Welcome to Pre-Convention discussion!  Building socialism is a collective task, and your input is needed.  We encourage evaluation of, and comment on the new CPUSA Draft Program 2019, as well as on every aspect of the party’s work.  If you’d like some questions to stimulate your thinking, check out the Club and District Discussion Guide and our Categories for Discussion.

How to participate

Send an audio or video contribution,  Post a video of five minutes or less to YouTube, Vimeo or other online hosting platforms, then email the link to discussion@cpusa.org by June 1, 2019.  We cannot edit or prepare video contributions for you

Send a written contribution.  Written documents should be in the form of an electronic document (Microsoft Word, .pdf, or other standard format), or in the text of an email, with the author’s name, club/district or organizational affiliation (where possible), and a word count.  Submissions should not be longer than 1000 words. Both English and Spanish contributions are welcome; however, we do not have the resources to translate all submissions.  If you would like assistance with translation, we suggest you contact your local district for support.   Written contributions should be emailed to discussion@cpusa.org by June 1, 2019.

Propose a resolution. To propose a resolution for consideration by the National Convention, email it to resolutions2019@cpusa.org by May 15, 2019.

Suggest revisions to the Draft Program. Suggestions for specific revisions or amendments to the Draft Program should be emailed to program@cpusa.org no later that May 15, 2019.  We encourage you to identify the passage in question as clearly as possible (including with a page number) and to propose specific wording for the revision or amendment.

Comment, or respond to comments, on the CPUSA Facebook page and website. All written and video submissions will be posted to www.cpusa.org and the Communist Party USA Facebook page. You will need a Facebook account to submit comments in either forum.  Comments will be moderated in the interest of maintaining a comradely environment for discussion.

Participate in online seminars to discuss the new draft Party program. We will be organizing thematic seminars throughout Pre-Convention Discussion.  Topics include class and democratic struggle, realities of the U.S. working class, unity against the extreme right, and the role of the CPUSA. All sessions will be 6-7:30 PM Eastern on the dates indicated. Click here to register.   Even if you can’t participate in real time, all registered participants will receive a recording of the sessions.

Sunday, Feb 17: Intro to the Party Program & Class and Democratic Struggle (Suggested Reading: sections I, II, & V)

Sunday, March 24: Realities of the US Working Class & the Working Class Movement for Social Progress (Suggested Reading: section III)

Sunday, April 14: Unity Against the Extreme Right in the Electoral Arena and Beyond (Suggested Reading: sections IV, VI, & VII)

Sunday, May 19: The Role of the Party, the Battle of Ideas, & Our Vision of Socialism (Suggested Reading: sections VIII, IX, & X)

Guidelines for participation

We expect reasonable care to be taken in preparing submissions. Please do your best to thoroughly edit, spell-check, and proofread your written contribution so that it’s ready for publication. Likewise, take care that your audio/video submission has clear sound and/or image. In addition, all submissions should include the name of the author or authors and, where possible, their club/district or organizational affiliation.

We hope for and expect a thoroughly free and open discussion, but, as a working class organization, we will not accept contributions that are offensive, profane, defamatory, racist, sexist, homophobic, anti-working class, or anti-communist. In addition, you should:

• Keep it comradely:  This is a discussion of ideas, not individuals.  Name-calling, accusations, or insults have no place in this collective work.
• Keep it focused: Address a specific point and make your argument as directly as possible. If you want to address more than one topic, you are welcome to send more than one submission.
• Keep it accessible:  Some comrades have academic training or years of experience in the movement. Others do not.  Keep your language as straightforward as possible.  Explain special terminology or historical references.
• Keep it real: We encourage you to bring in your personal experiences from the struggles you’ve been involved in. Let people know what worked and what didn’t. The most useful contributions will be based on real activity.

Submissions that do not meet these guidelines may be rejected or returned for revision, at the discretion of the pre-Convention discussion committee.

We look forward to hearing from you! ¡La lucha continua!

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