First Published: Rally, Comrades! (Electronic Edition), Vol. 14, No. 1, February 1995.
Transcription, Editing and Markup: Paul Saba
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We are building an organization for this stage of the revolution. We must teach, train and elevate the thinking of a movement which is scattered, diverse and searching for answers. We must focus on the special contribution we can make – education about why our society is in crisis, what can be done to solve it and a vision for the future.
Our organizational structure has not kept up and could not keep up with our evolving understanding of the struggle. The committee system as our basic organizational form was designed to carry out the task of bringing together the practical leaders of the movement to help them connect with one another and strategize for the entire movement. The agitation and propaganda we did in the committees was to facilitate that task. Our committee system has become a way to organize and coordinate the mass movement. Today, our structure has to organize our agitation and propaganda on the specific questions of the day. We need a new structure which will enable us to carry out our new program.
Each chapter must be based in a territory (such as a part of a city) and will do its agitation and propaganda within that territory.
Political education must be at the center of the chapters’ work. Our organization must be a place where both our members and the movement can learn what they need to explain, persuade and prove to the people the dangers and possibilities of the situation today. With this knowledge and understanding, our membership can participate in any activity in a way that elevates the consciousness of those around them.
The People’s Tribune, the Tribuno del Pueblo and Rally, Comrades! are our main weapons in the fight for the hearts and minds of the American people. In our activity, writing for and distributing the papers is the primary means to educate and politicize the revolution. Through our papers, we can reach millions with the truth about the struggle, what we are facing and what we must do.
Every paper read means a mind opened. Every chapter must make its central responsibility to get these papers into the hands of every person asking the question “Why?”
The chapter must be open and flexible to reflect the reality of the movement today. It holds regular and public meetings which are open to all, members and non-members alike. The chapter organizes itself to carry out the program.
Our organizational principles – along with the political direction given by the program – forge the unity necessary for a membership of diverse people to march in a common direction. These principles are: collective discussion and decisions based on an assessment of the real world and individual responsibility to carry out those decisions; division of labor; unity of authority and responsibility; checkup and evaluation of our plans and reporting the results. They encourage individual creativity and initiative while at the same time guaranteeing accountability to the decisions and agreements of the collective.
While our chapters must be open and flexible, we also need the means to guarantee the life and the political direction of the organization. To do this, we need a central body, both nationally and locally.
In the areas, the local membership would elect in their local conventions an area office. The area office would ensure that the chapters are carrying out the program, establish the wherewithal for expansion into new areas and work within a division of labor. The members would come together for area-wide meetings as necessary to discuss and decide how to respond through agitation and propaganda and to build the organization as the social struggle develops.
At the national level, the National Council, the Steering Committee and the National Office use the press to give direction to the agitation and propaganda of the members. The National Office must be organized around the People’s Tribune, the Tribuno del Pueblo and Rally, Comrades!.
Our new structure will allow us to get varied and different levels of contribution from people as they join and get to know the organization. In this way, we can build everywhere and in any social struggle.