Joining Freedom Road

[jacobin1949]

I'm looking to join Freedom Road Organization, fight back news. But I've had a hard time getting in contact with them. If anyone works or has contact with the New York branch I'd be intrested in getting in touch with them.

They basically support my line nearly exactly with the exception of their strong stance on homosexuality. Any way if anyone has info on how I can join I'd really appreciate it. Just a note I'm only looking to join the frso.org fightback faction not the Eurocommunist deviants.

Thanks.

[OneBrickOneVoice]

FRSO was tiny before the split. Now it is microscopic.

[Nothing Human Is Alien]

Nothing wrong with FARC, and what do you mean about "their strong stance on homosexuality"?

[Severian]

Originally posted by [email protected] 24, 2007 06:11 pm
They are practically an underground organization, simply joining other groups that are trying to build a mass movement and forcing their hardcore stalinist apologist lines on the rest of the group. Make sectarianism an issue and generally scare people away. For example, a campus anti-war group I'm in recently saw a decline from 20 people to about 5, largely coinciding with FRSO members joining and gaining influence.
That's my experience with 'em as well. A number of their members were leaders of the Progressive Students Organization at the University of Minnesota. It wasn't generally known that these people were in the FRSO; I was active in Twin Cities politics including dealing with the PSO for years before I ever heard of the FRSO.

They played all kinds of political games through the PSO which made the PSO pretty unpopular with a lot of people at the University. Some people would flatly refuse to work with 'em at all, which wasn't correct but understandable.

I finally found out about the FRSO during the first Gulf War. Despite not being a U of M student, I was in contact with some people who were trying to lauch an antiwar coalition there. The PSO, and especially the FRSO people in it, tried to block this.

They had a deal going where antiwar rallies were called by the PSO and Campus Greens. If there was a coalition, they'd have to let other antiwar students have a say; never mind that this was necessary if you were going to get other antiwar students active and helping build the biggest possible rallies.

Fortunately, this position was unpopular enough they had to backtrack, and the antiwar coalition was launched, with the PSO's participation. I think partly this was because the FRSO's grip on the PSO had weakened some, with the graduation of some of their members....

[jacobin1949]

http://freedomroad.org/content/category/6/94/64/lang,en/
http://freedomroad.org/staticfiles/familytree/basictree.html

Accordin to their family tree some pretty historically significant leftist groups have merged into them. Its true they are small but what parties are out there today? The "vanilla communists" CPUSA has become social democrats, and most other organizations either take an ultraleftist position lik MIM or Revcom or PLP or are Eurocommunists. Plus they are one of the only communist movements that puts the national liberation needs of colored people in the USA on such high priority. Its just that you would think that an organization that has news articles as recent as February of 2007 would make it easier to join. I've been entirely unable to contact them.

Freedom Road Socialist Organization: 20 Years of Struggle

For the past 20 years, members of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization have worked to build the struggle for justice, equality, peace and liberation. We have done everything in our power to develop the day-to-day fight of the oppressed and exploited, while creating an understanding and organization that is revolutionary - with socialism as its goal.

In the course of these past 20 years, the activists of Freedom Road have made real contributions to many of this country�s major struggles and movements. Down-to-earth practical work in the workplaces, neighborhoods and campuses has been a hallmark of our organization.

In the 1980s, we campaigned for Jesse Jackson and Chicago�s mayor Harold Washington while working to build the Black liberation movement and the struggle for African American political power. Our members were on the union picket lines when Hormel meatpackers faced the National Guard. We built opposition to Bush Sr.�s first war on Iraq and organized countless protests and demonstrations of every war of every administration - from Reagan to Bush, Jr. In the 1990�s and this last five years, we participated in thousands of battles on the local and national level. High points include building the Chicano and Latino movements against the government�s anti-immigrant measures in California, the powerful struggles of the urban poor in Minnesota and the Teamster reform movement.

We have built an organization that is nationwide in scope. We have members in North Carolina, Northern California and points in between.

Our strategy for revolutionary change is to unite all who can be united against the monopoly capitalists who rule this country. At the core of this united front against the rich, we need to create a strategic, long-term alliance between the multi-national working class on one hand, and the movements of oppressed nationality (African Americans, Chicanos and Latinos, Asian and Pacific Islanders and Native) peoples on the other. In practice this means we are active in all of these movements. Our members can be found in the trade unions, organizations of oppressed nationalities and the organizations of the urban poor.

Some History

In 1985 two organizations, both of which were products the powerful movements of the 1960�s and 1970�s - the Revolutionary Workers Headquarters and the Proletarian Unity League - came together and formed FRSO. Nine years later the Socialist Organizing Network and FRSO founded a new organization. That organization continued to be called Freedom Road Socialist Organization.

