To comrades around the world—Here we are in the month of May just like that of 1886. A May that reminds us of the bitter victory of our class: the work day had been cut to 8 hours, but many workers and union leaders died, were jailed, wounded, or were hung for their efforts.
Yes, May is a month that marks us, and we will mark it as well, after the end of the bosses’ rule. This is the moment that we will celebrate. We won’t be celebrating our lives only as workers, but as revolutionaries.
Let us deplore that, in spite of the struggles carried out, all the demonstrations and marches against the exploitation of our class by the bosses, our working conditions are often worse than in most of the countries in the world. And it is this sad reality which pushes us to unite as a class, to build, under the leadership of the Progressive Labor Party, a communist revolution. Communism, a system where workers rule in their own interests as a class, is the only solution to all the horrors of capitalism – racism, sexism, nationalism, unemployment, exploitation, poverty, imperialist wars, and all the rest.
Today, comrades in New York and around the world, the working class of Haiti, and the PLP of Haiti, salute you as we march together for our needs as a class. We in Haiti are fighting against many of the forms of capitalist exploitation that infect the rest of the world. Tens of thousands have been in the streets protesting against the bosses and their politicians, all of whom line their pockets at our expense. In Haiti, we are fighting against the corruption embodied in the PetroCaribe oil scandal, against the atrocious poverty under which many Haitian workers and their families rarely find one decent meal a day, in a country where over 70 percent of the workers are unemployed.
Mass marches in large Haitian cities on May 1, as well as other political activities, show that our class is on the move. We are fighting to build the PLP as the leadership of the working class in Haiti.
We shout out to you today: ON TO VICTORY!
   

BOGOTA,Colombia—Thirty-five-thousand workers once again commemorated May Day, the international working-class holiday, marching in different parts of this city. Their struggles expressed economic and political demands.
Very early on members of Progressive Labor Party (PLP) distributed 80 CHALLENGE’s and other communist literature. We paid close attention to the arrival of different groups like unions, indigenous , farm, and unemployed workers, students, revolutionary parties, and groups of women, among others.
 We engaged in dialogue with some of them and exchanged ideas in such a way that we noticed the fear of some workers to express themselves due to the racism and fascism that has plagued our class with the systematic murder of 600 worker leaders.
We had very good discussions about the electoral circus, capitalist corruption, “the indigenous problem”, our anti-racist line, unemployment, internationalism, wage exploitation, socialism and communism.
“No more sexism, long live communism!” Long live an international communist May Day! These were some of the chants our Party shouted as we gave communist leadership to the working class. The PLP with a large block of 67 people, participated with great enthusiasm, shouting our slogans with vigor, causing admiration and approval among the other protesters and onlookers.
Examples of the more than 30 chants were the following: To defeat the capitalist crisis in Venezuela, we need a workers’ communist revolution! Neither Duque, nor Guaido, nor Maduro, communist leadership is the future! These chants differentiated us from the majority of groups led by the revisionists that blow vuvuzuelas  and perform dances and carnival choreography which only serve to water down May Day’s true significance, with capitalist consumerism. To this we exclaimed that the story of the working class is not a carnival party! Communism and revolutionary politics are the best education!
We continued marching and raising our red flags until we arrived at Bolivar plaza, a landmark  which honors the capitalist and imperialist, and murderous dictatorship that workers have been subjected to for 208 years.
As usual, the trade union confederations, opportunists and social democratic politicians took possession of the platform to give their worn-out speeches imploring the bosses for improvements and greater justice and to achieve a fairer Colombia. They raised bourgeois symbols like the flag, and they played the national anthem.
 In an organized manner, we picked up our banners and revolutionary flags and left the march with optimism agreeing to participate in future struggles and continue organizing for continued growth of our international Party. We ended our May Day energized, as we renewed our committment to build a future communist society without politicians or bosses, without social classes or wage slavery, sexism, racism and all the capitalist scourges. One working class, one communist world and one Progressive Labor Party(PLP)!

BALTIMORE, May 7— The inspiring sit-in at Hopkins University’s Garland Hall – the building in which the university president has his office – is now in its 36th day. Ever since May 1, the occupation has been on an even bolder level. It’s no longer a sit-in with university offices still functioning. The building is now locked down and under the full control of the sit-in, adding muscle to the three demands, all strongly anti-racist!
