Tough, I know.
Can be a fighter, thinker, organizer, etc.
This is a really big and difficult question, as others and yourself have noted. For me, there’s two avenues that take me to two different answers.
On one hand, I’m incredibly inspired by Lenin, or more specifically, Stalin’s interpretation of Lenin’s works. Before I was Marxist-Leninist, I was Anarcho-Communist. I believed in idealistic theories for revolution and society, but reading Foundations of Leninism was an important spark of inspiration to reformat some of my beliefs to be more scientific. More realistic. More, well, plausible. Reading Lenin gave me the tools needed to change the book I’ve been working on for years to be more reality-based and more theory centric. Lenin’s ideals, with the interpretations of the many Bolsheviks and the many revolutionaries around the world, have reformed societies, they’ve built systems that worked for the proletariat, that alone is worth "great figure"ism.
On the other hand, I’m American, I’ve grown up in a place with a lot of racism and refusal to adhere to civil rights - I knew people when I was younger who directly suffered under Jim Crow long after MLK and Malcolm X brought equality. My town was one of many that ignored the civil rights act, only being forced to let African-Americans have equal rights by the national guard in the 1990’s. When I think about relevant socialism that matters in the United States, I think Huey, I think Hampton, I think Davis, I think about the liberation of black America. Specifically, listening to speeches given my Hampton did a lot to open my mind to a world that I grew up around but never considered. A world that many whites like myself never truly acknowledge. A world I have the racial privilege to not endure, but once spoken, becomes impossible to ignore. Hampton gave me, from beyond his grave, the power to look at myself not as a white communist, but as a revolutionary in the struggle for the liberation of all races under A banner of the people; the red banner of Socialism. I am a revolutionary!
[edit; typo]
Super hard for me, but I’d have to go with Huey P Newton (cause I’m from the US and he’s pry the greatest US socialist IMO).
Brains, bravery, organization-building, internationalism, product of Malcolm X, Fanon, Mao, Fidel, black power, and the new left. Created a movement so threatening to the US ruling class, that nearly all the panthers were either imprisoned or killed off. Plus his life story is really damn cool.
It depends on the mood you’re in! Right now it would be Paul Cockshott. The book Towards a New Socialism and his youtube channel got me back into communism after 10 years.
I believe sorting out the modern economics of communism and its implementation is what needs to be done ASAP. I think we need more positive/constructive thinking about communism. The capitalists will sell us the computers that will destroy them.Totally, I also recorded his towards a new socialism as an audiobook btw! Its so good and important. Like at least half of all left books are analyzing the past, and focusing on how we get there, and I get that Marx and Engels didn’t wanna predict / theorize about how things would look, and hoped the class struggle would inform the workers to find their own answers.
But is one of the few that talks about how labor-time based economies could actually work, and focusing on the future. Love his youtube too.
I realy hard to choose because there are just so many but Fidel , Stalin , mao and Che I know it cliché but Stalin , Mao and Fidel did so much for their respective country that I Just can’t not put them here and Che cause I want to be like him (handsome) , I want to fight in the revolution and help start other around the globe. But all in all the real heros are Marx and Engels themself whom without them we would not be here talking about communist.
Beta O’Rourke. I love that he wants to disarm the masses. Nobody should own an AR-10!
I agree, my fellow Comrade.
We should not be allowing people the means to protect themselves. Evidently, a Communist state will provide all the protection a person needs.
Besides, all the racist white people think black men will rape their daughters or some stupid racist shit like that. As a black man, I wouldn’t actually rape someone. These dangerous assault-rifle owners genuinely believe that black people rape other people, which is inherently false. And they can’t even prove it. No statistics or anything.
Mao Zedong. That man is a legend.
Cyril Briggs, one of Communism’s first notable Person of Color.
