Worldwide, the summer is a time of training for Progressive Labor Party. As we gear up for a summer of learning, it’s helpful to reflect on past Summer Projects. We will look at the Tupelo Project of ’79. The following article, published in CHALLENGE in 1979, reflects its time period and level of struggle. While we in 2021 are living in a qualitatively different time, there are many lessons to learn fro the suer of ‘79, including:
- In the face of the Ku Klux Klan and the racist capitalist government, we must be bold and have confidence in the working class to take the lead of communists.
- Multiracial unity is our class’s weapon, and the bosses’ greatest fear.
- To sustain our gains, we must grow the Party and train more Black, Latin, Asian, and white young people in leadership.
Significance of Mississippi
To many who remember the Civil Rights movements of the 1960s, Mississippi symbolizes the most extreme racism, the most brutal murders of Black workers, antiracists, and the stronghold of the Ku Klux Klan.
For Progressive Labor Party, Mississippi signified a base for revolution among Black and white workers, spreading the ideas of multiracial unity and the fight for communist ideas in the South. Today, we celebrate the 42th anniversary of the Tupelo Summer Project of ’79. About one hundred communists and friends—Black, Latin, Asian, and white—took part in this struggle.
Though relatively small (population of 20,000), Tupelo was an industrial center with over 14,000 workers. The South was of great importance to the ruling class as an industrial area because its carefully-nurtured tradition of racism has made it the citadel of low-wage non-union labor, where the bosses have been able to keep the working class divided and weak in order to extract extra profits.
The main lesson PLP learned in Tupelo, as everywhere, is to be bold. The bolder we were, the more seriously people took us and the more willing they were to respond to us. Workers understand that the system will come down hard when you try to fight it. They are also ready to understand that you only win on the offensive. Below is an edited excerpt from PL Magazine (Fall 1979) analyzing an aspect of the Tupelo Summer Project.
The great July demonstration
Sixty five antiracist marchers, organized by Progressive Labor Party and its [then-mass organization] International Committee Against Racism (InCAR), were marching through the streets in Tupelo, Mississippi chanting, “Death to the Klan.”
Shots rang through the air.
As the bullets grazed two marchers, , a disciplined group of people, Black and white, rushed out of line, isolated the racist who wielded the gun, and beat him to the ground. In the fight that ensued with this Klansman, or Klan supporter, the antiracists broke his neck. While this was happening, the marchers, maintaining a tight discipline that won them the respect of Tupelo’s working class, continued the march. The marchers, encouraged by the friendly faces that lined the streets and by the workers who joined the march, were able to withstand the menacing threat of the Tupelo police, who aimed their cocked guns at them.
From the start, it was clear that the racist local rulers wanted to stop this march. A new ordinance was created by the city government banning sound devices (in response to successful PLP-led rallies in the past); the police and their flunkies systematically tore down posters in the housing projects; and a permit for the march was not granted until the very last minute. As the march gathered in front of the courthouse, the bosses’ seat of power, a militant rally began, attracting a lot of attention from workers in the area.
A few minutes after the march began, the racist Klan member named Brasil shot into the demo. By the time the antiracist and antifascist fighters got hold of him, they were surrounded by cops who prevented them from finishing the racist off. The cops then grabbed one of the fighters, Floyd Banks, an InCAR member from Galveston, Texas and arrested him for “attempted murder.”
The march, meanwhile, regrouped and continued to lead workers in the area who joined the march in chanting, “The cops, the courts, the Ku Klux Klan, all a part of the bosses’ plan.”
Before I was scared, now I’m mad’
Many militant workers in Tupelo have come to see InCAR as the main mass organization that can lead workers in the fight against racism and the resurgence of fascist groups like the Klan. One Black woman worker said, “Before I was scared, but now I’m mad.”
This represents the feeling of many people here, that there is no longer the luxury to sit back and watch the ruling class and its flunkies hold power, that they have to get active and build a movement that has as its goal the destruction of ruling class ideas of racism and fascism, and in the final analysis, the ruling class itself.