These organizations had their roots in the new communist movement. In the late 1960�s and early 1970�s the Black liberation movement, the movements of other oppressed nationalities, along with the student movement, underwent a profound processes of radicalization. Tens of thousands of activists came to the conclusion that monopoly capitalism, or imperialism, had to be overthrown. They drew inspiration from revolutionary China, the heroic struggle of the Vietnamese people and the powerful upsurge for national liberation that was sweeping the third world. These activists formed organizations that applied the science of revolution, Marxism-Leninism, to U.S. conditions. Some of the larger organizations created include the League of Revolutionary Struggle, the Revolutionary Union, the Communist Labor Party, the October League, the Communist Workers Party, the Black Workers Congress and the Puerto Rican Revolutionary Worker Organization. There were also hundreds of smaller organizations. Together, they made up the new communist movement.

The new communist movement quickly emerged as an important force in the working-class and oppressed nationality movements. Much of the work done in the mid to late 1970�s was important and inspiring and this was the main thing. From the auto plants of Detroit to the rural areas of the Black Belt South the new communist movement made itself felt.

In addition to some great work in building key battles of the oppressed, the new communist movement made a number of contributions to Marxist theory, which retain their relevance for revolutionaries today. One of the most important was grasping the fact that African Americans are an oppressed nationality with in the U.S. borders, and that the Black freedom struggle is in fact a fight for national liberation. By embracing the Black nation thesis, the new communist movement revived the rich theoretical legacy of outstanding revolutionaries such as Harry Haywood, who did path-breaking work with others in the Third International, by raising the banner of self-determination for the Black Nation.

Unfortunately, as the new communist movement struggled to apply Marxism-Leninism, a lot of ultra-left errors were also made. The new communists got ahead of where the masses of people were at and made some other mistakes too. Many held that revolution in the U.S. was not far off and as the revolutionary tide of the late 1960�s and early 1970�s receded, many of these newcomers to the communist movement became demoralized.

The right thing to do would have been to correct the mistakes made, stick with Marxism and move on with building revolutionary organization. Instead, many focused on the negative, and made rightist errors. They started saying things like �there is a crisis of Marxism� and Marxism was no good. They proceeded to abandon and destroy their organizations. More than a few of them decided that U.S. imperialism was not so bad after all. Betrayal of one�s ideals, especially correct ideals, is an ugly thing.

The organizations that created Freedom Road Socialist Organization were important - not because we were unaffected by any of these errors. In fact we made some mistakes. One mistake we did not make was giving up on Marxist organization. It was this decision that laid the groundwork for all that we have done since and that allowed us keep our bearings. As the world changed, we were able to change with it.

The attempt at counter-revolution in China in 1989 and the defeat of socialism in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe provided new challenges. Communists within FRSO were quick to assess the importance of the events. Some of our members were confused and got more confused with the passage of time. They finally left our organization in 1999. These were the folks who supported sanctions on Iraq, opposed the socialist countries, and think it�s far �too dangerous� to support national liberation movements like Colombia�s FARC. The only time they say they are Marxist-Leninists is when they visit other countries. Maybe time and reality will help them rethink things.

Over the past six years, one of the many things we have done is work for the unity of Marxist-Leninists in U.S. We have had many meetings with comrades in other organizations to talk things over and more than a little work on common projects. That said, we recognize that the key to building a revolutionary movement in the U.S. and to building a new party of the working class - a new communist party - is to bring in new people. We need to build the people�s struggles, raise the level of knowledge and understanding and help the most active and foresighted become Marxists. Fusing Marxism and working-class movement is our central task.

Looking Ahead

In a 1999 statement, we wrote: �FRSO realizes that the task of building communist organization is by no means easy or simple. We have much work in front of us. That being said, we have every confidence in the future. In one of his poems, the leader of the Chinese revolution, Mao Zedong, noted, �The world cries out for things to be done.� We will continue to advance the ranks of the doers and shakers.�

We have met that challenge and will continue to do so.

In our evaluation of 2004 Bush election, we noted some key fronts of struggle in the period ahead and reality has confirmed their importance.

�The demand for peace and the support of efforts of the oppressed in the third world to gain liberation are vital tasks for progressives in the period ahead. In terms of domestic politics, there are five key spearheads of struggle.

First, we need to defend of our standard of living. Bush�s economic policies mean that we are in the midst of a protracted attack on our standard of living, including attacks on wages and working conditions. Key battlegrounds include beating back concessions in the unions, health care and budget cuts. Successful resistance requires a movement stronger than the one that currently exists, as well as building unity between the organized and unorganized sections of the working class.

