Kentucky, October 18—Kentucky members of the Progressive Labor Party (PLers) in Richmond and Owensboro attended the national “No Kings” protests going on across the country. Recognizing it as a liberal-led event that only seeks to redirect workers’ energy into supporting the Big Fascists’ faction of capital, we understood that it would be an opportunity to introduce more radical ideas and show that it’s not just President Donald Trump, but the entire capitalist system that is to blame. Workers were receptive to our ideas, and although the march maintained a liberal character, we had an impact and made contacts who we hope will become more interested in the PLP.
Why we need communism
The protest in Richmond was held at the Madison County courthouse. We were the first ones to show up. Before long the crowd grew to cover the entire front of the courthouse. As people showed up, we handed them CHALLENGE and had conversations about our communist politics. Many of the younger folks that showed up were students who already knew us from our organizing activity at the local university. There were also others who were unaware of our presence and expressed interest in coming to our study group. One person came up and asked us “Why communism and not Democratic Socialism?” We explained that the state is built around the interests of the capitalist class, and that we can’t abolish capitalism without also getting rid of their state apparatus which is designed to protect private property and maintain capitalism through both force and reform. Acknowledging this, the question became more about how we can make sure that after a revolution we don’t go back to the same capitalist system, to which we explained the importance of internationalism and spreading the revolution rather than relying on nationalism and only focusing on trying to build a new society within borders imposed by capitalism. They thanked us for our patience in explaining our view points and took a copy of CHALLENGE!
Ramping up our chants!
In order to combat the piss-poor politics of the liberal misleaders, we also started introducing more radical chants that attacked capitalism and racism rather than focusing solely on the current administration. We chanted “ICE out of Kentucky now!” and “Genocide means – We got to fight back!” One comrade also started a chant “Asian, Latin, Black and white–Workers of the world unite!” but was too nervous to continue in a sea of pro-capitalist U.S. flags until suddenly a multi-racial group of younger workers next to us shouted “Keep going! That one was good!” which showed that we shouldn’t immediately expect our message to be rejected. When workers hear our line, they know whose side we’re on.
Liberals expose themselves as class misleaders
In Owensboro, PLers came out to engage with the masses and spread word of our upcoming lunch and learn, as well as hand out issues of CHALLENGE. What we came upon was what hardly anyone would consider a protest. Live music, people dressed up in costumes, and signs saying “Marry me” with a photo of Andy Beshear or Gavin Newsom. The liberal misleaders of Owensboro have for very long exercised a strangle hold on the local working class and their energy. However, through our engagement with the masses, we found many of them, specifically the younger workers, had grown quite disillusioned with the liberal leadership in town, expressing frustration at how the liberals had lost the local fight to keep the library inclusive, as well as their rolling over to the local fascist organizations who pushed this agenda.
What we learned is that the masses here are receptive to our message when given the opportunity to speak with us. They have been held back by the liberal old guard in town, and by the revisionist socialist organizations that have cropped up recently. We learned that we must continue to struggle against revisionism and neo-liberalism in our movement, and only then will we be able to properly exert our power as a class. No Kings in Owensboro taught us that there are hundreds of younger workers ready to take the fight to the bosses. We just have to take the time to meet them where they are and bring them into the fight through proper education, agitation, and mobilization!
Bogata, October 7—Nearly 3,000 protestors marked the second anniversary of the Hamas attacks on Israel, which served as an excuse for the deadly Zionist offensive that has left nearly 68,000 dead and hundreds of thousands wounded and displaced in Palestine. Gathering in Bogotá at various points in the capital, including the U.S. Embassy, we protested the U.S. government’s ties to the genocidal Israeli state students from public universities, trade unionists, and workers marched late into the night toward the emblematic Plaza de Bolívar in downtown Bogotá, chanting slogans in protest against the occupation and systematic violence.