The political climate is changing rapidly in the South, and only groups like PLP are prepared to respond to the changes, to give leadership and organize the multiracial, antiracist fightback that is necessary to move workers to the left. The United League, a Black reformist group, recently cancelled a march scheduled for Okolona (a town not far from Tupelo) today, because its leader Skip Robinson, essentially chickened out of the struggle.
More and more people are realizing that the leadership of UL cannot stand up to the rigors of the class struggle.
Workers put themselves on the line
Respect for PLP is growing here. Two residents of Tupelo put up their houses as collateral so that Floyd Banks could be bailed out of jail. When the two marchers who had been wounded were treated in the hospital, they were warmly received and treated by white doctors and other hospital workers. After the march stopped to rally, hundreds of Black workers surrounded the marchers to protect them from the cops (who would have been only too glad to be trigger happy.)
This is the first time a racist has been beaten by an antiracist march in Tupelo. The leadership of the UL always guaranteed the safety of the KKK and the cops by holding back the anger and hatred of Black workers in the fight to liberate themselves from the racism they face every day. The bosses think that they can destroy this movement by getting its leaders, but little do they know that leaders always spring up in the midst of struggle, and that there are many, many people right here in Tupelo, and other cities North and South, who can develop working-class leaders in the fight against racism and fascism, and they are being trained by Progressive Labor Party.
This was readily proven by the response not only of the marchers, in their determination to continue the march, not to be intimated by the cops’ harassment, but also by the tremendous support of the local people. Over 200 copies of InCAR Arrow and CHALLENGE were sold, 4 people joined InCAR on the spot. Another demonstration is being organized for August 4.
I am not free.
The following poem has been written by a student.
I am not free because I’m forced to work to help my family and afford my necessities in order to survive.
I am not free because I don’t have spare time to practice self-care or to have fun like other people my age do.
I am not free because I can’t treat myself with the things I want and desire because I spend most of my income on my needs.
I am not free because I feel tired and depressed from being trapped in the cycle of poverty and capitalist laws.
I am not free because I understand that unfortunately we are forced to participate in consumerism which results in the exploitation of the working class and the enlarging of the capitalists’ pockets.
I am not free because I see how others can’t break free from the claws of these capitalist rulers.
I am not free because I hear the calls for justice for the deaths of innocent victims of the racist police system. The call for equality in our city.
I am not free because under capitalism we all are trapped in a never-ending unfair cycle; we are forced to risk it all and give it all just to make the rich richer.
We are not free until we honor people’s hard work, dreams and contributions.
We are not free until we respect every single right each person has and the fact that they are humans like all of us, not some type of producing machine.
We are not free until we make sure that everyone’s safety and future are secured, until we make justice for those who have been robbed.
We are not free until capitalism is abolished and we prioritize our people and environment.
We must fight for a better communist world with justice and equality for everyone.
We must demand the abolishment of unbeneficial racist capitalist laws.
Only then, can we all be truly free.
*****
Red on radio: Stateless, movie on racist borders
I was lucky to get on the ‘New Day’ WBAI, NY radio talk show. The topic was a movie called Stateless about a Dominican who returns to the Dominican Republic (DR) where his mother was born but loses his birth papers and is subjected to such racism and persecution that he is forced to seek refuge and help from relatives in Haiti which is part of the same island, Hispaniola. Another caller said that even though the vast majority of Hispaniola is Black, the DR’s racism towards Haitians was due to occupation and rule by colonialism which feared Haitian resistance against oppression to the point of denying any contact.
My comment was that capitalism and imperialism have always tried to eliminate even the very existence of the working class because it threatens their power. Today the words ‘worker’ or ‘capitalist’ are rarely used. Everything is spoken of as left and right or red and blue states.
I said, “Capitalism means profit over workers' lives while communism means abolition of profit and that communist workers’ revolution is the one and only force in history ever to stop the imperialists in their tracks.”
