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The Revolutionary Communist Party, USA (RCP, USA), known originally as the Revolutionary Union, is a revolutionary Maoist organization that was formed in 1975. The RCP states that U.S. imperialism will never peacefully change. They believe that the only way for the oppressed masses to ever liberate themselves is through waging a people's war, and building a new socialist society on the ashes of what they consider to be capitalism.
It was formed by former members of the Revolutionary Youth Movement II (RYM II) faction of the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) after that group fell apart in 1968. Robert Avakian was just one of many activists who turned to Maoist ideas, which they referred to as Marxist-Leninist, and began organising in the Bay Area of California. H. Bruce Franklin, Stephen Charles Hamilton, and Bob Avakian together formed the Revolutionary Union (RU).
BARU expanded nationally with great rapidity in the next couple of years, since of the various groups coming out of SDS, it was the first to seriously attempt to develop itself both at the theoretical level, with the publication of Red Papers 1, and the first to seek to sink roots into working class communities and struggles. As a result it was able to absorb a series of similar local collectives which had developed out of SDS.
Such rapid expansion was not without its problems, however, and in 1971 a senior leader of the Revolutionary Union (as BARU had been renamed when it had developed a nationwide structure), H. Bruce Franklin, led a section of the group in a split based on semi-anarchist ideas that were characterised by many as voluntarist. The new group was named Venceremos, showing the continuing influence of the Cuban Revolution on many New Leftists, and was to last for only a short time before collapsing in 1973.
As a result of criminal indictments in 1981 stemming from a demonstration at the White House against Deng Xiaoping, RCP National Chairman Bob Avakian and other RCP leaders fled the United States and have been living in France and England ever since. The RCP remains active in both the United States and Western Europe. It is considered by its critics to be a very centralized and authoritarian group.
One of the group's most notable actions was raising the Red Flag over the Alamo. This was done by Damian Garcia, who was eventually killed. The RCP claims his murder was a result of his actions at the Alamo, just days before.
A member of the RCP's Youth Organization, the Revolutionary Communist Youth Brigade, burned a United States flag at the Republican National Convention in 1984. This resulted in a Supreme Court case known as Texas v. Johnson.
The RCP is a participant in the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement (RIM), which is a grouping of revolutionary Maoist parties and organizations around the world, including the Shining Path and the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist).
RCP members played an important role in establishing the anti-war group Not in Our Name.
In 2001, the RCP published its "New Draft Programme", in which it makes clear its ideas and goals. This document contains a reformed position on homosexuality. Up until 2001, the RCP believed that homosexuality was "something to be struggled against"; now the RCP is fully accepting of homosexuals and their struggle for liberation.
Following the re-election of George W. Bush, the RCP released a statement called "The Battle for the Future". It calls Bush a Christian Fascist and calls on the masses to resist. The document also puts forward Bob Avakian as a great leader.
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