The Progressive Labor Party is involved in the struggle and also in sharpening the antiracist politics through CHALLENGE, especially in fighting for the understanding that liberalism cannot defeat racism(see next issue for update).
Three antiracist demands
One student demand is against Hopkins establishing its own private, armed police force. Currently, Hopkins has a 1,107-member unarmed security force. During one recent year, 97 percent of the people detained as “suspects” by these security guards were Black. This police force was created by the wealthy bankers and business owners who sit on the Hopkins Board of Trustees.
Baltimore itself – with a mayor, city council and city state’s attorney, virtually all of whom are part of the liberal Democratic Party – is no better. From 2014 to 2017, 96 percent of the people arrested in Baltimore for marijuana possession were Black, while the city is 66 percent Black, despite drug use being statistically the same across the entire population, and regardless of racial background.
A second demand of the sit-in – in support of immigrants – is to end the millions of dollars in contracts that Hopkins has with ICE. As is well-known, Trump is using this issue to build racism – calling immigrants “invaders,” “criminals” and “rapists” – much like the Nazis did when they said Jewish people were “born criminals.”
The third and final demand of the sit-in is justice for Tyrone West, who was unarmed, yet maced, tased, severely beaten, and killed by a dozen Baltimore city cops – together with a Morgan University officer – in July of 2013.
 At that time, racist Greg Bernstein was the City State’s Attorney. He gave those kkops immunity before they even completed their testimony.
Liberals show capitalist allegiance
On the other hand, liberal politicians have been no better. Catherine Pugh came to a West Wednesday rally(weekly demonstrations against police brutality that have been going on for five years now), pretending to care about justice, when she was running for mayor. But since then – until recently forced to resign due to corruption – she acted as if she didn’t even know who Tyrone West was. Marilynn Mosby, who was elected as City States Attorney after Bernstein, told the West family – during her campaign – that she would be helpful. Five years later, she has refused to reopen the case and prosecute the killer cops who took Tyrone’s life.
When Democrat Obama appointed Loretta Lynch as his new Attorney General, she met with the West family. Nevertheless, even after large numbers of signatures were sent to the Department of Justice calling for prosecution of Tyrone’s killers, the long-delayed reply finally came back, from a low-level official, saying that the kkkop’s  murder of Tyrone is “un-prosecutable.”
Progressive Labor Party (PLP) says that liberalism and the Democratic Party help perpetuate the oppression of capitalism. For this reason, PLP organizes the working class for revolution and communism.
Building our own working class leadership
The bold sit-in, at Johns Hopkins university President Ronald Daniels office, is inspiring many people, and helping to sharpen the understanding that liberalism is not the solution, and that it cannot end societal racism.
The last four West Wednesday rallies have been organized and held in conjunction with students and community members from the sit-in, starting at locations off the Hopkins campus, and marching boldly, right into the sit-in. These rallies have been large, involving as many as 300 people. At one of the rallies, a member of PLP gave a speech, arguing that liberalism can’t accomplish what we want, and what’s needed is a revolution to defeat capitalism, so that a truly communist, egalitarian society can be built.
Almost everyone eagerly took a copy of CHALLENGE, or pointed to the nearby person with whom they would be sharing the paper or, in a few cases, asked for the web address so they could read it online. A banner was posted that stated: “Progressive Labor Party Says Justice for Tyrone West: Put Killer Cops in Cell Blocks: Smash Racism & Capitalism.”
Fight back turns up on May Day!
One week later – after the large distribution of CHALLENGE – happened to be a very special time: the 300th weekly West Wednesday and, by fortunate coincidence, also May 1st. Members of the sit-in steering committee, together with regular participants from West Wednesday, worked together to plan a powerful rally in a working class section of the city, a march to the Johns Hopkins sit-in, and then a large-screen Skype connection in solidarity with activists around the country.May 1st turned out to be an especially strong time in the struggle against racism! Students at the sit-in courageously stepped up their forcefulness, some strategically chaining themselves to railings, to shut down business as usual in Garland Hall, the administrative building.
