city officialdom had arrived at an agreeable formula for assault on the masses did the repressive forces make their presence felt in the communities. Only then did the rebellion begin to subside.

What does this show?

That it is only by virtue of the unrestrained use of force and violence and terror that the masses in the oppressed communities are held in subjection.

This is the central element in understanding the uprising. The deeper causes, the hunger, unemployment and general poverty, are too well known to be dwelt upon here. But the uprising cannot be explained without reference to the absence, at a specific juncture in time, of the terrorist apparatus of the bourgeoisie.

All the previous rebellions, beginning with Watts, Detroit, New York and Newark, were all provoked, according to the police mind, by some “isolated incident with no racial overtones,” the usual description of a police provocation. Here, for the first time, no such development took place. It was a clear-cut massive assault against the whole oppressive system.

Small shops were only available target

The fact that small shopkeepers, the pawnbrokers and jewelers, the mini-markets and retail shops, the mainly white “settlers” in the Black and Latin ghettos, were the immediate object of the wrath of the masses is in the long view of history incidental. It was merely because these were in the immediate vicinity, were the only means for alleviating the hunger of the masses, providing small objects for human consumption and the necessities of life that the attack was directed against them. The masses could find no other outlet for their pent-up anger and frustration.

When a historic opportunity presents itself, the masses instinctively follow that line of struggle which at the moment is of least resistance. It’s a way of feeling out the situation, at first cautiously. Then, as it appears safer, the momentum accelerates. The mass grows in larger and larger numbers, gains strength and confidence by the sheer weight of numbers. Moving cautiously at first, incurring the least casualties, enabled the momentum to grow at an accelerated pace.

All movements of the oppressed, as distinguished from individual groupings, begin slowly by following that which is easiest, safest, that will incur the least casualties. Of course, the monopolist press and media are crying “anarchy,” “destruction of property.” That’s not really true. It was not the destruction of property which motivated the masses. It was mass expropriation of property that urged the masses on. That is a qualitatively different matter.

Individual appropriation of objects of consumption by starving, hungry masses is understandable. But proletarian revolutionaries do not, as a rule, encourage or promote it. This is not at all in obedience to bourgeois legality or, even worse, bourgeois morality.

Individual appropriation must be distinguished from mass expropriation. The latter is in the nature of a class action, a movement of the class, in this case as representative of the oppressed nation or at least a viable part of it.

All who are progressive, all who are in real sympathy with the struggle for liberation, for an end to national oppression and class exploitation, must side with the class in this situation.

Which side are you on?

By the time this is written, all the bourgeois politicians will be saying that the anger and frustration of the masses because of unemployment and poverty is “entirely understandable.” But then they inevitably will add, “Lawlessness must not be condoned.” “That is not the way.” “It is a wrong tactic.” In one form or another, from extreme right to left, while the argument may vary in form, in essence they are all condemnatory of the rebellion.

What matters in a rebellion of the class or oppressed nation is not which argument is presented, however persuasive it may sound. The question really is: Which side are you on? Which class are you defending?

Those who, either because of ignorance or fraud or hypocrisy or downright fear, stand on the position of “not condoning” the tactics in the rebellion in reality stand on the exploiters’ side of the class barricades. All who are progressive, all who are class-conscious and truly devoted to the liberation struggle must stand on the other side.

There can never be a genuine, successful revolutionary upheaval of the masses without there being one of those elusive historic opportunities, without there being that rare combination of circumstances which is almost universally unforeseen, but which inevitably comes about in the course of historical development and which so frequently goes unrecognized even by authentic leaders. The opportunity then slips by and it takes time and not mere effort alone for it to occur again. Thus, the opportunity came on the evening of the 13th day of July. The opportunity was there because the guardians of bourgeois property could not make their presence felt in time. This alone puts in bold relief that which really holds down the masses.

It is true that a labyrinthine complex of social and political institutions of the bourgeoisie enslaves the masses and holds them in a vice. But in the final analysis, it is the gargantuan, swollen repressive apparatus of the state which keeps the masses at bay. This is the truly significant lesson that emerges from the extraordinary development of the July 13 rebellion.

Of course, it was also an opportunity for leadership in a broader, less restricted orientation.

The rebellion came at a specific time. It must be viewed as a particular stage in the political evolution of the struggle. It must not be viewed from the standpoint of bourgeois legality or morality, which the ruling class does not abide by in any case.

