Public Resolutions of the First Conference of the Organizing Committee for a Maoist Communist Party

On National Liberation

Given that:

a. the contradiction between oppressor/exploiting nations and oppressed/exploited nations remains the primary contradiction of our era of capitalist-imperialism;

b. capital has become a fully realized global system with value chains traversing borders with ease; however the point of origin and point of return and hence accumulation and concentration of capital remains the global north/imperialist country economies; third world/oppressed nation/internally colonized comprador/neo-colonial petit-bourgeoisie remain junior partners of the imperialist nation bourgeoisies;

c. the movement of labor across borders on the other hand is more limited and more policed than ever before — meaning that despite the movement of capital, states enforce the uneven development of countries and nations through imperialist and fascist methods;

d. we recognize that the cause for national liberation remains on the agenda and constitutes the primary force for anti-capitalist imperialist struggle;

e. we recognize that the petit-bourgeoisie of the oppressed nations is incapable of organizing and guiding this struggle; the task falls to those class forces most exploited by the imperialist bourgeoisie and their comprador allies: the proletariat, lower petit-bourgeoisie, peasantry, lumpen/proletariat, etc.;

f. for the u.s. empire, we recognize that it is composed of many oppressed nations in antagonistic contradiction to the euro-settler nation and its bourgeoisie which commands the state apparatus; among these the New Afrikan nation and its lumpen/proletariat constitutes the vanguard of anti-u.s. imperial struggle; g. we recognize the right of the Chicano nation and the many indigenous nations to struggle for their liberation by any means necessary —

The MCP-OC resolves:

I. the call for a “Socialist U.S.A.”, a call for socialism in the united states without resolution to the national question, is reactionary and serves the interests of the euro-settler nation; we seek the destruction of the u.s.a. with its current borders and political structure;

II. all cadre should seek solidarity with revolutionary national liberation formations within the u.s. settler empire;

III. mass work and founding of mass organizations should preference work among oppressed nation lumpen/proletariat and lower petit-bourgeoisie;

IV. cadre should not attempt to enforce any one path or vision for the achievement of national liberation for the oppressed nations (e.g. on the questions of land distribution or regional autonomy), but instead form working relationships among the cadre and formations and recognize the leadership within these nations for seeking autonomy and self-determination;

V. cadre, intermediate, and mass organizations should seek working relationships with international organizations and formations opposing capitalist-imperialism;

VI. cadre should establish direct ties to imprisoned members of oppressed nations; cadre should seek to lend support to these individuals in whatever way they can and assist maintaining and developing their reach to the outside world.

In Support of the New Afrikan Black Panther Party

Considering:

a. the political line of the MCP-OC is that the vanguard of the revolution in the united states will be the New Afrikan proletariat and semi/proletariat;

b. the NABPP and NABPP-PC have distinguished themselves in the heat of class struggle inside and outside of the American concentration camp (prison) system;

c. the city of Newark, NJ is developing as a base area of New Afrikan revolution thanks in major part to the work done by the NABPP and MCP-OC cadre in solidarity with the NABPP;

d. Comrade Kevin Rashid Johnson has done major work in struggling for a Maoist line in the New Afrikan Liberation Movement, has done major work in developing revolutionary Maoism with New Afrikan characteristics in the united states, and his published collections of works “Defying the Tomb” and “Panther Vision” are seminal works that are in the libraries of every organization and individual Maoist in the united states;

e. the NABPP has done great practical work in rejecting the left and right deviations that have plagued the Maoist movement internationally while developing an actual United Front that has won material gains for New Afrikan people inside and outside of the prison system;

We, the MCP-OC, declare total and full support for the work done by the New Afrikan Black Panther Party and the New Afrikan Black Panther Party-Prison Chapter, their base building work being done in Newark, and the struggle being waged by incarcerated members of this formation, particularly K. Rashid Johnson.

