2002 - April

In 1925, as a result of the growing organization of the labor and the influence of socialist ideas, the first Cuban Marxist-Leninist Party was founded. The Communist Party of Cuba was built thanks to the efforts of a very outstanding group of communists, among whom Carlos Bali�o and Julio Antonio Mella played an extraordinary leading role.

This year marks the 80th Anniversary of the Young Communist League, USA. To commemorate this occassion, Dynamic will be pulbishing a 3-part series on the history of the YCL and the other communist youth organizations in this country�s past. We also will be publishing historic photos and images from old YCL documents. We encourage YCL members to write about different aspects of YCL history to contribute to this effort.

Every now and then a book is published that asks us to redefine our view of the past and in that redefinition, challenges us to look anew at what type of future we want. Priscilla Murolo and A. B. Chitty have written just that kind of book: From the Folks Who Brought You the Weekend, published by The New Press.

Since the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11 much discussion and debate has taken place among educators and on college campuses as to how the US should respond, the history of US foreign policy and whether or not the Bush sdministration�s policies will actually stop terrorism.
The Oakland Education Association (OEA) Executive Board passed a motion Sept. 20 in sympathy with the victims and pledging to be a \"voice for non-violence, defense of democratic rights and civil liberties and resistance to ethnic and religious scapegoat.\"

Who would think a bookbinder, an accountant, a tomboy, a vengeful comedian, and geniuses like Newton, Marie Curie and Einstein would have anything in common, let alone the formulation of E=mc2?

"We’ve got five million ways to kill a CEO” chants Boots Riley, MC for the Progressive Hip-Hop Band “The Coup”. The Coup’s newest album, Party Music is non-stop, full of funky beats and on-point politics. The album’s lyrics address issues of corporate policies, police brutality, gender roles, and speaks out about the necessity for revolution. The issues brought up within the lyrics are very easy to relate to.

Welcome to the new Dynamic magazine! We have changed the look, feel and format of Dynamic in conjunction with the 80th Anniversary year of the Young Communist League USA. Dynamic will be published as a quarterly magazine. To commemorate this historic anniversary, Dynamic will feature a series of articles to chronicle the history of our struggle. We encourage all artists, writers and poets to submit their work. We will soon be publishing our new editorial policy, but we encourage contributors to submit to us right away.

On the night of January 17, I found myself at Sounds of Brazil (SOB’s) in New York to see Antibalas, an Afrobeat orchestra with heavy influence from the legendary African musician and revolutionary Fela Anikulapo Kuti. Antibalas’ music is very heavy and makes the body move, sometimes involuntarily, with strong trumpets and various saxophones leading a hardcore Afrobeat generated by guitars, bass, electric piano and other instruments.

A little more than a week after President Bush announced the US military response to the September 11 attacks, youth and student organizations convened to represent an opposing view. Prior to the meeting, about 150 campus actions were called on September 20th as a Day of Action.

The fight for economic independence and equality for women in the workplace continues today as women in all occupations face discrimination. Working women earn an average of $9,483 a year less than men according to 1998 Department of Labor wage studies, and in 2002 this gap is widening. According to a 2000 survey, conducted by the General Accounting Office (based on salary information gathered by the Department of Labor) of the 10 industries that employ 71% of American women, showed women\'s inequality growing in seven of these industries.

Roy Rydell, sailor, communist, and teacher, died November 20th 2001 in New York City. On February 15th he would have turned 83 years old.

On November 30, 1999 in Seattle, a five-day protest against the World Trade Organization (WTO) began, marking a new phase of the movement for global justice. Over 50,000 trade unionists, farmers, students, environmentalists, workers, and other activists swarmed over the city and shut down the meetings of the WTO. Major sectors of the country identified global corporations and capitalism as the source of our world�s problems. A new generation of young people saw the incredible power they could hold if they simply organized, mobilized, and became active together with the labor and people�s movements.

Today, we face new challenges to our search for peace. The interim government of Afghanistan is falling into civil war. The \"War on Terrorism\" has become a slick marketing tool to try and sell us the expansion of the American military machine. Troops are being stationed in the Philippines to take up �advisory positions.� U.S soldiers are being deployed to Colombia to combat the people�s growing resistance movement. There is chilling talk about resuming air strikes of Iraq.

The United States Student Association (USSA) and its millions of members across the country believe that we all have a responsibility to question the actions of our government. The �war on terrorism� that our government has started has gone unchecked for too long. The casualties of this war are too many to name.

Natalia came to the United States from Russia over six years ago. Her mother moved her here in the hopes that they would both be able to escape the worsening economic conditions and crime that has become rampant in Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union. They came looking for the better life that they had heard was possible in the US.
However, when they arrived in America, they found that life here was much harder than they had expected. \"The transition was more difficult than I could have ever imagined,\" says Natalia. \"I hated it with all my heart.\"

The World Federation of Democratic Youth (WFDY) strongly condemns the Government of Israel for declaring open war against Palestine by mobilising thousands of its troops with sophisticated and heavy weaponry against the Palestinian people. The Israeli army took over the headquarters of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) with tanks and armed troops. Israeli troops entered Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat\'s compound on after Israeli forces knocked holes in the walls. Chairman Arafat was inside the compound, which was under heavy attack. WFDY believes there is severe risk to the life and security of Mr. Arafat.

Over 20,000 peaceful protestors converged on the Waldorf-Astoria hote in New York City to protest the World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting being held there. The WEF, which traditionally meets in Davos, Switzerland, is a gathering of CEOs from the world�s largest corporations, multimillionaires, kings and heads of state.