First Published: The People’s Tribune, Vol. 4, No. 11, December-January 1972-73.
Transcription, Editing and Markup: Paul Saba
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Communist League Introduction: The preparatory committee of the North American Conference of Marxist-Leninists met in Toronto, Canada, November 18-19. Its main task was to issue the Call printed below for the Conference in Chicago in 1973.
As is pointed out in the Call, the major task in Chicago will be to lay the basis for building a new Communist Party in the USNA.
The meeting in Toronto was highly enthusiastic and represented all areas of the USNA and Canada. Of particular importance was the attendance of several organizations from the Negro Nation and surrounding areas.
Comrades and friends, the Communist League fully supports this motion and we feel that the time is right for all serious Marxist-Leninists and revolutionaries to come together and deal with the concrete problems of building a revolutionary party of a new type. This is not just a subjective wish on our part, but rather reflects the stirring of the advanced elements of the proletariat on the one hand and the growing consolidation of fascism in the USNA on the other.
The preparatory committee also agreed to publish the North American News Service which will reprint articles and political positions that are relevant to the tasks of the meeting in Chicago.
We urge all our friends and comrades to prepare for the Conference of North American Marxist-Leninists by publishing their views on building a revolutionary party of a new type and by contacting all organizations and individuals who will participate.
* * *
Proletarian revolutions and wars of national liberation are raging, and the struggle for socialism is being waged all over the world. While revolution is the main trend in the world today, we see throughout the whole world that fascism is increasing its attacks against the revolutionary class and the revolutionary movement in general.
Internationally, we see this in the growing collusion of the U.S. imperialists and the U.S.S.R. social-imperialists in an attempt to crush the proletarian revolution and increase their aggression against the peoples of the world. Within the U.S. we recognize the seriousness of the situation that the imperialists are developing through their propaganda about the re-election of Nixon: the imperialists are carrying out a steady vicious advance toward an organized fascist drive against the working class of the U.S. In light of these conditions we view it as a very serious matter that the revolutionary movement in the U.S. is disunited and its forces are not monolithic but instead dispersed and scattered in the form of many different individuals, groups, organizations throughout the U.S.
In opposition to the growing forces of fascism and to the disunity of the revolutionary movement there is arising a struggle to develop unity among the revolutionary forces. This is expressed concretely in the writing of this call by several separate organizations in the U.S. as well as in Canada and Quebec. The organizations in the U.S. are working with the support of the comrades of the Communist Party of Canada, Marxist-Leninist, and the Communist Party of Quebec, Marxist-Leninist for the development of the revolutionary movement in the U.S.
On what basis have these organizations united? We can only be united on the basis of the interests of the whole working class, that is, on the basis of Marxism-Leninism, which is hostile to any struggle for personal interests or opinions. Marxism-Leninism is the theory of scientific socialism, that is, it is based in objective reality as opposed to a subjective fight for individual ends.
It is out of this struggle for scientific socialism, for correct line, that the real unity of the revolutionary movement will develop in its highest form, a single organization that fights for the whole working class to overthrow imperialism. Lenin pointed out and history has confirmed that the Party of a New Type can only be built on the basis of the struggle against revisionism and opportunism (incorrect line). We don’t want to unite purely for the sake of uniting, but for the sake of struggling for the correct line for the working class in the struggle against the U.S. monopoly capitalist class.
We are uniting on the basis of Marxism-Leninism to organize a conference to be held sometime in 1973, where all honest revolutionaries would be minimally united on the basis of wanting to struggle for Marxism-Leninism against revisionism, for a Marxist-Leninist party of the working class in the U.S.
The Preparatory Committee of the Conference of North American Marxist-Leninists calls on all those who agree in the main with the above points to attend this revolutionary Conference. Those who call themselves Marxist-Leninists must hold themselves accountable in front of the people. There are many differences on the crucial task of building the Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of a New Type. But these differences can only be aired in this mass democratic conference. All organizations whatever their size and experience have equal right as well as every obligation to present their views openly for discussion. For amongst Marxist-Leninists, there is no jockeying for position and fame. Let all Marxist-Leninists unite for the cause of proletarian revolution and the proletarian party.
Communist Party of Canada, M-L
Communist Party of Quebec, M-L
American Communist Workers Movement, M-L
Association of Communist Workers, Louisville, Ky.
Red Collective, New Orleans, La.
Red Star, Tampa, Fla.
Communist League