Members of PLP were there each step of the way, sharing our party’s line and raising awareness of CHALLENGE newspaper, exalting the need for international solidarity, overcoming nationalist ideas, and betting on the unity of the working class, because the oppression of the world’s workers will not be resolved by building new bourgeois states, since only communism and its red flag will destroy our chains and the engine of war.
Workers reject genocide and exploitation by bosses
Workers also gathered at institutions such as the National Association of Industrialists (ANDI), criticizing for its active communication with the Benjamin Netanyahu government, defending the deplorable need to increase coal exports to Israel. The so-called Committee of Solidarity with the Palestinian Cause, composed of Arab activists, independent political organizations and human rights defenders, student and union groups such as La Federación Colombiana de Trabajadores de la Educación (FECODE) among others, called for massive mobilization in the streets, supporting the resistance of the Palestinian people and demanding an end to the genocide
Although protests against Zionism in Colombia had not reached the scale of other countries, the October 7 demonstration made it clear that Colombian workers are also fed up with the exploitation, abuse, and bosses’ war that plagues the global proletariat. The march was largely peaceful, with some clashes with the police, who violently attacked some students. Fascist representatives of the far right took advantage of the opportunity to brand the thousands of protesters as “terrorists.”
For his part, President Gustavo Pedro hypocritically expressed his support for the pro-Palestine marches, criticizing “the working classes” for not joining these protests en masse. Once again, Petro, with his messianic complex, seeks to harness the discontent of the working class, using the so-called “popular causes” as a political and electoral platform
Communism can end the carnage of capitalism
While these types of mobilizations can fall into revisionism when championed by unions, reformist collectives, and even the national government, and be limited to defending the Palestinian state constitution and calling for an end to the genocide, working-class discontent over Netanyahu’s fascist onslaught and his relations with U.S. imperialism can be an initial step toward an international mobilization of workers in solidarity against the bosses’ wars.
Only communism will eradicate state violence against the working class, and it is necessary to promote communist education to channel the potential of the mobilizing masses. While politicians like Petro and Trump, who claim to have achieved the ceasefire in Gaza, seek prominence over the suffering of the proletarians, the war expands, and the forms of exploitation diversify and intensify.
In a vibrant, collective celebration of revolutionary history, young comrades of the Progressive Labor Party (PLP) led an inspiring event commemorating the October 1917 Revolution - the historic moment when the working class, led by the Bolsheviks, seized power and began to build the first workers’ state in the world.
A multiracial group of about 25 participants - high school students, college students, and workers - gathered to honor the revolution that proved workers can run society without bosses. What made this event truly special was that it was designed and led entirely by new and young comrades. Their leadership, creativity, and commitment to building a communist future shined throughout the day.
The program was organized into four dynamic sections, each sparking thoughtful discussion and collective learning.
Understanding systems: capitalism, socialism and communism
A high school student kicked off the event with an interactive discussion about capitalism, socialism, and communism. Using vivid images to represent each system, she encouraged everyone to share what they noticed. Together, participants developed shared definitions - recognizing capitalism as a system built on exploitation and profit, socialism as a transitional period still burdened by inequity and remnants of class rule, and communism as the true goal: a classless, moneyless society based on collectivity and fulfilling human need.
This section set the tone for the event. It grounded everyone in the understanding that ideas and political clarity are weapons in the fight for liberation.
Politics are primary: Lessons from the pre-revolutionary struggle
Next, two college students presented on the political landscape before the 1917 Revolution. They explained how various parties and movements shaped the direction of Russia’s working-class struggle, and how only the Bolsheviks’ commitment to revolutionary politics and working-class leadership made victory possible. This section highlighted a key truth for today: without revolutionary politics, even the most courageous struggles can be co-opted or crushed.
Building a new society: The achievements of socialist USSR
In the third section, two more college students presented the tremendous accomplishments of the early socialist Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). The audience learned how the working class, through collective planning and mass participation, eradicated unemployment, dramatically improved literacy and education, and made major strides toward ending racism and sexism. Women entered the workforce and political life on a massive scale. The discussion reminded us that when the working class holds power, real progress is possible.
