As the curtain comes down on 2022, the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) wishes you a Happy New Year! We look forward to a new year of struggle, and victories, that raise us to new heights. Conditions show we are in an exciting period for revolutionaries who are connecting with workers and the oppressed – making practical plans with a long-term vision. 2023 promises many opportunities to organize, build the united front against imperialism, and advance towards an American revolution. Freedom Road Socialist Organization is determined to play a part in that process. You should consider joining us today!
The United States is an empire in decline, struggling to maintain its dominance of other countries and their markets. The Biden White House is desperate, ramping up wars, threatening other countries, and makes enemies of people around the world from Palestine to the Philippines, China and Venezuela. Billions upon billions of dollars are being spent on the military while housing, healthcare and education face cutbacks.
Here at home this crisis of U.S. imperialism is deepening divisions everywhere, from political rallies to family holiday dinners. Bigots are louder than ever and free to express it on television and in social media. People don’t just feel threatened, they are being shot and killed by racist reactionaries in grocery stores and churches, on the street and at work, and in schools and night clubs. The crisis is here, and it is ugly, but it also means people are more and more ready to act, and to be bold. People are in motion, and they want solutions. Conditions for revolutionaries to organize and fight back are good.
2022 was a year of continuing the George Floyd rebellion. Remember, more than 27 million people took part in the 2020 uprising against police murders. People across the country in cities like Dallas, Milwaukee, Minneapolis and Jacksonville continue organizing and building the Black Liberation movement. The National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (NAARPR) continues to protest police killings and abuses in more than two dozen cities and the list is growing.
Local chapters of NAARPR lead campaigns that put police on trial, convict them and sentence them to prison. This is a first for many cities. It is a result of the rebellion, but also due to the campaign work by groups of determined activists. NAARPR will host a conference in 2023 that promises to be a big event.
Chicago stands out because the demand for community control of the police is advancing and about to be implemented. This reform originates with Fred Hampton of the Black Panther Party. The campaign for community control attracts the families of loved ones murdered or mistreated by police, as well as droves of new activists. This is getting real as Chicago activists canvass for district council elections taking place in February. These councils can implement new reforms that take control over local police policies and spending.
As we all know, 2022 wasn’t all bread and roses. After the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that overturned abortion rights, the FRSO put a lot of time and energy into fightbacks across the country to restore abortion and demand reproductive justice for all. We helped build the movement for reproductive rights in many states during the November elections, and now there is momentum towards International Women’s Day. FRSO will lead and participate in protests and events around March 8, 2023. Even if your state won, the fight is not over. You should consider joining or starting an International Women’s Day event.
Then on May 1 we commemorate International Workers Day, remembering the great sacrifice of the Haymarket Martyrs of Chicago, and the struggle for the eight-hour day and unions. Where the FRSO is organized, we will participate in mass marches and rallies, as well as FRSO-hosted forums to advance the revolutionary demands of the workers of the world.
This year promises to be historic for unions and the working class. The new leadership of the Teamsters Union, O’Brien and Zuckerman, promise a showdown with the shipping giant UPS. Rank-and-file workers’ organization and militancy on the shop floor in the UPS can build power, raise standards across the shipping industry, and fire up the entire working class. It will require a Teamster strike and a victory against UPS. With this, we will see a surge in union organizing drives, like the ones at Amazon, Starbucks, restaurant chains, and even banks.
The FRSO is already calling for the March on the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on July 15, 2024. It is only 2023 now, but we are preparing a broad united front for a national march and protest in the streets that goes right up to the front doors of the RNC. We will let the Republicans know exactly why we oppose them with our every breath. Keep a lookout for an organizing conference.
FRSO is working to build a new revolutionary communist party. We are building a party capable of uniting all who can be united to wage a decisive struggle against monopoly capitalism, and to build socialism. That is why It is important to join the FRSO now!
A new year is upon us! Our future is bright!