On Urban Base Development

Considering:

a. that the revolutionary subject in the United States is, by and large, the New Afrikan oppressed nation and, more specifically, the semi-proletariat and proletariat in both industrial and service sectors;

b. that this population is heavily concentrated in urban centers in North, West and South, particularly in the inner ring suburbs and blighted areas of the old urban core;

c. that there is a concerted effort by the imperialist bourgeoisie to remove these revolutionary strata from these areas, to disperse and break their geographical proximity to make it harder for their organization for revolution and attempt to negate the possibility of rebellions of Ferguson and Baltimore type; d. that this removal is carried out through over-policing of New Afrikan communities, gentrification, mass incarceration, destruction of public housing, and other willfully and purposefully planned activities that are objectively detrimental to the health, well-being, and self-determination of the New Afrikan population —

The MCP-OC instructs that all branches and mass/intermediate organizations working in urban areas begin serious and thorough work to develop embryonic urban and semi-urban base areas in accordance with our style of work and orientation. This work should entail:

I. the development of generated mass organizations (tenant unions, urban farming networks, copwatches, anti-gentrification coalitions) and intermediate organizations (FTPs) under the leadership of MCP-OC cadre;

II. the development of principled coalitions of local forces who have objective contradictions with the process of urban removal/gentrification/etc. We view this process as James Yaki Sayles did, as a war; urban areas populated by oppressed nationality people are trenches of combat and it is necessary to unite all who can be united with in accordance with our understanding of the United Front; we must pay particular attention to the defense and expansion of organizations and institutions built by the New Afrikan and other oppressed nationality communities themselves;

III. consistent and thorough preparation for defense of our embryonic base areas and the mobilization of the masses to concretely challenge in an organized and disciplined way those who would smash the developing new power; we recognize that power grows from the barrel of a gun wielded in a disciplined and organized fashion; it is necessary to apply the principle that “the armed sea of masses is our best security culture” and consistently develop, educate and discipline them, while also being developed, educated and disciplined by them; IV. the development of dual power on the economic front; in accordance with the principle of “caring for the well being of the masses”, develop all skills necessary to improve their quality of life while simultaneously conquering gains through militant struggle in the form of rent concessions, occupation of land for reclamation for food growing and community purposes, the squatting of buildings, and other forms of struggle that can improve the lives of the masses concretely and in a big way while also avoiding the perils of economism and right opportunist complacity along with the dangers of ultra-left impetuosity.

On United Front Work

Considering:

a. a United Front is necessary to win a people’s war against imperialist forces;

b. all classes and their political leadership within a United Front are forced into the alliance by their temporary shared interests which retains their class contradictions in a non-antagonistic form;

c. the composition and goals of the United Front will necessarily change as the revolutionary process progresses;

d. the “backward” or “middle” classes vacillate between the revolutionary and counter-revolutionary forces;

e. the political leadership of a United Front must reside in a revolutionary communist vanguard;

f. a United Front is built through the methods of mass work and struggle summed up in the slogans: “Unite the advanced, win over the intermediate, develop the backward, and isolate the die-hard” and “unity-struggle-unity” —

The MCP-OC recognizes the necessity of developing experience building United Fronts by all local chapters to build the revolutionary forces. The MCP-OC instructs members to avoid entryism, commandism, and tailism in this work, instead entering into them in a principled way that provides strong Communist leadership. MCP-OC members should study the general aspects of United Front work and apply them through thorough investigation of the mass and intermediate organizations operating in their area to understand where each falls in relation to a United Front, reevaluating this analysis frequently as objective conditions change within and outside any United Front in which they work.

Some areas of work that are currently demonstrating potential for successful United Fronts are prison solidarity work, tenant organizing, and food production and distribution. The MCP-OC directs local chapters to explore these and to be observant and creative to build United Fronts for other work when appropriate. The MCP-OC stresses the importance of studying and incorporating the political line developed by the MCP-OC in many areas to United Front work, especially in the areas of the national question, gender, labor aristocracy, lumpen/proletariat, sexuality, imperialism, and settler-colonialism. The MCP-OC considers the United Front an essential tool to build to move revolutionary work forward.

