The following report was given to the CPUSA National Committee by the Anita Waters for the Organizational Department on October 11, 2025.

Thank you to Joe for your keynote address about the present dangers of this moment and the need to keep the faith. He’s echoing something Henry Winston said on the eve of the McCarthy Period. At the 1948 Convention of our party, Winston said, “Some comrades conclude that under conditions of the monopolies’ offensive and the defensive battles of the working class we must retrench and wait for more favorable times for party building. Can we accept this theory? Obviously not. … The more favorable times of tomorrow are being determined by what we do in today’s struggles.”

That quote started off a later recruitment effort called the Winston Enrollment Campaign. Like then, we are not retrenching and waiting for favorable times. Our Party grew 11% since last November, and we have 15,000 new visitors to our website CPUSA.org every two weeks. Interest in and respect for the Communist Party USA is growing.

In previous reports, we emphasized the importance of communication in both directions between the districts and state organizing committees and the National Committee. For this purpose, we have Club and District Leaders’ meetings on the second Wednesday of every month. At last week’s meeting, we had four guest speakers covering innovative fundraising methods and the October 18 rally preparations.

Another important communication tool is the email Google group “CP-Districts.” These emails go out to all club and district leaders about twice a week. Please open them and read them. One per week is the Rapid Response action that all club members should follow and publicize. Another email will include important announcements and the latest version of the CPUSA Calendar.

One important reminder to clubs and districts as you organize and recruit is to make use of the People’s World and International Publishers. People’s World articles can be turned into leaflets with the template available at the Club and District resources shared drive. The more clubs use People’s World in their political work, the easier it is to ask for a contribution when the fund drive comes around.

International Publishers’ new book Square Up: Building Labor’s Power in the Second Gilded Age, edited by Lorri Nandrea and Tony Pecinovsky, is a collection of short, topical essays (including one graphic comic on the origins of boycotts) that would appeal to anyone involved in organized labor.

The next steps for our party organizationally will help us prepare for future growth in our membership. We want to give district leaders the tools to mobilize new members and organize and promote new clubs. We will try to make more tasks routine so that we don’t do as much reinventing of the wheel, while still taking steps to protect the integrity and unity of the party.

This will involve training district leaders about their roles and responsibilities. The complexities and nuances of leadership don’t come from Zoom classes, but in face to face (even remote “face to face”) discussions about the challenges clubs, districts, and state organizing committees are facing. “Training” is a misleading word here, because what we need is not a one-way flow of information from veterans to newcomers, but a mutual learning experience in which comrades with more experience in the movement learn about the challenges and special conditions facing newer leaders.

As I give this report, we are mobilizing for the No Kings II rallies on October 18, which are being organized by coalitions of organizations across the country. As we continue to resist the creeping fascism that the Trump administration is pursuing, we must work carefully to cultivate relationships with our allies in labor and in community organizations, advocacy groups, and faith organizations, in order to form a united front to defeat MAGA.

Images: Image compilation by CPUSA.org