LOS ANGELES MAY DAY

LOS ANGELES—Tens of thousands of workers took to the streets as part of the Resist LA May Day march. It was the most multiracial, multigenerational march the country has seen in a long time. More Black workers came out than they did for the Women’s March in January or the March for Science on April 22.
PLP had a small but lively contingent that led some militant chants like, “the workers united will never be defeated” and “La migra, la policia, la misma porqueria” (immigration cops, police, all the same crap). This chant connects the incarceration of mainly Black, Latin workers and youth to the incarceration of undocumented and migrant families. Whether we are citizens or undocumented, our common enemy is this capitalist state. PLP got out 250 CHALLENGEs along the nearly three-mile march. While turnout was not what it had been in past May Day/immigrants’ rights marches, due to fear of police and ICE repression, the energy was high and there is motivation to make it even bigger next year.

PLP MAY DAY DINNER
The PLP had a rousing dinner, with about 60 comrades and friends in attendance. Accompanied by guitar, djembe and ukuele, our group of teachers, students, health workers, church members, musicians and artistic workers enjoyed a multiracial evening of singing, speeches, interactive games and a video of the history of communist class struggle and the party’s role in it.
We also had lively discussion inspired by one of the games, which was called “pin the nail in the coffin,” of capitalism. The questions, “What have you heard about communism before coming here today either in school, on the news or from people you know?” and “What have you heard about communism here today?” prompted our discussion.
Many friends wrote down the lies that capitalism tells workers and those answers were nailed down on the coffin. These were ideas people wanted to struggle against: the racist, sexist, nationalist, fascist lies oppress the working class.
“To succeed, what features does such a Party need?” That conversation, which could have gone on for much longer, will continue as we work with our comrades and friends in the class struggle.
The PL video presented the Haymarket Affair, the Russian and Chinese Revolutions and the birth of Progressive Labor Party. It was a great way to show how historically that workers have true potential to change the world and how they’ve inspired many ‘til this day. It also brought up the importance of class struggle and how to increase the readership of CHALLENGE. The video ended with having people subscribe to the paper, join the Party, join a study group, and take action. The evening continued with a speech on the state of the world and a call to action. Organizing for a communist society means getting rid of capitalism, a political system that exploits and terrorizes workers worldwide and is leading the dominant imperialists toward a world war that they expect the workers to fight in. We say we will fight for communism! The international working class shall be the human race!