Ferguson: Black Youth Defy Armed Racist Cops

FERGUSON, Sept 16 — In August, the first team, three students and a teacher, of Progressive Labor Party members went to Ferguson, Missouri, to fight alongside local residents against racist police terror and murder. As soon as we got into the crowd, we could feel the tension between community members and the St. Louis County police. The cops had formed a line with assault rifles, clubs, shields, and armored trucks to block protesters from marching down the street. We responded with chants like “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot!” or “Who Shot Mike Brown, You Shot Mike Brown!”  The crowd of mostly black youth was fearless in confronting the hyper-militarized police force.
As black nationalists and local ministers tried their best to pacify the crowd, militant workers and youth shouted them down and chased them off. Police used megaphones to order protesters to keep moving, and the ministers said the same thing. But the protesters sat down in defiance. When a pastor told people to follow him down the street to continue the ”peaceful” march, a protester replied, “You can walk down the street, but we’re not leaving.”
The famous rapper Nelly, also fronting for the ruling class, tried to calm the angry crowd by saying, “We don’t need to be on out here protesting and causing havoc in the streets because we have options now.”
He was interrupted by a protester who shouted, “You have options — you’re rich!”
Workers in Ferguson saw right through the misleaders who wanted to stop the rebellion.
For five hours, protesters congregated by a Quick Trip gas station that had been burned down a couple of days earlier. The PLP team distributed 300 CHALLENGEs, made contacts with community members, and had conversations about capitalism and how fighting back against racist oppression cannot end in Ferguson.  Many workers were receptive to our ideas about capitalism and its direct link to the murder of black youth by police.
During the protest, the fascist cops would point their assault rifles at the crowd from atop their armored vehicles. Led by PL members, the crowd responded by chanting even louder: “They Say Get Back, We Say Fight Back!”
In the midst of this confrontation, community members looked out for one another by sharing water and food; we caught a glimpse of what communism would look like.
Solidarity Against Fascist Cops
As it got darker, the atmosphere grew tense. We knew the cops would go on the offensive at any moment. Younger protesters told older people to return to their homes for their safety. One woman who looked close to 80 sharply responded, “Do you think we are going to leave you all to face these racists by yourselves?”
That statement reflected our solidarity and strength. Fifteen minutes later, the cops attacked us with tear gas. They shot rubber bullets into a crowd with elders and little children. When one comrade got separated from the PLP team, and we ran back for him, we saw a gruesome scene. People were limping out of the clouds of tear gas. Some had trouble breathing; others were passing out. Most were running for their lives as the fascist police marched forward, assault rifles drawn, arresting anyone they could. Even the bosses’ media journalists weren’t safe, as cops attacked and arrested them as well. Some protesters had to be carried and dragged to safety. But with chants still echoing in the background, we recovered our comrade and helped others. Some people from the crowd did shoot back at police, rejecting the misleaders’ pacifist message. They demonstrated that black workers are not afraid of violence and are willing to fight back.
The cops’ murder of Mike Brown shows us that racist attacks on black youth will continue until we smash capitalism. The capitalist courts encourage cops who murder black, Latin and immigrant workers. The bosses are preparing for urban rebellion, but so are we. Workers are ready to fight back to smash this system. We need more rebellion, but rebellion is not enough. We need a revolutionary communist society, where the working class has the power to rid the world of killer cops. The growth of the Progressive Labor Party is the only way to stop the bosses’ racist police murders. No matter how long it takes, PLP will eventually lead the working class from Ferguson to Gaza to smash the bosses’ cops and courts and establish a communist society free from racist and sexist exploitation.