First Issued: March 1970
First Published: Communist, Issue 1, Winter 1970
Transcription, Editing and Markup: Paul Saba
Copyright: This work is in the Public Domain under the Creative Commons Common Deed. You can freely copy, distribute and display this work; as well as make derivative and commercial works. Please credit the Encyclopedia of Anti-Revisionism On-Line as your source, include the url to this work, and note any of the transcribers, editors & proofreaders above.
To:
American Communist Workers’ Movement (Marxist-Leninist)
California Communist League
“Voz Proletaria” Group in New York
“Causa Proletaria” of Puerto Rico
League of Revolutionary Black Workers
Ad Hoc Committee for a Marxist-Leninist Party in the U.S.A.
Proletarian Party
Hammer & Steel
American Communist Movement
Weatherman
American Workers Communist Party
Comrades:
The People’s Wars in the countryside of the world are being joined by the Class Wars in the cities of the world. Everywhere, the leadership of the party of the proletariat, based on Marxism-Leninism, is essential. However, in both the cities and the countryside of the world, it has been necessary to build up entirely new parties of the proletariat due to the liquidationist betrayals of the modern revisionists. In the cities of the world, the struggle against modern revisionism has developed very unevenly. In almost every capitalist nation, not one, but a number of anti-revisionist groups exist. Many of these groups have little or no political content, but are the work of careerists, and mimic the Trotskyite sects in their frenzied faction-fighting and splitting. Others have been taken over or even created by the revisionists for use an a phony “left-flank”, like the Progressive Labor clique. But among the lesser known and less exposed anti-revisionist groups there exist the best cadre, the best methods of work, and the best activity in the entire left. In fact, these lesser known proletarian revolutionary groups and publications are the best and most advanced sections of the class. These groups and publications have brought Marxism-Leninism to many thousands of workers, soldiers, women and youth. Away from the spotlight, and out of the focus of the revisionist spectacle staged for the benefit of imperialism the tightly-knit and ideologically disciplined groups, working, tirelessly and anonymously, have turned out thousands of trained and advanced cadre, many of whom have given leadership to broader based struggles.
The central task posed before all these groups, and before the class as a whole, is the building of the party of the proletariat in the American nation, and the waging of Class War in the cities of the American nation through armed struggle and armed revolution.
We do not now propose a unification of all, or even a part of, these groups. There can be no unity without clarity. Lenin has said: First demarcate, then unite, Mao Tsetung has said: If unity is sought through struggle, it will live, if unity is sought through yielding, it will perish. We know well that serious and basic differences exist between all of these groups, and within these groups as well, and that many previous attempts at even discussion have failed.
We propose clarity before unity.
We propose unity built in struggle.
We propose open ideological and political struggle between the various anti-revisionist groups. We propose the widest discussion and greatest debate of views between the leadership and the membership of the anti-revisionist groups, with the participation of non-party and non-member masses. We propose that the struggle between the two lines in the various anti-revisionist groups and publications be open to the proletariat, be conducted on a principled basis, and lead to concrete proposals and concrete activity.
The MARXIST-LENINIST PARTY has been formed by the following:
Eastern Region of the Communist Party U.S.A. (Marxist-Leninist)
New York Branch of the C.P.U.S.A. (M.-L.)
Red Women’s Detachment
Members of the New York and Eastern region of the CPUSA(M-L), who are now members of the MARXIST-LENINIST PARTY have already met informally with representatives from the American Communist Workers Movement (Marxist-Leninist), the “Voz Proletaria” Group in New York, the Women’s Militia of Weatherman, and others. We have also been meeting with rank-and-file members of other groups who are genuinely interested in building the party of the proletariat. These meetings and the discussions that have ensued have been fruitful in our eyes. We strongly believe that further meetings of this kind, involving more groups at a time, would be of the greatest usefulness to the proletariat and the struggle to build a party of the proletariat in the American nation. We invite these groups and all others interested to contact us, to exchange publications, and to prepare for joint meetings and discussions on a principled basis.