CHICAGO, October 17 -- In 1917, Russian workers under communist leadership seized state power and created the first worker-run, socialist society. On a sunny day in October here in Chicago, comrades from the Progressive Labor Party (PLP) and our friends celebrated this revolution, which is sometimes called the Bolshevik Revolution, the October Revolution, or the Russian Revolution. We have been celebrating this milestone in communist history annually for the past nine years.
About 45 workers and comrades attended our celebration, including a young worker who was in the building for piano lessons with her brother and then found the topic so interesting, she joined our lunch to learn more! We had interactive presentations on how the Soviets ended World War I and how the Bolsheviks organized the working class to lead society after the revolution. Comrades spoke about the social democrats and Democrats being misleaders who only try to move workers away from revolution. The social democrats speak a better language than the Democrats, but their goal is very different from ours -- they want to preserve capitalism and exploitation, whereas we want to end it! We also know there is no real difference between the Democrats and the Republicans. When quotes of politicians were shown on the screen without their names during one of the presentations, it was clear that they all spout the same racist, anti-immigrant garbage.
Since it was election season, we wanted folks to think about how decisions can be made and society can be run other than by electoral politics. PLP presenters talked about how workplaces were organized after the revolution, including how decisions were made through collective discussion. One of the most inspiring stories was about the Bolsheviks outlawing racism and actually enforcing that law. Harry Haywood was a Black communist from the U.S. who traveled to the Soviet Union. He wrote about being on the receiving end of a racist comment from a Russian worker while on a streetcar. The other workers in the streetcar immediately stopped the driver and grabbed hold of the man to throw him off.
No program is complete without communist art and culture. The planning committee made zines from last year’s presentations, and these were on the tables for every attendee, along with markers to color on the front page. The zine topics were the improvements made in women’s healthcare, Soviet education, and how they ended World War II. One newer comrade wrote a poem for the event that spoke to our current moment and took inspiration from the Bolsheviks (see below). The international working class is still inspired by the Bolshevik Revolution today. Workers are ready to join a movement that will fight for a better world without racism and sexism. Join us!
