Letters of July 27

Chicago Workers Reject Segregated Fightback
In response to the killing of two Black workers by the kkkops within 48 hours, a number of comrades and I showed up at a solidarity demonstration here in Chicago. The 200-plus protestors present were justifiably outraged about having to add the names of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling to the list of workers snuffed out by the racist capitalist state.
Although I have been involved in numerous demonstrations in Chicago in recent years, this one was definitely one of the best. Unlike some of the protests in the city last year (provoked by Laquan McDonald’s killing by the racist cop Jason Van Dykkke and the city’s attempt to cover the murder up), there were no suggestions beforehand that this be a “blacks-only” protest. Nor were there any sell-out politicians or church leaders there to try and water down the militancy and anger.  The workers there were truly heterogeneous: Black, Latin, Arab, Asian, white, women, men, young and old. Young black women led the march, but everyone appeared to be given the chance to contribute to the energy and outcome of the event.
The multiracial and militant approach paid off. The larger number of protestors made it possible to disrupt traffic at a number of intersections, even shutting down the busiest interstate highway in the city for at least fifteen minutes.
It was exhilarating to stand arm in arm with my fellow workers, flexing our collective muscle to defy a system that routinely destroys people’s lives. It was also uplifting to have Challenge received so enthusiastically as we passed them out, and to hear PL’s antiracist chants being shouted so passionately.I plan to use the inspiration I took from this event to intensify the struggle here in Chicago, and to win more of these bold workers to the fight for communism!
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India: CHALLENGE Gives me Confidence to Fight
I am a worker at a tissue factory in West Bengal, India. Recently I have come across a few issues of your paper CHALLENGE. In this time of utter confusion and surrender, CHALLENGE’s voice and thoughts are giving us a glimmer of hope.
In the aftermath of scientific and technological revolution, workers were able to consolidate themselves into a class. As a result they could resist the onslaught of the torturous oppression by the bosses. One glorious example of such class resistance is the historical struggle of the May Day.
Today the workers across the world, for varied reasons, are scattered and do not have a Party of their own. Right now, the centuries old struggle and sacrifice that has resulted in the achievement of the working day of eight hours is almost lost. Violence in the name of development, market driven super profiteering, the chameleon character of the capitalist state as guard of capital are forcing us into a condition of defeat. In a retrograde manner, workers are being forced into a working day of 12 to 16 hours. And we are conceding defeat.
After reading these issues of CHALLENGE, there is a growing feeling that the conditions are changing worldwide. Workers are once again preparing the ground for an ensuing upheaval. They can, indeed, get organized into a working class Party. The organized workers would be able to resurrect themselves in the light of the historical Haymarket rebellion. The working class across the world shall once again join in singing:
“...We are summoning our forces from
Shipyards shop and mill
Eight hours for work, eight hours for rest
Eight hours for what we will...”
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Strength through Struggle
Like most people, seeing the footage of the murders by kkkop of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling traumatized me.
 I avoided watching the footage for a few days, knowing I was not in a strong enough mind-set to both hear about these tragedies and see them. I relented after thinking that the families of these people don’t have the benefit of pushing away from these horrors. I watched 3 videos of the killings, one right after another, while I was alone. The experience was nothing short of devastating and alienating. Again, like most people, I became very depressed after having this experience. I withdrew from people because I couldn’t bear talking about it, and avoided the internet. I could not perform work assignments because I literally didn’t see the purpose.
It wasn’t until I got together with comrades that I began letting myself hear others talking about having the same reactions I did. Hearing about the anger, anguish, and grief, all of us talking while holding back tears, let me know that I was not alone.
Seeing the brave actions of the working class, from Chicago to Minneapolis to Cleveland, let me know that it’s with action that I’d find healing and affect change.
Participating in a rally and march in Brooklyn (see page 1) and planning to participate in actions elsewhere strengthened my resolve. We can’t help being affected by the images of women, men, and children being murdered by this racist, sexist, capitalist system.
But we can find strength in fighting back with each other in an organized way to smash this system and create a system where lives mean more than profit.
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Bob Leonhardt, Lifelong Communist
Great obituary (CHALLENGE, 5/4) for a great leader of our Party who needed no title to show us how to study, learn and act as a communist! Bob was an intellectual, fascinated by the world of ideas, but also knew that without action and engagement in class struggles, those ideas would have no meaning.
He was also a great and loving husband, father of two and grandfather of five. He strove to have communist values lead in all his family relationships and provided an example of egalitarianism for us.  He was a great friend to a very large and diverse group, giving principled support and struggle, as we must all do.  He was a complex person who upheld and contributed to the ideas of communism and understood that the personal is political and the political is personal.
Thanks for reminding us that commitment to the Party fulfills our life.
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Learning from a Comrade I Never Met
I never met Bob Leonhardt. After hearing all the stories at his memorial, I deeply wished I had. The only deaths I have mourned in my lifetime are those of Party members, first Milt Rosen, the founder of Progressive Labor Party, and now Bob.
People talk about him, and all he taught them, with such admiration and love, that I too feel the loss secondhand. I know he told lots of fables, he made crude jokes about the ruling class, and was loved and admired by all people in and out of the Party. Bob taught the generation after him, and that generation is teaching me. In that way, communism not only keeps you young, it keeps you alive well past your death. In these volatile times, what better way to live your life than being part of the worldwide fight for communism?
Hearing his voice on the tape recorder at the memorial brought me to tears. Here is a man who went to Harvard and spoke multiple languages, who could’ve been a real big shot. He could’ve had the money, fame, and status—but he said the best thing he did with his life was join the Party. That he learned how to think from ordinary people. The capitalists can’t even fathom the kind of success Bob had. Indeed, there are more things in communism and the Party than are dreamt of in the bosses’ philosophy.
Capitalism has done a magnificent job in alienating young people and workers—from the mentally ill that go on a killing rampage, to the college students who commits suicide, to the everyday hustle of trying to make ends meet, to finding out your job isn’t about helping people but bringing order/discipline to the working class. It’s easy to get cynical about the possibility of change. But how could I say that I am alone in this fight—there are countless who came before me and countless who will come after me. Thank you Bob for filling me with confidence in our class, and our potential to make revolution.
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Remember Victims of Imperialist Slaughter
On July 1, 1916, one hundred years ago, British commanders ordered the Newfoundland Regiment, 780 men, to charge German machine guns. There was no cover at all. They first had to cut through or go around barbed wire defenses. They were slaughtered. There is no other word for it.

The next day only 68 men—8.7% of the regiment that had charged the day before—reported for roll call.

Why were they ordered to charge? There was no specific objective. British commanders showed little concern for colonial troops. Newfoundland was a British colony at that time.
World War I was a brutal imperialist war. It was fought for the redivision of territory among the big imperialist powers: England, France, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Russia, the U.S., and Japan.
I am sure that today in Newfoundland there will be solemn memorial services.
But the imperialist, exploitative aims of the war, the fact that, like the Newfies, millions of other men and civilians were killed for nothing except to enrich the imperialist bosses—this will not be remembered. Not officially. But we the working class need to remember it.
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