Founding Congress of the RCA: the future of American communism is bright

History has produced a generation of communists in the United States. Now, a new political party has been officially founded to unite them under a common banner: the Revolutionary Communists of America.

[Originally published at communistusa.org]

Our party seeks to unite all earnest communists and class-conscious workers into a cohesive force that can lead the US working class to the revolutionary overthrow of capitalism—in our lifetime.

Over 400 communists gathered in Philadelphia on July 27–28, 2024 for the founding congress of the Party. Comrades from over 50 US cities were present, with elected delegates from party cells in every major region of the country:

Northeast:

• Boston
• New Haven
• New Jersey
• New York City
• Philadelphia
• Portland
• Providence

Midwest:

• Chicago
• Columbia
• Des Moines
• Detroit
• Madison
• Minneapolis
• St. Louis
• Kansas City

South:

• Atlanta
• Dallas-Fort Worth
• Houston
• Louisville
• Raleigh

West:

• Albuquerque
• Bellingham
• Denver
• Los Angeles
• Phoenix
• San Diego
• San Francisco Bay Area
• Seattle
• Tucson

Guests from many other cities, as well as visitors from Britain, Canada, Mexico, Sweden, Ireland, and Austria were also present.

From the very beginning of the congress, the mood was absolutely electric. Throughout the weekend, delegates were abuzz discussing the work in their areas and the significance of the founding of the RCA.

Perspectives for revolution

Saturday began with a discussion on World Perspectives, led off by Fred Weston, a member of the International Secretariat of the Revolutionary Communist International. Fred outlined the historic crisis facing world capitalism, which is burdened by economic instability, unprecedented debt levels, political polarization, and heightened military tensions, including wars in Ukraine and Gaza.

Fred Weston outlined the historic crisis facing world capitalism, which is burdened by economic instability, unprecedented debt levels, political polarization, and heightened military tensions / Image: RCA

These factors are pushing every country on earth towards an explosion in the class struggle in the coming years. The recent mass movements in Kenya and Bangladesh are an indication of the future everywhere. This is why the Revolutionary Communist International was founded in June, to build an international communist leadership for the world working class.

In the afternoon, the congress focused its attention on the development of the capitalist crisis and class struggle in the United States. John Peterson, a member of the Executive Committee of the RCA, spoke on the coming revolutionary developments in the most powerful imperialist country on earth.

John Peterson spoke on the coming revolutionary developments in the most powerful imperialist country on earth / Image: RCA

The current political situation in the US is characterized by economic instability leading to extreme discontent, but due to a lack of a genuine communist leadership that can reach the masses of the working class, it is being channeled in confused directions.

Trumpism, which taps into this discontent, first emerged on the scene in 2015, and since then has metastasized to become an even greater distortion in the consciousness of large layers of the working class. Trump benefits from the complete political capitulation of Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and DSA to the Democratic Party, which has given Trump a near monopoly on the “anti-establishment” mood in US society. The leadership of the AFL-CIO also refuses to show a fighting way forward for the working class.

Total class independence from both the Democratic and Republican parties is our watchword / Image: RCA

Events in recent weeks have highlighted the senility and lack of options of the ruling class. And while the outcome of the election in November will have a certain bearing on immediate developments, the broad trajectory is towards increased class struggle, no matter who sits in the White House.

As the communists participate in this process, total class independence from both the Democratic and Republican parties is our watchword. Our immediate task is to recruit, organize, and train the cadres of American Bolshevism, out of the hundreds of thousands of left-leaning young people who are already moving in our direction, to prepare in advance for the struggles that lie ahead.

After these discussions, Fred Weston gave a report on the progress of the RCI, with attendees from Canada and Mexico also reporting directly on the work in those countries. In country after country, the “Are you a communist?” campaign of 2023 and the formation of new revolutionary communist parties and the Revolutionary Communist International have seen amazing results, proof that the emergence of the “communist generation” is an international phenomenon and a function of the systemic crisis.

Our immediate task is to recruit, organize, and train the cadres of American Bolshevism / Image: RCA

To end the day, the congress held a remarkable financial collection, exceeding our target by a long shot. Launching a new political party is no easy task. It takes time, effort, and money to make it successful. The deep sacrifices comrades made to build the party were truly inspiring, and served as yet another measure of the Bolshevik commitment of those present. Our supporters and readers can also contribute to our Fighting Fund.

Organizing the first 10,000 Bolsheviks in the United States

After discussing the perspectives and general trajectory of US and world capitalism on day one, day two focused on the immediate tasks facing the communists in the United States.

The heyday of American communism is often presumed to have been in the 1930s. The Communist Party USA, for instance, led some important struggles in this period, but ultimately degenerated into a reformist organization.

But as Antonio Balmer of the RCA Executive Committee, explained: the true heyday of American communism lies ahead of us—if we ourselves prepare it!

Antonio Balmer explained that the true heyday of American communism lies ahead of us—if we ourselves prepare it! / Image: RCA

One year ago, the organization took notice of the widespread support for communism that had developed among the youth in the United States and launched the “Are you a communist?” turn. The results were astonishing, revealing the depth of communist sentiment in US society.

Since then, the organization has more than doubled, growing by 115% percent. This at a time when the broader left is in decline and splitting into pieces. Due to the results of this turn, the proposal to launch the RCA was put forth in February of this year, and the flurry of communist recruitment activity has continued.

Other recent achievements of the organization attest to this development. The RCA now has a presence in 17 out of the 20 largest metropolitan areas in the United States. Earlier this year, the organization launched a new newspaper—with a significant increase in circulation—and a new podcast, which has received almost 60,000 downloads in just the first few months.

