May Day: Washington, DC

WASHINGTON, DC, May 1 — Today 150 marchers gathered at Malcolm X Park to celebrate May Day and reaffirm their determination to fight back on all fronts against racism and capitalism.  
One speaker, formerly imprisoned, described the racist horror of mass incarceration and how background checks, even after someone’s release, makes it impossible to find a job and support yourself.  A Metro bus driver called on workers to unite against racism and sexism everywhere as part of the revolutionary struggle, and noted a small victory against racist background checks at Metro.
Another noted the recent successful unionization of adjunct teachers at two local universities. A tenant organizer called on everyone to come to a city-wide tenant organizing meeting as part of the battle against racist displacement through gentrification. A PL’er described the modern-day racist offensive of mass incarceration and mass deportation, and how only by  building a revolutionary party, not limited to reform efforts, could we hope to succeed in the long run.
With PLP red flags snapping in the breeze and our bold May Day banner at its front, the march surged down 14th Street to the White House, with over 300 copies of CHALLENGE distributed to workers who saw the march pass by. At the White House, we observed a handful of racists who had gathered to oppose the May Day march, completely protected by a phalanx of cops and a metal barricade to defend them from angry protesters. They remembered how the racists were clobbered the year before by May Day marchers!  Finally, the police loaded the racists into a police van and drove away — another example of cop-Klan solidarity with racists.
The day ended with bold speeches against the backdrop of the bosses’ White House, condemning the politicians and the capitalists for their imperialist wars, their racist attacks, and their destruction of the environment, and with a pledge to redouble our efforts in the coming year to smash capitalism!