Slava Jalili is a Ukrainian-American Marxist journalist who serves on the politburo of the American Communist Party. In this capacity, she works on the day-to-day operations concerning personnel and party membership. Recently, she joined me for a discussion regarding her ideological background, the mission of the American Communist Party, and what the future holds for the party.
Grant Klusmann: Before realizing you are a communist, what political activities were you involved in?
Slava Jalili: To be honest, I was not interested in politics before starting my journey into Marxism. I was a Jehovah’s Witness. Life in post-Soviet Ukraine was hard, and many people sought refuge in religion, and I was one of those people. Jehovah’s Witnesses are apolitical. They don’t allow their members to vote or be interested in politics, and they put everything on God, and they say, “We’re going to wait for Jesus Christ to fix everything, and we're not going to touch that.” The good thing is that Jehovah’s Witnesses are internationalists, and they tell their followers that they should love everyone regardless of their ethnicity, race, or background, so I grew up wanting to be good to everyone. I didn't have as nationalistic an upbringing as most Ukrainian youth, and I wasn’t taught to hate Russians. So, after I left the Jehovah’s Witnesses and became interested in politics, I was already an internationalist, and that made it easier to pick up Marxism.
Grant Klusmann: Was there any particular event that led you to become a committed Marxist-Leninist?
Slava Jalili: It was the Maidan Uprising in Ukraine in 2014. At that time, I was already living in the United States. I immigrated to the United States in 2011. For the first few years, I was getting accustomed to and assimilating into the United States as a new immigrant, and then, in 2013, things started getting wild in Ukraine. As a fresh immigrant from Ukraine, I was drawn to the television and looking at what was happening in my home country. At first, I thought it was an organic uprising and that the people were just fed up with the government because the government in Ukraine was corrupt and still is. Ukraine is one of the most corrupt countries in Europe. So, it wasn’t surprising that people wanted a better life, so they went to the streets and started protesting. That’s how I looked at it at first, but then I started noticing suspicious details like Molotov cocktails being thrown at police and marches with portraits of Stepan Bandera and Nazi symbols. At that point, I realized that this wasn't just people protesting and that there had to be some kind of force behind this. I started researching and learned of non-governmental organizations' involvement in the uprising. Essentially, the Maidan Uprising pushed me into Marxism.
Grant Klusmann: What were your thoughts upon learning that the government of the country you immigrated to was fueling the unrest in your home country?
Slava Jalili: I was heartbroken because even though I didn’t have as nationalistic an upbringing as other Ukrainian youth, I wasn’t entirely immune to the propaganda that had circulated in the media, which depicted America’s virtues and rarely its flaws. Upon moving to the United States, I still had my rose-tinted glasses on because I had come from Ukraine, where we didn’t have much and were kind of poor. This caused me to be very impressed at first upon moving to the United States and seeing the opportunities in America. Eventually, I learned of the role of American imperialism in the misfortune of other countries around the world, and I witnessed what the American government was doing to my home country. I became heartbroken and depressed, and I think that had I not started reading up on Marxism, I probably would’ve become an anarchist of some sort because I began to hate the United States. I became what some mistakenly believe communists are. Eventually, I realized that the result of American imperialism was not the fault of the American people. I acknowledged the difference between the American government and the American people. After all, it is a class issue.
Grant Klusmann: When did you come into contact with the other members of the American Communist Party who make up the leadership?
Slava Jalili: I was already familiar with many of their projects. I knew Haz from Infrared, Jackson Hinkle from the show he was doing, and from his appearances on The Jimmy Dore Show, and I was already friends with the comrades from the Midwestern Marx Institute. I came on their program, and they would attend the events I was hosting as part of The Revolution Report. We had been collaborating and cooperating for a few years, and I knew we would eventually have to build a party.
Grant Klusmann: What is your role within the American Communist Party?
Slava Jalili: Currently, there is an executive board and a politburo. The executive board includes Haz Al-Din, Jackson Hinkle, Christopher Helali, Eddie Liger Smith, Carlos Garrido, Noah Khrachvik, and Kyle Pettis. The politburo consists of twelve members who serve as deputies to the executives, and I am one of them. Specifically, I work with Kyle, who is the personnel director. I help him interview those interested in joining the party and perform other tasks involving party membership.
Grant Klusmann: What do you think about the diverse ideological backgrounds of the party's membership?
Slava Jalili: It’s amazing but not surprising when you compare our party to other historical communist parties, such as the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. There were more liberal communists and more conservative communists. Communists want what’s best for their country and their class to be empowered. They all come from different backgrounds with different upbringings and different religions. I think our diversity is a positive thing.
Grant Klusmann: Where do you see the party in the future?
Slava Jalili: I believe we will be able to raise the people’s class consciousness because they see that we have problems but don't know why we have them. It is our job to demonstrate that the politicians are not helping us and are not fixing things because they are of a different class. They have never represented our interests and never will because that is how the system works under capitalism; therefore, we must do something about it.
Grant Klusmann: If one thing is for certain, it is that the American Communist Party is growing in relevance, as evidenced by the rhetoric of its detractors. This growing relevance is occurring as Americans increasingly tire of the confines of the two-party duopoly. With this, I thank you for joining me today.
Slava Jalili: Thank you too, Grant.
Filed under grantkl.substack.com.