Fall 2007, Issue 17

On July of 2007, members of the Young Communist League-USA (YCL-USA) joined 58 other Americans on the 38th Venceremos Brigade to Cuba.

Lorraine Vivian Hansberry, was one of the most relevant and famous playwrights of the 20th century. Her work was produced in the context of her struggle for equality and justice in her own life as an African-American woman in the United States, as well as her participation in the civil rights movement. What most people don’t know, and what U.S. history has attempted to erase, is that Lorraine Hansberry was also a leader of the communist youth movement.

Naomi Wolf’s newest work, The End of America, is billed as a call to defend democracy. While her writing is impassioned, the book is marred by the very vague nature of what she tells us needs to be done—including some thoughts that are actually quite demoralizing—as well as some bizarre historical comparisons.

As of press time, Congress is debating the reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), which was set to expire September 30, 2007. This political process has become very tangled between the Bush Administration, big business and congressional leadership. Education has started to slide even further out of the spotlight while the attention of our country shifts to the 2008 presidential election.

As youth in America we are confronted with ever more need to struggle and fight for our basic human needs and rights. Everyday there is news of home foreclosures, jobs being outsourced and exported, health care premiums skyrocketing, and an education system that is failing. What can we do to guarantee our survival?