*This is part of a three-part series exploring a few of the Black communists from the U.S. that fought in the International Brigades against fascism. 

In the early 1930s the urban bourgeoisie (capitalists) of Spain, supported by most workers and many peasants, overthrew the violent, repressive monarchy to form a republic. In July 1936 the Spanish army, eventually commanded by Francisco Franco, later the fascist dictator, rebelled to re-establish the repressive monarchy. Hitler’s Germany and Mussolini’s Italy gave Franco massive military aid. The Western imperialist countries and the United States refused to help the Republic. Only Mexico and the then-socialist Soviet Union came to the Republic’s aid, to try to stop fascism before it engulfed the world. 

In 1936, the International Communist Movement, called the “Comintern,” headquartered in the Soviet Union and led by Joseph Stalin, organized volunteers—mainly workers—from more than 60 countries into the “International Brigades” (IBs) to go to Spain to defend the Republic. 

In hindsight, the defense of the Republic was a nationalist defense of an aspect of capitalism. At the time, this was part of the united front against fascism, where communists united with liberal capitalists against the fascist capitalists. In the Progressive Labor Party, we fight all faces of capitalism and try to win people to the understanding that liberalism is the bigger danger to our victory. Our class has to go and the working class must rule—that’s communism.

After several years of heroic fighting and devastating losses, the IBs were withdrawn by the Spanish Republican government, which naively hoped that the German and Italian fascist troops would also withdraw. They did not, and Spain fell to Franco’s fascists in March, 1939. Spain remained a fascist dictatorship until 1978. But Spain was part of the European capitalist “community” as so-called liberal capitalists often get along very well with the fascist capitalists. Look at how the liberal U.S. capitalists have gotten along very well with fascist dictators all over the world.

Black Volunteers 

Among the 2,800 U.S.  volunteers—80 percent of whom were members of the Communist Party—were more than 60 Black workers from the U.S. This is the story of one of them: Douglas Roach  (1900 – 1938). 

A native of Provincetown, Massachusetts, Douglas Roach was an active member of the Communist Party from 1932. At Provincetown High School, he was an "ace" end on the football team. He graduated from the Massachusetts Agricultural College in Amherst, where he was a star wrestler.

He was one of the first workers from the U.S.  to volunteer in defense of Spanish capitalist democracy in the early days of the siege of Madrid (October, 1936). Roach was assigned to the 15th Brigade (the International Brigade), Lincoln Battalion and Lincoln-Washington Battalion, and served in the Tom Mooney machine gun company, often carrying his machine gun single-handedly during long marches. Roach fought with the battalion at Jarama and during the Brunete Offensive and attained the rank of Gun Commander. 

At the fierce counter-offensive launched by the fascists in July, 1937, at Brunete, he often went for water and supplies for his comrades under heavy fire.

On the Jarama front (1937), he inspired the members of the Lincoln Battalion. Time and again he held his position in the repeated charges of Franco's Moorish cavalry, saving the men in the lines behind him. In Fall 1937, wounded by shrapnel, Roach returned to the U.S. He immediately plunged into activity, working in support of trade union organization among seamen. In his spare time, he diligently studied Marxism-Leninism. 

Unfortunately, at this time the Communist Party made union organizing primary over fighting for communist revolution. At its weakest, the old communist movement at the time was engulfed in nationalism and electoral politics. In the Progressive Labor Party today, we are trying to correct those errors by making revolution primary in all of our battles against the horrors of capitalism.

Returning veterans formed the VALB—the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade—late in 1937 and at their first convention they elected Roach as National Adjutant Commander. He held the post briefly before he contracted the pneumonia that killed him on July 13, 1938.

The following quote is from Benjamin J. Davis Jr., editor of The Negro Liberator,  Communist Party’s (CPUSA) newspaper targeted towards Black workers. He later became CPUSA's official English-language daily, The Daily Worker. 

