https://iclfi.org/pubs/wv/1191/tribute
In 1944, James P. Cannon was one of 18 leaders of the Socialist Workers Party and Minneapolis Truckdrivers Local 544-CIO imprisoned for their opposition to the interimperialist Second World War and the assault against labor at home. In a speech given at a banquet in New York, Cannon affirmed the value of a lifetime devoted to the socialist cause, even if socialism had not yet come to pass.
“We are historically minded. We know that in the great scale of history our personal fate is a trifle, our lives are a trifle. But the socialist goal of our struggle, that is no trifle. To serve that goal, as we have served it, that is enough. Let the consequences be what they may. Whether we participate in the final victory of the struggle of mankind for its socialist future, or whether it has to be built on a foundation of our bones, it will still be good for us that we took part in it, and we will have our justification and our reward. No liars and conspirators, no Supreme Court and no prison can take that satisfaction away from us. We were obliged to do what we did. As a consequence of our truth-telling and our struggle we are now obliged to go to prison. We go there, however, not as criminals but because duty takes us there.”
