APHA: no cure for sick capitalism

Philadelphia, November 5 — Today, over 80 healthcare workers and local organizers from the NGO Puentes de Salud (“Bridges of Health”) protested detention centers, deportations and borders at this year’s meeting of the American Public Health Association (APHA). Progressive Labor Party members, who have been active in the American Public Health Association (APHA) for several decades, helped lead the march from the site of this year’s convention in Philadelphia to an ICE office several blocks away. Marchers from the mass organizations  held up signs such as “$$ crosses borders, why not people.” Workers also led chants calling for “No Borders!”  recognizing that borders only help the capitalists and divide
Health justice means internationalism, revolution
Highlights of the rally included:
There were speakers from Doctors 4 Camp Closure (D4CC), People’s Health Movement and Life Undocumented. We met new friends from Puentes de Salud two weeks earlier through contacts made at a D4CC rally. An undocumented immigrant from New York City with Life Undocumented spoke of his struggles with stress and PTSD even as he had become an anesthesiologist.
A young immigrant from Mexico became tearful and angry as he explained that U.S. capitalism had driven people out of their countries, that Customs and Border agents singled out transgender immigrants in the camps for harassment and sexual assault, and that now the vicious capitalists are attacking them here.
A young medical student from the University of Pennsylvania led songs of resistance as we marched back to the convention center. A creative student joined PLP’s “Troublemakers Coffee Hour” and made a sign: “I like my country like my whiskey –without ICE.”  
Many signs from Health Impact Partners said “Immigrant Justice Is Health Justice”. Members from Chicago’s Radical Public Health group displayed their radical t-shirts proudly. 30 marchers signed up to be contacted in the future to strengthen the fight against racist deportations and ICE.
A PLP doctor attacked capitalism’s continuing failure to provide health care, from her days 50 years ago organizing a free clinic in Durham, North Carolina, for Black and white workers, to her work today in a Maryland free clinic serving immigrants lacking decent health care from Latin American, Africa, and Asia.
She called on the marchers to build a revolutionary communist movement with multiracial unity to end this exploitative racist system of capitalism.
Another comrade from Philadelphia explained how his parents had immigrated from Europe under severe conditions and he appreciated the immigrants stepping up to speak here. He urged marchers to organize support for immigrants in their unions and on their jobs, much as we were doing at APHA.
Long term outlook key to victory
Several sections of the APHA endorsed the rally as a result of the 30 years of activities and struggle within this 13,000-strong organization by PLP members, including engagement in the International Health, Medical Care, Community Health Planning and Policy Development, and Socialist Caucus as well as in local chapters throughout the country.
We also built the rally by distributing 1,100 flyers calling for an end to deportations, detention and borders just before the opening APHA session on Sunday and at multiple sessions during the conference. We also used resolutions that APHA has previously passed supporting health for immigrants and no separation of families to encourage participation.
Such resolutions can be used to strengthen local struggles as well, like the one in Philadelphia to close the Berk detention center and turn it into a drug treatment center, and the fight to abolish borders. Comrades and many young health-worker allies have similarly used the resolution against racist police brutality passed after a 3-year struggle (“Law Enforcement Violence as a Public Health Issue”) in local battles against brutal cops.
communist revolution
Abolishing borders and providing decent health care means destroying capitalism through revolution, not elections, and so we made the fight for communism front and center by distributing over 400 copies of our CHALLENGE Special Edition with the bold slogan, Revolution will not be on the ballot!
The revolutionary communist movement PLP is building is international. A powerful moment in our organizing included meeting a young public health researcher from Puerto Rico who recounted the details of the demonstrations numbering a million people against the failure of the Puerto Rican governor to serve the people after Hurricane Maria. While the corrupt governor was driven out of office, our new friend agreed that the working class failed to seize control of the government because revolutionary groups were too small and unprepared. Our job is to change that by helping her build the PLP in Puerto Rico to create the revolutionary leadership needed there – and around the globe.