NEW YORK - This past weekend members of the Young Communist League from all over the country flocked to national headquarters of the Communist Party, USA to attend its first national conference.
The event focused on ways the Party and YCL are working to fight for jobs and equality and their strategy of reaching out online and thorugh social networks to the millions that are now beginning to question capitalism.
These new efforts were greatly welcomed by the YCL members in attendance.
When asked about the conference Derek Souleotes a 19-year old YCL leader and party member in Kentucky said "Going to the conference was a new experience for me, I met the leadership of the Party and the YCL and the comradery between members was amazing. We left with great ideas to go back to our respective clubs to build the Party and YCL and utilize new technologies in the world today."
The discussion and reports about the Party and YCL's internet work was inspiring with the word that hundreds of thousands are now using the People's World and other Party and YCL websites to get their news and analysis. Those in attendance stressed the importance of combining these new tools in combination with being on the streets and in the community spreading the word.
With the majority of new membership applications coming from young people, the attendance of these young comrades to the conference was of the utmost importance to getting a youth perspective.
Jesse Jack a YCLer and Party member from Montana who attended the conference said "The one thing that I felt was really inspiring was the whole atmosphere of motivation and confidence. These are tough times but it seems that people are really excited to get involved and fight back."
He also added " I was glad to learn about how the Party and YCL are growing and we shared ways to keep the momentum going." adding "overall, I think it was just a huge shot in the arm that really makes me want to work even harder and get more involved in the struggle."
There were also presentations on the recent Red School-Bus Tour stops in Los Angeles and New Haven Connecticut which is a national tour of classes on Marxism organized by the YCL with upcoming stops in Chicago, Florida and Texas.
It was also announced that the tour due to it's enormous success will now be continuing into the fall. The YCL is also focusing on the jobs issue in their campaign "Youth Unite and Fight for Jobs" organizing events in opposition to the new GOP budget.
YCLers also announced its intention to take on a new project collecting signatures for petitions regarding the Cuban 5 and their detention in U.S. prison.
In addition to the conference's business, the YCLers reveled in the opportunity to mingle and enjoy each other's company as many of them were meeting face to face for the fist time. "Many of us have known each other through facebook or other social media sites for years and it was great to finally get to meet my comrades in person." said Alice a YCLer attending from Washington DC adding, "we had a LOT of fun and it really shows that politically active youth are not the squares that they are portrayed a lot of times in the popular culture, I don't think I've ever enjoyed myself as much as I did partying with my comrades!"
The youth in attendance were also awarded certificates of congratulations for their decision to join the YCL or Party as well as books on Benjamin Davis and Elizabeth Gurley Flynn (The Rebel Girl) famous American communists.
When asked if they planned on attending the next conference next year Inez, a YCLer from New Haven Connecticut replied, "are you kidding me? This was the best day of my life! Of course I will and I'll be dragging every comrade I can get my hands on with me!"
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