Workers’ Lives Matter

Indiana — Progressive Labor Party’s political work here has become immersed in the Black Lives Matter Movement. We have begun to merge our campus and community bases in Indiana to focus collectively on organizing in the Black Lives Matter (BLM) struggle. The political line in the BLM movement is very nationalist at times and reformist in nature, but it is filled with many workers who want to fight against injustice. Moreover, it is our job to win these workers. If Black workers are a key revolutionary force, then the Party must organize in these struggles and provide revolutionary leadership to them.
In our local BLM movement, Party members provide key leadership. We struggle within the organization to pull it further to the left, and to keep the focus from becoming sucked into an electoral campaign. We fight against reactionary ideas like “Black Lives Matter” or  “All Lives Matter” and instead assert that “Workers’ Lives Matter,” regardless of whether they are Black, Cambodian, or Palestinian. Being involved in this mass organization has given us the opportunity to unite workers in northwest Indiana, with the focus being the economically devastated and super-oppressed workers there.
‘Stop These Racist Sweeps’  
Black workers here, like others in majority Black cities in America, are targets of traffic “sweeps” which have resulted in predatory fines, and mass stop-and-frisk tactics. Indiana police target youth for jaywalking. This has become a moneymaking tool in a number of cities, and Black Lives Matter, with leadership of PL’ers, has fought these polices.
Our fightback led to a town hall meeting with the community, where many workers told their stories of racist police encounters. The mayor and police chief were in attendance and spoke. People in the audience, however, saw through their lies and called them out. A comrade gave a speech that called out capitalism as the culprit, and ended with, “stop these racist sweeps.” A criticism was that there was no open PLP speech made. However, some contacts were made and two young Black women workers have been invited to a study group.
We must lead the struggle
With the recent struggle in Baltimore heating up, it can only make us wonder: Could places like Detroit and other super exploited cities be next? Building a base in high-unemployment areas is a critical task for the Party. Ferguson and Baltimore are great examples of this.
When we get involved in these mass struggles, the Party becomes stronger. Younger comrades learn how to lead and veteran comrades are sharpened as well. We also get a glimpse of communism. Through organizing rallies, marches, and events, we see how workers can and will eventually organize a society where everyone has a say and uses their skills to contribute to the collective need.
But with this look at collectivity, we also get a glimpse of fascism. The continued militarization of police shows us that the bosses in the U.S. are getting workers ready for complete fascism. But it also shows that workers are ready to fight against it. The Progressive Labor Party must be ready and in position to lead this fightback.