Second, we need to fight against racist attacks and national oppression. Because the U.S. is a white supremacist country, all of the attacks on poor and working people have a greater impact on oppressed nationalities. We can expect a continuation and intensification of racist attacks. These attacks take many forms: police brutality, further attacks on already-gutted affirmative action policies, the continued policy of incarceration of oppressed nationalities, wrongful imprisonment and attacks on public and bilingual education. Key battlefronts in this area include the movements against police terror and immigrants� rights.

Third, we need to defend democratic rights. The new red squads operate under the moniker of Joint Terrorism Task Forces. They are active in many cities, with local, state and federal agents colluding to take away the rights of political activists. Police repression of political groups is more obvious and more sophisticated, particularly with the implementation of the Patriot Act.

The struggle to preserve civil liberties intersects in many places with the struggle to defend immigrants� rights and against national oppression. This, combined with the importance of preserving space for open political struggle, will make it an important front in the coming period.

Fourth, as shown in the elections, the continuing struggle to expand democratic rights for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender (Queer) people will take a prominent role in the coming period. The primary battleground for this struggle will be the issue of marriage rights.

Finally, there has as been a stepped-up attack on women�s reproductive freedoms. The future promises a sharp battle over the next appointments to the Supreme Court, with a real possibility of the issue being fought out state by state.�

We also noted:

�In the final analysis, Bush and company represent a small handful of people - the rich and powerful. This fact is recognized by a substantial section of the American people, who are eager to fight back. They hate Bush and deeply resent the direction the county is moving in. It is vital that the anti-Bush movement stay mobilized and determined to fight.

We are heading into a period of struggle on a large scale. The Bush agenda will meet with complete and total defeat. It�s an agenda that is anti-people in every respect. As such it has the capacity to do the exact opposite of what Bush and his wealthy backers want - our opposition to his plans and practice can unite the many to defeat the few.�

Overall conditions are good for building the struggle of the multinational working class, the oppressed nationalities and other sections of the people too. It�s a solid context for constructing revolutionary organization. By sticking with Marxism and learning as we teach, we will continue to make progress.

Time is always on the side of the oppressed - and time is an enemy of all systems heading for extinction. The next 20 years hold incredible promise.

Freedom Road Socialist Organization, December 19, 2005

[Severian]

So you automatically believe everything an organization says about itself? Do you believe everything Coke says in its ads, too?

Don't jump into anything with your eyes closed. Work with people for a while, get a look at how they operate in practice, before you join anything.

[OneBrickOneVoice]

Accordin to their family tree some pretty historically significant leftist groups have merged into them.

I don't think so. I think most of those are just individuals from those groups who joined FRSO


Its true they are small but what parties are out there today? The "vanilla communists" CPUSA has become social democrats

true but FRSO is openly revisionist and "post-maoist" or whatever. If anything, it's FRSO-FB that is the one of the two that is not a "vanilla communist" group. It's not the group deviating with the "left-refoundationist" line FRSO holds. Anyhow, FRSO does have a better logo than FRSO-FB lol.


, and most other organizations either take an ultraleftist position lik MIM or Revcom or PLP or are Eurocommunists

How are any of those listed "eurocommunist"? How is the RCP, "ultra leftist"?


. Plus they are one of the only communist movements that puts the national liberation needs of colored people in the USA on such high priority

RCP does that as well. The two issues of "Revolution Newspaper" that have come out this month have been dedicated to "The Oppression of Black People & and the Struggle to End ALL Oppression"


. Its just that you would think that an organization that has news articles as recent as February of 2007 would make it easier to join. I've been entirely unable to contact them.

That's because they're tiny. Have you tried their contact section on their website yet?

[Ezekiel]

Nothing wrong with FARC
Cocaina

[Janus]

Cocaina
All lot of the narco-terrorist propaganda about them are just lies. Yes, they do tax cocaine farming and provide protection to farmers but that's only inevitable in a country in which all of the sides are financing themselves through the drug trade in one way or another.

As for the FRSO, I would say to check them out and explore the movement but based on the comments above, you probably shouldn't be too optimistic.

[Nothing Human Is Alien]

Yeah you definitely lose on that one. FARC doesn't grow coke. They also don't stop farmers in the territory they control from growing it. That would be like giving them a death sentence. It's the only crop many of them can grow and still afford to live.

I'm going to go too far into this though, as the same topic has been discussed over and over again.

