Another reason not to shy away from that history is because you will be seen as dishonest if you're not up front about it from the very start. Every American has been taught that communists are the most conniving, wretched creatures who lurk in the shadows and poison the minds of the innocent and weak with sweet lies and false promises. Your first job when you set out to dispel that picture is to be completely forthright about your motivations as well as candid about how much work and struggle is involved. You don't ever want someone to find out you are advocating for communism from someone who is not you, they'll automatically assume you were trying to deceive them.