Sam Marcy

Sam Marcy (1911–1998), born in the Russian Empire to Jewish parents, was a lawyer, writer, historian, and Marxist-Leninist activist. His family fled pogroms during the Russian Civil War, settling in Brooklyn where he joined the Communist Party USA. Dissatisfied with its Stalinist policies, he turned to Trotskyism in the 1940s but later criticized the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) for prioritizing reform over revolution.

Marcy co-founded the "global class war" theory, defending communist governments despite their bureaucracy. This led to the creation of the Workers World Party (WWP) in 1959, with Marcy as its chairperson until his death. He authored works on socialism, the Cold War, and civil rights movements, translated into multiple languages.

Marcy supported Mao Zedong and the Chinese Cultural Revolution but opposed Deng Xiaoping's reforms. He organized early U.S. protests against the Vietnam War. His contributions to Marxist theory and activism were influential, though controversial among critics who accused him of defending oppressive regimes.