When I complimented him on his war record, he said, "Oh, never mind that. Whatever I did, the [Communist] Party brought it out in me." And knowing him, one can understand very well, despite his modesty, how he made such a distinguished record in Spain.

As capitalist powers (imperialists) once again prepare for world war to redivide the world among themselves, the Progressive Labor Party fights for a world run by and for the working class, that’s communism. Join us!

One thing that is always ignored in the fight against racism is the influence the communist movement had. The great William E. B. Du Bois was one of the leading fighters against racism in the 20th century. He founded the NAACP a century ago. After 50 years of antiracist struggle, he joined the Communist Party in 1945, declaring that becoming a communist was “the logic of my life.”

That fact will be well-hidden by the hypocritical U.S. rulers as they “celebrate” Black History Month while preparing another racist war for oil against their rivals China and Russia.

Even more hidden will be the homage Du Bois — a true hero, beloved by the working class, Black and white — paid to the communist world leader, Josef Stalin, on the occasion of Stalin’s death.

(From the National Guardian, March 16, 1953):

Josef Stalin was a great man; few other men of the 20th century approach his stature. He was simple, calm and courageous. He seldom lost his poise; pondered his problems slowly, made his decisions clearly and firmly; never yielded to ostentation nor coyly refrained from holding his rightful place with dignity. He was the son of a serf, but stood calmly before the great without hesitation or nerves. But also — and this was the highest proof of his greatness — he knew the common man, felt his problems, followed his fate.

Stalin was not a man of conventional learning; he was much more than that; he was a man who thought deeply, read understandingly and listened to wisdom, no matter whence it came. He was attacked and slandered as few men of power have been; yet he seldom lost his courtesy and balance; nor did he let attack drive him from his convictions or induce him to surrender positions which he knew were correct. As one of the despised minorities of man, he first set Russia on the road to conquer race prejudice and make one nation out of its 140 groups without destroying their individuality.

His judgment of men was profound. He early saw through the flamboyance and exhibitionism of Trotsky, who fooled the world, and especially America. The whole ill-bred and insulting attitude of liberals in the U.S. today began with our naive acceptance of Trotsky’s magnificent lying propaganda, which he carried around the world. Against it, Stalin stood like a rock and moved neither right nor left, as he continued to advance toward a real socialism instead of the sham* Trotsky offered.

Three great decisions faced Stalin in power and he met them magnificently; first, the problem of the peasants, then the West European attack**, and last the Second World War. The poor Russian peasant was the lowest victim of [czarism], capitalism and the Orthodox Church. He surrendered [to] the Little White Father [the Czar] easily; he turned less readily but perceptibly from his icons; but his kulaks [rich peasants] clung tenaciously to capitalism and were near wrecking the revolution when Stalin risked a second revolution and drove out the rural bloodsuckers.

Then came intervention, the continuing threat of attack by all nations, halted by the Depression, only to be re-opened by Hitlerism. It was Stalin who steered the Soviet Union between Scylla and Charybdis***; Western Europe and the U.S. were willing to betray her to fascism, and then had to beg her aid in the Second World War. A lesser man than Stalin would have demanded vengeance for Munich, but he had the wisdom to ask only justice for his fatherland….The British Empire proposed first to save itself in Africa and southern Europe, while Hitler smashed the Soviets.

The Second Front dawdled, but Stalin pressed unfalteringly ahead. He risked the utter ruin of socialism in order to smash the dictatorship of Hitler and Mussolini. After Stalingrad the Western World did not know whether to weep or applaud. The cost of victory to the Soviet Union was frightful. To this day the outside world has no dream of the hurt, the loss and the sacrifices. For his calm, stern leadership here, if nowhere else, arises the deep worship of Stalin by the people of all the Russias.

