32nd CPUSA National Convention
Welcome to the pre-convention period of the 32nd CPUSA National Convention.
Main documents
Please review the following to engage in the pre-convention discussion:
- Join us for the 32nd National Convention
- How to participate in our pre-convention discussion
- Forward together: For pre-convention discussion (Main discussion document)
- An introduction to the main discussion document from CPUSA co-chair Joe Sims can be viewed here.
- Build the Party, Build the Clubs
- Apply Marxist-Leninist basics to rebuilding the CPUSA.
- How does the Communist Party elect its leadership?
- A new world’s arising in the fight against imperialism
- International solidarity and anti-imperialist developments have created the potential for an accelerated global socialist moment.
- CPUSA Peace And Solidarity Commission 2024 convention discussion
- Two threats to the continued existence of the human family, and even the earth as a living planet, are nuclear war and climate scorching. These threats are linked. Addressing them is urgent.
- United We Stand to Defeat the MAGA Right!
- The battlelines are clear. We are fighting a fascist danger at home and genocide against Gaza abroad. To defeat the danger at home, we’ve got to defeat the war abroad.
- The main report to the 32nd National Convention of the Communist Party USA, presented by Joe Sims, Co-Chair, was unanimously adopted.
- Closing remarks, 32nd National Convention CPUSA
- As we conclude this convention, we must go forward together, committed to putting the working class and its struggles front and center in our work.
Resolutions
32nd National Convention CPUSA resolutions
Final resolutions for consideration by the 32nd National Convention, CPUSA
Contributions
Structure testing: empirical benchmarks for Party growth
An organized Communist Party can lead the fight to win a world the workers deserve.
Organize the unorganized! — and then keep them active with plans of work!
As Communists, we cannot leave the organization and mobilization to spontaneity and post-hoc analysis of data. We work to make history consciously; we work to progress.
Towards organizational renewal within CPUSA
We need to be training to regain the practical and necessary skills to rebuild a mass organization.
Fundraising, training organizers, & setting goals
Becoming good at organizing takes training, practice, and ongoing assessment and refining. As skilled organizers, we needed training and still need regular re-training and practice.
Organizing at the District level: Suggestions from the field
As Communists, we not only strive for democratic representation, we work to advance the national struggles of this country in tandem with socialism.
For the Palestinian people, and Mary Turner and her unborn child, to finally win a just peace, we must have a steeled anti-imperialists outlook and engage in militant class struggle.
Fight for public housing not social housing
Social Housing is a right wing scheme designed to end Public Housing; enacting it would be a catastrophe for working class tenants across the country.
The MAGA right and true anti-semitism
We must embrace the historically majoritarian strand of Jewish political values and fight against all ethno-nationalist states, movements, and policies.
Rising majority of U.S. Jewish community stands for peace
As the Jewish Collective, we proclaim our deep opposition to laws which equate opposing the state or the policies of the state of Israel with anti-semitism.
Our priorities as Communists reflect the priorities of our neighbors, rural and urban. Our responsibility is to all people, to listen to and organize them.
The term “Bill of Rights Socialism” has been with the CPUSA for approximately three decades now. I argue that it is time to strike “Bill of Rights” from the phrase.
Understanding the rising threat of fascism in the U.S.
Our party should dive into what distinctly separates fascism from neoliberal imperialism and better grasp the concepts of the United Front and People’s Front.
Don’t be duped- Struggle against left and right opportunism
What can be done to avoid being duped by the left and the right opportunist tendencies that present as mirages for the party members?
Learning to learn: theoretical and practical interaction with dialectics
Marxist classes of Hegelian dialectics would help inspire interest in Marx’s works, and convince our newest comrades of our kind of practice within mass movement organizations.
Petty-bourgeois radicalism vs. working-class politics
If the CPUSA can help popularize working-class ideas and approaches to struggle, we will help the working-class and all people make great strides forward in the battles ahead.
Why a Women’s and LGBTQ Commission?
Through the formation of Women’s and LGBTQ Commissions in districts and clubs across the country we can bolster unity within existing movements fighting for gender and sex equality.