I said further that the DR, the U.S., and the rest of the capitalist world has a deadly fear of Haiti’s history of defeating imperialist armies and in 1804 they led the first and only slave rebellion, and established the first democratic country in the western hemisphere. Haitian immigrants with revolutionary ideas going to New Orleans in the U.S. were a big threat to the U.S. slave holding society which led to many U.S. invasions and occupations of Haiti.
*****
The rising threat of fungal diseases
The June, 2021 issue of Scientific American had a cover-story about the developing threat of fungal diseases because there are hardly any antifungal medications! I wrote the following letter to the editor. Hopefully you find it useful.
The article Deadly Kingdom (Scientific American, June, 2021) is a real wake-up call. Not only are viruses and bacteria a deadly threat but now fungal diseases (which are far more difficult to treat) are an even greater threat. However, an even greater threat is that Big Pharma is refusing to develop new antiviral, anti-bacterial, and antifungal medications because they are "just not profitable enough." The Covid-19 vaccines are NOT a valid example of rapid antiviral medication development. Most of the mRNA vaccine research had already been done, the U.S. Government guaranteed that the pharmaceutical industry would not lose any money if their vaccines failed, and the so-called "free" vaccines were fully paid for by taxpayers so Big Pharma made out like bandits. And the half-billion vaccines being "donated" to the world by the United States are also being paid for by taxpayers, giving the pharmaceutical industry another big pay-day. This is one more example of how capitalism, with its profit motive requirement, cannot meet the needs of the vast majority of the world's population.
*****
As CHALLENGE goes to press, and mass protests involving more than one million workers in Colombia enter their seventh week, we are witnessing the power of the working class in real time. Initially triggered by a government plan to raise taxes on wages and basic necessities, the uprising has virtually shut down the country. It has channeled the class anger of young workers into a mass fight for basic income, opportunities for youth, and an end to police and military brutality. The working-class rage has exposed the weakness of the U.S. bosses and the rise of their rival Chinese capitalists in the imperialists’ sharpening competition for control of the country.
Progressive Labor Party (PLP) is working to build a revolutionary communist movement in the heat of this struggle. However this battle plays out in coming weeks, our goal is to continue to grow and develop a young communist leadership for the struggles of the future (see front page).
Working-class power
The demonstrations began on April 28, in response to a proposed tax increase on basic goods and workers’ salaries. This came at a time when the working class in Colombia had been devastated by Covid-19. More than 90,000 have died, according to the official count (worldometer.com, 6/5), with the true number likely several times higher. Over 3.5 million people have been pushed into extreme poverty (BBC, 5/31).
Though the bosses canceled the tax plan a few days later, the demonstrations have continued across the country. Young workers in the streets have shown courage and militancy in the face of brutal and deadly attacks by the police and military. Scores of protesters have been slaughtered (Washington Post, 5/20). On May 28, in Cali, 14 workers were killed by the police and civilian vigilantes while guarding roadblocks around the city (ABCNews, 6/1).
The power and bravery of the working class is inspirational. But without a revolutionary outlook, it will be impossible to liberate ourselves from the exploitation and brutality of capitalism.
Leadership and misleadership
The liberal leaders of the National Strike Committee are working hard to get the working class off the streets. A coalition of unions and student groups, including the Central Unitaria de Trabajadores, the Teacher’s Union, and the Colombian Association of Student Representatives, are collaborating with the Ivan Duque government to negotiate an end to the protests and limit the struggle to narrow reforms, To this point, however, they have been unsuccessful. They are caught between the anger of the working class and the unwillingness of the Colombian bosses to make substantive concessions.
The division between the working class and the liberal leaders grew when the police and military brutally attacked the protests. As the National Strike Committee called for peaceful demonstrations, young people responded by barricading the streets and burning police vehicles and even some police stations (Wall Street Journal, 5/22).
