By: Comrade Carlo

Research by Comrade Eli

Imperialism is the single greatest threat to humanity. It is the cause of the pollution which causes  climate change, through the combined actions of the US Military Industrial Complex and the global imperialist military presence. This very same war machine is in bed with the faux-progressive, Maryland university administration and colludes with UMBC’s administration directly. The admin of UMBC receives huge sums of money to promote a pro-imperialist agenda, offering a biased, one-sided understanding of careers in the “intelligence community”, such as the CIA or NSAUMBC is linked to the DOD (Department of Defense) through scholarship programs as well as research and grant funding. UMBC influences students to work in the war-profiteering industry for criminal corporations like Northrop Grumman, Lockhead Martin, and Raytheon. Recognizing this, our coalition of progressive organizations, outlined by our organizing principles, has formed to present the counter-narrative and organize the people against imperialist machinations at UMBC.

Imperialist destabilization around the globe has high local significance. Many economic refugees immigrate to the USA through programs created by the imperialists to bring in low-wage workers, tied to industry and isolated from community. The campus is approximately 52% minority and colonized peoples as of fall 2021, with the exact demographics being: 19% New Afrikan (Black), 20% Asian, 8.1% Latino, 4.9% “Other” (https://about.umbc.edu/). What this means is that the university is supporting research for, collaborating with, and endorsing the same system that preys on the students’ home nations. The very reason the families of these students left their original countries, is because of imperialism wiping out their livelihoods and pushing them here to serve imperialism directly

UMBC’s administration allows these companies and government agencies, such as the CIA, to recruit in career fairs on campus. They promote these career paths on their websites, and publicly promote their relationship. The imperialist class’ control of our society relies in part on ignorance and compliance from the proletariat, along with bribes. This administration sits on a contradiction between the image they promote, as a racially diverse progressive institution and their actions,which include police mistreatment of the mentally ill, transphobic work environments, silencing of victims of sexual assault, and encouragement of collaboration with war-criminals and imperialists.

Why should students care? What have Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Raytheon done? Here’s some examples: 

Lockheed Martin: World largest war profiteer, 114,000 employees, $65.4 billion in sales with $137 billion promised in deals last year. Manufactures missiles for the genocide in Yemen (Lockheed Martin missile was used in 2018 in the massacre of 11 adults and 40 children). Lockheed Martin sells $162 million in missiles to fascist dictators like Duterte in the Philippines , “Based on the data of the US Embassy in Manila, the Philippines is the largest recipient of US military assistance in the entire Indo-Pacific region. From 2015 up to 2021, the Philippines already received more than P48.6 billion (around $1 billion) worth of security assistance from its long-time ally” (J. Bolledo) whose administration routinely targets indigenous Lumad activists and peasant leaders for promoting democratic rights (Bolledo).

Raytheon: Known for its missiles, one of the largest manufacturers of missiles in the world. Long history of shady business practices have lead to multiple law suits and fines. Complicit in the murder of civilians by creating the JSOW, a vehicle for cluster bombs which disproportionately target civilians (Mattera). Like Lockheed Martin, Raytheon has served up weapons to the Saudis, and used their influence over the US gov’t to sell 3 Billion dollars’ worth of bombs to Saudi Arabia for their genocide in Yemen (LaForgia and Bogdanich). 

Northrop Grumman: Sold cluster munitions and, pioneered smart bombs to sell to Saudis. (Weisgerber). Working with DHS to build a surveillance system to track immigrants, which will violate their privacy and tread on their rights in a criminal justice setting (Gallagher). Nothrop Grumman has a 12 million dollar deal to sell aircraft to India for their Operation Green Hunt, a campaign to slaughter Communists and indigenous Adivasi people, in order to clear the way for extractive corporations to desolate their ancestral home (Ghaswalla).

And the ties go deep between UMBC and these monstrous corporations ; in fact there are links between the University of Maryland system and these war criminals that must be called into attention. Through our research we have discovered that the current director of the UofM executive board is a former Lockheed Martin executive, Linda Gooden. Linda, formerly Vice President of Info Systems and Global Solution, is poised to broker deals between the so-called progressive universities and the military industrial complex. As of 2010, the UofM has been in a strategic partnership with Lockheed Martin, which is the culmination of more than 60 years of collaboration. This collaboration is demonstrated through financial transactions such as the $60 million given by Glenn Martin (Founder of Glenn L Martin Company which eventually merged to create Lockheed Martin).

These corporations that UMBC works with profit from the deaths of the masses of people, and the government agencies serve a imperialist agenda. This is most easily evidenced by the weight of these deaths tolling most heavily on the gender and racially oppressed. These are not figures, but human lives, snuffed out in the drive for profit and US hegemony. Our prescription as a project is then to investigate the issues on campus, to analyze them in regard to the ties of UMBC to imperialism, prove how UMBC’s support of imperialism is the root of multiple oppressive systems here as well as abroad. We will show solidarity with the marginalized in the community, and help them organize groups, actions, and events for their well-being and defense. Our project will utilize class struggle as our instrument against UMBC and its allies, to empower the students through militant organization, and anti-imperialist education. We will endeavor to impart students and staff with an internationalist proletarian understanding of imperialism, to prove that imperialism is our common enemy and we all have a duty to work towards dismantling it by any means necessary. This coalition’s promise to the students and workers is that we will always fight shoulder to shoulder, and that victory IS possible.

References

Bolledo. FAST FACTS: Who is Renalyn Tejero, the Lumad activist arrested in Cagayan de Oro? 24 March 2021. Web. 19 October 2021.

Bolledo, Jairo. PNP receives anti-terrorism equipment from US. 23 September 2021. Web . 12 October 2021.

Gallagher, Mary. Northrop Grummans Human Rights Record in the Spotlight at Shareholder Meeting. 2019. Web. 18 October 2021.

Ghaswalla, Amrita. Northrop bags ₹79-crore defence deal. 18 January 2018. Web. 19 October 2021.

LaForgia, Michael and Walt Bogdanich. “Why Bombs Made in America Have Been Killing Civilians in Yemen.” New York Times (2020): 1. Web.

Mattera, Phillip. Raytheon: Corporate Rap Sheet. 23 September 2012. Web Page. 18 October 2021.

Stone, Mike and Brunnstrom David. “U.S. State Dept OKs possible sale of F-16s, missiles to Philippines.” Reuters 24 June 2021. 12 October 2021.Weisgerber, Marcus. Northrop Grumman Says It Will Walk Away From Cluster Bomb Contract. 28 January 2021. Web. 18 October 2021.