Choose your fighter

130 years ago today, on June 19, 1896, silver miners in Leadville, Colorado went on what would become one of the bloodiest strikes in American history. Mine owners had already stockpiled weapons inside their mines and signed a secret agreement never to recognize the Western Federation of Miners under any circumstances in anticipation of the strike. What followed was described by Eugene Debs as “war, and both sides so regarded it and made preparations accordingly.” The WFM dispatched armed guards to every road leading to Lake County to prevent strikebreakers from coming in. After mine owners reopened the Coronado mine with armed strikebreakers, the miners counterattacked with rifles, dynamite, and a cannon firing shrapnel. The governor sent in the state militia. Five miners were killed. Violent reprisals by strikebreakers and police against union leaders and rank-and-file alike followed, and nine months later the strike was defeated. Every institution workers could appeal to, including the AFL which the WFM belonged to, was aligned against them. The defeat prompted a profound shift within the WFM toward a revolutionary socialism, leading to their departure from the AFL and laying the groundwork for the IWW. WFM president Edward Boyce’s response in the wake of the defeat was emblematic: “I deem it important to direct your attention to Article II—‘the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.’ This you should comply with immediately. Every union should have a rifle club. I strongly advise you to provide every member with the latest improved rifle… so that in two years we can hear the inspiring music of the martial tread of 25,000 armed men in the ranks of labor.” —Edward Boyce, WFM Presidential Address (1897)

132 years ago today, the WFM won the Cripple Creek Strike of 1894—a rare moment where state troops were deployed to support miners. Populist Gov. Waite turned the militia against owner-aligned deputies, serving as a brief, powerful glimpse of what a worker-farmer alliance can accomplish.

ACP Colorado is honing its firearms skills, with experienced members stepping up to instruct less experienced members, and it’s paying off: tighter shot placement, better form and camaraderie that deepens with every day on the range.

The crimes of the Epstein class have so far gone unpunished, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be defeated. The American Communist Party calls for a popular front to end the occupation of our country, and to establish justice and popular sovereignty!

ACP Colorado attended the most significant meatpacking strike in decades at JBS's flagship plant in Greeley, which employs 3,800 workers and processes nearly 6% of all U.S. beef. Our members stand in solidarity with thousands of workers fighting for better wages and safer working conditions. One of our members had the opportunity to interview a Haitian worker at the plant. He shared his perspective on the strike and what's at stake for the predominantly immigrant workforce.

ACP Colorado addressed anti-ICE protesters at the Colorado State Capitol in Denver, highlighting how ICE emerged from the post-9/11 Patriot Act security state expansion and warning its growing powers threaten the popular sovereignty and civil liberties of citizens and immigrants alike.

Over the past few months, ACP Colorado has adopted and maintained a park in Colorado Springs—serving as official park stewards by removing waste and maintaining playgrounds so families can enjoy clean, safe spaces.

ACP Colorado returned to volunteer with Habitat for Humanity to help build affordable housing units and acquire hands-on construction experience.

ACP Colorado stood alongside hundreds in Denver this weekend to oppose U.S. military aggression in Venezuela, which violates the sovereignty of both the Venezuelan and American people.

ACP Colorado cadre are gaining hands-on construction experience, learning advanced fabrication techniques for mass production of affordable housing, and why affordability cannot be achieved as long as inflated asset prices are protected for landlords, financiers, and rent-extracting elites.

ACP Colorado cadre are on the ground working with students to build student leagues across the state. The response has been encouraging, with genuine interest in class struggle and where the real fault lines lie. Interested in joining or starting an ACP student league? Reach out.

Denver is one of America’s key freight crossroads, where rail, road, and air connect the nation’s supply lines. Drayage truckers move everything, yet the drivers are misclassified, underrepresented, overworked, and underpaid. ACP stands with the Intermodal Draymen Association to change that.

Members of the Colorado, Oklahoma, and Kansas ACP chapters joined the United Mine Workers in commemorating the Ludlow Massacre—one of the bloodiest attacks on organized labor in U.S. history.