PLP has been on the barricades and leading marches, confronting the police and military, while at the same time recruiting workers into communist study groups and distributing CHALLENGE. We have also organized workers in our community to cook and distribute food to anyone who needs it. Theory and practice are working hand in hand. As we’ve engaged protesters in discussions on why we need to build a communist movement led by PLP, the struggle in the streets has built confidence in our class and helped people to see the possibility of a communist future. Our ties within youth groups have helped us organize militant demonstrations despite enforcement of bans on protests by the bosses’ cops. We’ve used these mass events to distribute PLP flyers and CHALLENGE.
Chinese bosses move in
The broader context to the rebellion is the weakening of the longtime alliance between Colombian and U.S. imperialist bosses. For decades, Colombia’s rulers have welcomed U.S. military training and police funding to counteract the political influence of opposition and guerilla movements within the country and across Latin America.
From mining and coffee to auto manufacturing and oil production, the capitalist bosses have lost over $2 billion from strikes and other disruptions (bloomberg.com 5/28). U.S. President Joe Biden is now being forced to confront the Mobile Anti-Disturbances Squadron (ESMAD), the government death squad he championed as a U.S. senator in 1999 (aljazeera.com, 11/18/20). During the current rebellion, the Biden administration called for peace from both sides—and then made its real position clear by asking for $453 million in assistance to Colombia—$41 million more than the U.S. aid package under Donald Trump. Biden’s request included more than $140 million for the murderous police (semana.com, 5/28). When push comes to shove, capitalism relies on state violence to enforce its rule.
Within Colombia’s ruling class, a competing set of bosses—led by liberal capitalists like Senator Gustavo Petro and Bogota’s mayor, Claudia Lopez—is trying to steer workers away from Duque, the right-wing “populist” sponsored by U.S. imperialism. This split provides an opening for the Chinese imperialist bosses.
After the mass workers’ movement forced Duque to revoke his proposed tax reform, Petro tried his hardest to end the protests. He declared that the cops are not workers’ enemies and pushed for an end to the strikes (AP News, 5/17). Petro has also criticized U.S. capitalism while praising Chinese capitalism for its help in the pandemic (Twitter, 3/10/2020). Lopez, like Biden, has called for an end to violence on both sides—as if there was no difference between the cops’ militarized terror and workers’ struggles for the basic necessities of life (Semana, 05/31). She alternates between empty apologies for the profit system and empty calls for social and economic transformation. Last October, in announcing the winning bid from a Chinese company on a multibillion dollar metro project, Lopez celebrated the start of a new relationship with China (Harvard Political Review, 5/10).
Fighting for communism
Whenever the working class acts collectively to seize control of a community or the streets, however temporarily, they provide glimpses of what it will take to build workers' power and a workers’ state—communism. The emerging generation of militant workers in Colombia reminds us that we have the power to make the bosses shake. As we fight in the militant reform struggle, we must make clear what is primary: to build PLP and a movement for communist revolution.
From Colombia to Gaza, in every neighborhood we live and work, we must refuse to be fooled by any and all bosses. There is no future for the working class under capitalism. Our fight is to organize for a world run by and for the working class. Join us!
- Information
Support the Rodwell and Spivey Families: Smash racist police terror
- Information
- 10 June 2021 94 hits
Newark, NJ, June 8—“That’s why [the youth] lost hope in this system, even the adults lost hope. That’s why they don’t come out to vote,” shouted one of the family members outside the 5th precinct in response to recent police attacks on her family. Despite attempts at intimidation from the police and Mayor Baraka, the Rodwell and Spivey families pushed forward with the protest to let the city know that Black workers are fed up with the constant police harassment. Progressive Labor Party (PLP) stands with these families as they fight to free their family members from prison. As “radical” mayors try to silence these fighting voices, we know that these families are the future leaders in creating a communist world.
