Tupelo Summer of ’79: Fight racism like a red!

To many who remember the Civil Rights movements of the 1960s, Mississippi symbolizes the most extreme racism, the most brutal murders of Black workers, antiracists, and the stronghold of the Ku Klux Klan.
For Progressive Labor Party, Mississippi signified a base for revolution among Black and white workers, spreading the ideas of multiracial unity and the fight for communist ideas in the South. Today, we celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Tupelo Summer Project of ’79. About one hundred communists and friends—Black, Latin, Asian, and white—took part in this struggle.

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Mt. Sinai workers’ fightback sickens bosses

CHICAGO, May 22—Over 30 workers from Mount Sinai Hospital on the city’s west side united this morning to boldly challenge their racist and sexist bosses. What began as a mild speak-out organized by the union around contract negotiations, evolved into a much more militant action, as workers courageously decided to sharpen this reform struggle.

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Haiti: Small victories and revolution grow out of fightback

Haiti—These are bad days for the bosses and their lackey politicians. There is hardly any growth in the capitalist economy. But it’s even worse for workers—double-digit inflation, currently at 15%  (worldbank.org). The value of the Haitian gourde is falling at breakneck  speed (currently 95 hgd (Haitian gourdes) to $1 U.S.,while just last year it was 66 :1), meaning the cost of living really went up about 50 percent. And with an unemployment rate of 70 percent (haitipartners.org), life is an agonizing struggle. The masses are angry!

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Letter: Anti-abortion fight plays into hands of Democrats

Voting for liberals will not protect women’s reproductive rights. This fact was not the atmosphere of the May 21 rally that Planned Parenthood of NYC hosted against the anti-abortion laws. It was the kind of rally the bosses wanted. It was a collection of middle-class white women who believe that the next presidential elections will put an end to the Trump trend. There also were a few white middle class men there. Routine.
Six states passed a six-week abortion ban, including Georgia, Ohio, Mississippi, Kentucky, Iowa, and North Dakota. Most women don’t even realize they’re pregnant at that time. This includes cases of rape, incest, and human trafficking. Alabama governor Kay Ivey signed a near-full ban on the procedure, the harshest anti-abortion measure in the country (The Cut, 5/21).

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Letter: Police slaughter yet another black worker

On May 13, on Chicago’s West Side police shot and killed yet another Black man, 26-year-old Sharell Brown. A Progressive Labor Party member was informed soon after the deadly shooting by one of their hospital co-workers. They quickly relayed this to fellow Party members who went door-to-door in an effort to get more information about the killing. It was reported on the Internet that Sharell was shot multiple times in confrontations with two cops, who—of course—claimed he was shooting at them. PL’ers went to

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In memory of Bob, lifelong anti-racist and communist

Comrade Robert “Bob” Patterson died in Brooklyn, NY on May 8 of heart failure. He was 72 years old. He leaves behind a son, daughter-in-law, grandson, brother, nieces and nephews, and a large group of friends and comrades.
Bob was a presence that could always be counted on. His passing leaves a tremendous hole that we will work hard to fill. After Bob was introduced to the Progressive Labor Party, he embraced it and regretted that he had not met our Party earlier in his life.

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Cyber wars, a prelude to world war

Google’s move to cut off Huawei phones from access to the company’s software is a stark reminder to capitalists worldwide and a blunt message to the rising Chinese ruling class: U.S. imperialism will be ruthless in defending its global profits. Google’s signing on to U.S. efforts to beat back the projection of Chinese power intensifies the pressure on European and other capitalist rulers to choose sides in the escalating cyberwar between the two superpowers. Neutrality—for companies as well as countries—will be difficult, if not impossible. But workers must choose our own side, the side of the international working class. As World War III gets closer, we must be prepared to turn imperialist war into class war for communist revolution.

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Racist violence won’t stop workers’ fight back!

BALTIMORE, May 15 —After 37 days of refusing to hold any discussions with members of the Johns Hopkins University sit-in about their powerful anti-racist demands on May 8, president Ronald Daniels used state power to break into locked-down Garland Hall. About 80 armed Baltimore City police forcibly ended the occupation and arrested everyone inside after fire department personnel broke through the Hall’s heavy glass doors.

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NYC Transit: MTA workers on track to build worker-rider unity

New York, May 29–Recently a subway conductor for the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) got stabbed while sitting on a bench in his uniform.  Meanwhile, toxic silica dust will be released during major repairs of the L Train subway tunnel and will affect both transit workers and riders. To top it off, the MTA bosses just raised the fares.

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Newark: Capitalism behind racist environmental crisis

Newark, New Jersey, May 6 – About 75 people in this working class, mostly Black and Latin city, attended a forum whose key purpose was to alert neighborhood residents about the ongoing lead contamination of their water. Progressive Labor Party(PLP) alerted residents to the destructive nature of capitalism that destroys our environment and all aspects of our lives, from working conditions to education to healthcare.
 Many of the forum’s organizers were critical of the city administration’s initial failure to address the crisis and their attempts to lie their way out of public criticism. PLP members have consistently pointed out that capitalism’s insatiable demand for profit is the source of racist attacks on the working class such as lead poisoning. Only communism, a society run by the working class, can end these atrocities and build a world where profiting from the sale of toxic products will become a distant memory.

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