They have seen a meteoric rise in recent years. Their sister/front organisations like ANSWER, Codepink, People’s Forum, BTnews have all become household names. When I look at protests in the U.S., it seems so many of them are organised directly, or indirectly, by them. In comparison, organisations like the CPUSA or the DSA are lacking behind.
How and why?
The explanations in here are correct, but another very important one that hasnt come up is the candidacy program. After a fairly lengthy onboarding process, members are brought in on a provisional status called “candidacy”. That lasts about a year and is a focused period of training on Marxism, history, political analysis, rhetoric, and a ton of practical organizing skills. That includes a nine-month biweekly class deep diving into subjects like the USSR, national liberation, the PRC, and the history of revolutionary movements in the US. By the time someone finishes candidacy, they should be a well trained and educated revolutionary committed to our political line.
Didn’t realize this program existed or that it went so in-depth, that’s really cool and makes all the sense in the world.