But (it will be asked) was there no better way to go about the struggle? Here one must distinguish between what is possible and that which is inevitable. What inevitably happens as a result of the mass action of the class, of the oppressed nation, must be defended against the onslaught of the class enemies and the appropriate lessons must be learned. Failure to defend the class under attack because it could not follow conventional norms of revolutionary conduct under the circumstances is a renunciation of allegiance and loyalty in the struggle against national oppression and class exploitation.

The unrestrained orgy of racist vilification and denunciation of the rebellion which has saturated the mass media can best be understood by the fact that the rebellion infringed upon the holy of holies of bourgeois rule of conduct for the masses.

The rebellion was a massive invasion of bourgeois property rights. Marx brilliantly explained that a hundred years ago. He said the church hierarchy would be willing to forgive the masses for their violation of 38 out of the 39 articles of the ecclesiastical canons of conduct. But should the masses infringe upon 1/64th of the church’s vast property, then it’s a holy war for the suppression of the masses to the end.

Imperialism relies on control over white workers

The rebellion of the oppressed took place in the citadel of imperialism, the source of strength of world imperialism. But this strength, this power of finance capital which seemingly is omnipotent over so many large areas of the world, is relative and in many respects superficial. Wherein lies its omnipotence? Wherein lies its real source of strength? It is not in the technological and scientific prowess of its military-industrial complex, although that, of course, is of formidable proportions. It does not lie wholly in the vast and intricate terrorist and repressive apparatus which at times seems omnipresent.

Its source of strength doesn’t lie in the cruise missile or the neutron bomb or the MX missile. The true measure of its power lies in the social stranglehold it has over the white workers, which is vast, powerful, significant and numerous. It is this social stranglehold which enables monopoly capitalism to maintain such a vast portion of the globe in bondage. It is this stranglehold which must be broken.

The privileged position of the white workers, built over a century of capitalist expansion and monopolist domination, is rapidly coming to an end. The epoch of sharp decline in the fortunes of U.S. finance capital is not merely leveling the privileges of the white workers; it is ravaging, pillaging, and plundering its standard of living, and bringing about an inevitable insurgency.

It is this capitalist crisis that is creating objectively and stimulating subjectively a firmer, more genuine basis of class solidarity between Black and white, between the white workers and all the oppressed nationalities. At the same time, Black and Latin workers are bringing heightened militancy to all the most important industries.

Only this class solidarity, which differs like heaven from earth from the solidarity of the imperialist pirates, their allies and puppets, holds out the true promise of emancipation for all humanity from the ravages of moribund monopoly capital.

Hong Kong

It was a global gathering of fighters for labor and the oppressed: workers on sugar cane plantations and in textile mills, domestic workers and dockworkers, Indigenous people, peasants and urban poor, fighters for women’s and LGBTQ2S rights, health care workers, students, environmental activists and others. They came from the Philippines and Philadelphia, Indonesia and Ireland, Central America and Southern Africa, South Korea and West Papua, from every corner of the world. They were united by the theme, “Win a bright socialist future for humanity! Unite the people to fight against imperialist plunder, war, racism and fascism!” 

The occasion was the Sixth International Assembly of the International League of Peoples’ Struggle, held in Hong Kong from June 23 to June 26. The ILPS, founded in 2001, describes itself as “the largest and most consolidated global formation of militant, anti-imperialist and democratic organizations in the world today.” 

The 6th IA bore out that description. There were 400 delegates and guests from people’s organizations in Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Burma, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Cyprus, Dominican Republic, Germany, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kawthoolei-Karen State of Burma, Saudi Arabia, Kurdistan, Laos, Luxembourg, Macau, Malaysia, Manipur, Mexico, New Zealand, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Sabah, South Korea, Thailand, Netherlands, Togo, Venezuela, United States, West Papua and Zambia. 

The assembly opened with the League’s stirring anthem, sung by migrant domestic workers in Hong Kong.

Some came despite fierce political repression in their home countries. Prospective participants from 15 more countries could not attend due to visa denial or repression where they live. Some who might have attended have been martyred by state terror. Philippine human rights workers  Randy Malayo, Ben Ramos, Nelly Bagasala and Ryan Hubilla are among the dozens of unionists, farmers, lawyers and church people murdered over the past year by the death squads of the U.S.-backed Duterte regime. 

