Dear comrades and friends,
Communist Party, USA (CPUSA) and Young Communist League (YCL) activists gathered in Chicago July 17-18 to assess economic and social crisis facing the young generation, including massive unemployment, deep cuts to public education and skyrocketing tuition costs, along with the need for urgent united action by the labor and people's movement and youth themselves, to address these issues.
The increasingly multi-racial and diverse young generation is one of the essential class and social forces needed to advance the struggle at every stage including the fight for socialism.
The conference also aimed at giving a boost to building the Young Communist League and influence of the CPUSA, including through the use of the revolutionary new social media and internet. The unity of the Party and YCL at every stage in struggle and building our movement is paramount.
Two leaders of Chicago Jobs with Justice took part in a discussion on building a movement among youth for a massive public works jobs program. The conference resolved to help mobilize youth to the October 2 national march for jobs in Washington, DC.
Those gathered also assessed the new progressive attitudes developing among a large segment of youth in response to the crisis and the fight against the reactionary ultra right.
Young people — especially the "we generation" born between 1978 and 2000 — are emerging as a powerful political voting block, having voted nearly 70% for Barack Obama in the 2008 elections. Mobilization of first time and young voters was discussed as a key objective to decisively defeat the Republican ultra right at the polls in November.
Several opinion polls suggest half of today's youth think socialism, however they conceive it, offers a better future than the horrible dead end life capitalism offers. Given the openness to left and progressive ideas, there is a big potential to build a much larger and more active Young Communist League in campuses and communities across the country, as well as the influence of the CPUSA.
Conference attendees came from the Bay Area, Los Angeles, Dallas, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, New Haven, CT, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Washington, DC and New York. The conference was followed by a vibrant four day YCL school.
The conference welcome by CPUSA National Executive Vice Chair Jarvis Tyner and
remarks by Illinois Organizer, John Bachtell are available on our webpage.
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