Dear members of the Communist Party USA:
On behalf of the Left Inside-Outside Project, I extend warm greetings to you on the occasion of your 31st national convention and, of course, the centennial of your founding.
The Left Inside-Outside Project strives to develop greater collaboration and unity across the socialist left, especially those that share a common orientation towards defeating the extreme right and building independent power for progressive and left politics.
In that spirit, I want to highlight the rich experiences of the Communist Party USA that the entire left may learn from. The party played a leading role in the defense of the Scottsboro Boys, the formation of the Sojourners for Truth and Justice, and the organization of the National Negro Congress. It was crucial in building the CIO and the modern labor movement. In more recent times, it was an important part of bringing together the broadest possible opposition to the Iraq War within United for Peace and Justice.
In other words, the party has been integral to the struggles for justice and equality in the U.S. throughout the twentieth century. In that sense, the legacy of the Communist Party USA is also the heritage of the left as a whole.
In solidarity,
Calvin Cheung-Miaw