Mexican-American/Chicano(a) identity and the fight for equality
Our Party has a unique role to play in relation to the fight for equality of the Mexican-American/Chicana/o communities.
American chauvinism vs Party unity
As the contradictions of settler colonialism approach the emergence of a revolutionary moment, we must prepare ourselves for further class collaborationist threats against Party unity.
On the establishment of a Marxist-Leninist scientific journal
It is high time the Party implement a system of intra-party scientific journals.
At the crossroads: Trump’s fascism vs. Biden’s New Deal
The survival of democracy and humanity will be on the ballot in November!
People’s World: The voice of the party, a voice for the movements
People’s World is our newspaper, and it needs the unified support of the membership if it is to survive and thrive.
What is to be done? Popular front and the spirit of the Left
By grounding our strategies in the historical lessons of our militant ancestors we can stay true to the revolutionary spirit of the left.
We need a communist government-in-waiting
We must not be just a party of protest but a party of progress, a party preparing to govern.
Considerations for political positioning
What is the most effective electoral approach, and how do we prepare our defenses against fascist development?
The Party and marginalized groups
Implementation of an LGBTQ+/indigenous/etc. commission would greatly improve our understanding of the U.S. project along with deconstructing previous notions and failings of the party.
Response to Build the Party, Build the Clubs
What we need is a national program to spot and train cadres locally, regionally, and nationally.
We need new methods of training and deploying cadres
To do effective mass work requires consciously developed leadership at the base level, in communities and workplaces.
On the relationship between the Party and the YCL
It is important that we consider the relationship of the Party and the Young Communist League as we enter our national convention.
Community control of the police, necessary to protect our movements
It is a priority that we struggle to wrest democratic control of law enforcement from the hands of select individuals, in order to restrain it and permit ourselves to fully exercise our democratic rights.
The fight for public education
Teachers unions and community movements have been fighting back against the privatization effort and have been winning. The Communist Party USA must join them.
Call for transgender liberation
The Women’s Collective calls for raising the question of transgender liberation, to advocate for necessary reforms and to organize to take to build a just socialist world for all.
BRICS and the emerging new multilateral world
Communists should support trends towards a more democratic alternative to the U.S. dominated global trading and financial system.tions.
Fighting alienation, new urbanism, and working class neighborhoods
The New Urbanism Movement helps address concerns raised in convention discussion, particularly climate change.It needs more working class and left influences.
Communist media: A general multimedia strategy
The Party must intentionally add its perspective to the media landscape, ensuring political and class consciousness through consistent and high-quality content.
To defeat the democratic fascist regime, we must form a united front.
Develop “healthcare struggles”
Let’s develop our analysis on the sector of the capitalist class most involved in health injustice and, most critically, the special unity required to overcome these challenges.
The party must resolutely denounce the anti-work movement, and act against its ideas in every capacity.
Envisioning socialism with American characteristics
This blueprint for ‘Socialism with American Characteristics’ should clearly articulate how existing economic structures can be transformed to serve the collective good.
The lie of capitalist advancement
Under capitalism, the lie is that innovation thrives and everyone’s lives improve alongside these innovations.
Usefulness of cadre-based political education In mass organizations
The party could greatly benefit from a discussion around cadre building through personalized political education.
Necessity of a world communist movement
For our world movement to lead humanity’s liberation from capitalism we must strengthen the unity of the world communist movement.
Socialism: the next chapter of the American story
In putting forward our vision of socialism, we must make clear that the U.S. would not be discarding its past but building upon it.
The Party’s program must take a holistic, dialectical approach to identifying fascism, appreciating its development in the US, and must devise tactics accordingly.
Towards a vibrant future: re-establishing a national YCL
Convening a constitutional convention to formally constitute the Young Communist League nationally can chart a bold path forward towards a more just and equitable society.
Retirees, especially those organized by the Alliance for Retired Americans, cannot be ignored in building an effective progressive coalition.
Imperialism, mass migration, and the far right
The enemy is not the migrant worker, it is the exploiting capitalist who pits workers against each other for their profit. We must work together against capitalist exploitation.
