Revolutionary Communist Party, USA

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Revolutionary Communist Party, USA

The Revolutionary Communist Party, USA (also known as RCP, The Revcoms, or Revcom) is a new communist party in the United States founded in 1975 and led by its chairman, Bob Avakian. The party organizes for a revolution to overthrow the system of capitalism and replace it with a socialist state, with the final aim of world communism.[1] The RCP is frequently described as a cult around Avakian.[2][3][4]

History

Bay Area Revolutionary Union

In early 1968, Avakian,

Chinese Cultural Revolution and the direction of Maoism. The early RU joined with the Revolutionary Youth Movement faction in the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) in opposing PLP's role in SDS at its national convention in Chicago in 1969. The resulting split led to PL controlling the SDS name, while RYM split into two factions.[5]

The RU organized on a revolutionary

Maoist party line, with emphasis on the Black liberation struggle and the liberation of all colonized peoples in and outside the United States. This political philosophy was elaborated in the 1969 pamphlet The Red Papers (later known as Red Papers I, after subsequent publications).[6][7]

In 1971, Franklin led a more militant faction of BARU out of the organization to join Venceremos. The RU continued to expand, uniting collectives[8] across the country and becoming a national organization with the long-term goal to form a new communist party. The new nationwide structure induced BARU to change its name to simply the Revolutionary Union (RU). Avakian was elected to the central committee of the RU shortly thereafter. The RCP claims that of the various groups coming out of SDS, it was the first to seriously attempt to develop itself at the theoretical level, with the publication of Red Papers 1.[9] In 1974, RU started publication of its newspaper Revolution (renamed Revolutionary Worker, and adopting a weekly format in 1979).

In 1973, the anti-war group Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW) entered into reforms after the end of the Vietnam War, including an explicitly anti-imperialist stance and opening its membership to civilians. During this period, the RU became a popular faction within the VVAW, and RU members gained influential positions in the VVAW, including in the national council.[10] This reached its peak in 1975, when the RU-controlled national office voted to remove members, expel chapters and place the organization into ideological uniformity.[11] They later voted to dissolve themselves into the Revolutionary Union.

A reconstituted group of non-Marxist members of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War filed and won a lawsuit prohibiting the RU-dominated group from using the VVAW name, logos and materials.[12] Deep animosity persists between the two organizations.[10] The RU organization was renamed Vietnam Veterans Against the War Anti-Imperialist (VVAW-AI).

Formation

In September 1975, after the integration of the Revolutionary Union's faction of the VVAW, RU reconstituted itself as the Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP).[13]

After the death of Mao in 1976, the RCP split, with about 40% of its membership leaving, over which position to take in relation to the new Chinese leadership. Avakian led the majority of the party that rejected what it analyzed as a counterrevolutionary coup against Mao's allies. After this split, Avakian wrote and published the book Mao Tsetung's Immortal Contributions,[14] which summarizes the developments of Maoism.

In January 1979, Avakian and 78 other Party members and supporters were arrested and charged with various crimes in connection to a militant protest against

political asylum
in France, where he remained for many years.

1980s–2000s

The RCP organized May Day 1980 rallies in 16 cities across the U.S., including Los Angeles, New York, Portland, Seattle, and Washington, D.C.

the Alamo, tearing down the American flag from its pole, and raising the Red Flag in its place before being arrested. Shortly thereafter, on April 22, Garcia was stabbed to death[17] while organizing in a Los Angeles housing project. At the time, police said that Garcia's murderer was gang-affiliated, while RCP insisted that he had been assassinated by the state in retaliation for his action at the Alamo. Avakian remarked in his memoir that Garcia's murder was "very clearly tied in with police agents ... it was an attack on our Party."[18]

