League of Revolutionary Struggle (Marxist-Leninist)

League Of Revolutionary Struggle (Marxist-Leninist)

The League of Revolutionary Struggle (Marxist-Leninist) was a communist organization in the United States. It was formed in 1978 and was dissolved by the organization's leadership in 1990. The LRS was part of the New Communist Movement that considered itself anti-revisionist and took political inspiration from the Communist Party of China and Mao Zedong.

The LRS(M-L) was formed from a merger of the Asian American communist organization I Wor Kuen and the Chicano-Latino communist organization August 29th Movement (M-L) in September 1978. By 1979 they absorbed a number a number of other ethnic based radical groups including the East Wind Collective of Japanese Americans in the Los Angeles and the Seize the Time Collective of Chicanos and African Americans in San Francisco. Early in 1980 it merged with the Revolutionary Communist League (Marxist-Leninist-Mao Tse-tung Thought) led by Amiri Baraka. This organization, formerly known as the Congress of Afrikan People, was composed mostly of African-Americans and had stressed Black cultural nationalism. When this merger occurred they issued a joint statement declaring ""Our unity signals a big advance in this strugle for Marxist-Leninist unity and for a single, unified, vanguard communist party."

The LRS(M-L) published a newspaper called Unity and a journal called Forward: Journal of Marxism-Leninism-Mao Zedong Thought.

The LRS(M-L) was active in electoral work, including playing important roles in the Rainbow Coalition and the campaigns to elect Jesse Jackson for U.S. president in 1984 and 1988.

When the LRS dissolved, part of the organization regrouped as the Socialist Organizing Network, which merged into Freedom Road Socialist Organization in 1994.