On the Composition and Political Characteristics of the Lumpen in the united states

Considering:

a. that, as conceptually developed and elaborated upon by historical and current theorists (such as Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Mao Tse-Tung, Frantz Fanon, Huey P. Newton, and J. Sakai), the social grouping of “lumpen” (which has by many of the aforementioned theorists been identified by the terminology of “lumpen-proletarian” or “lumpen/proletarian”) is not to be considered a class proper with a coherent and consistent relation to the means of production (beyond sharing this lack of consistent relationship thereof), but rather a fragmentary assortment composed of people of all class backgrounds who have been, for a variety of reasons, cast out of the ranks of these classes and find themselves outside of the sphere of formal production, occupying a “de-classed” social position, and who must derive their living from activities that exist outside the realm of formal production and which are often (but not always) criminalized by the bourgeois state;

b. that, in acknowledgement of the reality of this fragmentary (and often relatively fluid) nature of the lumpen and that there are various axes of stratification within it due to the fact that people of all class backgrounds are present within its ranks, there will therefore be internal strata of the lumpen that will be, due to their particular historical formation, likely sympathetic with and have material interest coinciding with proletarian revolution, as well as internal strata whose respective historical formation and material interest will more likely predispose them to the camp of reaction;

c. that as Marxist-Leninist-Maoists, we identify the primary contradiction in the world today to be between the imperialist nations and those nations subject to super-exploitation at the hands of the imperialist powers;

d. that internal to the united states, the New Afrikan, Indigenous, and Chicano nations are the primary groups subject to u.s. imperialism in the form of settler-colonial conquest and internal colonization; e. that as a result of this internal colonization, these nations have been thrust into the ranks of the lumpen/proletariat to an overwhelmingly disproportionate degree in comparison to their respective proportion of the overall population of the current united states due to oppression and exclusion within the sphere of formal production relative to the settler working class;

f. that this dynamic often has an affect on the overall material interests and political orientation of the nationally-oppressed lumpen/proletariat because it constitutes a form of class oppression in the barring of employment to people who in many cases would otherwise be of the proletariat proper but instead disproportionately relegates them to the reserve army of labor, and provides a basis for unity in the revolutionary overthrow of u.s. capitalism-imperialism with the proletariat, especially the nationally-oppressed strata that constitute its vanguard;

g. that in the particular case of the New Afrikan nation, this disproportionate and forced lumpenization finds its historical bases in the period immediately after the nominal abolition of chattel slavery as a means to continue the hyper exploitation of New Afrikan labor in accordance to the criminal exclusion clause of the 13th Amendment, by means such as the Black Codes of the Reconstruction era, Jim Crow legislation, up to the present day in the form of the racist War on Drugs used as a pretext for mass incarceration for the purpose of wrangling New Afrikans back into a position of what is effectively slave labor;

h. that, as a function of certain structural trends in modern capitalism-imperialism such as increasing automation and the continued export of capital to semi-feudal/semi-colonial nations at the peripheries of global capitalism-imperialism, more and more would-be proletarian elements will be cast into the ranks of the lumpen/proletariat, as the united states’ economy is based increasingly less on material production and “legitimate” wage labor employment becomes increasingly scarce, and that if such trends continue the lumpen/proletariat will make up a much greater proportion of the overall population of the united states than they do currently, and thus could potentially constitute a greater proportion of the overall forces cadre should seek to organize —

The MCP-OC therefore instructs that the Central Committee and the mass and intermediate organizations under its leadership should:

I. utilize the above conception/definition of what constitutes one belonging to the category of “lumpen”, and analysis of the historical development and political tendencies of its various strata, to inform the efforts of MCP-OC cadre in conducting social investigation and class analysis (SICA) and application of the Mass Line, and that cadre should seek to identify, organize, and elevate the political consciousness of the intermediate and advanced elements of the strata of the lumpen whose historical formation and material class & national interests tend to produce a political consciousness favorable to revolution (particularly those whose lumpenization is rooted in national oppression);

II. consider it best/correct practice to, in the course of summarizing SICA, utilize “lumpen/” as a prefix and employ it alongside additional Marxist class terminology in order to help clarify the particular strata being discussed/analyzed at the time, such as “lumpen/proletariat” (i.e. lumpen who occupy more exploited positions amongst the category such as low-level drug dealers, boosters & petty thieves, scrappers, and who often also do engage in formal production, in a secondary sense relative to proportion of one’s overall economic/productive activity, in the form of “gig economy” work or part-time formal or informal/“under the table” employment, and ultimately have more to gain than lose from proletarian revolution and are often of a straddled semi-lumpen/semi-proletarian class position) or “lumpen/bourgeoisie” (i.e. people such as leaders of narco-trafficking organizations, human trafficking rings, etc., who often have dealings with the “legitimate” haute-bourgeoisie of the formal economy despite some of the contradictions that exist between them as a result , and who often eventually seek to transform their illicitly generated capital into finance capital or legal assets of production and thus are exploiters and enemies of the people, just as the haute-bourgeoisie proper);

