“Orwell, Go to Hell!” Protesting Animal Farm in NYC
On May 2nd, a small protest of 12 activists led by the Center for Political Innovation assembled to denounce the newly released film based on George Orwell’s anti-communist satire, Animal Farm. The rally began with a moment of silence to commemorate the 12-year anniversary of the Odessa Massacre, where 42 anti-fascists were murdered in the House of Trade Unions by NATO-backed Ukrainian fascists. The narrative of George Orwell, which presents the Soviet Union as nothing but a mess of totalitarianism, is an essential part of the propaganda of these Ukrainian fascists, who continue to terrorize and murder Russian civilians as the special military operation to secure the new republics in Donbass continues.
CPI organizer Noah Schenk highlighted Orwell’s work as a colonial policeman overseeing and oppressing the people of Myanmar, as well as his supplying names of political dissidents to British secret police for blacklisting. The fact that the first film version of Animal Farm was paid for by the CIA in 1954 was raised by CPI founder Caleb Maupin, as was the Soviet Union and China’s important role in promoting the Black Liberation Movement in America. Protesters emphasized that Russia and China played a decisive role in defeating the fascists and Japanese imperialists during the Second World War, and that Victory Day is just days away, making the release of this new film particularly offensive. The fact that Orwell fought with POUM, a Trotskyite group that worked to undermine the Spanish Republic and secure the victory of fascism in Spain, was also highlighted.
“Stalin saved the Jews!” emphasized Irving Lee, a CPI activist in New York City. Other activists highlighted the crisis of housing affordability in New York City, and how working people are being squeezed amid a capitalist crisis, with pessimistic propaganda such as the new film used to dupe them into accepting it.
After the rally, CPI organizers assembled for an evening banquet with speeches about Orwell, Victory Day, and the future of the Innovationist Project, with anti-imperialist activities planned for the coming months across the country.
