Camilo Lazo | National Chair of the American Party of Labor—

On Jan. 24, the heart of Michael Parenti ceased to beat. It was a strong heart. It was a heart filled with love for the poor, the oppressed, the marginalized, the wretched.  It was a heart filled with hatred for tyrants and oligarchs, oppressors and fanatics.

It was a red heart, through and through.

In a career spanning over half a century, Michael Parenti exposed the workings of capitalism, imperialism, and fascism. Unapologetically socialist, proudly Marxist-Leninist, Comrade Michael stood on the side of revolution and liberation. His books, Democracy for the Few, Against Empire, and The Culture Struggle, to name but a few, placed him at the forefront of modern American political scientists.  Blackshirts and Reds, and The Assassination of Julius Caesar, secured Comrade Michael a reputation equal to the finest modern and classical historians. God and His Demons tore the mask of hypocrisy off of Christian Nationalism. Whether dressed in a suit and tie, a black shirt, a clerical collar, or a toga, no oppressor was safe from Michael Parenti’s withering gaze and powerful mind.

But Comrade Michael was no cloistered academic. From anti-Vietnam War protests to contemporary struggles for economic and social justice, he stood at the forefront of progressive and peoples’ movements. The people have known few champions as passionate and committed as Michael Parenti.

Michael Parenti was a friend of the American Party of Labor. In the early days of our Party, Comrade Michael was graciously and generously supportive of our efforts, granting us free use of his writings. We in the APL disagreed with some of Comrade Michael’s positions, and, we are sure, he with some of ours.  But it is right and proper that comrades should disagree and debate, for that is the dialectic.  That is the only way truth can be uncovered and action informed.  

We in the American Party of Labor owe a great debt to Comrade Michael Parenti.  A debt we hope to repay by relentless struggle, and the determination that the worker’s cause, Comrade Michael’s cause, will emerge victorious.

So, we bow our heads in tribute to a peerless scholar, a righteous revolutionary, and a friend and comrade who inspired generations.

Michael Parenti – Presente!

Categories: American Party of Labor, Labor, Statements, U.S. News