The following report was given to the party’s National Committee on July 13, 2025. More NC reports here.

Since the last National Committee meeting, the YCL has been moving with urgency in response to the deepening crisis in the U.S., recognizing that we need a mass movement to push MAGA back to the margins.

What started in the winter as scattered protests and spontaneous boycotts has caught fire. The April “Hands Off” rallies, June’s “No Kings Day,” and May Day’s militant, multiracial demonstrations show that people are ready to fight back. AOC’s and Bernie’s Oligarchy Tours are exposing the billionaires fueling fascism, while Nina Turner’s We Are Somebody campaign is pushing 2025 to be the year of boycotts, targeting corporations like Target that are rolling back diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Two upcoming mobilizations point to the next phase of this rising wave of Resistance 2.0:

• The August 28th March on Wall Street, called by the National Action Network
• The National Union Day of Solidarity, called by the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists

Glimpse of what’s possible: Mamdani’s victory

Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral primary win in New York City offers a glimpse of how we begin building that front. He didn’t win on the backs of white progressives alone; he built a multiracial, working-class coalition that stretched from the brownstones of Park Slope to the immigrant communities of Jackson Heights, Richmond Hill, Sunset Park, and Chinatown. He flipped districts that supported Biden in 2020 and Trump in 2024, proving the power of clear messaging around the cost of living crisis and grassroots organizing driven by relentless, door-to-door canvassing.

The most politically significant achievement of his campaign was the coalition itself. It brought together two forces that rarely align at scale: Millennial and Gen Z voters, and working-class immigrant communities. Together, they proved that a clear, popular agenda — Rent freezes, fast and free buses, universal childcare, cheaper groceries, and unapologetic opposition to billionaire politics and U.S. support for the war in Gaza — can win.

But winning is only the first step. The real challenge now is expanding and consolidating that coalition into governing power for the people who need it most.

Organize, strike, vote

This moment demands more than resistance—it requires a plan to turn protest into power. The YCL’s strategy for the road ahead centers on three pillars: organize, strike, and vote.

• May Day School (May Day 2025): A three-day organizer training was held focused on how to have effective organizing conversations, recruitment and leadership development, and craft strategic campaigns. This was the first of what we hope will be a regular series of organizer schools designed to give young comrades the tools to organize on campus or in their communities.
• Little Red School House (July 2025): An 8-day Marxist Summer School is being planned with classes on: The Political Moment and The United Front Against Fascism, an Intro to Marxism-Leninism, Political Economy, Imperialism, The Environment, The Struggle Against Racism, Immigration, Women’s Emancipation, LGBTQ Liberation, The Youth Question and The Role of the YCL, The Role of the Party, and The Promise of Socialism.

We’re planning to launch regional versions of these trainings in collaboration with party districts and clubs. We’re also finalizing a YCL new chapter drive, including organizing materials such as YCL chapter guidelines modeled on the CPUSA’s club guidelines.

A new YCL pamphlet is also in development. It will lay out our vision for a mass youth organization rooted in education, action, and recreation — and will issue a call to organize, strike, and vote against the corporate oligarchy and U.S. imperialism. At its core will be a Youth Bill of Rights — a bold, progressive program to help build a united front of young students, young workers, young people of color, young feminists, LGBTQ youth, climate organizers, and peace activists around a shared vision of our freedom and our future.

From protest to power: ’26 and ’28

MAGA is executing a long-planned agenda. We’re still playing catch-up — but people are fighting back. Our task is clear: turn rising public outrage into mass action and political power.

The next 18 months must be a period of escalating resistance.

That means:

• Disruptive protests that make clear this is not business as usual
• Strategic boycotts that challenge the profitability of fascism
• Civil disobedience and mass refusal to comply with the MAGA agenda
• Aggressive electoral organizing in 2026
• Deep, sustained community–labor solidarity through 2028

We must treat the 2026 midterms and 2028 general strike as benchmarks — tests of our ability to fight and win.

The 2026 midterms is our first real chance to break MAGA’s grip on all three branches of government. Flipping the House would shift the balance of forces and create space for deeper organizing. Progressive GOTV organizations — which the YCL has partnered with in the past — are planning to target Republican-held districts where working-class communities depend on Medicaid and food stamps, both slashed by the GOP’s deadly budget to fund tax cuts for the rich.

The YCL must help mobilize young people to join this fight — for our freedom, our families, and our future.

The 2028 General Strike, called by UAW President Shawn Fain, should be seen not as a one-day action but as the climax of a multi-year organizing campaign, built through escalating May Day mobilizations in 2026, 2027, and 2028. These actions can and should be organized through broad May Day Committees uniting labor, community organizations, student groups, faith institutions, and other progressive forces.

The YCL should take the lead in mobilizing young people to pledge their support and take to the streets alongside the working class.

Build the Resistance, grow the YCL

The threat we face is serious — and so is the fight ahead. Beating back MAGA’s agenda will take more than protest. It will take strategy, unity, and action.

The time to prepare is now. Let’s build the resistance — and grow the YCL into the fighting force this moment requires and the future demands.

Images: CPUSA