Socialism and the battle for democracy: our democracy and theirs
We seek to build a special kind of unity in united and popular fronts, with working class leadership that knows who to ally with and who to struggle against.
Ranked choice voting is part of the struggle for democracy in the Popular Front
Involve our party in efforts to pass ranked choice voting on the local and state level and also campaign to remove bans on ranked choice voting where they currently exist.
Is the Democratic Party “the other” capitalist party or a progressive people’s party?
The lesser of two evils characterization of the Democratic Party holds no water.
The author’s thoughts, feelings, and opinions on what can, must, and will be done.
The international communist movement must struggle against opportunism
Principled engagement with our fraternal parties is an internationalist imperative with strategic ramifications at all levels of political life.
Strengthening our approach to LGBTQ+ liberation
We must work to develop a theoretical approach and a plan of action which can provide leadership for mass struggle on the question of LGBTQ+ liberation.
A hundred years since its conception, we must once again assess the role of the Young Communist League in the fight for the working class.
A response to “Build the Party, Build the Clubs”
Let us become a fortress of Marxism-Leninism and not a tea party of social democracy.
Our party is stronger for Dimitrov’s definition of fascism
Dimitrov warns against becoming blind to the difference between bourgeois democracy and fascism, or to the specific form that fascism takes in our current moment.
Community control of the police: a historic demand for justice
We must unite our movements and wield our collective strength to effectively define and control how our communities are served and kept safe.
The communist imperative for a socialist Appalachia
Fight for a socialist Appalachia, where democracy and prosperity are shared in kind by a healthy people and a healthy environment.
We work within all the avenues available to us, and that includes elections. This is not out of a desire to legitimize a system with several issues, but out of a desire to win real concessions for people, to expose the contradictions in the capitalist economic system, and importantly to prevent fascists from getting into office and enacting their agenda.
Expanding on “Our electoral strategy is grounded in Marxist-Leninist theory and practice”
Continue to investigate the success of the Working Family Party in Philadelphia as a third party that achieved independence and viability in a Democratic Party stronghold.
Expanding our position on healthcare
For a truly just and equitable healthcare system.
Red generation and a need for modern media from the Party
A few proposals to take the Party’s media apparatus to a higher level.
Suggestions to improve People’s World
Ideas to strengthen People’s World as a leading working-class news outlet in the country.
The Party must campaign for DC statehood
Consider an addition to the party’s program to include the fight for DC Statehood as a special component struggle in the general fight for democracy in the United States.
The liberation of Gaza and our industrial concentration policy
Mobilizing past accomplishments to liberate Gaza today will be victorious. In the process, we will advance industrial concentration – and human liberation.
A Michigan perspective on the struggle against racism
Capitalism’s existence depends on racism. Deepening the party’s anti-racist commitments may help it to organize in Black and Brown, and all nationally oppressed communities.
What the Party needs to build: a national campaign, mass organizations, and an economic plan
Building the party in this socialist moment amidst an imperialist crisis and fascist danger shapes how we approach our work while using Marxism-Leninism.
For concrete benchmarks for defeat of the far right
Proposal of concrete goals which would constitute defeat of the immediate far right threat.
The changing character of the extreme right
As communists, we should think of voting as a strategic act, and vote in a way that affords us the space to rally the working class on the political terrain of our choosing.
The uncommitted movement and voting against fascism
While Biden’s support of genocide in Gaza is abhorrent, this doesn’t mean that allowing a Republican to win would be better for the world.
It is time to expand our definition of the fascist threat
The struggle against fascism is not just against the ultra-right forces of Trumpian MAGA-ism, but also against the other faction of the bourgeoisie represented by Democrats like Biden.
Calls for removing language for a “two-state solution” from CPUSA platform and support the Boycott, Divestment, Sanction (BDS) movement.
Preparing to wage and win the class war under conditions of climate collapse
Set a time-bound objective for ourselves in the struggle against climate collapse rather than failing to build a sense of urgency into our strategy.
The United States is not a fascist country
Insisting that fascism is already here, or the Democratic party is fascist or that Democratic party voters are voting for fascism, is to disarm workers against the fascist threat.