Gang and state violence = Both products of capitalism
In a neighborhood that has seen shootings amongst the working class, city and police officials have used this to justify their terroristic attacks. On Tuesday, June 1st, one of the young men in the area was outside his house when plainclothes cops ran up on him and asked him if he had a gun. His family members, worrying that something was happening, came out to support him. As more cops came, the young men were thrown to the ground and arrested.
The media and police were quick to spin the story, blaming the incident on these young workers minding their own business. Chief Racist James Stewart, Fraternal Order of Police President, played his role in creating fear by claiming that a “mob” attacked the police (nj.com, 6/2). As usual there was no gun found, but that didn’t stop the harassment. A day later the police invaded the home of the family looking for something to justify their attacks. Mayor Baraka, supporting the cops, ordered a mobile police precinct set up on the block so an “increased police presence can be felt around the clock” (Dailyvoice.com, 6/4). Residents coming in and out of the block had to show ID while helicopters flew above.
This neighborhood is just one example of the need for communist revolution. As unemployment, poverty, and failing schools continue to make workers quick to turn on each other, we call on all youth and workers to turn their anger away from their class and against a system that will never serve them. These are the anti-working class ideas that destroy our class power. The bosses and their politicians will never provide real solutions for working class power, but these workers have the potential to turn their counter-revolutionary actions into real revolutionary change with a communist analysis.
Baraka: Model mayor for Big Fascists
Baraka has started to present himself as the model mayor for the Big Fascists (see Glossary, p. 6). A recent ABC News article cites Newark as an example for police reform nationwide (ABCNEWS.com). After the incident Baraka attacked the openly racist Stewart, “The false narrative put forth feeds the old and archaic thinking that police are an occupying force, always in danger from a hostile community, rather than goodwill guardians of a community that has a growing respect and cooperation with one another,” said Baraka in a statement Thursday morning. “That is what we are building in Newark, truth be told (nj.com, 6/3).” The truth is that the police are not the “goodwill guardians of the community.” Baraka has also been silent on the ensuing attacks after the incident and has not reached out to the family, instead working closely with the 5th precinct to further the terror.
While this is happening, Baraka has been pushing his “Civilian Review Board.” This is the same as the National Labor Relations Board that was established by the government after militant working class struggles in the early 20th century. These boards are used to kill any working class struggle and have workers sit idly by while these capitalist institutions “provide justice.” But we know the only way for real justice is an end to the capitalist system that relies on police terror to keep workers in their place.
Black workers lead the way
The rally confirms our line that Black workers are key to communist revolution. Last year the Newark Water Coalition tried to hold a rally in front of the 5th precinct. The Baraka administration, led by Mayor Baraka’s brother and Chief of Staff, Middy Baraka, was able to organize Black workers to support the cops and smash the rally. They were able to do it because the rally did not include any youth or workers from the community. This time around Middy Baraka was there, but because of the militancy of the families he was forced to stand there and watch as the families recounted the incident and called for more fight back.
From Newark to Palestine: fight back against racist police terror
At the rally another organizer made comparisons to workers in Palestine. “If you look at those [police] videos it looks like we are in Palestine.” A follow-up podcast discussing this matter also discussed the similarities between the forced evictions in Israel and the forced gentrification in U.S. cities. As workers across the world fight back, from Colombia to Gaza to the U.S., making these connections is essential in building a revolutionary international working class. The bosses will always try to keep us from making these connections. The PLP will continue to fight to smash borders and see how all of these struggles are connected as we move forward in building one international communist party that will smash this system once and for all.
NEW YORK CITY, June 5—Protests and demonstrations have shaken the rulers of Colombia (see editorial, page 2). The working-class across the globe has shown a lot of solidarity with the workers in Colombia. In New York City, under the hashtag #SOSColombia, a bus was organized to join a national march in Washington, D.C.
A Progressive Labor Party (PLP) club joined the bus at 6AM in Midtown to support the workers fighting back in Colombia with international working-class solidarity and with the message of communist revolution.
