Building a Base in the Working Class

BROOKLYN, February 21 — How does the working class learn and grow during a struggle? How are their contradictions resolved? These questions were raised recently with some members of Progressive Labor Party
involved with the Justice for Kyam Livingston Committee. Nothing can be resolved until people get to know each other.
The committee was formed after the criminally negligent death of Kyam Livingston. (Kyam was in a holding cell in Brooklyn Central Booking, crying out in great pain and distress for seven hours while the jailers refused her medical help. The women in the cell with her kept calling for security to do something for their sick cellmate. They were all told to be quiet. Finally Kyam went into convulsions and died.)
The committee included Kyam’s mother, Anita Neal; Kyam’s god-daughter; and members of the Malcolm X Grassroots Organization, another group that supports victims of police abuse, our church social action committee, and the retiree association of a municipal workers union. Going in we knew each other, but just slightly. The mother had decided that she wanted to have some kind of demonstration on the monthly anniversary of her daughter’s death.  She also had a number of demands:
The names of the officers on duty whose

• criminal negligence killed her daughter;
• Surveillance videos of the holding cell
• showing what happened that night;
• Prosecution of the guilty officers;

A thorough investigation of conditions in Brooklyn Central Booking.
PLP knew the family in small ways. D., the god-daughter, had been a member of our church and our social action committee, and had strong nationalist views. It was she who first called the group together. We originally met at Kyam’s funeral and talked for hours. Some of the people we drove home became part of the committee. We began to get to know the members better by discussing the issues around Kyam’s death.
Another committee member from the church knew people in other religious organizations in Brooklyn and reached out to them. In fact, he and Anita recently spoke to about 500 people at a large Baptist congregation. The senior minister promised he would bring hundreds of people to a demonstration and that they would hold a speak-out for Kyam. The mother was joyful. Activities like these have led to a deeper understanding of PLP’s positions through intense discussions and struggle with one another.
Since the first demonstration on August 21, we have held seven monthly events. Each time we meet beforehand to talk and make plans. After the event we sometimes eat together and talk and plan some more. We often leaflet together.
Anita is very angry at the racist system that treated her daughter so callously, especially since Kyam herself worked as a security guard. While the family and committee have pressured elected officials to changes in the system, Anita often remarks that one or another politician is “full of crap.” On the role of the police, she says, “Enough with this blue wall of silence!” PLP’s struggle is to provide clear leadership in showing the connection between the needs of capitalism and the functioning of the state apparatus and its flunkies.
During this week’s rally, a young black man started the PLP chant, “White cop, black cop, all the same! Racist terror is the name of their game!”  The idea behind that chant has changed the outlook of committee members.   
Kyam’s god-daughter saw that the people who  were interested in this fight were those who are politically committed to an internationalist, working-class, multi-racial future. Bit by bit, our discussions and actions began to make it clear that ideas of unity, not separation, were most useful for everybody.
A PL’er who often speaks at these demonstrations put forward the line that racist violence against working-class people could happen any time, anywhere, and we all have to fight together to end it. He brought the issue to his retiree union chapter and they endorsed the struggle.
The process moved forward with tea or coffee, conversation, struggle, practical work, and leafleting. At times individuals were unable to be present because of sickness or other problems, but they always came the next time. Sometimes they brought others from their church or workplace as speakers or supporters.
The road to communism is a long one. Unless it is filled with comradeship, friendship and caring, with laughter as well as struggle, it cannot move forward. The building of trust and unity comes directly out of working with individuals and proving we are serious. We cannot tell people we are serious; we have to show it. Practice is always primary. Theory flows from practice.