‘A reliable force for people of the world’

Among those unable to attend in person was outgoing ILPS Chair Jose Maria Sison, world-respected hero of the Philippine revolutionary movement, now in political exile in the Netherlands. Speaking by video, Sison said that since its founding the ILPS has grown in “strength and proven itself as a reliable force of the people of the world in their struggle for greater freedom, democracy, social justice, all-round development and international solidarity against imperialism and all reaction. …

“We have stood firmly, spoken clearly and acted militantly in defense of the political, civil, economic, social and cultural rights of the people against the depredations of monopoly capitalism, the unbridled greed unleashed by neoliberalism, the ceaseless wars of aggression, and the plunder and environmental ruination by U.S. imperialism and its allies and puppets.” 

Sison discussed the current global crisis of the capitalist system, the intensifying exploitation and oppression of the people by imperialism and reaction, and the growing popular resistance. After announcing that he would not run for re-election after 15 years as chair, the assembly overwhelmingly approved a resolution designating Sison as Chairperson Emeritus of the ILPS. He will be succeeded as chair by Australian labor leader Len Cooper, president of the Communications Workers Alliance and previous vice chair of the league. 

Also barred from attending  was planned keynote speaker Khaled Barakat of the International Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa’adat. A Palestinian refugee living in Germany, Barakat has been threatened by the German state with a year of imprisonment if he speaks publicly or by video. Charlotte Kates of the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network addressed the final plenary on Barakat’s situation and the growing repression facing the Palestine solidarity movement by U.S. and European imperialism and the racist Israeli state. 

Other keynote addresses were given at the opening plenary by Nilufar Koc of the Kurdistan National Congress and Pedro Rosas of the Movement Gayones in Venezuela, and by Helda Khasmy of the Indonesian Women’s Union and Raphael Chiposwa of the Socialist Party of Zambia at the closing one. 

In between, the bulk of the assembly consisted of meetings of the commissions, which featured lively discussions and debates. The ILPS has 18 commissions addressing such concerns as national and social liberation, human rights, trade unions and workers’ rights, the fight against war, the rights of peasants, farm workers and fisher folk, women’s liberation, refugees and migrants, the rights of the elderly and differently abled and LGBTQ2S rights. A newly formed commission on the right to housing held its first workshop. 

Michael Africa Jr. of the MOVE Organization in Philadelphia was among the presenters at Commission Three, on human rights and fighting state repression. Born in prison, he is the son of MOVE 9 political prisoners Debbie and Michael Africa Sr., who were just paroled after 40 years in Pennsylvania concentration camps.

There were also stirring cultural events and forums on such topics as the struggle in Africa and West Asia, the freedom struggle in West Papua and the future of socialism. The latter featured author and former Soviet citizen Irena Malenko speaking on life under socialism and an extensive online talk by professor Sison on the history of socialism and prospects for its resurgence.

Looking toward ‘great resurgence of revolutionary forces’

On the final day, the delegates adopted a general declaration and elected a new International Coordinating Committee for the league. The general declaration reflected the work of the commissions and the debate and discussions during the assembly. It put the concerns addressed by the commissions in the context of the global capitalist crisis and projected global revolutionary struggle as the only solution. Here is an excerpt: 

“U.S. imperialism, although on strategic decline due to its internal problems, remains as the most dangerous, the most destructive imperialist power, and the number-one enemy of the people of the world.

“The triumphalism of the apologists for capitalism upon the collapse of the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc countries has long worn off. Amidst the new world disorder under capitalism, characterized by endless wars and social, economic and political crises around the world, no one can now take seriously the claim that capitalism is the end of history.

“In the wake of the crash of 2008, interest in Marxism and socialism has grown. There is now a widespread and profound disillusionment in capitalism and the people are looking for an alternative. That alternative is socialism.

“More than ever, the proletariat and the people of the world need to further build their unity to resist imperialist plunder, war, racism and fascism. They have to strengthen and steel themselves by waging various forms of anti-imperialist and democratic struggles.

“We are in a period of transition from unprecedented imperialist dominance, interimperialist contradictions, social and political turmoil, state terrorism and aggressive wars to a period of great resurgence of the revolutionary forces of the anti-imperialist resistance and the world proletarian revolution.

“We call on all progressive, democratic and anti-imperialist forces around the world to unite in a broad anti-imperialist and anti-fascist united front to stop imperialist wars and the growing trend toward fascism in many countries.”

‘Make the final blow’ against imperialism

The 6th International Assembly concluded on a bright note with all the participants in high spirits as they joined in a Solidarity Night of rousing speeches and moving cultural numbers. Through dance, songs, poetry and drama, the assembly participants depicted the sufferings inflicted on the people by imperialism and reaction, and the struggles of the people to win liberation. 

