NYC: neighbors vs. ICE raids

ICE Activity surged in New York City the week following July 27th. Key targets included Inwood, Washington Heights, and Crotona. In uptown Manhattan, ICE agents targeted neighborhoods with key access to the Major Deegan and West Highway, major  arteries that connect to the George Washington bridge that lead back to New Jersey and Delaney Hall, where immigrant workers are being illegally detained. Workers and other residents of Inwood and the Bronx, including members of Progressive Labor Party, have been extremely impactful in protecting their neighborhood since I.C.E. presence in New York increased three months ago.

ICE agents spotted between Van Cortlandt Park and Washington Heights were monitored and tailed down by Bronx and Upper Manhattan neighbors. On Tuesday, July 28th, several watchful eyes uncovered an ICE hangout spot usually designated as a police hangout in the Van Cortlandt Park Golf Course Parking lots on both the Jerome Avenue and Bailey Avenue sides. Inwood neighbors helped to protect the Bronx, chasing down ICE vehicles in their cars and away from the Bronx. They were soon chased into Queens where ICE continued activity in Crotona. 

A known ICE vehicle was spotted at Inwood Hill Park on Seaman Avenue and Isham Street and continued to remain parked with little activity until the next day, when it had moved from its spot. The following Thursday, the vehicle returned and parked before it was joined by several other vehicles waiting for a police officer to hand a victim over to them. After the officer handed over the detained worker to the agents, Inwood residents confronted them as they documented the scene. One woman was sprayed with bear mace, demonstrating the cowardice of these federal thugs. 

Several more neighbors appeared on the scene after their departure with a few reactionary hecklers hurling vitriol in support of the bosses. A neighborhood-wide demonstration wrapped up the week of activity as protestors demanded an end to ICE presence in Inwood and to abolish ICE. The work of Inwood residents shows the potential of working class power. A handful of concerned neighbors are able to chase away federal agents and stand up for the working class when the going gets tough. They are the tough that gets going that is the spirit necessary for true working class power, not to demand a negative peace, but for taking control of our lives and our affairs. 

The demand of the bosses to be rid of our neighbors to continue to sow fear amongst the working masses, drive up housing and living costs, and bleed every penny of the working class until we wrestle over the remaining scraps will not be won. But their loss must come with the victory of the working masses over their capitalist overlords, and more work must be done to secure that victory. 

ICE activity has surged in recent weeks in the most vulnerable neighborhoods of New York City, namely Crotona, Belmont, Washington Heights, Jackson Heights, and Bed-Stuy among others. The rampant surge in activity is one we cannot ignore, something that requires much greater precision and greater force to deal with than whistles and sighting reports. It’s going to take an effort of millions to end this capitalist aggression. \

It’s going to take a communist revolution.
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Worker-rider unity need to smash transit bosses 

Shortly after the transit workers in Washington DC rallied for safety with the slogan “Don’t Quote the Fare” (CHALLENGE 7/15), a passenger assaulted a bus operator, striking him several times with a heavy object after the driver mentioned the fare and asked the rider to step behind the line. The partial plastic shield was not enough to keep the operator from being punched and doused in some liquid and being punched some more. Another rider stepped up to tell the rider to get off the bus, and he ran away. What did the bosses do about this video they had on tape? They sent the driver for a drug test and hid the video for several days. Management also had a separate event where they talked about how safe the Metro system is, but never mentioned this event or the risk to operators. Ten years ago, the bosses decided to have drivers refrain from asking riders for the fare because of such assaults, but recently, desperate for funding, they changed the policy, making it more dangerous. 

Today, the leadership and staff of the ATU 689 transit union held a press conference to protest this dangerous policy. They did not, however, mobilize workers to join the event that was covered by several news stations. The union also did not call for free fares, which would benefit riders and operators, but called for more transit police on the buses. One rider pointed out that connecting bus lines are free, so some riders get upset when they are suddenly asked to pay. He agreed that this should be a free public service. Some of the workers also mentioned that a complete plastic cage should be on each bus so that such assaults can’t happen – but that project hasn’t moved forward through the Metro system. Safety projects are simply not prioritized. Progressive Labor Party members shared the issue of CHALLENGE that reported on the earlier rally with the riders and drivers listening to the press conference. We explained that more police are not the answer to this safety problem, but spending money to make the buses safer and eliminating the fare are the next steps in the fight to build unity between riders and operators. DC area capitalists make big profits from the transit system that brings customers to their doors and workers to their jobs, and then expect us to pay for their profits in fares and income taxes. PLP members will continue to reach out to workers and riders to demand no layoffs, no fares, and safety first, while explaining about the need for mass working class organizing and militant action. The capitalists are not bothered by press conferences when union leaders are not willing to intensify the struggle with labor action. The bosses’ press, like the bosses’ politicians, are not going to help in the struggle. We need to shed the illusion that the press or supposedly progressive politicians will work for us, and take direct action into our own hands.
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Baltimore Project an opportunity to lead 

