Thousands of antiracist students at Columbia University (CU) have taken a bold stance against the genocide in Gaza, staging an ongoing, five-day-plus protest on the campus’s lawn 24 hours a day.The killer KKKops have repeatedly attacked an encampment the students set up and arrested over 100 students. The NYPD is acting at the command of the racist, Zionist-loving bosses, led by CU President Nemat Shafik and the U.S. Congress. 

Workers and students from around New York City have rallied outside the campus in support of the protest. Despite the arrests and other attacks, these bold students are staying the course and providing a powerful example to the working class worldwide of how to fight back and what winning looks like. When we resolve to not stop fighting the bosses, we are on the path to a communist world free from Zionism, other forms of racism/nationalism, imperialism, and capitalism. 

Progressive Labor Party (PLP) members and friends moved quickly to support the students and join the protests around CU. We brought supplies like blankets and towels for students sleeping on the lawn in the cold. We distributed countless newspapers, fliers, and chant sheets. We infused the students’ strong, but nationalist calls for a “Free Palestine” with chants of, “To free Palestine, fight for communism, now’s the time” and “Asian, Latin, Black, and white, workers of the world unite!” We commend the leadership of students fighting back while also calling for a plan to destroy capitalism (beyond divesting in only the most despicable racist capitalists). 

The student-led fight back is inspiring students and workers at other colleges  – even as many such institutions are breeding grounds for the bosses’ racist ideas and members. Solidarity encampments sprung up at Yale and Harvard. Students at the New School launched a solidarity strike after the CU protest began. Students from the City University of New York (CUNY) led a march from nearby campuses to CU.

History of Fightback at Columbia

Columbia University’s history is steeped in gutter racism and service to U.S. imperialism. “Of the ten men who served as presidents of King’s and Columbia between 1754 and the end of the Civil War, at least half owned slaves at one point in their lives” (Washington Post, 1/24/17). Scientists at Columbia also assisted with the Manhattan Project, where U.S. bosses rushed to create atomic weapons used to massacre workers in Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II, an effort to intimidate the Soviet Union (New York Times, 10/30/07).
But along with that history, comes a tradition of fightback against it. After a Students for a Democratic Society (which PLP was once very active in) member exposed the university’s ties to the Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA), a fascist weapons think tank affiliated with the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), during the 1960s, students in SDS began an anti-war campaign on campus (Columbia University Libraries).

In 1968, Black students occupied Columbia’s Hamilton Hall, in response to the college’s IDA ties and a racist plan to create a gymnasium in Morningside Park that would restrict use for Black workers in Harlem. Only 12 percent of the gym would be open to the public (History.com, 7/7/20). Despite the college’s multiple efforts to quash the struggle, the students were ultimately successful in getting the campus bosses to drop their affiliation with the DOD and the gym proposal altogether. 

In more recent years, Columbia’s grossly underpaid graduate student workers have held strikes against the college for better wages (New York Times, 11/24/21).  Students have also been active against Columbia’s racist real estate expansion and privatization of public land in Harlem, which has caused mass displacement of Black and Latin workers since the 1940s. (planners network.org, 10/14/09).

No free speech against genocide

As U.S. imperialism backs the mass slaughter of our Palestinian brothers and sisters overseas and tells workers any anti-Israel sentiment is “anti-Semitic,” we see clearly that “free speech” on campus is tuned to which ideas favor the bosses. In the days since the encampment began, capitalist media and stooge politicians have united in denouncing the students as hostile to Jewish workers, pushing the lie that Zionism and Judaism are inherently linked (USA Today, 4/22). Yet of course, none of these clowns have had anything as forceful to say about the scores of workers and children in Palestine being killed daily by Israel. Or the Zionist trolls who have been walking through CU taunting the students by wearing the Israeli flag as a cape. 

Liberal “nonviolence” is a farce

As of this writing, CU has switched its classes to online only in response to the encampment, restricting who can access the campus and adding more security guards (NBCNews, 4/22). Fascism is palpable in the air, and even though the encampment has been non-violent, the bosses’ violent response proves the pacifism they preach to workers does nothing.