A highlight of the Solidarity Night was a tribute to outgoing Chairperson Jose Maria Sison for his invaluable contributions to the ILPS since its founding and his outstanding contributions to the overall anti-imperialist movement.

The Solidarity Night was also an occasion to celebrate the success of the 6th International Assembly in uniting the entire ILPS for the work and struggles ahead and inspiring them to carry on the work of advancing the anti-imperialist and democratic struggles of the people.

The spirit of the assembly was well expressed in the keynote talk by Indonesian Women’s Union chair Helda Khasmy. Indonesia, the fourth most populous country in the world, has suffered centuries of plunder by West European and U.S. colonialism and imperialism. The people’s movement there suffered some of the most brutal repression in history following a U.S.-backed coup in 1965 and under successive U.S.-backed regimes. Today, however, it is undergoing a revival. 

“With full spirit we come together for the 6th International Assembly of the ILPS, united under the theme ‘Win a bright socialist future for humanity! Unite the people to fight and end imperialist war, racism and fascism,’” Khasmy said. “This theme made me very excited, remembering the recent national and global occurrences showing the brutality of imperialism in its war of aggression and intervention, as part of its efforts to mask and cover up the worsening economic and political crisis. 

“Parasitic imperialism is increasingly decaying, it is indeed moribund. And as it rots it worsens further the condition of the people of the world. But imperialism, however, will not annihilate itself. It will not just die on its own. In Bahasa we say, ‘hidup segan, mati tak mau,’ which means ‘life is reluctant to end willingly.’ It will continue to rot and as it does it will destroy the productive forces of our society, and also those who try to rebel out of the restraints of imperialism. 

“What is absolutely needed is to make the final blow! A blow that will be delivered by the oppressed and exploited people of the world–the proletariat, the peasants, the Indigenous people, women, youth, migrants, LGBT, all of us!” Khasmy concluded.

Visit the ILPS website to learn more about the Sixth International Assembly.  

Little known to the left in the U.S., an escalating war of repression is being waged in Europe against Palestinians, those who take action in support of migrants and refugees, and other leftists fighting for a better world for all workers and oppressed people. Today, imperialist Germany is at the center of this war, and its acts of state repression are being closely coordinated with the U.S. and Israeli governments and far-right groups.

On June 22, Palestinian writer and activist Khaled Barakat was banned from speaking under threat of imprisonment. Barakat, who heads the international campaign to free political prisoner Ahmed Sa’adat, was stopped by police outside a Berlin community center where he was scheduled to speak about a U.S.-sponsored conference in Bahrain dubbed the “deal of the century.” As concocted by the Trump administration, Palestinians were supposed to be bribed into exchanging their right to return to their homeland and other fundamental rights for aid money and bogus promises of “peace” under Israeli occupation.

Police stopped Barakat and Charlotte Kates of Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network and told them the pro-Palestinian event had been banned. As Samidoun explained: “Barakat was presented with an 8-page document and told that he was not allowed to give speeches in person or over video, participate in political meetings or events or even attend social gatherings of over 10 people; he was told that violations were punishable by up to a year in prison.” Barakat and Kates were also told that their residency in Germany would not be renewed.

When fascists charge ‘anti-Semitism’

The censorship and threats against Barakat come just months after another internationally known Palestinian activist, former U.S. and Israeli political prisoner Rasmea Odeh, was banned from speaking in Berlin about the role of women in Palestine’s liberation struggle. Odeh’s visa was repealed and she was assaulted by racist cops, members of the fascist anti-immigrant party, Alternative for Germany (AfD), and Zionist supporters of Israeli apartheid. U.S. and Israeli diplomats were directly involved in organizing the attack on Odeh.

On June 29, hundreds protested outside the Bundestag (parliament) in Berlin in defiance of these repressive acts and a recent resolution attacking the Boycott-Divestment-Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israeli apartheid. The Bundestag resolution “falsely equated this Palestinian movement with anti-Semitism,” says a Samidoun photo report from the demonstration. A series of anti-Palestinian resolutions were proposed by the various political parties in the Bundestag after the extreme-right AfD with the ultra-capitalist Free Democratic Party kicked off this particular attack on Palestinians with a proposal to ban the BDS movement.

“However, the anti-BDS resolution is not an outlier, but reflects an ongoing and escalating campaign to criminalize Palestinians and Palestine organizing in Germany.”

