The following report was given by CPUSA Organizational Secretary Anita Waters to the Feb. 2, 2025 meeting of the CPUSA National Committee.

Our Party’s participation in the Jan. 18 People’s March on Washington was very successful. More than 100 Comrades showed up not only from nearby Virginia, Maryland, and D.C., but also from farther away, including Connecticut, Ohio, North Carolina, New York, Philadelphia, and even Oklahoma and California. We had excellent signage around ending deportations, supporting reproductive rights, and fighting against Trump’s neofascist agenda. Our banners were clearly visible in video news reports about the march. Simultaneously, Comrades took part in local marches and events all across the country. We also had good representation at a Martin Luther King Jr. event that Monday morning in Washington. There was great coverage of these events in People’s World.

Organizational work going forward will focus on strategic planning, communication, and party structures.

First, we need a national plan of work, especially for the next two years while Trump’s party has control over the White House, Congress and the Supreme Court. We need to figure out how to work most effectively in these conditions to promote working-class consciousness, organization, and power. We’ll take this task up in the Organization Department. We’ll be seeking input from club and district leaders and commission members as the plan is formulated.

Second is communication. We have a new database with a lot of capacity for growth in the way we communicate across the Party. A new procedure for getting email blasts out was sent out on Jan. 9 but might have gone under the radar. District and club leaders can prepare content to be cut and pasted, and the information about when and to whom the message should go out. It can be very specific geographically, or directed to comrades living in a particular congressional district, or People’s World donors from your state to help with your fund drive, etc. Even texting to specific lists will be available. A meeting of club and district leaders will be scheduled soon to discuss Every Action procedures, social media guidelines, rapid response, and the People’s World fund drive.

Third, we are looking at the structures of the party. As our party grows and clubs develop, clubs in some areas want to work toward consolidating into districts. We’re working on guidelines to organize districts so that they can best support the development and work of clubs and be sustainable. That’s the infrastructure to build the class forces on a local level, as Joe was referring to in his keynote.

Last year we adopted a description of the role of National Committee members. Next, we’ll look at commissions, where some of the most important work of the party is accomplished. Commissions should be filled with comrades experienced in the party and in the movement, and should be organized for sustainability over time. But commissions should offer new members some connection as well, in the form of a newsblast, webinar, or other means of communication and interaction. We already have strong Political Action and Labor Commissions, the African American Equality Commission is coming together, and the Religion Commission is restarted. A women’s collective has been formed and will be working toward becoming a standing commission again.

In short, great developments are happening in our party — we’re rededicated to our theoretical work, and the rapid response effort is mobilizing our membership by highlighting the issues important to us and our allies, while adding the Communist Plus.

Image: CPUSA members at the Jan. 18 People’s March in D.C. (Anita Water / CPUSA)

Comments