Salute to working-class fathers in Gaza and beyond
This Father’s Day I celebrated part of the day with my family at a protest honoring Palestinian fathers killed or struggling to survive. As the intensified genocide in Gaza has continued into its nine month, countless family members have lost fathers and father figures. Several speakers at the event in NYC raised money for Palestinian workers who have been devastated by the U.S.-financed atrocities. While the bosses media will occasionally describe the tragedy of working class children and women killed in Palestine, there is a tendency on the part of the racist news outlets to belittle the lives of working-class Palestinian men killed by Israeli bombs.
I had the chance to speak as a member of Progressive Labor Party and a mass organization from my neighborhood that has been holding weekly vigils for those killed in Palestine. I shared a song about being a dad under capitalism, the alienation I’ve felt taking time off from my regular job, and how we are all hurt by the sexist, racist, Zionist system. “Let’s raise this generation to not use quick fixes, band-aids or sutures /But cure the whole world with communism as their future” I concluded. I then distributed over 20 CHALLENGE newspapers to the small but spirited crowd and exchanged contact info with several folks I met.
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Beat back kkkourts’ attack on Mohawk
Last issue contained a letter describing the spirited defense in court of working class fighter Mohawk. The bosses tried to use their courts and jails to ruin his life for defending fellow workers under attack by the bosses’ violent lapdogs, the cops. If you have been involved with the Party for any amount of time, or even if you haven’t, you know the bosses and the police use the courts as a formality to fining, imprisoning, and even murdering working class resistance. We workers are often fed propaganda about the so-called neutrality and objectivity of our legal system, that “justice is blind.” Well the bosses seem to have their eyes wide open to the reality of class warfare and so when the working class came to the trial in numbers to support Mohawk,the bosses and judges knew they better back off! That is the only reason six of Mohawk’s eight felonies were dropped. The rest of us need to take the same lesson away: we are in a war between workers and bosses (and their errand boys the police). The courts did not protect Mohawk, it was the working class who made the judges and police retreat from their attack. Don’t let the misleaders trick us into trusting the bosses’ courts. Keep on building our red army of workers and keep up the fight!
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DC protesters open to communist ideas
I wanted to share some thoughts on my conversations at the “Red Line” pro-Palestine rally at the White House in Washington, D.C. recently. There are many opportunities for Party building at these big demonstrations. One conversation was with a recent graduate who had earned a master’s degree in mechanical engineering. He and his friends had been able to land jobs that did not involve defense contractors, either for bomb making or designing planes with bomb storage. I asked him to write a letter about these growing war preparations to CHALLENGE.
He graduated from Clark University in Worcester and knew about the long strike at St. Vincent’s, but was intrigued to learn of Progressive Labor Party’s involvement in that struggle. Another protester I met attends the University of Maine. She also was interested in our Party. She is interning in Richmond, VA along with another student from Richmond.
I gave both of them our nearby comrade’s number and I sent him their numbers for follow up along with CHALLENGE. Three young men from Cincinnati came on a bus sponsored by PSL. We discussed the pitfalls of socialism and the need to abolish the wage system by a direct fight for communism, so they have a lot to think about now. Interestingly, one of their friends works at a Honda factory. Hopefully we’ll stay in touch.
The most hilarious encounter I had was with a woman who asked, “Do you follow Bob Avakian?” I explained he was a cult leader and PLP fights against revisionism and cults of personality. She was visibly relaxed and took the paper. Overall, our PLP team got over 10 solid contacts. Comrades are already meeting with two of them with more to come. The future is bright!
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No more Riot Fest—what we do counts!
On June 11th the residents in my neighborhood and I received some uplifting news: the despised and destructive for-profit rock festival, Riot Fest, would NOT be returning to the west side of Chicago for September of this year. Since 2015, the concert has been held in Douglass Park, blocking off access to green and recreational spaces for mostly Black and Latin workers and youth for weeks at a time (see CHALLENGE, 7/5/23).
This outcome represents a significant victory for working-class residents of the area. Up against a well-equipped foe with media savvy, loads of money, and connections to local bosses, a multiracial group of residents organized tirelessly to expose the exploitative and racist nature of Riot Fest and mobilize a base of support. Countless letters were written, petitions were circulated, park district meetings attended, and damage to the park in the aftermath was documented. Every seemingly small action contributed to the goal – what we do counts!
I personally have been inspired and honored to take part in the anti-Riot Fest organizing in a very modest capacity. As a communist, I understand that every reform victory that the bosses give up to us workers is almost always temporary. I know that because we still live under capitalism that other capitalist businesses are going to keep working non-stop to make profit in racist and sexist ways.
The victory that the bosses can’t readily take away is the multiracial unity, collectivity, and elevated class consciousness that has grown through the organizing work. That we can work and struggle together for common goals without material incentives. These are the communist ideals that I have worked to try to insert into our group discussions.
What hasn’t hurt either to raise consciousness of the nature of the capitalist system is the gross opportunism of the city’s bosses, including the “people’s mayor” Brandon Johnson. upon hearing the news he asked if there was a way to “salvage” the relationship with Riot Fest! When we see the system for what it is and have confidence in our ability to run society better, we are making steps towards an egalitarian world. The struggle continues!
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