Workers World Party

Workers World Party supports the far-left Black Lives Matter movement, disarming and abolishing the police, ² the abolition of capitalism, ³ and the release of convicted murdered and former Black Panther Party activist Mumia Abu-Jamal. ¹ Workers World Party supports the critical race theory concepts of anti-racism, reproductive justice, ¹ and climate justice ⁴ and has also called for the shutdown of U.S. Department of Defense. ¹

In the 1960s, Workers World Party organized support for the release of radical-left activist Angela Davis and worked with radical-left extremist group Weather Underground ⁵ and the left-wing Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). ¹

History and Leadership

Workers World Party was co-founded in 1959 in New York, New York, by Vincent Copeland and Sam Marcy after they became disenchanted with the Communist Party. ^{1 6 7 8} Founding members of the Workers World Party were active in the radical-left Socialist Workers Party for several years before the Workers World Party was established in 1959. ⁹

As of 2022, Larry Holmes was the “first secretary” of Workers World Party. ¹⁰

Activities and Funding

Workers World Party is a radical-left “Marxist-Leninist political party” dedicated to starting and fighting a “socialist revolution in the United States and around the world.” ¹¹ Headquartered in New York, New York, World Workers Party has 21 different local and regional offices in the United States ¹² and works to “pull down capitalism and build a socialist society” in the United States. ¹

Individuals who wish to join the Workers World Party are required to submit an application and then are encouraged to join the party’s activist activities to “see if it is the right fit.” ¹³

Workers World Party supports the far-left Black Lives Matter movement, disarming and abolishing the police ² and other state entities, ¹ and the abolition of capitalism. ¹⁴ Workers World Party also promotes the critical race theory concepts of anti-racism, reproductive justice, ¹ and climate justice; ⁴ a federal $15 minimum wage; ¹ free healthcare for all; ¹ and far-left LGBT-liberation ideology. ¹⁵

World Workers Party opposes United States military intervention in all locations, supports the Palestinian people against what the Party calls the “Zionist state of Israel,” and calls for the shutdown of the U.S. Department of Defense. ¹

Workers World Party also offers courses on the history of the Workers World Party, Marxist-Leninist ideology, Communist organizing, and other topics. ¹⁶

Activism

In the 1960s, Workers World Party campaigned for the release of radical-left activist Angela Davis. The Party also worked with radical-left extremist group Weather Underground ⁵ and the left-wing Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) during the “Days of Rage” in Chicago. ¹ In 1962, World Workers Party held what it called “the first demonstration in the U.S. against the Vietnam War” for which the WWP claims to have been thanked by Vietnamese Communist leader Ho Chi Minh. ¹¹

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) attempted to monitor the organization in the 1960s, and according to Workers World Party first secretary Larry Holmes, the FBI described the party as a “hardline communist organization dedicated to world revolution” in the 1970s. ^{17 14} In 1980, communist political activist Deirdre Griswold was the first individual to run for U.S. President as a member of the World Workers Party. ¹⁸

Workers World Party supports the release of convicted murderer and former Black Panther Party activist Mumia Abu-Jamal. ¹ It also supported the far-left American Indian Movement ¹ and the International Action Center. ¹

Members of World Workers Party helped organize the toppling of Confederate statues in Durham, North Carolina, in 2017; ¹⁹ visited Pyongyang, North Korea, to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the country’s establishment in 2013; ²⁰ and traveled to Communist-ruled Cuba in 2007. ²¹

Publications

In 1959, Workers World Party began publication of its newspaper, Workers World. Workers World is an “anti-capitalist, revolutionary” newspaper that claims a large circulation among the U.S. incarcerated population. ²² Workers World Party also publishes books and pamphlets on various radical-left and Marxist-Leninist topics. ^{23 24}

Funding

Workers World Party receives funding from annual membership fees, one-time donations, ²⁵ subscriptions to its Workers World newspaper, ²⁶ and merchandise sales. ²⁷