Political activities
As a student at UC Berkeley,Avakian became involved with Students for a Democratic Society (SDS),the Free Speech Movement [2] and the Black Panther Party. [5] In 1968,he wrote articles for the Peace and Freedom Party's publications [6] and in July 1969,he spoke at the Black Panther Party conference in Oakland,California. [7] Avakian was a member of the SDS Revolutionary Youth Movement II faction,and ran as the RYM II candidate for National Secretary at the 1969 SDS National Convention. Avakian was defeated by Mark Rudd of the faction later known as the Weather Underground. [8] During that period,Avakian was a founding member of the Bay Area Revolutionary Union [9] alongside Leibel Bergman. [10] : 101
In the early 1970s,Avakian served a prison sentence for desecrating the American flag during a demonstration. [2] He was charged with assaulting a police officer in January 1979 at a demonstration in Washington,D.C. to protest Deng Xiaoping's meeting with Jimmy Carter. [5] [11] [12] After receiving an arrest warrant,Avakian went to France and applied for political refugee status. [1] In 1980,he gave a speech to 200 protestors in downtown Oakland [13] and his police assault charges were dropped a few years later. [1] [5]
Avakian has been the RCP's central committee chairman and national leader since 1979. [13] [14] In his position as chairman,Avakian has produced a large body of work,which articulates what the RCP identifies as "the new synthesis of communism" or "new communism". [15] [16] In 2016,the RCP USA and others helped form the organization Refuse Fascism,which called for Donald Trump's removal from office. [17]
Cult of personality
Avakian has been criticized as the center of a cult of personality within the RCP. [18] [19] [20] [21] Aaron J. Leonard,a former member of the RCP,identified Avakian's 1979 trial as a catalyst in the development of this cult of personality. [22] In 2016,former USLAW national coordinator Michael Eisenscher called the RCP "a cult around Avakian" in an interview with Harper's Magazine. [19] In June 2022,a coalition of 23 abortion rights,feminist,and mutual-aid groups released a statement denouncing RCP and the affiliated abortion rights organization Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights,and calling the RCP a cult. [21] [23] [24]
Avakian has noted that the RCP emphasizes "the great importance of the work I have done,and continue to do",but claims that criticism of his position within the RCP is "unscientific". [25] [26] The party has labeled any claims of cultism within its ranks as "lies and slander". [27]
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