By anonymous

Every issue of the Southern Worker, a newspaper clandestinely published by the Communist Party in Birmingham and Chattanooga from 1930-37, is now online at:

http://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/southernworker/index.htm

The accompanying materials include an index, in both Word and Excel, an Introduction, providing background about the CP’s Southern campaign, and a Reader which reproduces a few SW stories and letters from readers. The indexes include every proper noun which appeared in the SW. Even small towns were mentioned in its coverage.

The SW did groundbreaking and courageous work on racial issues. The whole package that’s now on the web is supportive of the theory of the Long Civil Rights Movement.

Producing the work that the Marxist Internet Archive has now put online took me about three years. I hope that several of you will conclude that the effort was worthwhile.

The KKE has no parliamentary illusions in the sense that it does not expect to gradually increase its vote until one day it will have a majority in parliament and form a “communist” government. We are struggling for socialism-communism and if this could occur via bourgeois elections then the bourgeois class would have abolished elections.

Solutions outside the framework of people’s power serve capital

Elisseos Vagenas – Member of the CC and Responsible of the International
Section of the CC of KKE

Interview with the Turkish newspaper “Evrensel”

1. The results of the elections demonstrate that the two-party system has finished. What developments led to this and what do the political balances show us today?
Answer:
The result demonstrates that they are seeking to make an effort to give the two-party system a face-lift. They placed old blackmailing dilemmas before the workers in a new “package”. The bourgeois class, in order to maintain its power seeks to get rid of or give secondary roles to the most worn-out parties and political figures. It is preparing a restructuring of the political scene, due to the political damage the basic bourgeois parties have suffered, the social-democratic PASOK and the conservative ND. There is an attempt to form a centre-right pole around ND and a centre-left pole around the social-democratic SYRIZA. The attempt to reduce the electoral strength of the KKE is a part of this plan.

2. What did the KKE argue for and propose in the elections? What was its general line and what does it say today?

Answer:

The KKE, in the May 6th elections, promoted in a comprehensive way its political proposal which highlights the need for working class-people’s power and economy, with disengagement from the EU and unilateral cancellation of the debt, with the socialization of the concentrated means of production, the people’s producer cooperatives, nationwide planning for the full utilization of the production potential of the country, with working class and people’s control which will operate from the bottom up.

3. The parties of power lost many votes. The indignation was expressed through parties that did not take a frontal stance against the Troika, EU, IMF, while the KKE every day is in the midst of the struggle, at the side of the workers, unemployed, self-employed, farmers etc. Why did the KKE not receive a corresponding result?

Answer:

The KKE had a small increase in this election. Specifically it received 536,072 votes or 8.5%, that is to say +18,823 votes or +1%. The KKE elected 26 MPs (of the 300 in Parliament), 5 more than it had previously. In working class neighbourhoods the KKE received almost double its average percentage. Indeed in one of the 56 electoral regions (Samos-Ikaria) the KKE came first with 24.7%. It should be noted that 8.5% is party’s the highest percentage in parliamentary
elections of the last 27 years, since 1985.

The KKE has no parliamentary illusions in the sense that it does not expect to gradually increase its vote until one day it will have a majority in parliament and form a “communist” government. We are struggling for socialism-communism and if this could occur via bourgeois elections then the bourgeois class would have abolished elections.

From this standpoint it is incorrect to compare the electoral results of the KKE with those of a social-democratic formation, such as SYRIZA. We should remember that 2,5 years ago PASOK, the other social-democratic party, received 44% while this time it received just 13%. This decline, which took place in conditions of political fluidity boosted SYRIZA, its closest ideological relation.

4. The KKE argues that without people’s power and socialization of the means of production, a government which is in favour of the workers cannot be formed. Today, when the conditions for this direction do not exist, i.e. for people’s power, what does the KKE propose? What demands does it promote in today’s situation?

Answer:

From the moment when our country remains tied to the imperialist unions, NATO and the EU, and the power belongs to the capitalists, there can be no pro-people government. The position of the KKE is for the organization of the
struggle of the workers, the poor farmers, the lower-middle popular strata against the anti-people measures which will be taken by the government (whether centre-right or centre-left). We believe that through this struggle forces will be liberated from bourgeois ideology and a social alliance will be formed that will pose the question of power.

5. What is the minimum programme of the KKE, which answers the demands and struggles of the workers?

The KKE insists and is firmly oriented to the necessity and timeliness of socialism. It considers that the material preconditions for the creation of the socialist-communist society exist. In addition, having studied the historical experience of the Greek and international communist movement, the KKE has arrived at the conclusion that the views concerning an “intermediate stage” between capitalism and socialism were mistaken. In our opinion, this assessment has not been vindicated anywhere!

Power will be either a bourgeois power or workers’ –people’s power; there cannot be any power which has an intermediate character. On this basis, the KKE does not fight today for any intermediate stage and therefore it has no minimum programme. Of course this does not mean that it has only a strategy and no tactics. The tactics of the KKE promote the need to rally the working people around goals of struggle, both for the defense of the workers’, people’s and democratic rights as well as for the satisfaction of the contemporary needs of the people. We have well-elaborated positions and goals of struggle for all the problems of the people, however, we openly declare that under the conditions of capitalism any achievements that the working people may gain will be temporary without the acquisition of the workers’-people’s power.