Then came the problem of Peace. Hard as this was to Europe and America, it was far harder to Stalin and the Soviets. The conventional rulers of the world hated and feared them and would have been only too willing to see the utter failure of this attempt at socialism. At the same time the fear of Japan and Asia was also real. Diplomacy therefore took hold and Stalin was picked as the victim. He was called in conference with British Imperialism represented by its trained and well-fed aristocracy; and with the vast wealth and potential power of America represented by its most liberal leader in half a century.****

Here Stalin showed his real greatness. He neither cringed nor strutted. He never presumed, he never surrendered....He asked neither adulation nor vengeance. He was reasonable and conciliatory. But on what he deemed essential, he was inflexible. He was willing to resurrect the League of Nations, which had insulted the Soviets. He was willing to fight Japan, even though Japan was then no menace to the Soviet Union, and might be death to the British Empire and to American trade. But on two points Stalin was adamant: Clemenceau’s “Cordon Sanitaire”***** must be returned to the Soviets, whence it had been stolen as a threat. The Balkans were not to be left helpless before Western exploitation for the benefit of land monopoly….

Such was the man who lies dead, still the butt of noisy jackals and the ill-bred men of some parts of the distempered West. In life he suffered under continuous and studied insult; he was forced to make bitter decisions on his own lone responsibility. His reward comes as the common man stands in solemn acclaim.

— W.E.B. Du Bois, March 16, 1953

*capitalist alliance

**17 nations, including the U.S. invaded the Soviet Union, attempting to crush socialism. 

***From Greek mythology, “caught between two monsters.”

**** Yalta conference with Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin, February 1945

*****Stalin insisted that the Balkans and Eastern Europe not be an imperialist launching pad for the West to invade the Soviet Union once again.

100 Copies of CHALLENGE

We’ve been selling 100 copies of CHALLENGE almost every week and have received multiple reactions from the public about our Party’s paper. From the occasional “I have one already” (when they don’t wanna be bothered) to those who throw a dollar and run with the paper. But then there are those conversations that sit with us longer, that leave us with hope and sometimes even a bit of cynicism.

There is this one worker that sells masks on the corner where we sell CHALLENGE who claims to “like capitalism." I asked, why is that? He replied, “[be]cause this (the U.S.) is the only place where anyone can make lots of money or be rich if they try." I told him, “rich people are only possible because of the poor workers they exploit.” He replied, “true, but guess how much money I make?” I told him “you're still only considering yourself; we are talking about the international working class facing war, racism and sexism.” He said, “that’s what I’m saying, I can teach anyone how to do this.” I said “Impossible. If everyone’s a salesperson, who are you going to sell to? You still need workers to exploit. We’re talking about fighting for a world to reach our full potential, this ain’t it!”

For each conversation with someone who is blindly won to capitalism, there are so many more meaningful encounters that eclipse the imperfect ones that give us a real barometer of what the working class is ready and waiting for. 

I met this one person working in a Medicare truck. He spoke of how much working class people need to hear what Progressive Labor Party (PLP) is saying. He said, “but how are we gonna get the majority of workers to follow the path to communism?” 

Great question. I said, “capitalism is gonna do the majority of that convincing as the path of capitalism is to intensify fascism and workers aren’t gonna be left with much choice as conditions worsen but to fight back. We only need to be large enough to be known as the only alternative to capitalism’s murder machine.” He immediately took the paper, gave me $4 and asked when he’d see me again. I offered next week but his shift rotates so I'll see him next month! 

There’s another story of a middle aged woman who took the paper and said,”my mother used to send me out to get this paper.” She was so glad to see it and to know the work continues. And another story of a worker who wanted to volunteer to sell the paper with us. 

We are here, all around, communists walking amongst us who just haven’t yet joined PLP. Those times when we feel discouraged come from not offering our line and communism as the only answer to save workers of the future.  Continue the struggle. We are the ones we’re waiting for. 

*****

The only war worth fighting is a communist class war!

