First Published: Unity, Vol. 2, No. 9, May 4-17, 1979.
Transcription, Editing and Markup: Paul Saba
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Los Angeles – The merger between the East Wind organization and the League of Revolutionary Struggle (M-L) was warmly and enthusiastically celebrated in Los Angeles on April 21. Over 200 people attended the program which featured speeches, a multi-media slide show, the UNITY singers and a reception.
A speaker from UNITY newspaper pointed out the significance of the merger: “This step united two Marxist-Leninist organizations which trace their roots back to the late 1960’s. It also signifies an encouraging momentum toward uniting all U.S. Marxist-Leninists into a single unified vanguard party of the working class .... Each organization has shown its commitment to the revolution, and has persevered through difficult periods in the movement .... Differences were struggled out in a principled way, and unity on all major points of line was achieved. In the process, East Wind affirmed what was positive in its history and its contributions to the Marxist-Leninist movement.”
The highlight of the program was a 45 minute slide show using poems, music, historical and current photographs. It showed how East Wind and the Asian American movement in Los Angeles drew its roots from the revolutionary upsurge of the late 1960’s and early ’70’s: the Black, Chicano and Native American movements, as well as the anti-war, students’ and women’s movement. Applause broke out several times as images of struggle and revolutionary leaders such as Malcolm X and Chairman Mao flashed on the screen.
The slide show demonstrated East Wind’s rich history of leading mass struggles for housing, health care and programs for the elderly. It also showed East Wind’s role in fighting against the spread of drugs in the Asian community and their anti-imperialist support work for the struggles of the third world.
The slide show pointed out that throughout its history, East Wind took up the struggle against revisionism and opportunism. In the face of attacks by groups such as the Workers Viewpoint Organization, which belittled work in the national movements as unimportant and narrow, East Wind fought for a Marxist-Leninist line on the national question. They applied Marxism-Leninism to concrete reality, led the battle for reforms in a revolutionary way, united with the broad masses, and won many people to become revolutionaries.
For the many friends who had worked together with East Wind and the League for several years in the Asian American and revolutionary movements, it was a time to reaffirm solidarity. Yuri Kochiyama, a Nisei (2nd generation Japanese American) activist, well-known in the Asian and Black liberation movements, expressed her congratulations in a statement read at the program, (see below)
Many people drew out lessons from the program. “Since I’m new to the movement, I didn’t know we did so much in the 1960’s and early ’70’s,” said one Asian American. A white comrade said, “I was impressed by the long history of the Asian American and Japanese American movements. All people can learn from it.”
A long-time Asian American activist told UNITY, “There was a time when there were many small groups in the L.A. Asian movement. I hesitated to be identified with any one group. The merger is a definite step forward. It showed the unselfishness – to cast aside small group feeling based on being dedicated to the cause. My congratulations to both parties. They put principle above all else.”
The enthusiastic response to the program reflects the importance of the merger. The merger represents a victory for Marxist-Leninist unity and a milestone in the development of the Asian American movement. With the unity between East Wind and the League, even greater tasks must be shouldered to build the vanguard party to lead the struggle against U.S. monopoly capitalism.
Celebrate the unity between East Wind and the League of Revolutionary Struggle (M-L)!
Onward toward the building of a genuine communist party!
Gam Baru Zo! (Let’s persevere in the struggle together.)
Yuri Kochiyama is a well-known activist in the Asian American and Black national movements, and a longtime friend of East Wind and the League of Revolutionary Struggle (M-L).
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. . . The East Wind’s statement on its unity with the League revealed how tediously and seriously they have been delving with the question of consolidation .... Such a decision to dissolve one’s cherished collective, and identity and become a part of a larger political entity, is not easy. It manifests maturity, a coming of age, moving from one level to another – just as IWK, and STT have done before them.
Having had many years of experience with East Wind and IWK people (before the consolidation), I feel their strength was in their openness, upfrontness of their politics, and the warm way they related politically and socially with others including non-Marxists. As one of the latter, a non-Marxist, I enjoyed interaction with you. I hope the League will continue in the same vein of being open-minded and broad, and will continue intensifying the building of a genuine communist party. . . .
Hoping the Marxists and revolutionary nationalists can work together in the many areas of struggle and around current issues. Dethroning capitalism /imperialism will require a broad network of all the forces possible. No potentials should be overlooked. Every kind of relationship should be developed principally and utilized correctly.
May the League of Revolutionary Struggle grow politically and numerically, setting examples for other Marxist-Leninists.