YCL 6th National Convention a Success!

The 6th National Convention of the Young Communist League USA was a great success. Held June 5-7 at Temple Univ. in Philadelphia, the Convention was a challenge to rededicate ourselves to organizing a mass YCL and helping to unite the youth and student movement.

The 6th National Convention of the Young Communist League USA was a great success. Held June 5-7 at Temple Univ. in Philadelphia, the Convention was a challenge to rededicate ourselves to organizing a mass YCL and helping to unite the youth and student movement.

Over 300 people participated in the weekend's activities, which included dancing, singing, protesting, organizing, and strategizing. Special guests included young Communists from Canada and Greece, as well as the President of the Temple University Student Government and the President of the U.S. Student Association.

A diverse group of individuals attended from 20 different states. They were high school students, college students, workers, unemployed, women and men. All delegates to the Convention had the chance to speak in the workshops and in the main plenary session.

The protest march for "School and Jobs, Not Jails!" through North Philadelphia rallied more than 150 students, community activists, and union members to demand more funding for public schools in Pennsylvania, to oppose the cuts proposed at Temple University and to speak out for the Youth and Student Bill of Rights. The Philadelphia Student Union told the gathered protesters that suburban schools receive $2000 more per student annually than city schools. A delegation from the Transport Workers Union Local 234 was present to link educational issues to the strike being carried out by the union.

The Convention was a showcase for the struggles that comrades conducted everyday, and the skills they learned. The mood of the Convention was to focus on organizing. This means building stronger YCL clubs, doing more education and leadership training. The main political initiative taken at the Convention was passing the Youth & Student Bill of Rights, along with launching a national organizing campaign to promote this Bill of Rights. The document is an important step in asserting the fact that all youth have the right to an education and to a life where they are not downgraded and treated as incompetent animals.

Indeed, we must unite to build a broadly-based movement that will demand a better future for the youth of America and to respond to the crisis that affects all youth today. The YCL has already begun to propose the Bill to other organizations for their review and endorsement. So far, the U.S. Student Association, the State Association of the State University of New York, and IFCO/Pastors for Peace, have signed on as initiating endorsers.

The Convention was dedicated to Paul Robeson, a great African-American revolutionary, Communist, artist and scholar. He exemplified the spirit of struggle and defiance in the McCarthy period of anti-worker and anti-communist repression. He always stood by his principles and was steadfastly committed to socialist revolution.

Much had changed since the YCL's last Convention in July 1993, also held at Temple University. It is now 15 years since the refounding of the YCL, and the YCL USA asserted yet again its firm commitment to Bill of Rights socialism, the construction of a society built on cooperation and not competition, and a future of peace and freedom. Since March 1997 almost 2000 new members have joined, with 300 in 2 months leading up to the Convention. But the full potential of the YCL can only be realized if all comrades and clubs are mobilized to further this struggle to new heights. If you are a YCLer or a friend of the YCL, the Convention calls on you to help build a strong mass YCL in your hometown!

Compiled by Victor Corona, of the Westchester (N.Y.) YCL club.