Monica Hill, New York
Radicals representing divergent opinions and various tendencies and groups crowded into Freedom Hall in Harlem on June 2 to take part in a forum entitled "Is it time for a US socialist alliance?"
The 70 people present sometimes had widely differing answers to that question. But they were pleased to share views, many conversing until almost midnight in a high energy give-and-take.
Nearly everyone had one thing in common — a sense of urgency about the times we live in. The forum — hosted by the Freedom Socialist Party — was chaired by Ray Laforest, National Board member of Pacifica Foundation, an AFSCME union organiser and coordinator of the Haiti Support Network. As Laforest put it in his introductory remarks, "The theme of this event is at the very core of the future of society and the survival of the planet itself. It's been time for a socialist alliance for a long time."
Speaker Sean Sweeney, co-founder of the New York Socialist Project, echoed this sentiment: "There is a crisis of human civilisation unfolding right now." Although there is the technology available to eradicate some of the worst conditions in history, he pointed out, the fragmented condition of the left makes it impossible to alleviate suffering.
"There are too many socialist organisations and this is profoundly damaging", he lamented. Instead, Sweeney strongly advocated the many US left groups form a socialist alliance in which it would be possible to express political differences formally and still organise in one larger group. He considered the Scottish Socialist Alliance (now the Scottish Socialis Party) a model of success. He reminded the audience that "the biggest socialist formation in New York is unaffiliated socialists" who need an organisation to work in.
Bryan Koulouris, Socialist Alternative's speaker, did not believe that an alliance of small left forces is the answer, but rather "a real workers party that involves broad forces that have never before been engaged in the left". It is socialists' job to "point the way to victories that affect people s everyday lives", he contended. These victories will encourage people to form coalitions of mass groups inside and outside the electoral arena. In contrast to almost everyone else in the room, Koulouris supported Ralph Nader for president as a way to attract people who have not yet become socialists.
Socialist Party representative Sam Morales, speaking briefly because he was a last-minute replacement on the panel, described his party as a "multi-tendency group that is somewhat of a socialist alliance itself". The SP supports a socialist roundtable that would work towards winning proportional representation and united electoral slates, he said. Morales did not think socialists should "get too caught up in electoral politics, but that it is a good way to present an anti-capitalist and revolutionary message".
Guerry Hoddersen, international secretary of the US section of the Freedom Socialist Party, said that the FSP had decided to sponsor the forum because of the acute political crisis in the US. There is a "proto-fascist movement building out there," she said, "composed of super patriots, racist militia men, heterosexual marriage worshippers, the Christian right and right-wing radio disk jockeys who preach bigotry."
She added that some people in the US — such as immigrants, people of colour and political dissidents — are already living under police state conditions right now. "This serious situation calls for a high level of cooperation."
But is an alliance possible? "We'll only know if we try", she said. "Start now talking about a possible program. Treat each other respectfully. Work together in the anti-war and labour movements instead of competing. We need boldly anti-capitalist alliances that promote socialist ideas and working-class independence from the parties of capitalism."
"Workers all over the world need our help", Hoddersen entreated. "Even a small beginning on a US socialist alliance would be a tremendous boost to people who are fighting for their very lives in Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa."
After the speakers' remarks, the room erupted in fast-paced discussion. Palestinian partisan Farouk Abdel-Muhti, recently freed after two years in prison as a victim of the Patriot Act, warmly thanked the room full of cheering activists for helping get him out of jail. He urged the left to "create a family to oppose imperialism in the heart of the United States".
Some attendees did not endorse the concept of a socialist alliance. A representative from the International Socialist Organization said leftists should come together on other "smaller issues" before attempting organisational alliance. The League for a Revolutionary Party dismissed the idea of socialists allying as "ballot box socialism", and the Spartacist League denounced it as "grotesque reformism". Two parties that ran presidential candidates in the 2000 election — Workers World and the Socialist Workers Party — declined to participate.
But most of the 70 people in the room wanted to see some serious work on building left unity. In addition to the groups represented on the panel, there were people from Harlem Tenants Council, New York City Working People s Voice newspaper and AFRAM news services, as well as many community organisers not affiliated with any group. They all stressed the need to integrate race and class struggles. Most preferred an alliance with explicitly socialist principles. Some pointed to existing alliances in Puerto Rico, Australia and Latin America.
Hoddersen described the experience of the Australian Section of the Freedom Socialist Party — a founding affiliate of the successful Australian Socialist Alliance. Socialist Alliance in Australia has mounted important joint left actions and mobilisations on behalf of immigrants, refugees and Indigenous struggles as well as leading militant trade union fights. Hoddersen told the forum it has also been very effective in the antiwar movement and has developed into an important place to develop joint left strategies.
Long after the forum was officially adjourned, Freedom Hall was abuzz with discussion and people signing up for future meetings on the issue.
Said event planner, Stephen Durham, New York organiser for the FSP, "Seeds were planted tonight. Hopefully, this enthusiasm will become the nourishment they need to grow." Sean Sweeney concurred saying "I applaud this initiative. The meeting was an important first step, one that is much needed at this time."
[For more information about future efforts e-mail <fsprw@nyct.net> or <fspnatl@igc.org>.]
From 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ Weekly, June 23, 2004.
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