Workers World Party
to meet Dec. 2-3
Conference called 'Step
to building new movement'
By
Brian Becker
After
a year of street struggles from Seattle to Philadelphia, revolutionary activists
against capitalist globalization and the racist death penalty will gather at a
conference in New York on the weekend of Dec. 2-3. There they will assess this
new movement and evaluate the world political situation using the tools of
Marxism.
"The
Workers World Party annual conference comes at an exciting and challenging time
for those who are trying to organize against capitalism," states Larry Holmes, a
WWP leader.
"Thousands
of young people have heroically battled against the International Monetary Fund,
the World Trade Organization and the conventions of the Republican and
Democratic parties," he says. "They have filled Madison Square Garden for Mumia
Abu-Jamal and raised his case at Antioch College and campuses and high schools
around the
country.
"Our
conference will be a step in building this movement. It will be a unique
educational weekend. The movement must connect revolutionary activism with
theory, history and analysis," Holmes
concludes.
Many
conference participants will have just returned from Havana, where they attended
a world conference in solidarity with socialist Cuba. More than 4,000 people
from 116 countries participated.
"The
revolution in Cuba took place in an underdeveloped country ravaged by
colonialism," explains Sarah Sloan, a 20-year-old leader of the International
Action Center and a first-time visitor to Cuba. "Yet the lessons learned from
that revolution are of great significance for activists fighting for change
inside the United States."
Assessing
the
elections
Monica
Moorehead and Gloria La Riva--WWP's presidential and vice presidential
candidates--will also be featured speakers at the
conference.
"The
political significance of the deadlocked presidential election will be assessed
at the conference from the point of view of the working class and all oppressed
people," Moorehead told Workers World.
"The
leaders of both the Democratic and Republican parties represent the tiny U.S.
capitalist class. This ruling class owns the country's vast wealth and dominates
the biggest banks and corporations," she explains. "They are fighting among
themselves to see who will gather the spoils of this corporate-controlled
system.
"Most
of the media coverage over the deadlock conceals that essential point,"
Moorehead
asserts.
"But
what is also coming out is that the electoral system is overtly racist. Florida
police and other authorities systematically harassed African American voters.
Thousands of Haitian Americans were essentially disenfranchised. And a huge
number of potential African American and Latino voters were deprived of their
rights through arrests and convictions.
"Our
conference will help chart an independent path away from both parties of big
business," Moorehead
adds.
'Special
opportunity,' says
trans
activist
"The
party conference will be a special opportunity for lesbian, gay, bi and trans
activists to review our struggle and to connect it with others who are fighting
racism, sexism and war," says trans author and activist Leslie Feinberg.
Feinberg, who is well known for her books and appearances on college campuses,
is also scheduled to
speak.
A
key part of WWP's work is the fight to save death-row political activist Mumia
Abu-Jamal. There will be workshops and strategy sessions to help activists and
organizers build for the Jan. 20 counter-inaugural protest in Washington. The
demonstration is expected to draw people from all over the country to demand
"Stop the death machine" and "A new trial for Mumia."
The
conference will also feature eyewitness reports from the rebellious streets of
the West Bank and Gaza and the liberated zones of
Colombia.
There
will be panel discussions, workshops and video displays. A wide array of Marxist
literature will be
available.
To
get more information or to register for the conference, contact WWP at 55 W.
17th St., New York, NY 10011; phone (212) 255-0352; or send e-mail to
register@wwpublish.com.
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