CHICAGO, May 1—Today we celebrated May Day, the true workers’ holiday celebrated by the working class internationally. Over 80 of us gathered at a local hall on Chicago’s west side to talk about the history of how workers at Haymarket Square in Chicago fought back against capitalist exploitation by holding a 300,000-strong general strike on May 1, 1886 that sent shockwaves around the world. The Progressive Labor Party (PLP) is carrying on the tradition of workers at Haymarket through international communist struggle to destroy capitalism, with an emphasis on Black workers and youth being the key to revolution.
What Day? May Day!
The event kicked off with a scavenger hunt that accompanied a gallery walk of photos and facts about communist struggles through the years and May Day history in particular. There were many teenagers who attended, and they quickly moved around the hall, answering questions to try to win the scavenger hunt. These youth were present as a result of our continued growing work in local schools. This group activity was followed by an inspiring speech by a comrade who is helping lead political work in the community and on his job at a west side hospital, where they are trying to get a union to counter the bosses’ sexist and racist attacks.
It was encouraging to see a handful of these workers become motivated during the program to come to the microphone and speak about the capitalist horrors of their jobs and express interest in getting involved again. One works as a counselor in the jails, and mentioned how the system of capitalism has destroyed the lives of many of the incarcerated people where she works. Another announced that the charter school where she works is planning to go on strike on May 1st, the third wave of charter school strikes in Chicago in five months. Two new members gave speeches on why they joined the Party. The first of which was a younger comrade, who spoke to the Party’s strength in exposing the liberals as the primary threat to working-class people. She talked of continuing to build a base among youth, who regularly get funneled into the misleading hands of the Democratic Party but really are in need of the revolutionary PLP to change the world in our interests.
The second new comrade to speak was a working mother, who was won recently to the Party through our work in an anti-deportation reform group. Her speech, which was delivered in Spanish, spoke to how she had always been a fighter and learned to organize workers at a very young age, but it wasn’t until she met the Party that she really felt at home in the U.S. She ended her speech with the words, “The bosses are afraid of the working people who have no fear.”
We sang our May Day standards “Bella Ciao” and “The International” in both Spanish and English. Although a late spring snowstorm had forced us to cancel our rally and march, we held a rally indoors at the hall in which we shouted the Party’s anti-racist and anti-sexist revolutionary chants, with practically the entire hall on their feet and engaged.
Chicago’s west side: a story of police terror, and poor healthcare
The reason we celebrated May Day on the city’s west side is because of our history, past and present, of fighting racism in the area. In North Lawndale, there have been many murders committed by the hands of the racist Chicago Police Department. Michael Elam, Rekia Boyd, and Steven Rosenthal have all been murdered by the fascist kkkops in the neighborhood in recent years. We as a Party were active in many of the actions organized to protest their racist murders. Continuing to build a base among other anti-racist fighters in the neighborhood remains exceptionally important as the racist city bosses move ahead with their plans to build a $95 million dollar new police academy nearby (See CHALLENGE, 4/3).
Racist health outcomes are also a harsh reality to workers here. In mostly-Black West Garfield Park, average life expectancy is around 69 years, compared to around 85 years in the wealthier downtown Loop (westsideunited.org). In west side hospitals such as Mount Sinai, mostly Black, Latin, and Asian women workers are short-staffed on the units and thus unable to provide safe and adequate care to their mostly Black and immigrant patients. Many comrades and friends have taken a leading role in organizing against sexist and racist attacks like these on our jobs in west side hospitals and university campuses and will take the inspiration from our May Day event to strengthen our efforts.
We have a world to win
The comrade who gave the main speech during the dinner challenged those present to see their own struggles as part of a larger, international battle against the world’s bosses. As pro-capitalist sellouts such as Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez seek to dupe the masses and lead them into more fascism and imperialism, our Party and communist revolution remain the only real path out of a daily nightmare for billions.
On this May Day and every day, remember: We have a world to win, and nothing to lose but our chains!