Multiracial students leading the way

PLP will continue to be active in CU’s demonstrations. We are holding discussions with the student organizers and hope to invite some to May Day on May 4th. Their rage at this system, when united with communist ideas and leadership, will guarantee the bosses’ days are numbered, and we will all run society for the better without them. Dare to struggle, dare to win!

CHICAGO (ROSEMONT), IL, April 19 —“Arab, Jewish, Black and White, Workers of the World, Unite!” rang out as over 200 militant workers at the Labor Notes Conference rallied in support of the workers of Gaza. These workers are facing famine, illness, death, and destruction at the hands of the terrorist Israeli State with the full backing of the U.S. ruling class. Led by members of the Progressive Labor Party (PLP) and other labor organizers, the anti-fascist rally in front of the Hyatt Regency showed that workers from all over the U.S. are standing up to Israeli rulers’ fascism. It will take a global communist revolution to smash capitalist Zionism, and the PLP is building our Party to do just that.

Labor Notes

Labor Notes is a media and organizing project started in 1979 to “put the movement back in the labor movement” per their website. This year was their largest conference to date, with about 5,000 attendees including rank-and-file union members, local union leaders, and labor organizers. The revisionist (fake leftist) leaders of Labor Notes showed their lack of revolutionary spirit by inviting Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson (and former Chicago Teachers’ Union misleader) to speak on the first night of the conference. While Johnson is credited with helping get a symbolic ceasefire resolution through the Chicago City Council, meanwhile his administration attacks the working class in Chicago. He has increased the budget for the Chicago kkkops and supported them when they murdered Dexter Reed with 96 shots fired. He refused to allow permits to protest the Democratic National Convention and set an impossibly short 60-day stay limit for newly arrived migrants in the city shelters. With that record, he should never have been invited to speak at a conference for labor organizers who want to build a militant labor movement. Fake left politicians like Johnson serve the capitalist class, as do all politicians. The liberals just use more honeyed words to cover their poisonous attacks against our class.

Communists called for militancy

A comrade raised the idea of a rally at an earlier meeting of Labor for Palestine and continued to work with another organizer to have a rally outside the hotel. PLP members in Chicago brought a sound system and militant signs and other protesters brought banners from their areas. The rally started just before the planned speech by lying Mayor Johnson. The rally was spirited with energetic chants–“U.S. Imperialism Means, We Got to FIGHT BACK!”—and had enough angry people mobilized to take the street. The young people outside the hotel contrasted with the entrenched union hacks listening to his speech. Outside, speakers called for an end to arms to Israel and a permanent ceasefire in Gaza. A graduate student from Columbia University spoke eloquently about the bold fightback in support of workers in Gaza and against repression on that campus. A PLP comrade gave a speech calling out the inter-imperialist rivalries (mainly between the U.S., China, and Russia) that are making the world situation increasingly chaotic, dangerous, and headed for wider wars. The PLP member also pointed out the hypocrisy of Labor Notes having the Mayor as the keynote speaker when Black workers and newly arrived migrant workers in the city are being attacked by his administration.

Cops Attack

The cops tried to move the rally away from the hotel, but the protesters stood their ground and refused to move. The cops then tried to arrest two of the protestors. Workers shouted “Let Them Go!” and grappled with the cops to free them. The attack by the police changed the focus of the rally to getting our comrades back, though there were still many chants in support of Gazan workers. 

With the leadership of PLP members and some of the Labor for Palestine organizers, it was decided to send forces from the rally into the convention with a bullhorn. The breakaway group of more than 15 militant workers charged into the conference to disrupt the Mayor’s speech and demand that he get our comrades out of police custody. The group scuffled with hotel security while fighting to get into the hall. A union hack inside threw a punch at one of the protestors to try to stop us. The mayor’s speech quickly ended and he left. Some workers in the hall were inspired by the disruption and stood up and yelled support in solidarity, while others were upset and one even cried about the disruption on stage. There is serious work to do in raising class consciousness and building a fighting movement.

