On Friday, January 30th, Progressive Labor Party members and friends at a university in Kentucky decided to hold a demonstration in response to the call from workers in Minneapolis for a general strike and a national day of action. At first, the plan was to stage a sit-in inside one of the university’s main buildings where there was a Starbucks and a burger spot. Unfortunately, our numbers were too small because of the snow and ice which had kept most people from being out on campus, and so we decided instead to go out into the cold and demonstrate in the campus’ main plaza.
Despite not many students being outside due to the weather, as soon as we went out and started chanting, some immigrant workers nearby heard us chant “ICE out of Kentucky now!” They stopped working to chant with us. At first we weren’t sure whether to go over to them or not (they were a distance away and there was lots of ice on the ground between us and them) but suddenly one of the workers came over to us and asked us if we were protesting against ICE. We promptly responded yes to which he became ecstatic and immediately started asking for literature and more information. In rural Kentucky it’s very rare to see anti-racist actions like the one we held, so our presence was a surprise, especially considering the icy conditions keeping most people at home. We exchanged info and told him we’d let him know as soon as possible if we caught wind of any ICE activity.
Afterwards, we moved closer to the dining hall where there was more traffic, and we gave out flyers linking the ICE terror in Minneapolis to rising fascism and capitalism in crisis. Most people took them gladly and were supportive. Eventually we moved to another spot to try and take advantage of even more traffic and less snow on the ground to give out more literature, handing out a combined total of 100 flyers and CHALLENGEs while comrades gave as speeches.
One comrade’s voice became hoarse from leading chants which caused one of the other comrades to go into the Starbucks and grab some tea. After she returned a Starbucks worker came out behind her and gave everyone free hot chocolate in an inspiring act of working-class solidarity!
Energized from the love and support we received from students and workers on campus, comrades began to go up and give impromptu speeches on the bullhorn. One comrade gave a speech calling out the university administration for their fascist behavior, demanding that they make the university a sanctuary for migrants. Another comrade read a poem that showed the similarities between fascism in Nazi Germany and what we are seeing today in the U.S. Another comrade went up and gave a speech about working-class solidarity and how we all have an interest in fighting against fascism because we all share the horror of living under this system. And another comrade spoke about how Minneapolis is just a testing ground, emphasizing how we need to prepare and organize for the bosses’ fascist behavior to be repeated in other cities and states, and explaining that only a communist revolution can stop fascism dead in its tracks.
