LA to Ferguson — Fight Back vs. KKKops

As soon as I got off the plane from Los Angeles in St. Louis for the Ferguson October weekend, I was picked up and taken straight to the demonstration against racism.  Over one hundred were marching and we in Progressive Labor Party (PLP) were there with a large bullhorn, a vivid banner and militant chants.
Chants like “Who do we want? Darren Wilson. How do we want him? Dead. They left Mike Brown dead” were yelled.

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Profs Fight for Contract, Chancellor Lives It Up, Students Pay

NEW YORK CITY, October 21 — “They say cut back, we say fight back!” “What do we want? A raise! When do we want it? Now!”
Workers of the Professional Staff Congress (PSC) of City University of New York (CUNY) packed the Board of Trustees meeting on September 29. To enter, they first had to be stopped-and-frisked by campus police, a policy too familiar for black and Latin students. Chairman Benno Schmidt, known nationally for his defense of “freedom of expression,” threatened the protesters with being removed by campus cops if they continue to speak out. The meeting proceeded. Fifteen minutes later, PSC president Barbara Bowen signaled for the 100 protesters to chant and walk out. They rejoined 800 protesters outside the building.

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Mexico: 60,000 March in Solidarity with Student Strikes

MEXICO, September 30 — Students from different colleges that are part of the National Polytechnic Institute (IPN) in Mexico went on an indefinite strike and led a large demonstration of more than 60,000 students and workers from several universities to support this struggle. On September 24, the former General Director of the IPN had imposed new study guides and regulations, which not only undermine IPN student rights but also open the door to make higher education more technocratic and reduce the quality of education at the intermediate level. In addition, these changes not only affect students but also teachers and workers in general.

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CUNY Students: No Center, No Peace

Fifty students, professors and community members rallied on October 20 at City College, part of the City University of New York (CUNY), to demand that the Morales-Shakur Center be returned to students who had it stolen from them. One year ago today, without notice, university police seized the Center — which for years had been an important meeting space for students who fight back — as well as thousands of dollars worth of personal property, which still hasn’t been returned.

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Bosses Plan Detroit ‘Comeback’ with No Workers

DETROIT, MI, October 10 — Today, Wayne County, which includes the city of Detroit, announced it would initiate tax foreclosures on almost 80,000 homes in the city. This follows a racist massive water shut-off for tens of thousands of residents which began last summer and continues today as a judge has lifted a moratorium on the shut-offs despite international outcry from human rights organizations.

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"Blood Lies" Fighting Anticommunist Lies

Book review of Blood Lies: The Evidence That Every Accusation Against Joseph Stalin and the Soviet Union in Timothy Snyder’s Bloodlands Is False, by Grover Furr
Since the days of Karl Marx, capitalists everywhere have tried to convince the global working class that communism is our enemy. For those who refuse to swallow that fiction, they tell us it’s impossible — because human nature is inherently selfish.

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U.S. Imperialist Problem: Too Many Enemies, Too few Friends

U.S. imperialists have a big problem in the Middle East: too many enemies, too few reliable friends.
As the bosses struggle to contain the Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria and Iraq, they find their war plans disrupted by a deepening rift with Turkey, on paper a U.S. ally. Looming in the background is the escalating rivalry between the two major imperialist blocs: the U.S. and the European Union on one side, and China and Russia on the other. At stake is the grand prize of the murderous profit system, the vast oil and natural gas reserves of Iraq and Saudi Arabia.

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PLP Fights and Learns with Ferguson

ST. LOUIS, MO, October 13 — “If we don’t get it, shut it down; killer cops, shut it down; Ferguson, shut it Down!” chanted thousands of youth and workers who flocked to St. Louis for a Weekend of Resistance against racist police murders. A multiracial youth contingent from Progressive Labor Party (PLP) once again gained traction with these workers, making over 25 contacts and distributing more than 1,100 CHALLENGEs. WANTED posters of murderer Darren Wilson, the cop who executed Michael Brown, went like hot cakes.
In addition to leading chants,

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Duvalier DEAD: Good Riddance

Port-au-Prince, October 10 — When former dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier, close adviser to the plundering police state of Haiti President Michel Martelly, died October 4 of a heart attack, the working class had only one regret — that he died of natural causes.

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PL College Club Follows Ferguson Lead! Turn up vs. Racism

TEXAS, September 19 — “Racist administration, shut it down!” chanted 15 students marching through the courtyard of our community college here. Led by PLP, we crossed a major street and blocked traffic. We held this protest immediately after a PL-led panel discussion with students titled “Confronting 21st Century Racism” the racist connection between the police murder of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and the attacks on immigrant workers at the U.S.-Mexico border. This was our college club’s way of bringing the fightback home, and we did just that!

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