Workers World Party classes
Cuba's revolution, combatting national oppression
By Monica Moorehead
New York
For over four decades, the Cuban Revolution has remained a
beacon of inspiration for workers and oppressed peoples
everywhere, including inside the belly of the beast, U.S.
imperialism. Located just 90 miles from Key West, Cuba with
only 11 million people has been able to defend its popular
gains despite the criminal U.S. blockade.
How has an island country with very few resources been able
to stave off the U.S. government's terrorist plots against its
sovereignty?
Why is supporting the right to self-determination pivotal to
the struggle to overthrow capitalism and establish a truly
humane society, namely, socialism?
Why is it so imperative for the vanguard elements within the
communist movement to adhere to Russian revolutionary leader
Vladimir Lenin's concept of building class solidarity with
oppressed nationalities, in theory and in practice?
These were just a few of the important questions taken up
here on July 13 on a second weekend of summer classes organized
by Workers World Party. Party members and friends traveled from
as far away as Baltimore and upstate New York. They took time
out from their organizing responsibilities to hear WWP
Secretariat members Teresa Gutierrez and Larry Holmes make
enlightening presentations.
In the first class, entitled "Socialism in Cuba," Gutierrez
covered various stages of the 43-year-old Cuban Revolution: its
battle to survive U.S. aggression in the 1960s while inspiring
revolutionary struggles in many other countries; the period of
socialist economic construction aided by the USSR; the
rectification period beginning in 1985 that sought to correct
problems in the economy and the party; and the post-Soviet
"special period" that has forced Cuba to integrate into the
international market.
Gutierrez's review of the various characteristics of these
stages imparted a sense of the uniqueness of this particular
social revolution.
Following her presentation, the general discussion focused
on the contributions that Marxist leaders Karl Marx and
Frederick Engels made during the 19th century on the process of
the withering away of the state that will ultimately lead to
worldwide communism. Participants explained why it was crucial
that the Cuban Revolution have a centralized state apparatus to
defend itself against counter-revolutionary elements inside
Cuba and against U.S. imperialist designs. This defense
includes arming the Cuban masses.
Holmes opened the second class on "Racism, National
Oppression, Self-Determination and the Struggle Today" by
bringing attention to an important document written by the late
chairperson of WWP, Sam Marcy, in 1959. It was called "At a
Turning Point in History: A Letter to a Fighter in the Deep
South."
The document gave a Leninist view of the then-emerging
African American struggle, focused in the South. It showed why
it was important for class-conscious revolutionaries,
especially whites from the oppressor nation, to extend their
solidarity to the struggle for Black liberation against the
yoke of racist repression and super-exploitation. Acts of
solidarity included supporting the Black community's right to
self-defense against racist terror and the right to political
secession.
Holmes gave historical examples of working-class leaders who
unfortunately abandoned the struggle against racism during the
Reconstruction era and during the Back to Africa movement led
by Marcus Garvey. This abandonment was rooted in white
chauvinism and petty-bourgeois reaction. The legacy of some of
these mistakes still impacts today on the class struggle inside
the U.S.
Regarding the defeat of the Soviet Union, Holmes stated,
"The existence of the Soviet Union leveled the playing field
for most of the struggling oppressed. The Soviet Union served
as a brake on imperialism. Today socialist ideas are on the
defensive." He added, "We have to revive solidarity, unity, and
of course socialism. It is time for the workers in the big
imperialist countries to bear the brunt of responsibility for
the struggle against capitalism and for socialism."
Renee Washington, an African American mother and community
organizer with the Baltimore All Peoples Congress, told WW why
attending the Workers World Party classes was important to
her:
"If we want to change conditions for the better, we have to
understand the mistakes that were made by the movements in the
past. This means understanding history from a working class
view.
"The U.S. is trying to start another war with Iraq and other
countries. People don't understand why their children are being
sent away to fight. We need to be able to explain to parents
why their children should not be sent to a foreign country to
fight against people who are going through similar hardships
that a lot of us are going through right here in the U.S.
"By educating ourselves, we begin to understand why it is
important to show solidarity with different countries."
Reprinted from the July 25, 2002, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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