6. How will the popular discontent and indignation be organized by the party?

Answer:

The communists are in the vanguard of the struggle regarding every problem the people face. We seek to rally the workers and the poor popular strata on the path of struggle through the trade unions, the All-workers Militant Front (PAME) which is the class-oriented pole in the trade unions, as well as through other forms of organization, like the People’s Committees in the neighbourhoods.

7. What are the dilemmas which they are placing before the people and what does the party say about this?

Answer:

The bourgeois class and its parties pose false dilemmas before the elections in order to trap popular forces and to prevent them from approaching the KKE. But we cannot explain this in an analytical way due to the lack of space. We can briefly mention one of these dilemmas: “euro or drachma?” We consider this to be a false dilemma. To begin with, whether Greece stays in the euro or not depends on the development of the capitalist crisis in the country and in Europe. In addition, the question of the currency alone without the overthrow of the power of the bourgeois class, without the socialization of the basic means of production, the central planning of the economy and workers’ control, cannot guarantee a better life for the workers.

8. What is the political line of the party regarding alliances?

Answer:

The KKE has an alliance policy which has a social basis. It believes in an alliance of the working class, the popular strata in the city and the countryside that will come into conflict with the monopolies and imperialism. This alliance is being formed today through the respective people’s rallies with the perspective of calling into question the power of the monopolies.

9. Why has the KKE rejected the invitation of SYRIZA for a left government? What is the class character of SYNASPISMOS and what classes does it represent?

Answer:

We believe that a “left government” is incapable of solving the people’s problems and on the contrary it will worsen them. Of course this cannot be understood by all the working people and other strata such as the small businessmen who are being destroyed by the crisis. SYRIZA has been chosen by a part of the bourgeoisie which sees it as the basic force in a government that will do the “dirty work” of the capitalist crisis, that will manage a possible bankruptcy.

10. What do you predict for after the 17th of June?

Answer:

Any government in the conditions of the capitalist crisis, in the framework of the capitalist system, with the country trapped in the EU and NATO, will take anti-people
measures.

The KKE is a party for all seasons and it has proved that in its 93-yearhistory. Nevertheless it is important to thwart the plans for its weakening in the June elections so that it can to play a leading role in the workers’ and people’s counterattack with as much strength as possible.

Here is a video of Mariela Castro speaking about the Cuban 5. Will the United States be able to engage in rational diplomacy?

http://www.thenation.com/video/168288/mariela-castro-freedom-alan-gross-and-cuban-five

Houston, Texas

June 11, 2012

Contact: Kirk Howell 801-310-1642 Manny Valencia 619-517-1757

70 WORKERS WALK OFF JOB

Ironworkers Demand Safety at the Exxon Delta Project in the Woodlands

(Houston) Today June 11, over 70 workers walked off the job at the Exxon Delta Project in the Woodlands of Houston company D’Ambra Steel demanding safety measures and equipment to continue the work. The ironworkers are asking all individuals, organizations and media to contact them for information regarding this decisive action taken by workers to ensure that they are not one more statistic of fatalities and injuries on cronstruction worksites in the State.

Please go to Change.org to sign our petition to overturn the Texas anti-communist law. The link is http://www.change.org/petitions/texas-legislature-overturn-the-anti-communist-law?share_id=RjqwOgUTkUpe=pce . The petition is entitled “Texas legislature: Overturn the anti-communist law”. You can also suggest that others sign the on-line petition. For more information, go to http://houstoncommunistparty.com/repost-there-is-a-dirty-little-secret-in-texas/

Thanks for your support.

The Democracy Now program on 6/11/12 focuses on Cuba to include the Cuban 5, Mariela Castro and Saul Landau’s new video “Will the real terrorist please stand up”
http://www.democracynow.org/

Communists participate in the May day march in Houston, 2012

By James Thompson

Via http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/news/content/view/full/117009

Here in the state of Texas in the United States there is a dirty little secret that has received little attention.

It is a repulsive, anti-democratic relic of the cold war McCarthy years of vicious anti-communism under which many patriotic people of this country suffered.

Some communists were imprisoned and Ethel and Julius Rosenberg were executed during this era.

The McCarthy years gave birth to the twin ugly monsters called the Smith Act and McCarran Act.

Both have been used to persecute communists and working people fighting for their rights.

The McCarran Act was vetoed by president Harry Truman as “anti-democratic,” but his veto was overturned by a Democratic-controlled Congress.

The Smith Act was signed into law by president Franklin Roosevelt during a Congress controlled by the Democratic Party. Both laws targeted immigrants as well as communists, socialists and others.

Many people refer to the US as “the land of the free and the home of the brave,” paraphrasing the revolutionary national anthem of this country written during a time when there was a monumental struggle against British colonialism and imperialism.

The word Texas is derived from a Caddo native American language word “teyshas” which means “friends” or “allies.” The Texas state motto, accordingly, is “friendship.”

