"The 2008 election of Barack Obama, and now his presidency, are perhaps the biggest continuation of that (revolutionary) spirit in a generation. So take a moment to relax and celebrate with family and friends all that we've achieved so far -- and all the victories to come, up to and including a socialist USA. And let's recommit ourselves to the struggle. We're on better terrain than we've been on for any 4th of July in decades."
Dan Margolis, Chairman, Communist Party of New York
People's Weekly World, Chicago, Illinois, July 4, 2009
From Peoples Weekly World
The following is from an e-mail by Dan Margolis, chair of the Communist Party in New York, celebrating our unique U.S. history of struggle and urging us to continue it this Fourth of July.
Dear friends,
Right now, I'm on a train from New York City, where the Battle of Brooklyn took place and our first capital, to Boston, land of the real Boston Tea Party, Lexington and Concord, the shot heard around the world, Paul Revere and lots more.
Then I plan to go on to Worcester, my hometown, and, more importantly, the city where the first national convention for women's suffrage took place, and also an early hotbed of abolitionist activity.
Today is the 4th of July, so I can't help but to think of the historical importance of the events that took place in this part of our nation, as well as the rest of the American revolutionary tradition. I hope that you will pause, as I am doing, to reflect on our shared history, a history of struggle for what is just.
The American Revolution, though incomplete at first, was one of what Vladimir Lenin called some 100 years ago the three "truly great" revolutions in world history: The American, the French and the Russian. The Revolution established the first democratic republic.
It wasn't complete at first, but its importance can't be overstated, and it laid the basis for further struggles: the Civil War and end to slavery, the fight for women's rights, the formation of the Communist Party, the formation of the labor movement and the CIO, the Civil Rights revolution of the 1960s, the fight against fascism in the 30s and 40s, the fight against U.S. aggression in Vietnam, Korea and Iraq, the continued fight for immigrant rights, to name a few things, all continue the spirit of 1776.
The 2008 election of Barack Obama, and now his presidency, are perhaps the biggest continuation of that spirit in a generation.
So take a moment to relax and celebrate with family and friends all that we've achieved so far--and all the victories to come, up to and including a socialist USA.
And let's recommit ourselves to the struggle. We're on better terrain than we've been on for any 4th of July in decades. We can win the fight for public option health care (sign the petition below), the Employee Free Choice Act, and more.
Happy Independence Day!
Dan Margolis
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