NEWARK, NJ, November 21—As the housing crisis intensifies worldwide, Progressive Labor Party (PLP) members met with neighbors of North Newark’s Stephen Crane Village, a 354-unit public housing complex. We organized to heighten the struggle for better living conditions under capitalism and build a revolutionary communist movement led by PLP. Each year, Black liberal misleader, Mayor Ras Baraka hosts a “State of the City” symposium to quell the rage of Black and Latin workers in this area. As a way to strengthen the morale of new comrades and all workers in Newark, PLP decided to host our own communist speak-out at the Crane.
We’ve been teaming-up with a comrade who lives in the area to sell CHALLENGE and connect with workers. It's been a slow build but we continue to meet people who are interested in communist ideas and fighting back. Two comrades, a healthcare worker and an educator, grabbed the bullhorn and spoke about fighting back for better housing and fighting for communist revolution.
As workers listened from their homes, PL’ers walked over to offer them CHALLENGE. A group of children playing on the basketball court stopped to listen and joined in when we chanted “Asian, Latin, Black and white, workers of the world unite!”
Workers knock the rotten foundation of capitalist housing
When PLP passed the mic, a neighbor voiced her anger about the property manager's mistreatment and failure to address the issues of the workers that live there. “I'm so tired and I know many of you all are annoyed having to go down to the leasing office to repeat complaints about the same situation they have documented on their computers and no one comes out to fix the problems. They tell us the same story every time: there’s not enough workers to fix the problems in the complex. Why do I have mold in the apartment? Why is the plumbing terrible? And why can't I stop coughing?” Capitalism's failures have increased the privatization of housing in areas like Newark, allowing slum lords to neglect and manipulate workers. A few months ago, the building managers sold the public housing facility to private developers and have left the residents with deathly conditions to deal with alone.
Big Fascist“Build Back Better capitalism” will fail workers
In line with President Joe Biden’s day-late-dollar-short Build Back Better bill, Newark’s Mayor Ras Baraka made public promises to create and preserve 6,600 affordable housing units in Newark by 2026. Workers can’t afford to wait that long for better housing. And even still, the city would need 16,000 units to meet the needs of all workers in this area (NJ.com, 6/21). While bosses in the White House argue over how many bones to toss down to workers, the health of our class suffers at the hands of managers and landlords who are lining their pockets in the midst of a pandemic.  An infrastructure bill will never be enough to resolve the mounting crisis of housing, education, health and police violence that work in tandem to ruin workers’ lives and communities.
Fight for better housing, fight for communism!
PLP affirms that only an internationalist communist future, where workers take state power, will vanquish the grueling cycle of capitalism. To put communism in action, PLP stands side by side with workers FIGHTING BACK and building a movement for communist revolution to win a world for workers in the long run!
One neighbor suggested we survey each family in the complex about the conditions of their unit and report it back to the city, especially after the disastrous Hurricane Ida. We agreed  and added the idea of including the senior building next door. We will also distribute CHALLENGE. One woman worker reported her roof was leaking during the storm and showed us the ceiling cracks and mold in the apartment. She has been complaining about this decay for weeks, while the landlords still left a rent notice in her mailbox. Under communism and PLP’s leadership, a profit system will  not exist and housing structures will  be designed to keep workers' needs and participation in decision-making primary. To get there, we need as many of our working class brothers and sisters as possible sharpening the struggle between the ruling class and the workers. Stand up and demand that enough is enough!! It’s time for the united international working class to fight back!! Join PLP in the fight!