BROOKLYN, February 26—On a weekend afternoon in Flatbush, workers heard the chants of the Progressive Labor Party (PLP) as war exploded on the European continent. “Asian, Latin, Black and white! Workers of the world, unite!” These words are now even more important to workers in Brooklyn to Kyiv to Yemen to Haiti. While workers from Haiti strike for increased wages in the bosses’ sweatshops, workers from Yemen live and die under U.S. made missiles and bombs, Ukrainian and Russian soldiers and civilians are fighting and dying to decide which bosses earn the right to exploit workers in Ukraine.
Attacks on workers are ramping up throughout the world. More than 20 members and friends of PLP chanted and marched in solidarity with our working-class sisters and brothers all over the world. We expressed anti-imperialist and internationalist politics and brought a message of revolutionary hope.
Not the nonsense coming from the mouths of local and national politicians and liberal apologists for capitalism who preach about equity and then stab workers in the back.
Making revolution through protracted struggle
PLP has been a presence in this neighborhood, especially over the past year. The oppression and murder of workers from Haiti is felt in Flatbush, where a large number of immigrant workers live and work. Many send money and supplies regularly to family members suffering under the control of U.S. imperialists. In Brooklyn, workers suffer from slumlords, racist cops, and say-everything-do-nothing politicians. Capitalists and their cronies work to convince workers to become cynical of fighting for change and cynical of each other.
PLP’s regular presence in the community is the antidote to these vicious lies. During our rally, a worker with a young child joined us and marched, yelling out “we will be back!” Another worker told us that we need “to be out here all the time because the suffering isn’t just overseas, it’s here.” As we march, as we distribute CHALLENGE, we build confidence in the international working class to one day overthrow this vicious racist imperialist system. We build confidence to build a communist world- one without nations, borders, and war.
Building internationalism is key to our plan
Each corner of the busy intersection where we rallied had PLP members distributing CHALLENGE. It was an opportunity to talk with workers. The war in Ukraine may seem far away, workers are suffering everywhere. Many of the workers who took the paper commented on how workers fight to survive while the top dogs benefit from capitalist war. Many workers in Flatbush work for transit and in healthcare. Those essential workers took the brunt of the pandemic at the start and any suffering they experience is now long forgotten by the bosses. Many of these workers are Black and many are women. This exposes the racism and sexism of capitalism and will be an Achilles heel for the bosses’ plans to convince us to fight in their wars. It is our job to make that contradiction clear to workers and to convince them to join us to turn the guns around and fight for communism instead of bosses’ profits.Workers demand minimum wage: only HOPE is revolution.