CHICAGO, August 6-9 – The spirit of communism shone brightly this weekend in the city of Chicago, as Progressive Labor Party (PLP) continued our “Red Hot Summer” with a Midwest Summer Project.

A multiracial, multigenerational group of over 50 comrades and friends – both local and from different parts of the country – engaged in over three full days of class struggle, study, and socializing. PLP summer projects have always been opportunities for new as well as veteran fighters to advance our political commitments and understanding to fight racist and sexist capitalism, and to put our communist politics directly into action. 

This Midwest project maintained that powerful tradition. As we return to our different areas, workplaces, and campuses, it’s with renewed optimism and passion to keep building the Party and fighting for a revolutionary communist future!

Unite theory with practice

The project officially began on Thursday evening, as we warmly welcomed our out-of-town comrades with a backyard potluck. With a backdrop of delicious food and relaxing music, we shared a rundown of the weekend schedule. We also took the opportunity to outline political goals as we encouraged our younger comrades to share what they hoped to take away from participating in the project.

It was inspiring to see how readily PLP members and friends from the different areas connected and started to form social bonds. The philosophy of dialectical materialism teaches us that the internal is primary. Thus although our summer projects are organized to spread the Party’s politics far and wide in an area, they are also fundamental to cement the solidarity we must have to thrive as an organization. 

The following morning at a local library we aimed to give practical guidance on raising class struggle PLP-style with two workshops: how to sell CHALLENGE newspapers, and how to give a Party speech. In conceiving these workshops, we took into consideration that these skills don’t arise magically for any of us, but are instead the result of constant practice, evaluation, and comradely criticism. To this end, veteran comrades led both workshops to share wisdom from decades of experience, pooling collective understanding and practicing different scenarios.

The content of the workshops was then put into immediate practice as we hit up a busy intersection in the Illinois Medical District for a rally and CHALLENGE sale. Our comrades covered various corners around the local hospitals, getting out hundreds of CHALLENGEs and a flyer blasting racist health care under capitalism to workers and students on their lunch break. Our presence and literature were received well, as were the speeches given by younger comrades who were inspired to speak on the bullhorn! We hope to follow up with contacts made and become a more regular presence in this area.

We concluded this first day in the evening with a mass forum on artificial intelligence (AI). The discussion was kicked off with a skit in which two characters debated the potentials and pitfalls of AI, highlighting that any technology is used to support the class in power— in this instance, the capitalist bosses. This was followed by lively smaller group conversations where we advanced our understanding of how AI is being used to increase racist and sexist attacks, particularly against Black workers, and how it is accelerating the inter-imperialist rivalry between the U.S. and China.  These imperialist powers are locked in battle worldwide to exploit natural resources and labor to secure a competitive edge.

Spread communist ideas

Saturday morning started strong, as we organized a large contingent to attend the annual Bud Billiken Parade on the city’s South Side. This parade, which takes place in the historic Bronzeville neighborhood, is a back-to-school celebration that draws hundreds of thousands of Black workers and youth. After discussing some of the radical history of communist organizing in Bronzeville, we split up into groups to cover the march route, getting out hundreds of flyers and CHALLENGEs to workers excited to meet our antiracist collective.

We followed this up by participating in a community wellness fair organized by a mass public health group where Party members have been active for over a decade. Our out-of-town comrades were able to meet and connect with the Party’s local friends in a relaxing atmosphere of art, yoga, and delicious Middle Eastern and Latin cuisine.

We gathered for a movie night to wrap up the day, watching leftist director Boots Riley’s newest film, I Love Boosters. We laughed our heads off as we debated the strengths and weaknesses of the film’s political messages of exploitation and international fightback (see review in CHALLENGE, 7/29). 

Fight racism by fighting capitalism

We kicked off our final day with an antiracist historical bus tour on the southwest side of the city. We chose three main sites that highlighted PLP’s past battles against local racists: Gage Park, the site of the former nazi headquarters on 71st  and Maplewood, and Marquette Park. At each location, we got off the bus to hear stories from veteran comrades who had physically fought in the battles about how through disciplined organizing and building a base with workers in the area, they were able to shatter these strongholds of racist terror.

It was inspiring to reflect at Marquette Park, as we watched multiracial youth play soccer, how our Party led the fight to integrate what up till the late 1970s was a “whites only” space. A more recent battle shared by our comrades living in Kentucky against the Proud Boys reaffirmed the Party’s leadership in the fight against racism as an ongoing pillar of our struggle for a  communist world that smashes this anti-worker violence once and for all. As the tour ended and we called on a new generation of revolutionaries to carry on the fight, two friends joined the Party on the spot!

Forging communist bonds

Unfortunately, a thunderstorm caused us to cancel our final planned rally against ICE terror, but we were still able to follow through with a cumbia class instructed by a local comrade through her mass immigrant rights organization. From marching to studying history to dancing and everything in between, our Party is growing to forge the bonds of revolutionary culture and struggle to build a communist world!