Learning from setbacks: Why socialism reverted back to capitalism
Finally, a college student and a high school teacher led a gallery walk exploring how and why socialism in the USSR eventually gave way to capitalism once again. Participants analyzed how lingering inequalities, the persistence of wages and money, and the rise of new bureaucratic elites undermined the revolution. This critical reflection opened the door to understanding PLP’s guiding lesson: we can’t fight for socialism - we must fight directly for communism.
A movement for the future
After each section, lively discussions filled the room. Participants drew connections between the struggles of the past and the battles we face today. In the closing discussion, comrades reaffirmed PLP’s commitment to building a mass international party of workers, students and soldiers - united to smash capitalism and abolish the wage system entirely. Additionally, we rejected nationalism, which divides workers by borders and binds us to the ruling classes of our nations. Our fight is global, our class is one, and our vision is clear: a communist world without exploitation.
The day’s energy and unity inspired everyone. In fact, a young Black woman worker, moved by the collective spirit and the clarity of communist politics, made the powerful decision to join PLP and dedicate herself to fight for a world run for and by the workers.
This event proved that the revolutionary spirit of 1917 lives on in today’s youth. With leadership like this, the future belongs to the working class!
East Boston, October 17–A group of PLers and our base held a bull-horn rally in East Boston, a mostly Central American Latin community that’s being targeted by ICE’s terror campaign. A popular Colombian restaurant in the community has been raided by ICE multiple times detaining restaurant goers, including a friend of someone in our base. We held a banner that said, “Stop Racist Deportations” and distributed hundreds of leaflets and CHALLENGE and were well received by the community. New members and friends played a leading role in organizing the rally and spoke on the bullhorn in English and Spanish, overcoming their fears in order to meet this new fascist challenge facing the working class. We attacked both the outright racist terror of the Trump administration and explained how during the Obama/Biden administration even more deportations occurred setting the stage for attacks on immigrant workers now.
Why workers must fight ICE
ICE terror is being experienced all over the Boston area. When a bread winner gets detained, it leaves their family in crisis forcing others, often children and young adults, to fill their shoes. Undocumented immigrants are afraid to leave their homes. Hispanic history month at nearby Bunker Hill Community College fizzled as Latin students were afraid to be in the limelight.
As the Donald Trump administration fulfills its cruel and racist promise to deport 3,000 immigrants a day, the working class is rising up to oppose it. Other militant Anti-ICE protests were held in Somerville and Everett, both heavily immigrant communities. The Everett protest followed the arrest and detention of a 13 year-old Brazilian boy, accused of ties to a criminal gang. PLP members need to take the lead on our jobs and communities to defend immigrants against these fascist attacks as well as widen our base for communism.
Last week on Canal Street in Chinatown NYC the ICE gestapo of the fascist dictator in power carried out a raid which resulted in the arrest of several people, including five migrants from the African continent. The next day thousands of protesters took to the streets beginning on Foley Square where there was a rally with the presence of several speakers, who spoke about what happened. After the rally, we walked several blocks and stopped in front of the Federal Plaza to protest. We were not only denouncing what happened the day before, we also denounced the daily arrests they make inside those department offices when migrants go to their appointments. In addition to the repression and abuse in many cities across the country, the fascist and terrorist president has sent the National Guard and his masked agents to arrest our migrant brothers and sisters. Just like Canal Street arrests were made simply because of the color of their skin and to terrorize our communities and the working class who support and defend them.
The protest was very militant, with slogans of hate against the capitalist system and everything that is happening to our migrant brothers and sisters.
A friend told me about this protest, and I went with fifty CHALLENGEs, which I quickly passed around. If I had moreI would have distributed them as well. I hope that in the upcoming actions, we can have more comrades from our party and friends present to carry our slogans, our line, and more CHALLENGEs.