In Colombia, since April 28, millions have marched in the streets, while the ruling class invests millions of dollars in weapons, tanks and police training to oppress the workers. Massacres, police brutality, people disappeared by the police, arbitrary arrests, victims of sexual assault, and more have been part of the conflict in Colombia for decades. Nowadays, the struggle has spread from the rural areas to the cities, initially spurred by plans to raise taxes on the working-class and further fueled by the unbearable conditions oppressed upon our brothers and sisters. It’s becoming clearer that the entire racist capitalist system has to go.
Inspiring bus ride and protest
Speeches, music, chanting, and even dancing revved people up as water and sandwiches were shared. There was never a moment of quiet. The bus ride was full of cheer and anger against President Alvaro Uribe, the imperialist killer of Colombia. We listened to Colombian protest songs, sang a version of Bella Ciao, and prepared for the march.
On arrival, we unloaded signs and equipment to join the group already there. Hundreds of people soon began marching. As we passed the White House, speakers aimed their words at the tourists, telling them that the Colombian government was killing its people using U.S. dollars and training. Chants and singing were constant, alternating spanish and english.
Signs were carefully spread out for display near a tent, where water and supplies were ready and microphones were set up. Speeches, songs, and poetry in spanish and english continued for six hours while many retreated to the shade.
Smash imperialism with international working-class unity
A comrade gave a speech at the rally, attacking imperialism and the role of the U.S. and Biden in Colombian fascism. Part of the political message at the rally was that Colombia needs democracy and that Uribe is an anti-democratic killer. But our comrade listed a few of the countries devastated by U.S. imperialism: Mexico, India, Gaza, Chile and Brazil. She listed a few more of the many that receive funding from the U.S. for military and war: Afghanistan, Egypt, South Africa, Congo (Kinshasa), Israel, Iraq, Jordan, Ethiopia, Kenya.
She listed the skyrocketing atrocities against the working class in Colombia: 3,789 cases of police brutality, 1,248 victims of physical violence by the police, 1,649 arbitrary arrests, 705 violent interventions by the public force, 65 victims with injuries to their eyes, 187 cases of firearm shootings by the police, 25 victims of sexual assault, 45 victims of homicides allegedly committed by the public force and 29 currently under verification (Temblores, 5/28).
There was some nationalism at this protest. In PLP we believe that workers in the U.S. and Colombia are part of one class, separated by borders that were created and enforced by capitalist stooges like Joe Biden, Uribe and Donald Trump. The chant, "el pueblo unido, jamás será vencido" [The people united will never be defeated] was popular on the march. PLP members instead chanted "los obreros unidos, jamás serán vencidos"
[The workers united will never be defeated]. This was also well received. For the emancipation of all workers we must become united against the capitalist class and that means fighting all their stooges, Biden and Kamala Harris, not just Trump and Uribe. People on the bus saw the connection to the struggle in Palestine. Although there is a thread of nationalism, class solidarity is strong.
The bus ride home was quiet at first, but after a brief stop, the speeches and music began. A comrade thanked the group for being an inspiration. We had distributed copies of CHALLENGE and made contacts.
Workers: let’s make the world ours
Uribe said on Twitter: “We support the right of soldiers and police to use their weapons to defend their integrity and to defend people and things from the criminal action of the vandal’s terrrorism.”
Throughout history, the capitalists, the ruling class, like Uribe, Santos, Samper, Marta L.Ramírez, Trump, Biden, and their governments, have used nationalism, racism, sexism, other divisions by regions among our country or cities, to divide us and advance their political and economic agendas. They protect their interests, their money, their profits and their wealth.
But no more!
It was wonderful that so many people from all over the U.S. and Canada were able to organize themselves without the need of any politicians. That’s a bit of working class power; a small step toward communism. We need to abolish all forms of discrimination and police brutality. We need to smash racism, sexism, classism and capitalism. We need to organize for communist revolution. Then the world will be ours.
