The peace movement has long been a vital force in our country, playing decisive roles in opposing U.S. military interventions in Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq. It has stood up to threats of nuclear war and the military-industrial corporations’ profit-driven feeding of the Pentagon’s war machine. Today it’s needed more than ever.

The winds of war are blowing increasingly hot. Wars in Ukraine, on the African continent and in the Middle East are raging with no end in sight. The U.S. Cold War 2.0 directed against China, Cuba and Venezuela is intensifying, along with a record $1 trillion military budget. There is talk of nuclear strikes and regime change. Voices in the GOP even threaten war against Mexico. Strong fascist voices are fanning the flames.

At home, militarization of the U.S.–Mexico border and tax cuts for the rich drain the social budget. Mass shootings are on the rise and abortion and voting rights are suppressed. Anti-immigrant, along with anti-Asian violence proliferates. Police departments are militarized and racist police murder of young African Americans and Latinos remains unchecked. Issues central to rural communities are ignored. Meanwhile, the corporate mainstream media prepares the public for more and more conflict.

War is a disaster for the working class — we face seemingly endless conventional, hybrid and economic wars that misdirect people’s energy and steal resources from human needs and protecting the environment.

Never has the need for a strong peace movement been more urgent. Peace now is a struggle for the future of the human species. But the voices for peace, at times loud, are now subdued. The traditional peace movement needs youth, energy, unity, imagination and diversity. It needs breadth and leadership from the working class, organized labor, women, people of color, environmentalists and the LGBTQ community. How can the CPUSA draw on its deep history of peace work to help revitalize and rebuild the peace movement?

At its core, this is a struggle for mass democratic power for people to change the direction of the country. What unique role can the Communist Party play?

Party activists, friends and allies from around the country will gather for a conference on November 11–12 to address these issues. We will share and celebrate our ongoing work, coordinate and strategize, and plan action programs for a new, broad, working-class-led peace movement. People, peace and planet before profits! We need your voice. Please join us!

Images: People demonstrate in a national anti-war effort (Not In Our Name); The War on the Poor is Immoral by Poor People’s Campaign (Facebook)

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