This reactionary offensive has had a chilling effect on much of the German left. Some groups, especially those that are oriented toward reform rather than revolution, have even joined in the false rhetoric equating Palestine solidarity with anti-Semitism in hopes of shielding themselves. Not only is this a betrayal of solidarity—it also aids imperialism in spreading the lie that the reactionary, U.S. armed and funded Israeli state is the same as the Jewish people.

Samidoun has drawn attention to related cases of repression happening across Europe, coordinated by the same anti-people alliance of imperialist officials, fascist parties and pro-apartheid Zionists. This includes the case of Sea Watch Captain Carola Rackete, who was arrested in Italy after saving refugees on the open sea and docking at an Italian port. Rackete was freed from house arrest on July 3, when a judge ruled that she was “doing her duty saving human lives.” But Rackete could still face prosecution for “assisting illegal immigration.”

Hamburg anti-fascists take action

In the German city of Hamburg, members of the anti-fascist, anti-imperialist collective No Pasarán Hamburg plan a protest on July 13 “against home raids, repression and political trials.”

They will highlight Barakat’s case, along with recent police raids against members of the leftist, pro-Palestinian Jugendwiderstand (Youth Resistance) organization, and what the group calls the “show trial” of Turkish activist Erdal Gökoglu for his alleged membership in the communist Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C). On June 27 Gökoglu was sentenced to five years in prison.

Struggle-La Lucha spoke with members of No Pasarán Hamburg to get their views on the repression and its impact on the left in Germany. (For security reasons, their replies are attributed to the group, not to individuals.)

“In Hamburg, a gradual conquest of all democratic, left ‘alternative,’ and student spaces has been led by pro-Zionist forces. It goes without saying that all left-wing cultural centers and larger demonstrations—such as those for sea rescue operations in the Mediterranean or political prisoners—are to be kept ‘Palestine-free’ if you don’t want to be spat on, insulted, attacked, or photographed and vilified as a Nazi on social media. The university students’ parliament (Studierendenausschuss) is dominated by these forces.

“Anti-imperialist and anti-colonialist perspectives are being driven out, delegitimized, insulted. If you are a woman known for your solidarity with Palestine, you can’t even save yourself from the attacks and insults of pro-Zionist men in the women’s restroom.

“For about a year there has been a smear campaign against the comrades from the Jugendwiderstand [a Maoist organization that formally dissolved in June]. For months, the city has been covered in stickers accusing the Jugendwiderstand of being ‘racist, sexist anti-Semites.’ This was the central theme on May 1 during an ‘anti-authoritarian’ demonstration, with slogans denouncing the Jugendwiderstand on the lead banner. By our experience and estimations, we see no basis for any of the vilification made against this group.

“The aggression is massive against anyone who stands for Palestine. Because we are anti-imperialists and internationalists, our posters calling for solidarity with the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela or the Catalonian Estelada have been attacked or destroyed.

“During our commemoration of the Nakba this year, we were filmed, including the children among us, by the pro-Zionists. On Twitter, people begged that a World War II era British bomb, which was uncovered during construction work that day, be used on us.

“There is an atmosphere of fear and terror built up. If you show solidarity with Palestine, then you are accused of being a Nazi, you are targeted, you can never feel safe. On top of that, there is of course the possibility you will be criminalized by the state.

“For us, as internationalist anti-fascists who live in an imperialist country, this is the watershed moment: Are you actually interested in change, or are you content with imperialism and willing to justify it?”

Hands off Khaled Barakat and the Palestinian solidarity movement! From the belly of U.S. imperialism, Struggle-La Lucha sends solidarity to all comrades fighting courageously in Germany and Europe against imperialism, fascism and Zionist apartheid.

We urge our readers and supporters to help inform the U.S. left about the situation and send messages of solidarity for Khaled Barakat to samidoun@samidoun.net. 

Video: Message from Samidoun’s Charlotte Kates on German repression

Thursday, July 25, 2019 at 6:30 PM – 8:00 PM EDT

The People’s Forum
320 West 37th Street, New York, New York 10018

Hosted by Peace Action New York State

What now after Donald Trump crossed the DMZ on June 30th? Will North Korea give up the entirety of its nuclear weapons? Will the US lift sanctions? What role is South Korea playing in the peace process? Come and hear what progressive Koreans are saying on July 25th at the Peoples Forum.

On the 66th anniversary of the signing of the Korean War armistice, come and learn about the longest ongoing US war—aka the “Forgotten War”—and the fight to replace the armistice with a permanent peace agreement. This event will include a film screening of Memory of Forgotten War followed by a panel discussion about the current political moment. Join us as we discuss how to engage in ongoing efforts by Korean diaspora and allies to support lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula.

