- Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist) (USA)
The Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist) was a
Maoist political party in theUnited States . Its predecessor organization, theOctober League , was founded in1971 by several local groups, many of which had grown out of the radical student organization Students for a Democratic Society when SDS split apart in1969 .Michael Klonsky , who had been a national leader in SDS in the late 1960s, was the main leader of the CP(M-L).The October League came out of the
Revolutionary Youth Movement II grouping in the SDS split. In1977 , the October League transformed itself from an organization into a party, declaring itself thevanguard party of the U.S. proletariat. This is when it changed its name to the Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist). The CP(M-L) had a very multi-racial membership compared to other organizations that were part of theNew Communist Movement of the 1970s. Longtime Black communistHarry Haywood became a CP(M-L) member near the end of his life, and the CP(M-L)'s press, Liberator Press, published Haywood's book "Black Bolshevik: Autobiography of an Afro-American Communist" in 1978.After the death of
Communist Party of China leaderMao Zedong in 1976, the CP(M-L) became the main U.S. group that the post-Mao Chinese leadership recognized as a U.S. fraternal party. As the Communist Party of China moved away from Maoism, this moved the CP(M-L) away from other Maoist groups, who opposed the post-Mao Chinese leaders. The CP(M-L) published a theoretical journal called "Class Struggle" and a newspaper named "The Call" before disbanding in1981 soon after Klonsky resigned from the leadership and amidst the beginnings of soon to be massivefree-market reforms in China.ee also
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Communist Party USA (Marxist-Leninist) References
* Haywood, Harry. "Negro Liberation". Chicago. Liberator Press, 1976. 245p.
* October League (Marxist-Leninist) "Building a new Communist Party in the U.S." October League (Marxist-Leninist), Los Angeles. 1973, 17p., wraps. Cover title: Party building in the U.S.
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