Liberation Audio

Devastation in Iraq exposes U.S. imperialism's lies. https://www.breakingthechainsmag.org/

Joe Biden's first major address to Congress focused on the needs of the working class, proposing reforms to address job loss, wealth inequality, and racial inequality. He outlined plans for universal pre-K, free community college education, subsidized childcare, paid family or medical leave, and a major tax credit for parents. Biden also discussed his infrastructure proposal, healthcare expansion, police reform, and support for marginalized communities. The speech highlighted competition with China and the historical trend of international pressure leading to major reforms. It explored the connection between the struggle for black liberation and global confrontation, emphasizing the role of workers in shaping US power and pushing for substantial reforms.

May 4 marks the anniversary of a seminal moment in modern Chinese history. In 1919, the “May 4 movement” broke out — a youth-led uprising against the country’s domination by foreign colonial powers. In the following piece written in 2008, Fidel Castro reflects on this and other milestones in China’s long struggle for independence. The following reflection was published over a two-day period in the Cuban newspaper Granma. When the First World War broke out in 1914, China joined the allies. As recompense, China was promised that the German concessions in the province of Shandong would be returned at war’s end. After the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, which President Woodrow Wilson imposed on friends and foes alike, the German colonies were transferred to Japan, a more powerful allied than China. Thousands of students gathered in Tiananmen Square on May 4, 1919 to protest this move. The first triumphant nationalist movement in China was born there. Called the “May 4th Movement”, it brought the petite and national bourgeoisie and the workers and peasants under one coalition. The founding of the Kuomintang or National People’s Party had consolidated the nationalist currents that emerged at the close of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. It was headed by Dr. Sun Yatsen, a progressive intellectual and revolutionary heavily influenced by the October Revolution, with which he strengthened his party’s ties. The Chinese Communist Party was founded at a congress held from July 23 to August 5, 1921. Lenin sent representatives of the International to that Congress. Read the full article: https://www.liberationnews.org/08-03-31-reflections-fidel-chinese-victo-html/

We are excited to announce ‘Reading Capital With Comrades’—a new 12-part podcast series teaching volume 1 of Karl Marx's Capital. Listen now on Spotify, Soundcloud & more! Marx published the first volume of Capital in 1867 after pouring over a decade of his life into writing it and another decade researching political economy. The book is more than an endurance challenge or a purely intellectual milestone. As "Reading Capital with Comrades" demonstrates, understanding the theoretical basis of Marxism is a crucial component for organizers and revolutionaries who want to move beyond isolated struggles. Without revolutionary theory there can be no revolution.

PSL organizer Sasha Murphy speaks on Derek Chauvin’s guilty verdict, a result only thanks to mass uprising, and what's next for the movement against police terror!

One thing is unambiguously clear: Derek Chauvin being found guilty is the result of a historic popular uprising. Chauvin’s brutal murder of George Floyd ignited a massive resistance from Minneapolis’ Third Precinct into the smallest towns and biggest cities in the United States. The Party for Socialism and Liberation was proud to participate in this historic movement that brought millions into the streets, many for the first time. New leaders emerged and are now in the struggle for the long haul. “Justice for George!” was screamed in Trafalgar Square and painted on walls in Port-au-Prince. One Senator was alarmed enough to call for the Army to be sent into the streets and the Mayor of Chicago pulled up the drawbridges to save Trump Tower. The verdict was an offering from a shaken establishment. Read the full article here: https://www.liberationnews.org/guilty-peoples-uprising-wins-justice-for-george-floyd/

To General of the Army and First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba Raúl Castro Ruz; To President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, and to all delegates of the Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba: On behalf of the Party for Socialism and Liberation in the United States, we send you revolutionary greetings and solidarity on the occasion of the VIII Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba. We salute your congress as you begin your deliberations on the 60th anniversary of the Declaration of the Socialist Character of the Cuban Revolution, April 16. The words Fidel Castro pronounced on April 16 will never cease to inspire us and all revolutionaries, when he declared, “That is what they cannot pardon of us, that we are here under their noses and that we have made a Socialist Revolution under the very nose of the United States!” Read the full text here: https://www.liberationnews.org/psl-greetings-to-pcc-viii-congress/

History is always political – many of us here are familiar with this concept. However, the lessons taught in school leave out the important context, reducing history to just a mere list of dates, people, and isolated events. As Marx once said “The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.” Understanding the progression of society and the social forces at play situates these seemingly isolated points into synchronization. This is the very tool that connected my experience as a second generation Chinese American to the communist struggle. It is this that taught me that racism against Chinese people from the moment the first Chinese worker stepped foot on this country is a story familiar to all of us today. Analyzing this history is critical as we continue the fight for immigrant and worker rights. I, myself, come from a family of migrant workers: My great-great grandfather was a migrant worker in Australia until he died on the boat on his fourth trip back to China; my great grandfather immigrated to Peru to find work, and my parents immigrated here to the U.S. Read the full article: https://www.liberationnews.org/the-legacy-of-the-chinese-exclusion-act-of-1882/

This podcast explores dialectical materialism as a method to understand Marx's work. It delves into the negation of the negation and the unity of opposites. It discusses how dialectical materialism applies to class struggle, the emancipation of the proletariat, and the historical totality of society. It also explores the contradictory drives of labor and capital and the potential for liberation from exploitation through dialectical materialism.

Ramsey Clark, former U.S. Attorney General and renowned international human rights attorney who stood against U.S. military aggression worldwide, died peacefully April 9 at his home in New York City, surrounded by close family. He was 93 years old. Read the full article: https://www.liberationnews.org/ramsey-clark/