Workers in the Progressive Labor Party (PLP), in Worcester, rallied alongside organizers from the Catholic Worker’s organization outside the City’s  federal courthouse. Spurred by several anti-war reform organizations,  we organized an action in opposition to war, standing in solidarity with the international working class. These organizations urged workers in several other cities, including Boston and Northampton, to organize similar anti-war actions.“There’s no way that 11,000 American troops are going to make a difference in Ukraine, '' said a member of the revolutionary communist PLP.. “All they’re going to do is make tensions worse (see Editorial, page 2).

It will not matter whether the Russian capitalists or the U.S. capitalists win militarily: hundreds of thousands of workers will die. Workers in the Ukraine will suffer more misery and starvation.

Although our group is small, our communist spirit is mighty. We will use every opportunity– from mobilizing workers for May Day  to building an anti-imperialist war movement to grow  potential for class war in the name of  communism. 

*****

Workers call for widespread vaccine distribution

The battle to fight global racism by making Covid-19 vaccines available throughout the world continues (see CHALLENGE, 11/17/2021). Progressive Labor Party (PLP) members continue to help lead this battle that the bosses basically ignore because of their single-minded focus on making money off the pandemic. One battleground is the 25,000 member American Public Health Association (APHA), where in November we will be fighting for a resolution for global vaccination now! A team of organizers including PLP members have already submitted the proposal to the APHA, beginning the laborious process of getting it approved this Fall. It would be great to get such a resolution passed because it could raise awareness about the perfidy of the pharmaceutical capitalists in restricting access to the vaccines. They should waive their patent rights so more of the vaccine can be produced in other countries. 

But an even better outcome is the political debate and struggle among the supporters of the resolution. Several more people have begun discussions with us about PLP and the need for communist revolution, not just improvements in public health, which can never be adequate as long as we live in this vicious profit system of capitalism. Meanwhile the struggle on the ground continues as well, with further protests scheduled for March 11 in Washington, DC and April 28 at Moderna headquarters in Boston. If you want sound public health, you need communism! 

 *****

Staying bold in the Bronx

Our club has been active for some time in an antiracist coalition in the Bronx.  We have supported housing for the homeless, and regularly organized against the racist  oppression from our local police precinct - even leading a large march and demonstration in front of its doors.

With the election of slick politician and former cop Eric Adams as Mayor of New York City (NYC), we are already seeing an intensification of racist police terror. Tacitly supported by former NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio - himself a disgusting supporter of racist police oppression - Adams has already proudly proclaimed a number of fascist steps he will take to "be tough on crime."  He is going to reconstitute a "modified" plain-clothed squad to "combat gun violence." De Blasio was forced to disband the previous  one because of its notorious record of racist brutality. 

Plain clothes make it harder to identify cops as cops, thus making resistance to arrest more common and presenting more excuses for brutal beatings and higher criminal charges. Adams has also been supportive of more extensive racist incarceration, pushing back against progressive bail reform and utterly indifferent to the criminal conditions at Rikers Island (CHALLENGE, 2/2).

The recent killing of Lashawn McNeil shows that, under capitalism, killer cops are not going anywhere. The Police Reform Organizing Project (PROP) argues "How does it make sense to send a uniformed officer armed with a gun, baton, badge, and taser to help resolve an argument between a mother and her grown son as was the case in the Harlem incident?”  

We are going to renew and raise the level of work with PROP around police killings and the grossly disproportionate percentage of Black and Latin workers who are arrested, prosecuted, and incarcerated in NYC. While we know that reforms are only a bandage on the festering wound that is capitalism, we need to turn these reform campaigns into schools for communism.

We are continuing to build ties with antiracist groups in nearby neighborhoods to broaden the fight. If we are bold in struggling for our revolutionary line in these next few months, we may win some new workers to join us for May Day!

