May Day: Chicago

CHICAGO, May 1 – Close to 100 members of Progressive Labor Party (PLP) and friends gathered on the west side of the city today to boldly celebrate International Workers Day and our vision of a communist future. Working-class fighters of all ages – Asian, Latin, Black and white – united for the purpose of carrying out our most inspirational and well-organized May Day in years.
Over one year into a deadly and racist pandemic, workers worldwide are fired up. Our class is grappling with the wretched failure that is the capitalist profit system. Many more are growing dissatisfied with the passivity of voting and the bosses’ offers of reform crumbs.
In short, workers seem more receptive to revolutionary communist struggle as the only path to our collective liberation. The international PLP is ready and willing to accept these eager fighters into our Party’s ranks as we build the long fight for a communist world!
Communism on street corners
To kick our celebration off, we gathered on all four corners of a busy intersection in a multiracial, working-class neighborhood. Our collective has sold CHALLENGE newspaper and held rallies at this same spot for years and workers here have come to welcome our militant messages of fightback and revolution.
With at least 15 rallying workers on each corner, we started giving rousing speeches on the bullhorn and leading bilingual chants in Spanish and English. Dozens of copies of CHALLENGE were flying out of our hands from cars stopped at lights and by workers walking past.
On display were dozens of colorful, revolutionary signs and banners celebrating the international working class and its mass PLP. Months of planning by Party committees were apparent with our variety of signs, flyers, creative new chants, and custom PLP red facemasks. Everyone present was quickly energized for our next move: taking the streets!
Whose streets? Our streets!
May Day marchers started filing off the corners onto busy Cermak Road. Our security contingent guided the pace and perimeter of the march and ensured our safety. We drew the attention of the racist and sexist kkkops almost instantly. But they soon learned their intimidation tactics were not about to rain on our working-class parade.
The bullhorn speeches and chants continued as we marched west through the neighborhood. Our voices thundered down each block as we chanted, “The only solution is communist revolution!” and “Asian, Latin, Black and white – Workers of the world, unite!”
Numerous workers along the route stepped out to raise their fists, record video, and take a copy of CHALLENGE. Some joined our march on the spot! We called out the names of many workers shot down by this vicious system, including those of Adam Toledo and Anthony Alvarez, two Latin youth murdered by the klan-in-blue in Chicago this year. The entire neighborhood heard it loud and clear that communism means an end to racist police murder!
Revolutionary optimism
After a mile-long march, we filtered into a nearby park to begin our program. Two newer comrades from PLP emceed, each giving speeches in which they described how the Party has provided them a vehicle for building community and fighting the racist bosses. They praised the multiracial, multigenerational character of the Party and the wisdom gained from struggling collectively in mass campaigns.
A healthcare worker then switched things up and led the crowd in a number of songs on their guitar, including “Talkin’ Bout a Revolution” by Tracy Chapman. Two veteran PLP members, a teacher and a nurse, followed with speeches in which they shared the fightback on their jobs and in the streets, and contrasted the racist and sexist brutality of capitalism with the revolutionary optimism of communism. We concluded our event with rousing renditions of the communist anthem “The Internationale” in Spanish and English.
As we socialized afterwards on the beautiful Saturday afternoon, the optimistic mood was evident. May Day is truly a revolutionary shot in the arm!
Onward to communist revolution!
In our post-May Day upswing, we know we must remain focused. We are making plans to incorporate new members into the Party and broaden our revolutionary battle against the profit system. Here’s to another successful May Day!
All power to the international working class!