III. understand that there are nonetheless contradictions that exist between the proletariat-proper and the lumpen/proletarian, that these contradictions must be handled correctly, and that even the strata of the lumpen more predisposed to revolutionary sentiment can have certain tendencies that need to be struggled against and resolved via political education and proletarianization (involvement in material production as a function of assigned cadre tasks) under the leadership of a proletarian revolutionary vanguard — such historically-observed tendencies include an inclination to adventurism, aversion or resistance to Party instruction and discipline, and occasionally something analogous to what Mao referred to as a “petty producer” mentality (this is more relevant for particular lumpen/proletarian occupations such as drug sales that involve, if only on a minute/negligible level for someone like a low-level dealer, some sort of accumulation of capital as a necessary function of the role) — however we find these contradictions to be of a generally non-antagonistic character if handled properly;

IV. seek to identify, learn from, and creatively apply the unique skills often possessed by the lumpen/proletariat — especially where it concerns semi-underground/underground cadre; in consideration of the fact that lumpen elements whose activities necessitate anonymity and ability to evade law enforcement tend often to be the most adept at succeeding in remaining “under the radar”;

V. recognize that, in the construction of urban base areas in particular, the lumpen/proletariat (especially those elements which are organized in the form of lumpen street organizations/”gangs”) will have a considerable presence in proletarian communities and will be necessary to contend with and win over in order to succeed in establishing these base areas — if these elements are won over and able to be re-oriented and brought under the influence of the MCP-OC and future iterations and advances thereof, they will be able to make considerable contributions to constructing, administering, and, in particular, defending these urban base areas;

VI. make political work amongst the lumpen/proletariat who are currently incarcerated a significant focus of the MCP-OC’s overall work amongst the lumpen/proletariat; prisons are often, particularly for the nationally oppressed elements of the lumpen/proletariat who find themselves disproportionately represented within them as a result of that oppression, hotbeds of political radicalization and — as elaborated upon by historical figures such as George Jackson, James Yaki Sayles, and others in the Black/New Afrikan Liberation movements, as well as figures such as Ho Chi Minh — have the potential to be transformed into “revolutionary schools” in which the environment of prison and nature of serving time in such an institution often enables engagement in prolonged, intensive political education and an opportunity to form organized detachments of revolutionary lumpen/proletarian elements that can work to coordinate with allied/sympathetic forces on the outside.

On Accountability and Fair Procedures

Considering:

a. an accountability process is needed to ensure cohesion and timely completion of delegated tasks; there must also be an investigative process when there are mistakes or erroneous/dangerous/objectively harmful behavior —

The MCP-OC resolves to use the following to ensure accountability and fair procedures:

I. regular monthly checkups will be carried out by the Central Committee on the work of all committees scheduled for a date and time agreed on by both parties. The committee/individual in question will prepare a detailed and thorough monthly report that will be delivered to the entire Central Committee. The Central Committee will offer feedback and criticism which will be conveyed to the committee/individual that originally submitted the report;

II. the investigative process will include regular and timely summations that are only submitted after all aspects and areas of work are thoroughly summed up and written into a summation document. The summation will include a thorough and detailed accounting of all work done and a summation of the good and bad and proposed rectification process for the bad. Recruitment, United Front/coalition activity, and other relevant work will also be included in the summation;

III. in the event that an FTP or other intermediate organization is not doing correctly based mass work based on concerns raised by the Central Committee or any other MCP-OC committee, the Central Committee will assign an MCP-OC cadre that is close to the area of operation of said organization to investigate in person, write up a report with criticism for delivery to the organization and the Central Committee, and work with the FTP or other intermediate/mass organization to produce a rectification plan which will be submitted to the Central Committee for approval and assistance with implementation; the severity of complaints will be determined by the Central Committee in conjunction with the general membership of the MCP-OC; the decision to send an arbitrator/investigator will be taken by the Central Committee;