What about FARC? Thread 1 (http://www.revolutionaryleft.com/index.php?showtopic=56589&hl=FARC), Thread 2 (http://www.revolutionaryleft.com/index.php?showtopic=47141&hl=Farc&st=0), Thread 3 (http://www.revolutionaryleft.com/index.php?showtopic=44665&hl=), Thread 4 (http://www.revolutionaryleft.com/index.php?showtopic=43144&st=25), Thread 5 (http://www.revolutionaryleft.com/index.php?showtopic=43113&hl=), Thread 6 (http://www.revolutionaryleft.com/index.php?showtopic=42158&hl=), Thread 7 (http://www.revolutionaryleft.com/index.php?showtopic=31991&hl=), Thread 8 (http://www.revolutionaryleft.com/index.php?showtopic=32838&hl=).

[seg4527]

Yeah, I didn't mean to actually into the FARC debate, when I brought it up.

I meant that we publicize this meeting to build the anti-war movement, get a lot of people who are obviously going to be liberals/left-liberals but could possibly be radicalized, and the first thing they see is some woman talking about guerrilla wars and revolution. I think it tends to scare them away.

Not that I'm a defender of liberals or anything, but a group can't try to be broad based and open to liberals/left-liberals and have those liberals' first experiences in the group hearing about the FARC. I think it shows that they are kind of out of touch.

[jacobin1949]

Does any one have more info on how FRSO works as ano orgnaization? Or what their status is in the East Coast cosndiering that Fight Back is based in the Midwest?

[seg4527]

I'm not sure

[jacobin1949]

Originally posted by [email protected] 03, 2007 03:29 pm
I'm not sure how exactly how the east coast FRSO works. I think I've heard that it is also an undergroundish organization (just like Fight Back...the group itself doesn't really do anything...it joins other groups, preferably without them knowing they are from Fight Back, and influences them, turning them into front groups) but I honestly have no idea. For sure, they have less alienating politics and organizational methods, and are able to work with other groups better, as opposed to Fight Back, who joins groups and then the groups die. From my personal experience, Fight Back is very disconnected "white" (although they are mostly females, from what I've met) and not able to make connections with people about the basic issues they talk about. On the other hand, the east coast Freedom Road claims that back during the split, almost all minorities, in addition to most members in general, stayed with the east coast freedom road.

Essentially the split was caused by Fight Back being opposed to FRSO's Left Refoundation Theory, which was sort of a plan for left unity. From working with Fight Back, I know that they bring disunity anywhere they go. However, I can't tell whether FRSO is actually a really good group, of they just try to make themselves look good, since I've never worked with them.

This is from the east cost FRSO: http://freedomroad.org/content/view/346/76/lang,en/#leftrefo

I probably wouldn't join them, not being a socialist. But they definitely sound like a group that people on the left can feel comfortable working with.

Anything else more specific about Fight Back? I could go on for ages about those fools...
But I heard that Fight Back has branches on the East Coast including New York City. Even though their main branches are in the Midwest. I would be more intreste din hearing about the operating of Fight Back particualrly in New York City. Its quite confusing with them both using the same name. Also who was Jerry Tung?

[seg4527]

I'm not familiar with anything specific about Jerry Tung, is he connected with Freedom Road?

[seg4527]

By the way, jacobin, the links you posted way above are not from the Fight Back Freedom Road, they are from the Freedom Road that is primarily on the east. Fight back is frso.org

I suggest every single thing you read about the differences between both freedom roads on fight back's page you look to see the take on from the east coast group, though, to be balanced.

[jacobin1949]

Originally posted by [email protected] 04, 2007 07:52 am
By the way, jacobin, the links you posted way above are not from the Fight Back Freedom Road, they are from the Freedom Road that is primarily on the east. Fight back is frso.org

I suggest every single thing you read about the differences between both freedom roads on fight back's page you look to see the take on from the east coast group, though, to be balanced.
The link I posted was the family tree, and since both organizations claim to be FRSO I would assume they have the same family tree. FRSO.org seems to have the right ideaology the problems you and others have noted have more to do with tactics than ideals. I agree that dogma and theory can be very insidious in tearing apart an org and making it useless, but there has to be a basic baseline otherwise the org stands for nothing. The political thinking differences between the 2 groups is pretty fundamental. Anyway its not all that hard to enlarge a group all you have to do is get attention once and your done. I really dont get why they make it so hard to join them though.

[jacobin1949]

The FRSO and Fight Back have vastly different stands when it comes to the current socialist regimes in China and Vietnam as well.

[seg4527]

Probably North Korea as well...fight back newspaper says it's a peoples state.

[jess]

A few facts:

*Fight Back! refers to North Korea by its actual name - the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

*Jerry Tung was head of the Communist Workers Party, which is not a predecessor of Freedom Road.