Date: Thursday, July 25th @ 6:30-8 PM
Place: The People’s Forum, 320 W 37th St, New York, NY 10018 (between 8th + 9th aves)

Panel discussion: speakers TBA

Organized by: Korea Peace Now! New York + Nodutdol for Korean Community Development

The event is part of a national week of events to commemorate the 66th anniversary of the Korean War armistice.

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Hosted by Peoples Power Assembly

Monday, July 15, 2019 at 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM EDT

City Hall 100 Holliday Street Baltimore

On Prime Day Tell Amazon: Stop Enabling ICE Raids –
Support Amazon workers – (pick up petitions)

Despite horrific conditions at detention camps and the racist war on migrants and refugees, especially children, the richest man in the world Jeff Bezos continues to consolidate his wealth by profiting off of deportation and detention and exploiting Amazon workers.

Research shows that Amazon is helping ICE track, detain, and deport immigrants — in a big way! We’ve known that Amazon’s servers host Palantir, the company that provides ICE with “mission-critical services,” such as its case management software. But it turns out Amazon’s role in the deportation machine goes deeper than that. Through intense lobbying of policymakers and law
enforcement officials, Amazon and Palantir have secured a role as the backbone for the federal government’s immigration and law enforcement dragnet.

Support Amazon Workers

Amazon warehouse workers in Shakopee, Minn., plan to strike for six hours on Prime Day to demand better work conditions. A “community rally” including workers and supporters is also planned outside Amazon’s warehouse in Shakopee. Minnesota workers, most of them Somali and East African immigrants, will join co-workers from Seattle in the work stoppage.

Striking workers are demanding the right to organize, and to work at normal speeds. They also are calling on Amazon to address issues like climate change. Minnesota employees are expected to be joined by Amazon technology workers from Seattle.

In Baltimore, productivity rates are equally brutal and it’s been reported that 300 full time workers were fired in one year for failure to meet unbearable rates.

On Prime Days, let’s send a message to Amazon: End profiting off the detention of migrants and refugees and end the abuse of Amazon workers from Shakopee and Seattle to Baltimore.

For More Details on Amazon’s Relationship with ICE see here: https://mijente.net/notechforice/

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From the United States itself, we demand the immediate end of the inhuman and criminal blockade that this government has imposed on the Republic of Cuba for almost 60 years.

The blockade of Cuba represents the lowest level that a government can exhibit. At the same time that representatives of the United States travel the world boasting and waving a so-called flag of democracy and freedom, this country commits the most sinister acts against 11 million people in the Cuban Republic, simply because it does not agree with their system of government.

The hostility towards that republic originated on the same day that the Cuban Revolution triumphed. Since then, the blockade has caused immense damage to infrastructure, with threats and criminal acts against its leadership, its population and its economy. The U.S. has tried — unsuccessfully — to isolate Cuba from the international community and resources.

However, the example of dignity and generosity to all the peoples of the world comes from Cuba. The hand of solidarity goes even to the United States itself through medical scholarships to the Latin American School of Medicine, and the offer of help in times of disasters, as was done after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. Then-President George W. Bush refused to acknowledge or accept Cuba’s offer.

The criminal Helms-Burton Act — misnamed “The Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (Libertad) Act” and imposed by President Bill Clinton in 1996 — illustrates the great falsehood of the U.S. government. This law reinforced the blockade then, and now the current Trump administration has taken it to the highest level of cruelty. Enforcing Title III of that law aims to totally strangle the Cuban economy and, therefore, its people. Title III, enforced for the first time since 1996, punishes third countries and companies that trade with Cuba, which demonstrates U.S. contempt for international law.

We — along with the majority of the countries of the world — demand the immediate end of the blockade, the longest in history.

Signed,
Steering Committee of Women in Struggle / Mujeres en Lucha of Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Detroit, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia and San Diego

Desde los mismos Estados Unidos, exigimos el fin inmediato del bloqueo inhumano y criminal que este gobierno ha impuesto a la República de Cuba por casi 60 años.

El bloqueo de Cuba representa el nivel más bajo que un gobierno pueda exhibir. Al mismo tiempo que representantes de los Estados Unidos viajan por el mundo alardeando y ondeando la supuesta bandera de democracia y libertad, este país comete los actos más siniestros contra once millones de personas en la República de Cuba; simplemente porque no está de acuerdo con su sistema de gobierno.