In 1984 Avakian and other members of the RCP co-founded the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement (RIM), a now-defunct international grouping of Maoist parties, which were united by a founding declaration upholding Marxism-Leninism-Maoism. Other participating parties in RIM included the Communist Party of Peru (Shining Path), the Union of Iranian Communists (Sarbedaran), and the Revolutionary Communist Group of Colombia. RIM published and distributed the magazine and news service A World to Win from 1981 to 2006. Since RIM's dissolution in the 2000s, the publication is updated only on its website. In 2017, A World to Win was restructured as "a more thorough-going tool for revolution based on Bob Avakian's new synthesis of communism."[19]

Flag-burning by RCP members led to the Texas v. Johnson case, which established the burning of the American flag as a constitutionally protected right.[citation needed]

2010s

In 2011, RCP spokesperson Carl Dix and Cornel West co-initiated the campaigns to Stop "Stop and Frisk" and Stop Mass Incarceration.[20][21] Dix and West appeared on Democracy Now! to discuss the state of Black America in the age of Obama.[22] RCP organized Rise Up October against racism and police brutality; attendees included Quentin Tarantino.[23]

In July 2016, mass protest and police arrests erupted over a flag-burning by the RCP outside the Republican National Convention before a crowd of thousands.[24][25] The next week, the RCP staged another flag burning outside the Democratic National Convention after denouncing the United States.[26] Later that year, in response to Donald Trump's tweet calling for the criminalization of flag burning, RCP supporters burned another American flag outside the Trump International Hotel in New York City.[27]

In October 2016, RCP supporters were banned from the

better source needed
]

In August 2016, the RCP led protesters in a two-day march on a barricaded police station after the fatal shooting of a black man by Milwaukee police;[30] the police chief said the RCP had incited violence toward police.[31]

RCP supporters at an immigration rights march in Chicago, 2019.

RCP members handed out fliers outside the San Diego Levi's Stadium in support of

NFL protests of the U.S. national anthem.[32]

In December 2016, in response to the election of Donald Trump, the RCP helped initiate and lead the ad-hoc coalition Refuse Fascism, which had as its goal the prevention of Trump's inauguration through mass political protest and civil disobedience. After the inauguration, the organization adjusted to a mission of launching sustained mass protests aimed at forcing the removal of the Trump administration before the scheduled election of 2020.[citation needed]

In July 2018, Refuse Fascism and RCP organized 100 handmaids to protest U.S. Vice President

the handmaid's tale is a model."[33][original research?
]

In October 2018, the RCP organized a demonstration in Chicago's Daley Plaza on the 23rd Annual "National Day of Protest to STOP Police Brutality," in response to the police murder of Laquan McDonald and other black youth.[34][35]

During the Q&A at a February 2019 event at

better source needed
]

In March 2019, police detained a Revolution Newspaper correspondent on the anniversary of the police

shooting of Stephon Clark, after the correspondent got into an argument with Al Sharpton while urging attendees to organize for revolution rather than political reforms.[37]

On

better source needed
]

On Independence Day 2019, the RCP staged flag burnings at the U.S.–Mexico border and the White House, the latter being a demonstration against the "Salute to America" military parade, which resulted in two RCP supporters being attacked by the Proud Boys and arrested by Secret Service officers.[39][40]

2020s

Political ideology

The RCP originated as a

atheist and claim to stress the scientific method.[45]

RCP leadership says "the system cannot be reformed, it must be overthrown,"[46] and does not participate in charity or elections,[47] instead organizing for total revolution,[48] to replace the capitalist system with a socialist system aiming for communism worldwide.[49] Its goal is not to "make America socialist" but instead "a world without America and everything it stands for."[50]

RCP posters in Cleveland, 2023.

Since the 2000s, Avakian's "new communism" is the RCP's ideological framework,[51] which it considers a scientific advancement of Marxism–Leninism–Maoism. Before that, the party was a founding member of the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement.

