Features

Britain & Germany’s Communists hold joint celebration of Engels’ 200th birthday!

The 28th of November 2020 marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of one of the founding thinkers of Marxism-Leninism – Friedrich Engels!

To mark the occasion, the Greater Manchester Branch of the Communists Party are hosting an Internationalist meeting along with comrades of the German Communist Party (DKP) to celebrate the the bicentenary of Engels’ birth.

Manchester holds a special significance as a place where Engels spent much time living and writing, including his book The Condition of the Working Class in England. Today the city features a statue of Engels which was saved from fascist vandals in Ukraine.

Poetry Corner: My Party is the Party of Aragon by Dorothy Hewett

My Party Is The Party Of Aragon by Dorothy Hewett.

Dorothy Hewett was a renowned Australian poet, novelist and playwright, born in the Australian Wheat Belt. She was a member of the Communist Party of Australia for over two decades ultimately resigning over the Soviet intervention in Czechoslovakia in 1968. Her prolific career featured poetry on the lives of working people and the struggle for socialism as well as love and her own experiences.

Here we feature her poem My Party Is The Party Of Aragon, a stunning tribute to working class struggle, art and history on every continent.

Stop dancing in the streets and consider why Trump almost won

Nick Wright argues that behind the liberal hysterics at his vulgar persona and ineptitude, Trump’s administration was actually delivering on its promises — and restoration of the violent neoliberal order is nothing to celebrate.

Kent County: a radical portrayal

Frank Rowley, a member of the YCL’s Kent Branch, discusses the radical history of Kent’s working people and the plans and priorities of the county’s young communists in the coming year.

Poetry Corner: The Strangest Creature on Earth by Nâzım Hikmet

The Strangest Creature on Earth by Nâzım Hikmet, 1947

The Turkish communist poet Nazim Hikmet was noted to distinguish lyric poems, dedicated to love, from epic poems, dedicated to the action of the popular masses. Here we feature The Strangest Creature on Earth.

What does the Great October Socialist Revolution mean today?

General Secretary of the Young Communist League, Johnnie Hunter, discusses the reasons behind the October Revolution in Russia, its legacy and, most importantly, its significance today.

Farage’s ‘Reform’ Party: the Libertarian Far-Right?

Daragh O’Neill considers Nigel Farage’s latest venture following on from the Brexit Party and what it means for politics in Britain.

The battles of the past can inform today’s struggles

As the Communist Party marks its 100th anniversary year, Tom Morrison, Scottish Secretary of the CP, looks to one of its most influential periods in the ’60s-70s where grassroots alliances were key.

The World Federation of Democratic Youth fights on

President of the World Federation of Democratic Youth (WFDY), Aritz Rodríguez, heralds the approaching 75th anniversary of this unique internationalist movement that now rallies in support of Lebanon.

Review: The War On Cuba

Maxime Rigoulay recommends the new three part documentary series, The War On Cuba, by Belly of the Beast, which is a damning indictment of the US blockade on the socialist island in 2020.

Communists on Scotland’s National Question in 2020

YCL General Secretary, Johnnie Hunter, addresses the question of Scottish Independence and the options for working people in Scotland as we approach 2021.

Why internationalism is at the heart of working-class solidarity

Chair of the Communist Party, Liz Payne, shines a light on communist attitudes to global class struggle.

Big tech and monopolies

Julian Jones examines what the record gains of big tech companies during the COVID-19 pandemic mean for the Marxist understanding of capitalism, monopolisation and crisis in 2020.

Vladimir Lenin in modern social theory and practice

Robert Griffiths, General Secretary of the Communist Party, was invited to speak at the (COVID-19 delayed!) International Scientific and Practical Conference in honour of the 150th anniversary of the birth of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, hosted by the Leningrad Regional Committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, last Saturday (17 October 2020). Challenge carries a transcript of the speech delivered by the CP General Secretary.

YCL founds new branch for Brighton & East Sussex

Last week saw the foundation of yet another new YCL branch, this time for Brighton and East Sussex, by young workers and students in the area.

Challenge republishes below the founding statement of the YCL’s newest branch which outlines their campaigning priorities – trade unionism, housing struggles, the student movement, environmentalism, anti-racism and anti-imperialism. As ever, the branch is unlikely to retain the title of newest branch for long with many new branches on the cards in South East England and across Britain …

If you are interested in getting involved in the YCL in Brighton & East Sussex (or further afield!) contact Brighton@ycl.org.uk or go to www.ycl.org.uk/join/.

David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet

Peter Stoddart reviews David Attenborough’s latest Netflix special which, while poignant, fails to deliver answers.

India’s Communists: steadfast defenders of secular democracy

General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), Sitaram Yechury, discusses the historic struggles of the CPI(M) in its centenary year and the contemporary struggle for secularism in the face of Modi’s Hindu nationalist government.

Poetry Corner: Full Moon at Tierz – Before The Storming of Huesca by John Cornford

Full Moon at Tierz: Before The Storming of Huesca by John Cornford.

John Cornford from a relatively privileged families and attended Cambridge University. It was at Cambridge that he met and fell in love with Margot Heinemann and where they both joined the Communist Party. John’s mother, Frances Crofts Cornford, was a poet, and he himself was already writing poems at school.

After gaining a BA first-class honours in History, he became the first Englishman to enlist against Franco in the Spanish Civil War and was killed in battle on the Andujar and Cordoba Front on 27 or 28 December 1936.

Cornford wrote just a few poems in Spain, including A Letter from Aragon and the poem featured here Full Moon at Tierz: Before The Storming of Huesca.

Da 5 Bloods: Black Lives Matter meets Rambo?

Dennis Broe reviews Spike Lee’s recent and celebrated film which attempts to tackle the experience of African-American US soldiers during and after the Vietnam War.

CC: Oliver Mallich https://www.flickr.com/photos/mtl_shag/

Greek Communists demand the return of the “Elgin Marbles” held in British Museum

In a question to the European Commission last week, the Communist Party of Greece’s (KKE) EU Parliamentary Group demanded the full and permanent return of the 2,500 year-old Parthenon Marbles, also known as the “Elgin Marbles” in Britain.