La hostilidad hacia esa República se originó el mismo día en que triunfó la Revolución Cubana. Desde entonces, el bloqueo ha causado un inmenso daño a la infraestructura, con amenazas y actos criminales contra su liderazgo, su población y su economía. Ha intentado, sin éxito, aislarla de la comunidad internacional y sus recursos.

Sin embargo, el ejemplo de dignidad y generosidad para todos los pueblos del mundo proviene de Cuba. La mano de la solidaridad va incluso a los Estados Unidos a través de becas médicas a la Escuela Latinoamericana de Medicina, y la oferta de ayuda en tiempos de desastres como lo fue después de la devastación del huracán Katrina. El entonces presidente George W. Bush se negó a reconocer o aceptar la oferta de Cuba.

La criminal Ley Helms Burton impuesta por el entonces presidente Bill Clinton en 1996 y mal llamada “Ley de Libertad y Solidaridad Democrática Cubana,” ilustra la gran falsedad del gobierno de los Estados Unidos. Esta ley reforzó el bloqueo entonces, y ahora la administración actual lo ha llevado al más alto nivel de crueldad. Hacer cumplir el Título III de esa Ley tiene como objetivo estrangular totalmente a la economía cubana y, por lo tanto, a su gente. El Título III, que se aplica por primera vez desde 1996, castiga a terceros países y empresas que comercian con Cuba, lo que demuestra el desprecio de Estados Unidos por el derecho internacional.

Nosotras, junto con la mayoría de los países del mundo, exigimos el fin inmediato del bloqueo, el más largo de la historia.

Firmado
Comité Directivo de Women in Struggle / Mujeres en Lucha de Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Detroit, Los Ángeles, Nueva York, Filadelfia y San Diego

In late June, the U.S. Supreme Court released a wave of decisions, as it does every year at the end of its session. Among them was a ruling giving the responsibility for decisions on partisan gerrymandering to state governments — a big attack on voting rights for Black and other oppressed peoples and all workers. 

With the court now having a far-right majority that includes Trump-appointed anti-woman bigot and serial abuser Brett Kavanaugh, many workers fear what future Supreme Court sessions may bring on reproductive rights, LGBTQ2S equality, police abuse and a host of other issues.

Following are excerpts from a talk given in July 1989 by Sam Marcy, a leading Marxist thinker and fighter, on the history of the Supreme Court and its role in the U.S. capitalist system.

By Sam Marcy

Comrades and friends, we all know that the U.S. Supreme Court last Monday dealt a very heavy blow to the women’s movement in the United States, and by implication, to all of the oppressed and the working class. [The court’s decision in the 1989 case Webster v. Reproductive Health Services upheld a Missouri law prohibiting the use of public facilities, employees or funds to provide abortion counseling or services. The law also placed restrictions on physicians who provided abortions.] Its aim was to set back the women’s movement, the civil rights movement and the liberation struggle everywhere. 

I believe my task in connection with this vicious Supreme Court decision is to put it in the historical and political context, show its connection with the previous historical movement of the workers and oppressed in this country, and how it came to be that a group of appointed, not elected, people, can invalidate the rights of the overwhelming majority of the people in this country.

It is very important for us to know the processes by which this happens so that we are not misled to believe that it is just the Reagan appointees, just Bush, just the negligence of Congress.

For weeks and months the capitalist press played up how the Constitution, adopted 200 years ago in 1789, was one of the most revolutionary documents, that it affirmed a form of government never seen before in the history of humanity, that it was the very paragon of democracy and accorded equal rights to all.

But it is this Constitution, this structure of government and of the state, that explains how these and other decisions have been made and carried out that are so contrary to the opinion of the majority of the people.

Our job is not only to condemn the Supreme Court’s decision but to know why and how this came about and how this decision of the judicial branch of the government relates to the Congress and to the presidency. We must see it in relation to the three branches of the capitalist government and know to what extent the masses of the people, the workers, all of the oppressed, can express themselves within the framework of that government.

When they sat down to frame the Constitution in 1789, they discussed what the powers of Congress, the presidency and the Supreme Court should be. We’ve been told again and again that the purpose of having the government divided into three branches is to see that one doesn’t carry out aggression against the other, that they complement and balance each other so that equal rights are afforded to the majority.

Now mind you, they did not mean the Native people. Nor were the slaves considered. We all know that.

In framing the Constitution they argued for weeks on how to divide the power and what the president should have, because they were not sure whether they wanted a monarchy or a republic. At that time they were not afraid of the Supreme Court. The issue was whether Congress or the president was to have the ultimate authority.

