Members of the Progressive Labor Party (PLP) , including college professors in the Bronx, joined with coworkers, students and community organizers in rallying against NYC’s Mayor Eric Adams last week. Adams came to the South Bronx to deliver his State of the City address to a campus which had been transformed into what looked like a military occupation. We were able to hold a successful rally in a nearby park, with high school and college students and led a  short but militant march. We then joined a larger rally.

As we gathered our forces in the park, we heard speeches about Adams’ policies that have resulted in migrant families being thrown out in the cold, his barbaric budget cuts to schools, libraries, and the CUNY system, his pro-KKKop policies and, of course, his support of genocide in Gaza.

Liberal politicians: the main enemy of the working class
Speakers highlighted the systemic racist austerity in our local colleges and how important it was to continue fighting for the services and staff/faculty our students need. A community organizer gave a rousing speech about the Adams administration and their abusive policies towards migrant families. “There is no migrant crisis. There is a housing crisis!” She pointed out how the city ‘s “State of Emergency” has led to intolerable conditions, such as flimsy tents, overcrowded conditions, and tragically, the recent death of a baby in Queens (Eyewitness News, 1/22). A PLP member made the point that Adams and Biden, both Democrats, have launched genocidal attacks on our class and that turning to them as the “lesser-evil” option is a deadly mistake. She finished with a message of hope: when the working class runs society we will put an end to imperialist war and all forms of oppression.  

Our contingent then marched through the neighborhood to join the larger rally. Hundreds of people were packed on the sidewalk and over a hundred copies of CHALLENGE were distributed. Members of our collective were able to give speeches to the mass rally about connecting the genocide in Gaza to the budget cuts in the Bronx, as well as calling out various NGO’s (Non Government Organizations) who have not answered the call when migrant families have been so vulnerable.

Seeing through the bosses’ identity politics
This rally highlighted the mass anger at Adams’ and Biden’s racist attacks on workers. Adams’ identity as a Black man did not stop hundreds of mostly Black and Latin youth and workers from seeing him as an enemy of workers and students. This mass consciousness, combined with communist politics can produce a militant, fighting working class army, capable of cutting through the bosses’ attempts to divide us. The presence of PLP members and CHALLENGE brought that message to the South Bronx.