Learning how to make revolution
Excerpts from a
talk by Elijah Crane
I came to Workers World Party from the working-class,
anarchist wing of the lesbian, gay, bi and trans movement. I
was involved in grassroots, direct-action groups.
I have always been firm in my dedication to building a
solid revolutionary organization that would fight until
victory in revolution or die struggling. Throughout the years
I had checked out many groups that appeared to be for the
progressive struggle.
For a short spell, I contemplated the possibility of
revolution without the use of so-called violence.
Eventually I ended up in a circle of anarchist lesbians
and transgender people with guns who were dedicated to
fighting back in the most militant way. They were the first
people who not only agreed with my analysis, but also had
their own convictions about how rotten the system was, how it
has to go and that the only way to change the world was
through revolution.
And it was those powerful anarchist folks who contributed
to my realization that violence is what the system
perpetrates against us. What we do is self-defense.
The never-ending challenge facing our anarchist circle
was: "How do we make revolution?"
I studied syndicalism, anarcho-communism, libertarianism,
and just for the sake of knowledge I studied
anarcho-capitalism. After all that reading I was still left
searching for the answer to the question, "How do we make
revolution?"
When I first came around Workers World Party in New York,
I was still resistant to Marxism. I was certainly willing to
participate in all the demonstrations and to help organize,
but I was nearly convinced that a communist organization
couldn't possibly be as militant a fight-back group as my
anarchist circle was.
Wow, was I wrong!
One thing that attracted me to anarchism was its
opposition to government control. Hearing the word
"dictatorship"--as in dictatorship of the proletariat--and
thinking it could have anything other than oppressive
implications was too much to grasp.
I've learned that the dictatorship of the proletariat is
oppressive in that those who are oppressed under capitalism
and imperialism will take power from the ruling class, defend
the revolution by any means necessary and oppress any
counter-revolutionary opposition.
And I've learned that the socialist state will most
definitely exert the necessary power over the racist,
homophobic ruling class to smash the capitalist state
forever.
Another aspect of anarchism that really appealed to me was
its anti-authoritarian stance. Until I came to Workers World
Party, leaders equaled authority figures equaled abusers in
my life. I have learned that leadership in this Party is
something that is demonstrated in action by those who give
their entire lives to the struggle.
I've also learned the invaluable difference between
consensus and democratic centralism.
I surely am not dazed and confused into believing that the
Party is perfect in any way. Yet in WWP I have found a solid
foundation on which I am confident the revolution is already
being built. I love this Party and I dedicate my whole life
to it.
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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