*****

CHICAGO, January, 24– This racist profit system has stolen yet another child, this time the life of eight-year-old Melissa Ortega. She and her mother were walking down the street in the Little Village neighborhood on January 22 when they got caught in a gang-related crossfire. Melissa was struck twice in the head. A system ruled by the biggest gangsters of all time, the bosses, will foster violence against our class.
To amass profits, bosses must force our class to work under dangerous working conditions, and endure equally miserable living conditions, pushing millions of workers into an early grave. These horrific capitalist conditions—social murder and imperialist wars—create the perfect storm for gang violence.
Capitalism is a genocidal system propped up by racist, sexist exploitation, inequality, and war. Violence enables rulers to oppress workers, ruling over us with fear and impunity. ONLY in a society where education, resources, and means of production are all in the name of nurturing and fostering from each according to commitment, to each according to need we will no have conditions that lead to gang violence. The ultimate murderers are the bosses, who must be smashed through communism.
Communists fight back against capitalist terror
Little Village is primarily a Spanish-speaking lower-income working class community. The bosses are trying to gentrify this historically neglected area, with an added effort to rid gangs. The bosses want us to buy into the racist myth of Black-on-Black crime, to convince us that Black and Latin workers are “violent” and “criminal” to justify police terror and mass incarceration.
However, we must not forget it is the capitalists who make wars, and glamorize and sell violent culture. It is the capitalists who attack us with poverty and police terror. It is the capitalists who sell the guns, and who place them in the hands of arms dealers and gang members, degraded workers, killing our class sisters ,brothers, and children in mainly Black and Latin neighborhoods.
The following Monday, a friend of Progressive Labor Party (PLP) and a resident of Little Village texted a Party member to attend a press conference called by his organization to demand justice for Melissa. Word was quickly spread; four PLP members and two longtime friends of PL, attended. Everyone was outraged and called on local politicians to demand mental health clinics for their community but predictably none came.
Those of us in the Party have been working in this area for years in various campaigns, workplaces and mass organizations in order to win workers to the necessity of communist revolution to crush this rotten system and all its misery.
 No more victims of capitalism!
We distributed 30 copies of CHALLENGE while speaking with many workers present. One woman thought that we’d have a better society if we all had the same religion. Another woman thought that lack of mental health clinics was the problem. Over half of the city’s public mental health clinics closed in 2013, under the watch of racist former mayor, Rahm Emanuel. This lack of access definitely plays a part, as many working class youth who are oppressed and alienated are deprived of resources that could help them emotionally and socially.
Melissa’s mother, Aracelia Leanos, said in a statement that the shooter was a victim of the system himself and forgave him, knowing that he will have to live with her daughter’s murder for the rest of his life. But the fact is that we are all victims of capitalism with its racist and sexist culture of individualism, unemployment, underemployment, rotten schools and medical care.
And yes, the shooter, 16-year old Emilio Corripio and his 27-year-old accomplice, are victims of capitalism. But we still have a choice: become communists and join PLP in building a communist movement where we turn the guns around on the bosses to get rid of this rotten system of capitalism. We have to intensify our efforts to win our class to the Party or we run the risk of more workers joining the reformist dead-end of capitalist politics and becoming politicians for the super-rich capitalists, turning to religion, racist cynicism, or even joining the predatory street gangs.
The list of casualties keeps getting longer. Under capitalism, “justice” looks like killer cops like Jason Van Dyke serving a six year sentence then being set free for “good behavior” after shooting Black teenager LaQuan McDonald 16 times. Kyle Rittenhouse being declared ‘innocent’ by the U.S. court system after killing two antiracists in Kenosha,  Wisconsin. Which side are we on?
Choose the working class
Be they the cops and sheriffs, the “legal” foot soldiers for the capitalist class who killed working-class youth like Adam Toledo in the streets of Chicago or Valentina Orellana Peralta and Daniel Elena Lopez in Los Angeles. Or whether they are the petty capitalist-influenced gangs, we have to ask ourselves which side are we on—the capitalists or the international working class?
If you choose the international working class, join PLP and continue to build the international communist movement to achieve a better world—a communist world where we take care of each other and help each other reach our human potential. It is our responsibility as communists to win our young friends in Little Village and everywhere to join PLP and fight for a just future.