Evan M, Philadelphia, PA
On the eve of the Trump-Harris debate, I decided to raise the communist flag on the way back to my apartment from our local communist cell meeting. During our discussions, a repeated topic was the need for boldness in our agitational work. To agitate is to stir up, to disturb—sometimes, to provoke—and few things provoke as much discussion as a bright red flag with a hammer and sickle.
It was less than 5 minutes before someone stopped me to ask what the flag was for.
I smiled. “Communism!” I said.
“Communism? What’s that?”
“It means regular working people should be the ones running society.” I pointed at a billboard advertising the debate, showing opposing photos of Trump and Harris. “It means I think neither of them care a lick about us.”
Without another word, he shook my hand.
We talked a bit more, and eventually he brought up Trump, who he’s considering voting for. The guy was black, and said some of his friends make him feel like a traitor for not voting for Harris. “But I just can’t do it,” he said. “What have her or Biden ever done for me? Even if Trump isn’t telling the truth, he makes me feel like I have a voice. He’s giving the finger to people—no one else out there recognizes my frustration and anger.”
It’s not enough for us to just be open and bold in our work—we need to be agitational. We need to tap into the class anger—the rage and frustration of being ground down by capitalism every single day. We need to be out there giving Harris and Trump the finger—showing people that the real class fighters, the ones who actually fight for them, are the Revolutionary Communists of America.