Revolutionary Communists of America
American Trotskyist communist party
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Revolutionary Communists of America (RCA) is a communist political party in the United States. RCA is the US section of the Revolutionary Communist International (RCI), a Trotskyist political international formerly known as the International Marxist Tendency (IMT). RCA first formed in 1998.
Revolutionary Communists of America | |
|---|---|
| |
| Abbreviation | RCA |
| Founded | 1998 |
| Newspaper | The Communist |
| Membership (2026) | 1150 [1] |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Far-left |
| International affiliation | Revolutionary Communist International |
| Members in elected offices | 0 |
| Website | |
| communistusa.org | |
RCA describes itself as a revolutionary socialist party fighting for a workers' government and a democratically planned economy, because capitalism cannot be "gradually reformed out of existence".[2]
Membership
Ideology
RCA is a Trotskyist party, arguing that communists "must base ourselves" on "the writings of Marx, Engels, Lenin, and Trotsky", which are the "pinnacle of revolutionary theory".[6] RCA's program supports public ownership of "the essential levers of the economy", economic planning, a $60 minimum wage and a 20-hour workweek, "socialized health care", public college for all, and "guaranteed employment". RCA supports anti-racism, anti-sexism, anti-transphobia, anti-xenophobia, and anti-imperialism.[2]
Joaquin Montelibano characterizes RCA as a "middle of the road" Trotskyist organization, between "programmatic" orthodox Trotskyists and "progressive" post-Trotskyists who seek collaboration with left and progressive organizations.[7]
RCA believes that matter and time existed before the Big Bang and that the universe is infinite. RCA writers describe the Big Bang Theory as a "broken theory" (2025),[8] "an idealistic notion of an origin to the universe" (2023) due to JWST discovering inaccuracies in predictions for early galaxy characteristics and inability to explain the universe beyond the event horizon,[9] and claiming "The Big Bang is not so much a matter of scientific evidence, but of the philosophical interpretation of the evidence." [10]
History
Renamings
.svg)
In 1998, supporters of the International Marxist Tendency (IMT) in the United States created the group as Youth for International Socialism (YFIS), which published New Youth.[11] In June 2002, YFIS renamed itself to the Workers' International League (WIL) and its newspaper to Socialist Appeal. The group was usually known as Socialist Appeal (SA).[12] In 2017, WIL renamed its newspaper to Socialist Revolution. The group was usually known as Socialist Revolution (SR).[13] In 2024, WIL renamed itself to the Revolutionary Communists of America and its newspaper to The Communist,[14][15][7] as part of an IMT-wide rebranding from Trotskyist labels & symbols to more generic communist labels & hammer and sickle symbols. IMT itself renamed to the Revolutionary Communist International (RCI) in 2025.[16][7][17]
Subsequent history
In 2020, after the rapid growth of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), many SR members joined DSA chapters.[18] In contrast to the DSA's current strategy, in which virtually all elected DSA endorsees won on the Democratic Party ballot line, SR members demand "an immediate and total break with the Democrats".[19]
In 2022, conservative website Campus Reform negatively covered SR's "Marxist School" events,[20][21] where a Turning Point USA reporter noted that the Socialist Revolution organizers "allegedly called for a revolution".[21]
In 2023, SR members put up posters near college campuses which read: "Are you a communist? Then get organized." The posters were styled after "I Want YOU for US Army".[22][23][24][25][26]
In 2024, after its founding convention, RCA held a rally of 300-500 people in Philadelphia,[14][27] who chanted "fight the rich and feed the poor!"[28] When Elon Musk replied with "!" to a video of this on X, the RCA said "billionaires are parasites".[29]
In 2024, several conservative influencers spread a fake video of Kamala Harris and Tim Walz posing with a Revolutionary Communists of America sign.[30][31] The image went viral among some American Latino communities.[32] The La Nueva Poderosa podcast cited the video to prove Kamala has "no shame" about supporting communism. When corrected, the hosts said their story was "not true" but that "doesn't take away from the reality that Kamala is a Marxist".[32]
In 2025, RCA members joined the No Kings protests in New York City,[33][34] Chicago,[35] and New Orleans.[36]
In 2025, RCA claimed that Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) endorsee Zohran Mamdani was trying to "divide the working class against one another" by supporting congestion pricing. RCA also claimed that Mamdani was "deceiving the working class" by running on the Democratic Party ballot line.[37]
Conventions
| # | Name | Date | Location | Attendees | Notes | Reports |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3rd | RCA Third National Congfress | May 30–31, 2026 | Philadelphia, PA | "Nearly 650 comrades"[38] | US Perspectives 2026 | |
| 2nd | RCA Second National Congress | May 31–June 1, 2025 | Philadelphia, PA | "460 communists"[39] | ||
| 1st | RCA Founding Congress | July 27–28, 2024 | Philadelphia, PA | "over 400 communists"[40] | Workers International League (WIL) renamed to Revolutionary Communists of America (RCA), Socialist Revolution to The Communist. | |
| 6th | 2023 SR National Congress | June 3–4, 2023 | Philadelphia, PA | "some 230 communists"[41] | ||
| 5th | 2021 SR National Congress | October 9–10, 2021 | Pittsburgh, PA | "170 delegates and comrades"[42] | ||
| 4th | 2020 SR National Congress | May 2020 | Pittsburgh, PA | Cancelled by COVID-19.[43] | ||
| 3rd | 2018 US IMT National Congress | May 26–27, 2018 | Pittsburgh, PA | "nearly 90" attendees[44] | ||
| 2nd | Extraordinary 2017 US IMT Congress | May 27–28, 2017 | Pittsburgh, PA | "over 80" attendees[45] | Socialist Appeal renamed to Socialist Revolution. | |
| 1st | 2016 US IMT National Congress | May 28-29, 2016 | Pittsburgh, PA | "around 80" attendees[46] | ||
| 8th | 2014 WIL National Congress | May 24-25, 2014 | Pittsburgh, PA | not stated[47] | ||
| 7th | 2012 WIL National Congress | Nov 10-11, 2012 | Pittsburgh, PA | "nearly 60" attendees[48] | ||
| 6th | 2010 WIL National Congress | May 29–30, 2010 | Minneapolis, MN | not stated[49] | ||
| 5th | 2008 WIL National Congress | May 17–18, 2008 | Minneapolis, MN | "nearly 30 members"[50] | ||
| 4th | 2007 WIL National Congress | May 12–13, 2007 | St. Louis, MO | "over 30 members and guests"[51] | ||
| 3rd | 2006 WIL National Congress | May 13–14, 2006 | St. Louis, MO | "some 30 members and supporters"[52] |
| |
| 2nd | 2004 WIL National Congress | |||||
| 1st | 2002 WIL National Congress | June 2002 | Youth for International Socialism (YFIS) renamed to Workers International League (WIL), New Youth to Socialist Appeal. |