The sit-in, from that point forward, then became a lock-down occupation. And the 300th West Wednesday, on May Day, involved hundreds of people! Skyping in to talk with the sit-in, on a large screen, were Sandra Bland’s sister, and leaders of solidarity activities at Harvard, MIT, Yale, University of Chicago, and the Ringling College of Art & Design in Florida. Accountability for Tyrone West was a very strong theme in all the activities.
Racists get a taste of their own medicine
As we left, we had a group of about fifteen people escort Tawanda Jones, Tyrone’s sister and a leader of the West Wednesday rallies, back to her car because the Hopkins administration had outrageously threatened her with trespass - but no one else - if she came to the sit-in after 6pm. A racist and his son were apparently waiting for us in the dark, by a poorly lit park, just outside the campus, within sight of Tawanda’s parked car. Perhaps sent there by the police or by Johns Hopkins officials, he yelled at us, asked us to “Gather round,” and – as most of us walked away – repeatedly said, “Bring it on,” wanting us to face off with him.
The racist – whose Facebook page includes praise of the fascist that drove his vehicle into Heather Heyer, killing her in Charlottesville – then punched a trans woman and another woman, both from the sit-in. Quickly, he got a taste of his own medicine. Our feeling was that this racist provocateur may have been sent there to start a fight, to attack Tawanda, and to create an excuse for the police – who were stationed nearby in force – to lock some of us up. If that was their plan, they didn’t succeed!
Tomorrow, there will be another West Wednesday rally. Steps have been taken to be mindful of safety, and the united strength of the sit-in and West Wednesday has not been stopped!

The Easter Sunday church bombings in the island nation of Sri Lanka killed 359 people, injured hundreds more, and terrified the whole population. This attack exposes two lethal dangers for the international working class: on the one hand, ruling-class infighting fueled by inter-imperialist rivals; on the other, the backward, anti-revolutionary ideas of identity politics.
Progressive Labor Party fights for working-class unity, the principle that an injury to one is an injury to all. We fight for a world without racism, sexism, profits, or borders. Join us in a lifetime mission of fighting for the best possible world: communism!
Bosses’ infighting kills workers
Much as in the United States and Britain, there are divisions within the capitalist ruling class of Sri Lanka, and workers paid the price. The small-fry terrorist group, National Thowheed Jamath, along with its international affiliate, the Islamic State, has claimed responsibility for this bloody massacre. But Sri Lanka’s rulers knew it was coming all along! More than two weeks earlier, Indian intelligence had warned them about the attack (New York Times, 4/22). The bosses responded by distributing a memo to select government officials. You know the ruling class is in disarray when the prime minister is excluded from national security meetings!
But Sri Lanka’s problems go far beyond the shameless subjectivity of power-hungry politicians. It is caught in an imperialist crossfire between China, the chief U.S. rival, and India, which is tied to the weakening U.S.-led liberal world order. Both countries have strategic interests in the Indian Ocean. The bosses are following their old wartime axiom: “Whoever rules the waves rules the world.”
While the pro-Western prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, appears to align closer to India, President Maithripala Sirisena favors China. “China’s projects, backed by loans from its government…have faced opposition in Sri Lanka amid concerns raised by the United States, India and Japan that China might use Sri Lanka as a military base” (Reuters, 7/22/18). Indeed, the strategic Hambantola port and 15,000 acres of land around it now belong to China as part of its One Belt, One Road blueprint for world supremacy.
Bosses use massacre as drill for fascism
The ever-declining U.S. bosses didn’t miss a beat. Alongside other allies, they “sent a team of FBI agents and military officials to help Sri Lankan authorities with the ongoing investigation” (ABC News, 4/26). The bosses are using these attacks as practice for the fascist collaboration they’ll need in the wars to come.
As illustrated by the 9/11 attacks in the U.S., the Big Terrorist bosses respond to Little Terrorists with more repression and racism against the working class. After the Easter bombings, Sri Lanka’s government shut down social media, enforced a curfew, imposed body checks, and banned face coverings. “Even if temporarily, Colombo [the capital] has reverted suddenly to the [civil war] wartime mentality—or even worse. Security forces now stand at every corner, making searches and deploying other measures that were rare even during those days of bloodshed” (NYT, 4/24).