IV. any committee chair, Central Committee member, or general MCP-OC member who fails to accomplish delegated tasks or engage in a manner becoming of an MCP-OC cadre will be subject to penalties:

i. the first instance of failure will be a formal warning and submission to an accountability and rectification process determined by the Central Committee;

ii. the second instance of failure or dereliction of duty will be the imposition of a probation period ranging from three months to a year during which the cadre under probation will not be allowed to vote or submit resolutions but will instead be subject to a program of political education and rectification work to be determined by the Central Committee and subject to the approval of the general membership;

iii. the third instance will result in the expulsion of the member for consistent and wilful dereliction of duty and failure to adhere to the democratic centralism of the MCP-OC. Extenuating circumstances as decided by the Central Committee will result in the modification of this disciplinary process;

V. democratic centralism makes provisions for internal debate and argument in a principled and ideologically consistent manner; splitting, factionalism, cliquism and other such behavior carried out under the banner of the MCP-OC is a manifestation of petit-bourgeois political behavior and will not be allowed; criticism is a gift, meaning that it is issued in a formal manner to improve MCP-OC internal life and political line. Criticism should be in the form of a document that is thorough in terms of highlighting perceived mistakes of line or practical work; this criticism will be discussed internally by the MCP-OC as a general body and if it is determined that mistakes are being made or have been made, it will be adopted and a rectification process will be initiated. Central Committee members and other elected positions are subject to recall through a referendum that is participated in by the MCP-OC as a general body;

VI. intermediate and mass organizations under the leadership of MCP-OC cadre are empowered to make criticism of the MCP-OC and to call a referendum provided that this call is endorsed by another intermediate or mass organization that has a provable and longstanding record of mass work;

i. the referendum may be in person or via secure electronic conveyance methods and the individual(s) in question are entitled to answer criticism and be heard in an impartial and comradely manner;

ii. the individual(s) in question have the right to be present at their own referendum hearing; the date of the referendum hearing will be determined by the party in question, the party that called the referendum and the Central Committee; the individual(s) in question have the right to one rescheduling; if the individual is not present at the rescheduled hearing in person or via electronic conveyance, the hearing will proceed in their absence and judgments reached at this hearing will be binding regardless of whether or not they were present; the individual(s) subject to the referendum must respond to the call within three weeks to participate in the scheduling of the referendum; if they do not respond, the process will automatically be initiated at the end of this period and will proceed in their absence;

iii. referendums must be called on the basis of erroneous political work or egregious behavior on the part of the individual(s) subject to recall and are not to be abused to settle personal quarrels or attempt to seize power on behalf of a clique or individual working within the MCP-OC; abuse of the referendum process for personal gain or factional ends will result in the individual(s) engaging in this abuse being subject to a disciplinary process

iv. to pass a referendum requires a 2⁄3 majority vote of all parties at a General Assembly.

On Developing and Implementing a Sexual Harassment Policy in the MCP-OC

Considering the rampant sexual abuse and harassment problem among the entire Left and the vulnerability to COINTELPRO-style tactics given by a lack of coherent handling of these incidents, the MCP-OC resolves:

I. that a robust and comprehensive sexual harassment policy must be drafted no later

than two weeks from the date of the posting of this resolution;

II. that MCP-OC members give earnest effort to contributing to the development of the

policy, especially non-male comrades and LGBT+ comrades.

On Members’ Use of Social Media

Considering that social media has lately been serving as a detriment to political organizing and principled struggle, the MCP-OC resolves:

I. no member of MCP-OC shall make a statement or statements that claim to represent the opinions or policies of the MCP-OC without going through the Central Committee;

II. any MCP-OC member’s conduct online is subject to the MCP-OC Code of Conduct;

III. no MCP-OC member shall, while online, engage in callouts, engage in screenshotting of the activities of others with the intention to perform callouts, or engage in disrespectful conduct towards other political or social organizations;

IV. all MCP-OC members are expected to engage in principled struggle in a non-antagonistic way; threats and insults are not tolerated;

V. MCP-OC members earnestly attempt to reduce their time utilizing social media and increase their time carrying out the Mass Line; social media should be used as a tool for recruitment and education, as well as positively representing MCP-OC’s successes; social media should not be used for personal self-aggrandizement or constructing online cliques that rally around gossip and rumors instead of mass work and organizing;

VI. MCP-OC members should always use respectful language when engaging with others online, especially those of oppressed nationalities and identities.