Igniting the labor revival: a strategic foundation
A revitalized labor movement also presents a critical opportunity to rebuild our Party.
On building the party and other suggestions
Prioritize workplace clubs, focus on the national question, revitalize theoretical publications, build international solidarity, build a working class electoral movement.
To achieve unity, we must join the fight for decolonization
Decolonization is the defining issue of our time, and we can’t continue to ignore it.
For a united front of socialists, unions, and independents against fascism
If we want to stop fascism in the United States, we must work with other progressive forces, and this election is an opportune time to reach out.
Our electoral strategy is grounded in Marxist-Leninist theory and practice
Our most crucial electoral priority at this moment in time must be to win a strategic defeat against the most reactionary elements of the ruling class.
Our position on Palestine cannot be formed unilaterally
PPP leader Aqel Taqaz said, “All Palestinian organizations … [are] fighting for a Palestinian independent state on the basis of the UN resolutions … within the borders of 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital, and the right of refugees to go back home.” It is our responsibility to help achieve this result. The first step is forcing our own government to accept and support an immediate and permanent ceasefire.
Communist media: the terrain is challenging, but we must build there anyway
A focused, tight, and centralized media strategy with a Marxist orientation is necessary to build on the increasingly hostile terrain of US media, both digital and otherwise. We are obligated to use all methods necessary to organize our class.
CPUSA must be a Party of militant anti-racism
Militant anti-racism is a part of our Party’s roots, grounding our outlook both historically and today. However, this rich history may be threatened by the contemporary version of the old Socialist Party assertion that fighting racism as its own distinct battle is extraneous.
What We Need to Learn from the Black Panther Party
By incorporating these strategies and drawing inspiration from past movements like the Black Panther Party, the party can enhance its legitimacy, increase participation, attract donations, and move closer than ever to achieving a united front, thus gaining mass appeal.
Strategies for organizational unity and action
By helping lead movements on relevant issues we will build a mass, revolutionary party. This, however, will only be possible when all levels of the party are equipped with the skills and tools necessary for this. Thank you for reading this submission, onwards to the 32nd National Convention!
For a one-state solution in Palestine, and other suggestions
Palestine is the site of the most important anti-imperialist struggle of today; Palestine is the Vietnam of the 1960s. Every single communist in the United States must — and with the most unapologetic, most comprehensive, and most unrestrained attitude — support Palestine. Palestine must get its liberation.
Our fraternal parties in Palestine and Israel are best suited to present analysis on the issues on the ground. Not only are they best suited, it is their right to self determination to lead the struggle, and it is our job as comrades to follow their lead.
Xenophobia: a 21st century vector for fascism
The Communist Party USA must do what it can to bring attention to and fight back against the fascist tactic of xenophobia and anti-migrant sentiment before it’s too late.
Let Us Renew the Struggle Against Male Supremacy
If the Party hopes to tackle the threat of fascism in the current political moment, it must take up these tasks, prioritize women’s issues more than ever, and renew the struggle against male supremacy.
The working class and the struggle for democracy
The working class and the struggle for democracy is paramount if we are to succeed in overthrowing the bourgeois class and instituting a society based on socialism.
For consideration of national oppression in our discussion
A call to deepen collective discussion on one or more resolutions regarding Mexican American Equality and other Latina/os
Environmental Crises and Class Struggle
The environmental crises the world faces are getting worse, fast, and are part of the general crisis of capitalism. We can build people’s movements to end this crisis now.
Preparing to end monopoly capital’s political rule by the 37th convention
The urgency of addressing climate change demands correspondingly urgent changes if we are to adapt.
The party must renew its engagement with the healthcare for all movement
Comrades, it is our task as the Communist Party to direct the politically advanced sector of the working class which struggles on the front lines of the opioid epidemic into a revived national coalition to win healthcare for all.
Right wing forces are the main agitators of a “culture war” they claim to want no part in, and many socialists have taken them at their word. We must confront the current crisis of culture.
The only class that can lead the green transition is our own
Only the working class, in alliance with specially oppressed people of other classes, can lead the fight for the fundamental changes necessary to mitigate climate change.