BROOKLYN, NY, July 10—Klan-in-Chief Donald Trump’s gestapo has detained over 57,000 members of our class, including Dylan Josue Lopez Contreras, who was the first New York City high school student kidnapped during a routine court check-in. In response, workers and students at a local school revived their antiracist efforts to defend undocumented youth. Initiated by a Progressive Labor Party (PLP) teacher and made into a reality through the unity of teachers and students, we are transforming fear into fightback. Building a culture of resistance under growing fascism requires persistence and imagination, and leaning on communist principles of solidarity and antiracism paves a path forward. 

Build art and solidarity

The week of May Day (International Workers Day), a communist teacher had organized an art build (a collectively-created art project in support of a cause) in a park near school. The idea was to create a large display of antiracism that can be used in and outside the school. Together, we decided on the wording and design. The banner read, “Education Has No Borders.” A few letters were painted in. 

Upon finding out about Dylan three weeks later, the PL’er transformed the back of their classroom into a fightback space. For the entirety of June, the banner was splayed out, along with information about who Dylan was, and a way to write him a letter. Students from all grades visited during lunch to paint, write, chat, and learn.  The plan is to display the banner in a prominent place next school year. 

Fight fear with fightback 

In the face of virulent racism, students need to witness, and join, staunch antiracism. A wave of struggle started after the fascist inauguration when a communist teacher and their co-worker circulated the school with meeting invitations that read, “In the face of deportations, what does it mean to protect students?”  Twenty workers attended—multiracial, mainly women, tenured and untenured. The PL’er began with a talk about rising fascism. They concluded with excerpts from a CHALLENGE editorial, titled, “Smash racist deportations and borders.” 

They also had an honest conversation about fear. A teacher added, “We’re conditioned to freeze or obey” and how it’s hard to think of what to do in the moment. Fear—a natural response to state terror—flourishes in isolation. While it may feel lonely, we are never alone; all members of our class share the same enemy and the same interest.

Building antiracism day by day

Over months, this Sanctuary Committee expanded to a campus-wide effort. While the quantity of people reduced, a core group formed. Here are some things they did:

• Distributed “smash all borders” stickers. 
• Wore solidarity buttons that read “stop deportations!”
• Posted Know Your Rights cards in multiple languages on a bulletin board.
• Displayed six non-negotiable values inside classrooms of at least ten teachers. One core value is “We (students, staff, and families) are united in standing up against deportations” (see photo).
• Raised money to host an immigrant-youth-led workshop on teaching educators about immigration law. 
• Planned multi-tiered responses if ICE was in the area, at the school gates, and inside the school with a warrant.  
• Composed a solidarity letter to parents, which was shut down by administration before distribution. 
• Created a hub of antiracist resources for educators, families, and students. 
• Connected to a citywide network of educators, laying groundwork for next school year.

Lessons from the struggle

To protect students, the Sanctuary Committee learned they needed to organize outside of the bosses’ channels, and they needed a network of trust among the entire campus. The biggest gap in this struggle is family organizing and building closer ties. The fight slowed once the fear of ICE raids shifted from school sites to neighborhoods.  

But, multiple teachers and students (former and current) became CHALLENGE readers, some (re)connected via Party study groups, a few attended citywide PLP events—including a recent fightback celebration (see next issue)—and many more confronted illusions of who we can rely on to keep us safe. The road to communism is long, but together, we will persist! 

Liberals built it, Trump expands it

The might of Trump’s modern slave patrol was built by his liberal predecessors. There’s an average of “14,700 deportations per month” now, but that pales in comparison to “ 36,000 in 2013, the year with the most deportations during the Obama administration” (CBS, 7/10). 
Both wings of the U.S. ruling class—the imperialist Big Fascists and the isolationist Small Fascists—use anti-immigrant racism to divide workers. The bosses need scapegoats when their system is in crisis (see editorial).