[communick]

From Sectarian Worker

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fusea...endID=165534077 (http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=165534077)

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Freedom Road Goes Further Underground


Freedom Road Socialist Organization (Freedom Road) and Freedom Road Socialist Organization (Fight Back) have a key difference between them (besides the ridiculous second names in parenthesis): one digs further underground than the other. The names of the two groups look like bad 80s R&B songs that need two titles or Weezer's "Undone (The Sweater Song)."

Freedom Roads of both varieties both go in the same direction: underground, towards the core of the Earth. Nobody knows for sure who is in the group (not even the members). They never say "socialist," "capitalist" or "working class." Freedom Road members have even gone so far underground that they have become Democratic Party City Councillors and trade union leaders that sell out the membership and implement two-tier contracts. As a result, they achieve their main goal: most people don't suspect them of being socialists.

Further divides in Freedom Road recently occurred in the fight to go further into the nether-regions below the Earth's crust. Now, there are lots of roads, a "Freedom Intersection (fight forward)," "Freedom Yield (to that other road)," and my personal favorite "Freedom Freeway (free love on the free love freeway)."

The different Freedom Roads met as they burrowed further underground, digging and getting dirty. One digger turned to the other and asked, "why do we bother with this shit? What's the point of being socialists if we can't tell anyone?" The other digger wiped the dirt and sweat from his brow and responded, "yeah, let's do something about it. Let's dig further, split the road and invent some new stupid name."


The first digger replied, "not really what I was hoping for, but let's fucking do it anyways." Others followed suit and Sectarian Worker thanks them all for the hilarious results!

[NorthStarRepublicML]

Being from Minneapolis and having lived here most of my life i can tell you that Freedom Road is active in the area, last couple of events i know of have been at Mayday Books and features film showings and discussions afterward concering FARC. They are definatly a direct contact group there is no joining them via the internet as i am aware, a very tight group.

i would suggest that if you want to get in contact with someone directly Mayday Books website would be the place to look, they have a mailing list and calendar of events.

i'm not familair with the Freedom Road of the east, but i know that the Freedom Road in the Midwest (Chicago and Minneapolis mostly) clash with the Sparticists of Chicago in most respects, i've heard from both sides it has turned physical.

they both spend time on the University of Minnesota campus fliering and whatnot, but they don't have a foothold on campus like the group Socialist Alternative, which has turned into more of a liberal anti-war group as opposed to one advocating socialist transformations.

SDS has also recently been reconstituted on campus and thus far it remains unresolved if it will last, or if the other anti-war groups like Socialist Alternative or AWOL (Anti-War Organizing League) will consolidate into SDS, not that the campus needs another anti-war group.

i'd say these are the major left groups on campus these days (AWOL and Socialist Alternative) while other groups play a minor role (Freedom Road and the Sparticist League) and other, even smaller groups (with anywhere from 3 to 15 members), such as ours, are limited to the periphery.

and there are literally dozens of them, maybe a hundred, smaller groups (mostly marxists) whose small size hasn't managed to make forming coalitions any easier. the campus being Marxist dominated is not particularly suprising as the geography department has been described as "a threat to democracy" by Reagan, and among the faculty are two particularly prominant Marxist professors August Nimtz and Erwin Marquit.

in the rest of the city the Anarcists, odd as it may seem, are far more organized and disciplined then the marxist groups on campus with several powerful collectives and affiliated groups (such as Critical Mass and Black Label Bike Club, as well as hubs like the Bedlam Theater and Hard Times Cafe).

while i don't mind working with Anarcists i would prefer that Communist organizations were better organized and better represented. The Anarcists are organizing a great mass of people and organizations to protest the RNC (republican national convention) in september 2008, i believe a communist front should contribute to this organization.

consequently, if you are a resident of the midwest, live in the twin cities, or are a communist planning on being in the twin cities for the RNC shoot me a message.

I think i will start a new thread in the Events forum to gauge the level of interest in the possibility of setting up a mid-west communist congress sometime before the RNC.

-R

[The Advent of Anarchy]

FRSO is a revisionist party pretending to be anti-revisionist. They even say modern day China is socialist! Freedom Road (the other one) is revisionist and at least is open to it.

[humbabba]

Originally posted by [email protected] 27, 2007 02:59 am
I meant that we publicize this meeting to build the anti-war movement, get a lot of people who are obviously going to be liberals/left-liberals but could possibly be radicalized, and the first thing they see is some woman talking about guerrilla wars and revolution. I think it tends to scare them away.

out of curiosity, what were the particulars of this event?