I think that the response below to my forwarded posting is an apt description
of what this whole thing is all about.
Much is made about what it is that constitutes 'revolution'.
The revolution is not about storming barricades, fighting and defeating the
police and army, trying and sentencing those who formerly terrorized us, though
it may include all of these.
The revolution is not about this or that 'messiah', this or that 'leader', this
or that 'party', this or that 'correct line' that we can follow to a promised
land that, in this manner, we will never get to.
The revolution is about work. The revoltion is about nothing less than a
complete revnovation of the way in which we work and in the way in which we
think about work. Specifically, the "...call for pleasant , comfortable lives;
lives of ease - including how we work doing work it feels good to do..." That
is all. It is that simple. "...doing work it feels good to do." Doing work
we choose to do. Doing work in the way that we, ourselves, plan how to do.
Doing work that, by virtue of this very work, leads to a better and better life
for those who do the work and those who are dependant upon them.
All this is possible. All this is becoming increasingly necessary for our
survival and continued journey as human beings. And all this only takes work.
As the writer says, we need to "...organize our lives around what's appropriate
for intelligent living."
It is that simple.
----- Original Message -----
From: Norma J F Harrison
To: John A Imani ; LAAMN ; [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Thursday, December 22, 2005 4:27 PM
Subject: Re: [DopeXResistance-L.A.] Fw: [Marxism] Commenatry on the Million
Worker March
A basic problem with organizing people is our inability to let people call
for pleasant , comfortable lives; lives of ease - including how we work doing
work it feels good to do, to have done by us all, in comfortable conditions,
with security unto our children's children.
Our proposals sound so work-a-day, so same-ol'; so much planning to make the
known, failed system work - which workers inherently know it cannot, whether
they can explain why or not.
We need to let people say we want to DO the playing, not have to pay to watch
or hear someone do it; we want our children to be able to get out and play
around - not be conditioned to do stuff in front of tv-type screens, watching
others play, not live in dangerous conditions where being outside means asking
to be attacked, or snatched.
We need to let people ask to organize our lives around what's appropriate for
intelligent living, not enslavement to capitalism.
While union demands are directed toward such ends, they are all about the job
the job (the relationship of labor to capital) rather than about those calls
that define socialism - fulsome lives.
...besides needing to let all commit to trying to practice democracy,
consensual democracy, a most difficult, loving tactic...
Norma
----- Original Message -----
From: John A Imani
To: LAAMN ; [EMAIL PROTECTED] ; [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Wednesday, November 23, 2005 6:11 PM
Subject: [DopeXResistance-L.A.] Fw: [Marxism] Commenatry on the Million
Worker March
----- Original Message -----
From: david siar
To: Activists and scholars in Marxist tradition
Sent: Wednesday, November 23, 2005 12:49 PM
Subject: [Marxism] Million Worker March
I recently posed a question here about the status of the Million Worker
March Movement and received a response from Douglas MacDonald off-list.
I'm therefore passing along that response so that any interested list
members can read it.
Dave Siar
<>
It has been a year since I last participated in the MWM Organizing
Committee. I have written below a brief synopsis of the events and
lessons I gleaned from my participation. It is my hope that those
reading this can learn from these experiences so together we can move
forward and build a new independent workers movement. <>
Solidarity; <>
Douglas MacDonald <>
***********************************************************
Million Worker March: One Year and One Month Later
<> <>
The MWM Movement has basically run its course. After a vain attempt by
many people across the country to forge a national organization steeped
in working class independence and grass roots democracy following
October 17th, we could not.
The reasons are varied. In my opinion, the leaders from ILWU Local 10
MWM were disingenuous and gave only lip service to building a political
organization independent of the Democratic Party. In fact, it was only
through strategy and appeals to the entire room of initial participants
that the MWM List of Demands, most fundamentally anti-imperialist and
transitional in nature, was passed. The List of Demands shows a strong
sense of basic class independence. However, the ILWU Local 10 MWM
leaders always maintained that the Endorsing Resolution circulated
through the various union locals, which heralds the virtues of FDR and
the New Deal, was the true politics. In fact key organizers explained to
me through the course of the year that they simply wanted to force union
leadership and progressive democrats to come to terms and elect more
liberal candidates. The result of this duality was the mixed messages
from key speakers at the rally calling for a vote for Kerry while
demanding we hold him "accountable".
Beyond the political difference that existed between members of the
originating SF MWM committee was a much larger problem: the lack of any
real support by Bay Area locals or unions nationally. Simply put, the
MWM had no base. During the 9 months of organizing no more than a
handful of individual union activists showed up for the weekly
meetings. The majority of people present were always activists or
individuals who had once been union members. The kick-off Rally held
for the MWM at the ILWU Local 10 drew less than 200 people, most of them
being the usual suspects in the SF left scene, a few students, a handful
of union militants and only a couple dozen ILWU local 10 folks. (I
happen to be a community activist and not a union member). The movement
just never gained any traction among the rank and file. The
overwhelming pressure by the Union bureaucrats to focus on electoral
politics and the absence of union funding was a surprise to the ILWU
Local 10 MWM leaders, as they thought union locals would see great
benefit in creating a pressure group on the top union leadership and
politicians.