Cult of personality

The RCP began developing a cult of personality around Avakian as part of the 1979 pivot catalyzed by the Deng Xiaoping protest trial. The goal was to both increase support for Avakian in the legal arena while also making RCP a more revolutionary organization, inspired by

Georgy Plekhanov and framing the development of a cult as a scientific organizational strategy, Avakian was put forward as a larger-than-life figure to revitalize the group.[52]

Members of both the left and the broader public often see the RCP as a small cult around Avakian. This perception was noted in

Vice magazine in 2022.[56] Members and groups on the left, in organized labor, and in protest movements have called RCP a cult. In 2016, former USLAW national coordinator Michael Eisenscher called RCP primarily "a cult around Avakian".[54] In June 2022, a coalition of 23 abortion rights, feminist, and mutual-aid groups released a statement denouncing RCP and the affiliated organization Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights, including a description of RCP as a cult.[56][57][58]

RCP members celebrate the organization as a cult of personality around Avakian.[59][60][54] RCP publications say that the RCP and Avakian have encouraged controversy and serious debate over their views and a wide range of issues, engaging in numerous debates and polemics, while also taking a strong stand against destructive allegations in place of principled dialogue and building unity for what they term "the emancipation of humanity".[61][62][63][64][non-primary source needed]

LGBT issues

In the 1970s and 1980s, the RCP called

LGBT rights as a fundamental element of establishing socialism.[70]

Activities

The RCP releases daily updates online and a periodic print edition of its weekly newspaper, Revolution (formerly called Revolutionary Worker, 1979–2005), in English and Spanish.

In December 2016, party members and others co-initiated Refuse Fascism, a coalition group aiming to "drive out" the

Trump administration through sustained street protests.[71] InfoWars and other far-right conspiracy theory websites claimed the RCP and Refuse Fascism were organizing a military overthrow of the government on November 4, 2017.[72] Several nationwide anti-Trump protest marches were organized for that day, numbering in the thousands.[73][74]

Refuse Fascism protesters were arrested in September 2017 after blocking four lanes of the 101 Freeway in Los Angeles during rush hour, to "sound the alarm about fascism."[75][76]

RCP supporters Michael Slate and Sunsara Taylor have regularly aired shows on radio networks KPFK[77] and WBAI,[78] respectively, where they discuss news and politics with guests.

Revolution Books

RCP branches opened Revolution Books stores in major U.S. cities and became a frequent presence in protest movements.[47]

Prison outreach

The RCP runs the Prisoners Revolutionary Literature Fund,[79] which sends its newspaper and other political works from its publishing press to hundreds of incarcerated people nationwide to spread a revolutionary message.[80] As its aim, the fund "provides an educational opportunity for prisoners to engage with world events and key political, cultural, and philosophical questions from a unique communistic perspective, including discussions of morality, religion, science, and the arts centered around a positive socialist-light."[81]

The RCP has faced increasing censorship by prison officials who seek to deny inmates access to revolutionary literature.[82]