However, most people associate Texans with the image of “toughness.” It is apt, given the inclement weather and politics inherent in this region of the country located in the deep south.

We have swamps, alligators, rattlesnakes, fire ants, deserts, mosquitoes the size of butterflies, cockroaches the size of small mammals, hurricanes, some of the worst pollution in the world and some of the nastiest right-wing politicians paid for by the ultra-wealthy.
These extremist politicians and their benefactors have subjected working people to constantly declining wages, benefits and social services. You have to be tough to live in Texas.

At the same time, the state has produced some of the greatest blues artists and has a very progressive organised labour movement with active involvement by both the AFL-CIO and SEIU. The ethnic and racial diversity of the state is one of its greatest assets.

Nevertheless, Texas state government has held on tightly to a repugnant remnant of the cold war era some 60 years later during a time when there is no Soviet Union.

In fact, the last revision of the legislation was passed in 1993, well after the Soviet Union ended.

During an email exchange with a comrade in North Devon, Gerrard Sables, I happened to mention the outrageous anti-democratic and anti-working-class legislation which is still on the books prohibiting communists from holding public office or even holding a state government job in Texas.

He expressed outrage at this human rights violation in Texas and encouraged me to fight it.

I had felt for a long time that it needed to be fought, but hesitated because of lack of support.

His support was invaluable in spurring me to begin the fight against this atrocity.

The Texas law appears as follows:

Title 5, Subtitle A, Chapter 557, Subchapter A. Sedition and Subchapter C. Communism.” Sec. 557.021 reads “DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter: (1) “Communist” means a person who commits an act reasonably calculated to further the overthrow of the government: (A) by force or violence; or (B) by unlawful or unconstitutional means and replace it with a communist government.” Sec. 557.022 reads “RESTRICTIONS. (a) The name of a communist may not be printed on the ballot for any primary or general election in this state or a political subdivision of this state. (b) A person may not hold a nonelected office or position with the state or any political subdivision of this state if: (1) any of the compensation for the office or position comes from public funds of this state or a political subdivision of this state; and (2) the employer or superior of the person has reasonable grounds to believe that the person is a communist.

There is also a provision for enforcement by state agencies and/or personnel.

The wording of this legislation is similar in many regards to the McCarran and Smith Acts which have been largely repudiated or repealed at the federal level. The people of the state of Indiana faced similar legislation and it was brought before the Supreme Court and was overturned.

The legislation is in direct contradiction with documents from the CPUSA constitution.

Article VI, Section 3 (Rights and Duties of Party Members) asserts:

It shall be the obligation of all party members to struggle for the unity of the working class, against all forms of national oppression, national chauvinism, discrimination and segregation, against all racist ideologies and practices, such as white chauvinism and anti-semitism. It shall be the duty of all party members to fight for the full social, political and economic equality of the African-American, Mexican-American, Puerto Rican, Native American Indians, Asian and Pacific Islanders, other oppressed minorities, immigrants and the foreign born, and to promote the unity of all people as essential to the advancement of their common interests … It shall be the obligation of all party members to struggle against all manifestations of male supremacy and discrimination against women, and to fight for the full social, political and economic equality for women … It shall be the obligation of all party members to struggle against homophobia and all manifestations of discrimination against gays, lesbians, bisexual and trans-gender people, and to fight for their full social and civil rights.

Of course, there is nothing here or anywhere else in the constitution of the CPUSA about “violent overthrow of the government” except under disciplinary procedures.

Under Article VII, Section 2 (Disciplinary Procedures and Appeals), the CPUSA constitution declares:

Subject to the provisions of this article, any member shall be expelled from the party who is a strikebreaker, a provocateur, engaged in espionage, an informer, or who advocates force and violence or terrorism, or who participates in the activities of any group which acts to undermine or overthrow any democratic institutions through which the majority of the American people can express their right to determine their destiny.

Someone recently observed that the definition of “communist” held by the state of Texas excludes all members of the Communist Party USA.

In fact, most CPUSA members would probably support legislation which would prohibit individuals who meet the state definition of a “communist” from holding public office or a state government job as long as the inappropriate label of “communist” is not used to categorise such terrorists.

It is important to remember that communists work to form coalitions of people in an effort to build mass movements to fight injustice and advance the interests of working people. We must start in our own back yard. If we are unable to effectively fight for our interests as communists, how can we expect working people to fight for their rights and interests?

There needs to be a worldwide campaign to repeal anti-communist legislation in Texas and other states of the US.
Indeed, anti-communist legislation around the world should be fought and defeated once and for all.

Such an effort has the potential to force rightwingers into a corner.

If rightwingers oppose repealing anti-communist legislation, they will be opposing democracy.

If rightwingers support repealing anti-communist legislation, they will be voting to support communists.

Perhaps this effort will redefine what “freedom” means in the US.

To raise your objections please write to: Secretary of the Senate Patsy Spaw, The Senate of Texas, PO Box 12068, Austin, TX 78711-2068 or email: patsy.spaw@senate.state.tx.us  Messages of solidarity can be sent to to gerrard.sables@phonecoop.coop  which will be forwarded to Houston communists.

PHill1917@comcast.net