Long history of anti-people decisions

But in 1803 an important decision came up in what seemed a minor dispute. The issue was, did the Supreme Court have the right to nullify a law of Congress? And this decision affirmed that the last word was not with the Congress, not with the elected branch of the government. The last word was with an appointed group of people.

So how did that happen? Was it just a mistake that could be corrected by the next president and Congress? But there came new Congresses, new presidents, new secretaries of state and new judges. That decision was never revoked and hasn’t been to this day.

The abortion decision confirms that whenever the bourgeoisie is in a crisis, they will let nine people, unelected, appointed for life, decide the most critical issues concerning life in the United States.

With something that happened in 1803, so long ago, you could say it was an isolated decision. But in 1853, 50 years later, the court affirmed slavery with the Dred Scott decision. If there was any doubt as to where the real power was, it was right there in affirming the rights of the slave owners as against a majority of the people opposed to slavery.

I want to give you one more example. During the Depression the Roosevelt administration was forced to institute the National Recovery Act in order to save capitalism. It granted the workers the right to organize and established some forms of social insurance, all under the pressure of the working class. 

As soon as it became clear that the capitalist recession was slowly ending, in one day the Supreme Court nullified this whole mass of legislation in the infamous Schechter case and began to roll back the progressive legislation. And to this day the Supreme Court has upheld the anti-labor strike-breaking policies of the National Association of Manufacturers, of the multinational corporations and of the banks. The plight of labor today, at least from the point of view of legality, can be shown to come from this — that in the last resort the ruling class resorts to an instrumentality that is as undemocratic as it is reactionary.

Every day we see new and more glittering inventions that hold so much optimism for the future; they disclose what is happening in outer space, under water. The processes of the physical universe are being disclosed every day. But what about the social processes, the relations between people, between the classes, between the workers and the bosses, the oppressed and the oppressors? At a time when technology uncovers the variety and multiplicity of processes in the physical universe, the real relations in human society are covered up.

It is a contradiction that we as a revolutionary Marxist party must continually unravel. You see, from the time of the Constitutional Convention of 1787 to the present day there has been a gradual democratization of the political process. The franchise used to be denied to the Native people, to Black people, to women, to the youth. But over years of struggle the franchise has been won.

However, alongside this bourgeois democratization of the political process, there has been a simultaneous social and economic process which is superior in strength. That is the process of the concentration of power in undemocratic bodies. It comes from the concentration of the means of production in the hands of a ruling class which holds the power and distributes it in areas most conducive to them. So it’s not an accident that power should ultimately be exercised by the Supreme Court. That’s most reliable to them, most conservative, responsive only to those who have appointed them.

Concentration of wealth and power

So much talk goes on about democracy, about the rights of the people to vote and to elect, but when it gets down to the really critical issues, political power is concentrated in undemocratic bodies that are removed from the control of the masses.

The Congress has power to declare war or to stop war, but it hasn’t done that in a long time. Not in the Vietnam war, the war in Lebanon, the merciless war carried on by the Israeli stooges of U.S. imperialism, or in South Africa, or elsewhere. The Congress does not exercise the power.

We ourselves are in the forefront of fighting to retain, widen and make more effective democratic political rights, not giving up any of them. But we must recognize that alongside this political process of democratizing the organs of the capitalist state, there is the process of concentration of wealth which leads to the concentration of power in the most undemocratic and reactionary elements of the capitalist government.

If we need an example of how the capitalist government deals with democracy, just the other day the Congress unanimously passed an anti-China sanctions bill. First, the capitalist media carried out a monstrous media blitz and cowered all the congress people, and in a couple of hours they passed this law, some of them not even reading it.

While they were doing all this, the Boeing Corporation was meeting with the White House and telling them: You’re forgetting Boeing has a big contract with China for jetliners worth some $400 million. So you’d better not cut that off. So the congressmen got up the next morning and saw that it got stricken from the bill.

And who do you think objected? The competitors of Boeing. Not anybody else. It shows the farcical character of the democratic process.

We don’t wish to convey the impression that we’re against participation in the congressional campaigns, or in any way want to undermine the enthusiasm or militancy of workers, and particularly the oppressed, to try in every way to utilize the capitalist electoral process for progressive purposes. But it’s very necessary to know what we are doing. It’s necessary to know that the politicians do not control the vast machinery of the capitalist state but are controlled by it, and that the state machinery is controlled by the industrialists and above all by the biggest banks.