I’m writing  about my experience during the Baltimore Summer Project. When I heard from my lead comrade that each area was doing their own summer project, I was curious about what ours would entail. We discussed this in our club and decided that me and a comrade of ours (whom I regularly do mass work with at Baltimore City Community College) would be the main organizers of the event. Personally, I felt nervous about being in a leadership role, since this would be the first time being in one since I joined last year. Our local club would meet with the surrounding clubs in the DMV online to discuss the logistics and agendas for each area’s summer project. Our agenda included meeting up at Mondawmin Mall to sell CHALLENGE, give speeches and chants, and distribute fruits, granola bars, and water at the metro station.

During the first day of the summer project, ten people showed up. We also had 47 CHALLENGE newspapers in our inventory. We set up at the entrance to the metro station to start shouting chants. While we were chanting, a worker interrupted us. He said that our bullhorn was interfering with his radio and told us to move away from the subway entrance. We moved our materials a few feet away from the entrance. In the midst of our comrade’s speech, an officer came up to them and said that we have to move our bullhorn across the street. To keep this brief, every time we started to speak or chant with our bullhorn, the police would interfere with our rally minutes later. Those moments were annoying. At the very least, I read a speech about police terror around the world. And we distributed all 47 copies of CHALLENGE!

Since the police clearly didn’t want us to make some noise there, we marched our way to the local stores at the mall. As we were chanting in front of the Dunkin Donuts, a disruptor with a black fez started to yell at us —even calling one of our comrades a “cracker.” As he tried getting closer to the speaker, me and a few other comrades shielded our speaker. It was our club leader comrade who gave two speeches at that point, leading the disruptor away from the crowd. I happened to overhear the man say that [Zorhan] “Mamdani is a communist.” He sounded a bit confused, if you ask me. Eventually, the director of security at the mall said we couldn’t chant here because it’s “private property.” When asked by my co-organizer for the project who owns the property, the director couldn’t give us a straight answer. As we marched to the far end of the station, the heckler went inside the mall. In the midst of our marching, the director followed us into the parking lot; where we were chanting in front of him.

After our rally at Mondawmin Mall, we took the subway to The Peale Museum. The museum showcased Tyrone West’s artwork alongside other pieces of artwork from victims of police brutality. There were many beautiful and inspiring works on display. The exhibit carried a heavy atmosphere, with one comrade saying that they could cry. After the heaviness from The Peale, we took the subway back to Mondawmin Mall to travel down to Hyattsville for some dinner. 

Overall, I enjoyed the summer project more than I thought. Even though I felt a little nervous about co-leading it, I felt energized and ready, despite the less than stellar conditions from the air quality. Maybe there should be an anti-communist heckler on May Day as well!
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NYC: straight to communism?

One highlight of the New Jersey and New York summer project in July was selling CHALLENGE outside of a group of apartment buildings in New Jersey. What distinguished the sale from other ones I’ve done was the high level of interest from middle and older elementary school students. Lots of students paused while we were selling the paper to read the headline and ask for a copy. One middle schooler stopped for several minutes to listen to our comrade giving a speech on the bullhorn. She said “This is IT!” and “My mom needs to hear this!” One of her friends tried to hurry her away, “Let’s go!” and she replied, “Wait, I want to hear this!” I went over to speak to her and her friends. The student shared that she wanted to speak out about issues she notices. The group of us had a conversation about segregated schools and racism at school. 

When I was closing out my speech on the bullhorn, a high school student came over to me and asked, “socialism or communism?” I said, “communism.” He replied, “straight to communism?” Those of us on the corner had a discussion with him for a while. He told us that he had seen  CHALLENGE newspaper before— eight years prior on his door step! After our discussion, he met some of our comrades that live in the neighborhood and even gave a speech at end-of-day closing share-out. It was a reminder that everything we do counts, and that even a small impression at a young age can stick in someone’s mind. Workers and students alike are looking for a solution to the bleak future capitalism has to offer. We must be there to raise communist ideas wherever we go. 
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