LOS ANGELES, November 17—After two years of being immersed in the mass movement against police terror, Progressive Labor Party (PLP) here has been connected  with lots of people interested in abolishing the police. The kkkops, used to uphold and defend capitalism, will never be abolished under capitalism. We will need our Party to lead a violent revolution to overthrow this system. Only then can we abolish the police. At the suggestion of an impacted family member, we brought this understanding to 20 members of our base through an engaging forum.
PLP from its inception has been involved in the mass work against police terror. Over the decades, we have seen calls for reforms like more Black cops and mayors, more training for police, the need for body cameras, and more. Over that same period of time, workers have seen these various reforms implemented yet have no impact on the brutal nature of the killer cops. It has become harder and harder for the bosses to fool the working class into having confidence in reforming the police or the system. After the last year and a half of struggle, if someone tried to call for a basic reform like those mentioned above, they would be laughed off the street. People know changes that address the root of the problem are long overdue.
When the ideology of the working class shifts to the left, as it has since George Floyd was killed, it is no surprise that misleaders have attempted to co-opt the ideology and language of the masses. We see this especially with the liberal Democrats who remain the main danger to our class. To distinguish ourselves from these fake leftists and opportunists, we have to be able to combat their ideas.
Red book club
Our mass organization is starting a book club with the book “Becoming Abolitionists—Police, Protests, and the Pursuit of Freedom” by Derecka Purnell. The author, a Harvard Law School graduate, advocates for so-called "non-reformist reforms" and purports that these reforms over time can lead to the abolition of the police.  Some abolitionists recognize the root cause of capitalism, but have a distorted view of the state. They claim that with these "radical" reforms, ultimately the bosses' state would "wither away."    
What Purnell and other activists who are being used to mislead the working class are missing is the inescapable class antagonism that exists between bosses and workers. This very antagonism led to the creation of the bosses state and their police in the first place. The state is not neutral nor can we win power within their institutions. This class antagonism can only be resolved through communist revolution and a complete destruction of their state. It will then be supplanted with the dictatorship of the working class led by the international Progressive Labor Party.  
Deep dive into abolition
To prepare to raise these ideas skillfully in our mass organization book club, we read and discussed excerpts from the book in one of our Party club meetings. This club includes impacted family members and other friends. It was clear to all who attended that not only was Purnell’s path a dead end, but that we needed to present the Party’s perspective on this to our broader base.
One seasoned comrade, one new comrade, and a close base member (a young Black healthcare worker) volunteered to plan the forum. We settled on presenting three parts to the forum - history and role of the police, historical examples of the shortcomings of abolition, and the Party’s plan for how to abolish the police. We created folders with readings, guiding questions, and graphic organizers for attendees to use in their small group discussions and whole group share outs. Of the 20 base members who attended, almost all came from the mass organization that comrades have been active in or their on-the-job work that has successfully been connected to the anti-police violence work.
There were rich discussions guided by questions like “are abolitionists reformers or revolutionaries?”, “how can revolution succeed where reforms and abolition cannot?”, and “what do we need for the successful overthrow of capitalism?”
Participants recognized the shortcomings of abolition movements and gave numerous examples of where this has turned into its opposite. We read excerpts from an article that highlighted the rise in the treacherous convict lease system to guarantee free labor after the abolition of slavery.
Even if the mass movement put enough pressure to “abolish” the police, the capitalist class would just reinstate them under a different name.
So what’s the plan? Build PLP!
During the third segment where we focused on the Party’s plan for abolishing the police—a revolutionary party to overthrow capitalism and create a communist world in its place — one base member raised doubts that the working class could shed its selfish nature for this new society to thrive. Another base member jumped right in and reminded him that so-called human nature is determined by the capitalist class, but when we have state power, workers would be that driving force.
Everyone who attended thoroughly enjoyed the rich discussions. Many asked for a part two where we could dive deeper into a vision for communism. We will also follow up with a Party retreat that will call for those close to us to step up their commitment and join. Through our commitment to working in mass organizations and being active in the mass movement, our base of the Party in LA has grown both quantitatively and qualitatively. While there is still a ways to go to recruit and consolidate those closest to us, the potential absolutely exists and can be actualized if we all redouble our efforts and tighten our focus. Onward!