Comrades have been pioneering new types of activity for our organization, such as calling demonstrations and rallies, building workplace cells of the RCA, and conducting communist agitation / Image: RCA

Delegates from across the US spoke on their local party-building efforts, which have produced these results. In addition to tried-and-true recruitment methods, comrades have been pioneering new types of activity for our organization, such as calling demonstrations and rallies, building workplace cells of the RCA, and conducting communist agitation, all the while stumbling upon hundreds of communists in the process.

All of this activity proves that there truly are thousands upon thousands of future comrades out there, waiting for us to recruit them to this party. We just need to find them!

Learning from Lenin

In the afternoon, the congress held a discussion on the need to base ourselves on the granite foundation of Marxist theory, with a leadoff by Fred Weston.

Fred quoted Lenin, who famously explained that “without revolutionary theory, there can be no revolutionary movement.” Indeed, the only revolutionary party that has successfully led the overthrow of capitalism, the Bolshevik Party, based itself firmly on the ideas of Marx and Engels.

The congress held a discussion on the need to base ourselves on the granite foundation of Marxist theory / Image: RCA

Marxist theory is our compass in the wilderness. Without it, we would not be able to navigate the complexity of the class struggle.

Theory is also essential in order to scale out the organization and sustain our growth. To become a party of 1,000, 5,000, 10,000 members and beyond, all comrades must work to become Marxist cadres. The way forward to a mass communist party can come only on this basis.

Recruiting unorganized communists across the country is a necessary and excellent thing, and we’re having huge success in this work. But if the new recruits aren’t incorporated into effective cells where they can truly deepen their understanding of Marxism and take real responsibility to help build the Party, then our growth will be stifled. Only by combining bold recruitment efforts with serious Marxist education can the Party grow in both quantity and quality.

Luckily, here too, the RCA is on a solid footing. Throughout the course of the weekend, an astonishing $24,800 in sales of Marxist books and booklets was sold! This evident thirst for Marxist theory bodes very well for the future of the RCA.

Founding the RCA

For the final session of the weekend, Laura Brown of the RCA Executive Committee spoke on the structure of the RCA: democratic centralism.

This organizational principle, which is derived from the history and basic dynamics of the class struggle, essentially comes down to having complete democracy and deliberation before a vote is taken, and complete unity in action after the decision has been made.

Laura Brown spoke on the structure of the RCA: democratic centralism / Image: RCA

After this session, the congress elected a Central Committee to serve as a national leadership team for the Party. Then, at the very end of this weekend of deliberations and discussions, the documents and proposal to found the RCA were put to a formal vote, moved by John Peterson.

The draft documents for the congress—“A Manifesto for America’s Communist Generation,” “A Fighting Program for the Revolutionary Communists of America,” and the statutes of the RCA, with amendments incorporated from the congress proceedings—were unanimously approved by the delegates.

Finally, the congress voted to formally launch the Revolutionary Communists of America. John emphasized that this vote was not a mere formality, and that by voting in favor, all those present were committing to a lifetime of struggle. In return, however, we get to consciously fight for a new era in human history, one truly fit for humanity.

The congress voted to formally launch the Revolutionary Communists of America. By voting in favor, all those present committed to a lifetime of struggle / Image: RCA

To no one’s surprise—given the electric mood in the air—the congress voted unanimously to launch the RCA, to acclaim and applause. John concluded by saying: “You’re all officially founding members of the RCA. But there are tens of thousands of other communists just waiting to join our ranks! So let’s go get them!”

Fred Weston then gave closing comments to the congress, which concluded with rousing renditions of the Internationale and Bandiera Rossa.

Announcing the RCA to the world

The weekend closed with a red-flag march through Philadelphia—the largest communist march seen in this country in generations.

Equipped with communist flags and banners, 400 communists proceeded to march down Market St., to Independence Hall, for a communist rally.

Independence Hall was a fitting location for this rally. The First American Revolution, which ushered in an amazing revolutionary era in human history, is part of the revolutionary heritage of this country, which we uphold and defend. But it could only go so far as the economic conditions of the eighteenth century allowed. The Second American Revolution was the Civil War and Reconstruction, which uprooted chattel slavery.

Today, we fight for the Third American Revolution—the socialist revolution—which will truly liberate humanity.

Independence Hall was a fitting location for this rally. Today, we fight for the Third American Revolution—the socialist revolution—which will truly liberate humanity / Image: RCA

Outside Independence Hall, comrades gave fiery speeches about the need to build a class-independent workers’ party and fight against the capitalists’ attempts to divide us, as well as what it means to fight for a world which is free from the confines of capitalism and imperialism.

Let the ruling classes tremble!

To the delight of all comrades present, the march immediately provoked the ire of online reactionaries.

Within just a couple hours, footage of the march had gone viral on right-wing Twitter, with the likes of Elon Musk and Alex Jones chiming in.

The footage of the march was later picked up by Fox News Digital and other news outlets across the world!

This publicity was only a taste of what we’ll see in the coming years, as the RCA continues to take the political landscape and class struggle by storm. The American capitalists thought they had snuffed out communism for good many decades ago, but they will soon realize that they were completely mistaken. The gravediggers of American capitalism—the 100-million-plus-strong US working class—are beginning to wake up, and once they’re conscious of their power and equipped with a clear-sighted communist leadership, no force on earth can stop them.

We, the founding members of the RCA, are proud to be the harbingers of the much larger communist movement yet to come / Image: RCA

We, the founding members of the RCA, are proud to be the harbingers of the much larger communist movement yet to come, and are brimming with confidence for the future. We have history on our side. And as Marx famously explained in the founding document of our movement:

The Communists disdain to conceal their views and aims. They openly declare that their ends can be attained only by the forcible overthrow of all existing social conditions. Let the ruling classes tremble at a communistic revolution. The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win.