Justice for Raymond: A racist system does not deserve to exist

THE BRONX, NY, August 3—The racist, capitalist system struck again on July 21, this time robbing the working class of 18-years-young Latin teen Raymond Chaluisant. Dion Middleton, an off-duty Black kkkop shot Raymond in the face for playing with a toy water gun. The murderer then fled the scene, leaving Raymond dead in a pool of his blood. A system that breeds racist murders of our class does not deserve to exist. Seek justice for Raymond by smashing racism with Progressive Labor Party.

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Comrade Epifanio Camacho, beloved leader of the working class

Epifanio Camacho, a courageous and militant farmworker, loyal member of Progressive Labor Party (PLP), and lifetime fighter for the international working class, died on July 4 at the age of 98. As an early leader of the United Farm Workers (UFW), Epifanio organized a strike of rose grafters in the San Joaquin Valley in 1965. He went on to play a central role in the historic strikes against the grape vineyard bosses in the late 1960s. In the mid-1970s, Epifanio was purged from the UFW by the class traitor and sellout Cesar Chavez. Their split was inevitable. Chavez was a pacifist who made a religion out of non-violence. He allied with reformist politicians like Robert F. Kennedy and racist AFL-CIO boss George Meany, and relied on boycotts and the bosses’ legal machinery.

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Capitalism breeds sexism: The Only (Pro)Choice is Communism

CHICAGO, July 22– A multiracial, intergenerational group of around 30 Progressive Labor Party (PLP) members and friends gathered for a forum today as a means to educate and organize against capitalism’s worsening racist and sexist attacks on workers’ reproductive and family health. In the wake of the historically racist and sexist Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade, building the Party and fighting for international communist revolution remains the only real path forward for liberation and optimal health for our class.

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Transit workers on strike, opens road to revolutionary ideas

Landover, Maryland, August 1–Today over 170 Metro Access transit workers hit the bricks, striking against Transdev, a contractor for the Metro transit system in the Washington, D.C. region (see CHALLENGE, July 6, for an earlier rally). Transdev is a notorious multinational private transit company famous for screwing workers around the world. The mainly Black transit workers drive “on call” for people with disabilities or medical challenges. They are paid $17/hour, far less than their Metro counterparts. They are demanding a starting rate of $22.50/hour, rising to a top rate of $32, as well as a decent health and pension plan. Transdev has arrogantly dismissed their very modest demands.

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For homes: expel racist capitalism from the planet

NEW YORK CITY, July 17— “We are still going through the same madness about homelessness…I don’t know. Something’s gotta change…this is not working.” That’s what a formerly homeless worker said at a demonstration at Gracie Mansion, racist kkkop Mayor Eric Adams’ home. The rally called for an end to the City’s racist displacement and immediate permanent housing. He is exactly right, and demonstrating with him were 40 workers and Progressive Labor Party (PLP) members. The rally was,) sponsored by the Open Hearts Initiative. Mayor Eric Adams is leading the bosses’ efforts to clear New York’s streets of homeless workers by employing racist, fascist sweeps that try to force the homeless into shelters by destroying their street encampments.

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Stop racist deportations, workers have no nations!

Washington, DC July 19—Racist Texas Governor Abbot has spent over $6 million to send over 130 busloads of migrant workers, detained after crossing the U.S.-Mexican border, to Washington, DC as a political stunt. The daily arrivals at Union Station have risen to four to five buses per day (Washington Post, 7/14 and 7/19). This is the reality of a capitalist system built on fake, profit driven borders.The working-class, however, NEEDS a world without borders. To fight back against this racist deportation and rising fascist state, members of Progressive Labor Party (PLP) have joined mutual aid networks to help our working-class sisters and brothers survive.

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Part 11-Black communists in the Spanish Civil War: James Yates: ‘I was part of their dreams, and they were a part of mine’

This is part 11 of a series about Black communists in the Spanish Civil War. In the early 1930’s the urban bourgeoisie (capitalists) of Spain, supported by most workers and many peasants, overthrew the violent, repressive monarchy to form a republic. In July 1936 the Spanish army, eventually commanded by Francisco Franco, later the fascist dictator, rebelled to reestablish the repressive monarchy. Hitler’s Germany and Mussolini's Italy gave Franco massive military aid.

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RED EYE ON THE NEWS . . . August 24, 2022

Jim Crow Biden wants border wall NBC News, 7/28–The Biden administration on Thursday authorized completion of the Trump-funded U.S.-Mexico border wall in an open area of southern Arizona near Yuma, where four wide gaps make it among the busiest corridors for illegal crossings…Completion of the wall was at the top of former President Donald Trump’s agenda, and border security remains a potent issue for candidates of both parties going into this year’s primary elections. President Joe Biden halted new wall construction after he took office, but he has since made closing the gaps just south of Yuma a priority. It was unclear when construction would begin.

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Letters ... August 24, 2022

Public healthcare worker unites with transit strikers Today I joined the striking Metro Access transit workers on their picket line (see page 3). They are the “essential workers” who the bosses pretend to thank but then attack when it comes to wages, benefits, and safety. They have “served the people,” especially elderly and disabled residents during the pandemic. Their shop steward estimated that 50 percent of them have had at least one episode of Covid-19, most likely due to transmission on the job.

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Reject all imperialists: U.S. empire in rapid decline while rivals rise

The U.S. is an imperialist superpower in steep decline. A recent case in point: At the G20, a conference of the world’s largest economies, the Big Fascist liberals—the multinational banks and energy companies that control the Democratic Party—utterly failed in their attempts to isolate rival imperialist Russia. From the New York Times (7/8): "[I]n a reflection of why Russia’s economy continues to function, [Russian Foreign Minister Sergey] Lavrov did meet directly with…major nations that have declined to join the Western-led coalition against his country.”
As the U.S.-European alliance behind Ukraine seems exhausted, Russia has strengthened its economic ties with regional powers from Iran and India to Brazil and Mexico. Imperialist China, the greatest threat to U.S. dominance, dismissed an appeal from Secretary of State Antony Blinken to join the anti-Russia coalition. U.S. sanctions be damned, Russia is raking in record revenues from fossil fuels (NYT, 6/13). (The ruble is up nearly 30 percent against the U.S. dollar this year.) All the while, millions of workers worldwide are starved and impoverished by droughts, floods, and an inflationary spiral with no end in sight.

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