PSL and ANSWER are notorious for co-opting organically created mass struggles; they routinely insert themselves into events related to the fights of oppressed peoples, and make their brand excessively visible so that they can gain in fundraising and recruitment. This is an observation I’ve heard from former PSL members who’ve become disillusioned with the org’s lack of willingness to do anything more than what’s necessary for maintaining its own business model; as has become the default for mainstream leftist orgs in the USA, PSL and its leader Brian Becker seek to organize for its own sake. Which amounts to a practice of opportunism.
All of that is fair i think and a good counter to the arguments made in connection to this specific conflict between the two marches, but nevertheless it seems that groups like the African People's Socialist Party are still expressing a fair bit of displeasure at how PSL and ANSWER have been treating them. Their open letter contained some fairly harsh indictments of ANSWER, to which the latter from what i can tell responded quite dismissively and rudely.
I just wish there weren't these kinds of conflicts to begin with, it seems to me like all of these groups should be on the same side and working together. Why do leftists have such a hard time understanding when to set disagreements aside for the sake of a common cause? Smh...
I think for me this topic is more or less closed now as i understand that what has finally been decided is that each will simply have their own march and not cancel it due to the other. That's good enough, even if it would have been better if this ugly, divisive spat had not occurred.
All of that is fair i think and a good counter to the arguments made in connection to this specific conflict between the two marches, but nevertheless it seems that groups like the African People's Socialist Party are still expressing a fair bit of displeasure at how PSL and ANSWER have been treating them. Their open letter contained some fairly harsh indictments of ANSWER, to which the latter from what i can tell responded quite dismissively and rudely.
I just wish there weren't these kinds of conflicts to begin with, it seems to me like all of these groups should be on the same side and working together. Why do leftists have such a hard time understanding when to set disagreements aside for the sake of a common cause? Smh...
I think for me this topic is more or less closed now as i understand that what has finally been decided is that each will simply have their own march and not cancel it due to the other. That's good enough, even if it would have been better if this ugly, divisive spat had not occurred.