But never fear. Our working-class sisters and brothers will find creative ways to rebel against the harsh oppression of crisis-mode capitalism.
Divide et impera
Sri Lanka is an ethno-religious mash-up: Sinhalese Buddhists, Tamil Hindus, Tamil Christians, Dutch Burghers, and Tamil-speaking Muslims. The church bombing, organized by a Tamil-speaking Muslim terrorist group, is the largest act of sectarian violence since the 26-year-long civil war that ended just ten years ago. That conflict pitted Tamil-speaking Hindu separatists against a government dominated by Sinhala-speaking Buddhists. It left 70,000 dead.
The lesson is that identity politics is a death trap. It is political tribalism organized around the myth of, well, one’s “identity.” Organizing based on race, gender, and/or sexuality—anything but class—is a deadly ruling-class creation. Nowhere is this clearer than in South Asia. The British Empire’s policy of “divide et impera” (divide and rule) ignited religious and ethnic hostilities to maintain its profit-generating colonial control. In Sri Lanka, the British bosses systematically pitted Tamil against Sinhalese workers. In India and what is now Pakistan and Bangladesh, the British divided Muslim workers against Hindu and Sikh workers, groups that had coexisted for almost a millennium. In both cases, the result was mass displacement, needless bloodshed, and a loss of class-consciousness.
Modern-day South Asia consists of many countries born out of national liberation struggles. All are run by rapacious oppressors who supposedly share an “identity” with the oppressed.
Identity politics: global poison
The liberal U.S. ruling class built identity politics as a way to steer fighters away from the communist-led anti-imperialist and anti-racist mass movement of the late 1960s. Rooted in the capitalist universities, the “intellectual radicalism of the early [identity politics movement] can be seen as a search for a universalist politics that might take the place of…Marxism” (Harpers Magazine, Sept. 1993).
In the 1980s, a time of open right-wing racism under President Ronald Reagan, the boss-led movement funneled workers’ anger into the dead end of electoral politics. “[T]he development of an explicit left-wing identity politics…became the de facto creed of two generations of liberal politicians, professors, schoolteachers, journalists, movement activists and officials of the Democratic Party” (New Statesman, 9/18/2017).
Identity politics hijacks working-class outrage against the bosses’ police terror or sexist violence and cynically uses it to build false worker-boss unity. It pushes workers to pursue individual success (you do you, boo!) instead of seeing ourselves as part of one class—our class, the working class.
Frankenstein’s monster for the bosses?
In 2016, racist white identity politics—one part reaction to liberal, “multicultural” identity politics, one part reaction to the disaster of capitalism—gave Donald Trump the presidency. As long as the bosses keep us fighting for a society where our oppressors look like us, where unity is only skin-deep, capitalism gets off scot-free.
But with the U.S. bosses now challenged by China and Russia, and in relative decline, they realize they went too far. Identity politics is blocking their push to build pro-U.S. imperialist unity among the workers they previously fought so hard to divide. Meanwhile, small-time fascist bosses in the U.S. and worldwide have seized identity politics to build their own movements, including racist white nationalism, to undermine the main-wing finance capitalists.
Today the U.S. bosses need a more patriotic, “American” form of identity politics to build nationalist allegiance for the inevitable global war to come. The Democratic Party’s candidates for president, including a host of women, Black, Latin, and gay politicians, represent this trend. Whatever their differences over policy, all of these misleaders seek to unify workers behind a liberal movement for war and fascism.
But workers are no fools. Time and time again, we see glimmers of genuine, multiracial unity. The worldwide response to the 2014 Ferguson Rebellion endures as a shining star in this dark night.
Workers need internationalism
Along with building all-class unity in the bosses’ interests, identity politics sabotages internationalism. As we continue to battle against racism and sexism, we are also fighting for something profound. PLP aspires to win workers to the idea and practice that we have more in common with each other than with any bosses, regardless of the exploiters’ gender or the color of their skin. We fight for one world, one class, one Party. Join us as we celebrate the unity of our class on May Day, International Workers’ Day!