References

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  2. ^ Keizer, Garret. "Left of Bernie". Harper´s Magazine. Retrieved September 24, 2023.
  3. ^ "On Choice, Revolution, and a "Rare, Special, Unique" Cult". Counterpunch. August 12, 2022. Retrieved January 22, 2024.
  4. ^ "Abortion Rights Activists Call New Group Leading Protests A Front For A Far-Left Cult". The Intercept. July 14, 2022. Retrieved January 22, 2024.
  5. ^ Leonard & Gallagher 2015, pp. Chapters 1–2
  6. ^ Leonard, Aaron J.; Gallagher, Conor A. (2014). Heavy Radicals: The FBI's War on America's Maoists. Winchester: Zero Books. pp. 10–34.
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  8. ^ "Bob Avakian (BA)—Official Biography—Part 1: Formative Experiences, Critical Junctures, Decisive Leadership". revcom.us. Retrieved August 19, 2018.
  9. ^ "Red Papers 1". Originally published by the Bay Area Revolutionary Union, now available online thanks to Marxists.org's Encyclopedia of Anti-Revisionism On-Line project. Spring 1969.
  10. ^ a b Andrew E. Hunt. The Turning: A History of Vietnam Veterans Against the War, New York University Press, 1999, p. 188
  11. ^ Elbaum 2002, pp. 192–193: ...in April 1975 the RU- controlled national office moved decisively to assert full control over the organization it expelled a number of chapters, drove out scores of individuals and then imposed programmatic uniformity on those members who remains. Within a very few months, VVAW/WSI declined to a small core of RU cadre and close supporters."
  12. ^ "VVAW Official Website – Court Order". Retrieved March 22, 2007.
  13. ^ Elbaum 2002, pp. 191–193: "It [the RU] convened a congress in September 1975 that formally disbanded RU and founded the Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP)..."
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  19. ^ "Editorial Introducing a transformed AWTWNS". A World to Win News Service.
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  27. ^ "People Burn The Flag Outside Trump Hotel To Protest His Latest Tweet". November 30, 2016. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
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  29. ^ "Communist Returns to Campus After Arrest, Ban". Chicago Maroon. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
  30. ^ Briscoe, Tony. "Chicago-based RevCom downplays Milwaukee role, calls protest 'righteous'". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
  31. ^ "Milwaukee police chief blames Chicago-based activists for violence toward police". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
  32. ^ "Kaepernick And Reid Again Take Knee For Anthem". CBS Bay Area. September 12, 2016. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
  33. ^ "'Handmaids' protest Mike Pence, Kirstjen Nielsen in Manhattan". ABC News. July 31, 2018. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
  34. ^ "Rally to Stop Police Brutality". WGN Radio. October 22, 2018. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
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  36. ^ Lazas, Maddie (February 14, 2019). "Visions and Voices event disrupted by RevCom". Daily Trojan. Retrieved September 23, 2019.
  37. ^ Hector Amezcua (March 18, 2019). "New York activist detained after incident at Sharpton press conference". The Sacramento Bee. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
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  47. ^ a b Eliot, Krissy (December 19, 2016). "The Struggle Continues: Checking in With Revolution Books". Cal Alumni Association. Archived from the original on January 26, 2017. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
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  53. ^ Dock, Sam (November 21, 2014). "My Afternoon with Chairman Bob Avakian". The Indypendent.
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  55. ^ Smith IV, Jack (November 2, 2017). "The far-right thinks a violent antifa overthrow is coming Nov. 4, but the truth is far stranger". Mic. The RCP is often referred to as a communist doomsday cult that is obsessed with Avakian, its mysterious leader, and hastens unto a final emancipation of humanity through a populist revolution.
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  60. ^ Oppenheimer, Mark (January 28, 2008). "How Maoists Are Like Scientologists". But, more important, both [Scientology and RCPUSA] are terrific latter-day examples of cults of personality.... And Avakian's supporters have been increasingly frank that they actually want a cult of personality around Bob Avakian (although they call it a 'cult of appreciation').
  61. ^ Avakian, Bob (June 22, 2021). "BA Answers Accusation of "Cult": IGNORANCE, AND COWARDICE". revcom.us. Retrieved June 22, 2021.
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  68. ^ Elbaum 2002, pp. 138–139: "The first wave of party builders also foundered in addressing the oppression of gay men and lesbians. Doctrinally, most of the movement simply ignored this issue, though the Guardian did decide by 1971 that it was appropriate to include opposition to discrimination against gays under the broad rubric of defending democratic rights. But whatever was formally said or not said, for the most part the movement's attitude toward homosexuality and the gay movement was decidedly negative. Fundamentally, most Marxists-Leninists shared the homophobia prevalent in society as a whole, and on the issue of gay rights they surrendered to prejudice instead of analyzing and opposing it."
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  80. ^ Ninh, Amie (October 11, 2009). "Local cafe hosts benefit for nationwide prisoners literature fund".
  81. ^ "Prisoners Revolutionary Literature Fund". P R L F.
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Bibliography

Books

External links