Outside of paper resolutions, the Local 10 MWM leaders never garnered
any real rank and file support in their own local or any other local in
the Bay Area. This cannot possibly be their fault entirely as it is now
known that AFL-CIO leaders and local politicians and unions actively
campaigned against the MWM and tried to undermine the March at every
turn. Yes, the Local 10 leaders carried on under such attacks and were
forced ever more into a position of supporting the List of Demands and
independent working class politics. Thousands of beautifully designed
t-shirts were printed, largely out of the proceeds of one individual
ILWU Local 10 leader which we were reminded of often. Though this showed
great sacrifice, it also further ensnared the MWM movement into blithely
deferring to the leadership of the ILWU Local 10 MWM out of obligation
rather than respect. When strings are attached, such a "gift" is hardly
a "gift" at all.
Day to day, the MWM leaders were inexperienced organizers and in the
end, had to rely on Workers World and the PSL (ANSWER) for actual
on-the-ground logistics and man power. My hat goes off to both of these
organizations in that they were willing to put time and effort into
helping us, even though it was largely done at the last minute by
ANSWER. Of course, much of both groups decision to assist us was based
on self-interest and positioning. Be that as it may, they both did a
terrific job in helping us and, they still were able to work well
together after their recent split. As you know, the leaders of ANSWER
left Workers World and formed the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL).
An open and democratic structure within the MWM was called for by many
in SF and even around the country, but such calls were undermined by the
local 10 ILWU MWM leadership at every opportunity. Membership and voting
privileges were never clarified and were granted and taken away at the
whim of Local 10 leaders. This made recruitment difficult. As the
complaints about a small clique of unaccountable decision makers grew,
the Local 10 MWM leaders and their acolytes stated a call for democracy
in the MWM was simply a way to remove black leadership. Race-baiting
reared its ugly head and smashed any possibility of growing a vibrant,
cohesive and independent working class movement.
After failing to have a cogent discussion on democratic process and
directions in SF, the ILWU Local 10 MWM leadership was pressed to
confront the issue. I and a few others forced the question and were
told that a past meeting had voted to have the discussion of democratic
structure at a national meeting to occur the day after the march in
Washington. I asked to see the minutes as I felt this was a delaying
tactic. None were provided and the question of group democracy and
really, the rank and files ability to discuss the politic trajectory of
the MWM was pushed off another month. But as the March date loomed, no
meeting had been set by the Local 10 leadership. The week before the
event, I called all the national chapter contacts and pleaded that a
representative stay for a meeting to discuss "what next" to be held the
day after the rally at our hotel. I left many messages and got a few
call backs and crossed my fingers.
The day after the March came and word had gotten out about the meeting.
However, the Local 10 leaders were telling people the meeting had been
cancelled! Again, inaction to organize the meeting and an attempt to
stop the meeting revealed the leaderships controlling nature and attempt
to squelch political expression outside their control. After over 50
leaders of local MWM organizing committees from around the country
showed up in the conference room for the meeting, the ILWU Local 10 MWM
leadership was forced to attend and were the last ones to enter the
room. However, they were of course, the ones to hold the gavel.
Many issues were discussed, including the pros and cons of the rally,
fundraising etc. When the discussion turned towards creating a national
organization and democratic structure, the Local 10 leadership
maintained that such a movement was simply trying to usurp and replace
black leadership. Unfortunately, this race-baiting and basic crushing
of political dialogue worked. The leadership berated and cowed much of
the attendees to abandon getting specific democratic structures
clarified. Finally, any such discussion was tabled until a national
conference which was to be held in the spring of 2005. No discussion of
the political trajectory of the organization took place. It should be
noted that both ANSWER and Workers World spoke against those seeking a
more democratic structure, suggesting such a strategy was premature,
onerous and tangential to real organizing tasks.
The basic thrust of Local 10's MWM leadership was to undermine the
political independence of the movement and channel it into a campaign to
win support from union leaders and liberal democrats for basic
Democratic Party New Deal politics. It is clear by action and word that
the last thing the Local 10 MWM leadership wanted was the creation of a
class independent workers movement. In retrospect, a political showdown
should have taken place over the basic political principles of the
organization. However, such a showdown presented a catch-22. Most SF
MWM members were concerned about alienating the only union that really
showed any support for the MWM, the ILWU Local 10 itself. If those
seeking to build a movement independent of the Democratic Party had won
absent any real base or union participation, then the ILWU would have
likely shut down the MWM.
Was the MWM going to simply create a protest movement to pressure
Democrats to listen to the needs of working people or was the MWM going
to forge a new independent class conscious fight back movement? This
question was never raised. It went unasked out of fear, propriety and
intimidation. Sadly, the MWM formed neither, as the union movement
locally and nationally decidedly turned their back on ILWU Local 10 and
sought instead to throw energy and money into electing Democrats while
demanding nothing of them. The MWM's leadership was poorly equipped to
deal with such a jilt and they were left with no organizing capacity.
Moreover, class independent politics is still misunderstood and
unpopular, in the ILWU Local 10 as it is with the majority of workers
and Americans.
t has been over a year since I participated at any great length with
the MWM. As far as I can surmise, it has descended into a 5-6 man talk
shop in the Bay Area that issues platitudes to empty chairs on a
semi-monthly basis. I have heard some left currents float around the
organization including Workers World, the Lambertists and occasionally
the PSL. The MWM's most recent work has been focused around supporting
the Nation of Islam's recent National March in Washington. Malcolm X is
spinning in his grave. They still have no base in either community
organizing or Local 10. The national network of activists and union
contacts gained from a years worth of organizing for the March appears
to go untouched and wasted.
Former National Outreach Coordinator, Million Worker March SF, CA
Douglas MacDonald
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