Our modest action was a step in that direction! Outside at the ongoing rally, the suburban Rosemont police were outmatched in both numbers and commitment. We held the street and surrounded the police car that held our comrade for almost an hour. The cops finally let the protestor out to cheers. The other protestor who had been taken away from the rally, was brought back and released without charges. We were shocked but excited to see the cops capitulate! Once both protestors were recovered, we ended the rally, victorious for the moment. For some reason, about an hour later, about 25 cops, some on bikes and some in riot gear eventually showed up at the hotel. Too little too late to stop the working class!

Leadership from PLP was essential in this event and gave new members some experience in putting forward the Party and sharpening the struggle. We debriefed about ways we could have done even more and were energized to keep going. After all, if the labor movement called a general strike to stop the flow of weapons to Israel, the U.S. imperialists would have to reconsider their genocidal actions. As the U.S. imperialists get involved in more and bigger wars, organizing more such actions will be needed. And that will include building our revolutionary communist Party. To that end, over 300 CHALLENGE newspapers were distributed at the rally, which will lead to more discussion with other attendees at Labor Notes about the need to make a revolution against capitalism.

Colombia

To celebrate the occasion of May 1, International Workers Day,Progressive Labor Party members in Colombia extend a warm and solidarity-filled greeting to our brothers and sisters of the international working class and in Colombia. This May Day we reaffirm our commitment to distributing CHALLENGE and  that our newspaper will always be the workers’ platform to spread our struggles, unmask our capitalist and imperialist oppressors and their political spokespeople, and be the first line of defense of our class. 
In the heart of the neighborhood, student, peasant, anti-imperialist, and anti-fascist struggle in Colombia, we send a revolutionary greeting to the workers of the world on their day of struggle, organization, and honor, continuing the fight for a better world. We recommit to the fight to steer our class towards a revolutionary communist horizon led by the Progressive Labor Party (PLP). 

We see that not a day goes by without the news reporting on the turbulent times we live in: bloody battles in the war in Ukraine, the collapse of mega banks like Credit Suisse and Silicon Valley, threats of nuclear war, saber-rattling between the U.S., Russian and Chinese imperialists who want to carve up the world, the volatility in the Middle East, World War III, the constant increase in inflation, a worsening of unemployment, racism, and poverty, thousands of migrants dead at the entrances to Europe and the United States in their desperate search for a better life and the dizzying growth of budgets and militaries of all world powers. All these problems are illustrative of the perpetual crisis of this capitalist system.

Faced with this bosses' onslaught, the workers of the world are organizing to respond to oppression by strengthening the struggles of farm workers in Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico, by gigantic demonstrations in France, Germany, and Belgium, and by the fierce struggle of the workers in Palestine, among many other forms of militant fightback in the countryside and the city.
In a forum of the National Coordinator for Change, 23 associations, mostly fake left Social Democrats, raised the question: What to do in the face of the current crisis? To which the audience was unable to make proposals, demonstrating the urgency of political work to raise awareness among the working class. We distributed CHALLENGE and had several conversations, putting forth our revolutionary communist politics.

In a popular assembly in Soacha, a municipality near Bogotá, workers raised the need to achieve improvements in public services due to the high cost and hope for “solutions” with the new mayor recently elected. Our comrade presented a communist political analysis, raising awareness among workers about the importance of overcoming reformism and building international class unity.
Militant workers, PL’ers, and friends of the Party participate in the demonstrations and rallies against the imperialist wars in Ukraine and Palestine and in the fights against the sexist attacks against the working class, and the worsening of the crisis of capitalism at the national level. As the only alternative to achieve these changes, we always put forth a communist solution. To that end, we’ve been distributing CHALLENGE flyers supporting these struggles while agitating that we must fight for real change, for international communist revolution.
One of the goals of the PLP is the growth of the Party, qualitatively and quantitatively, to be able to lead our class and put an end to capitalist oppression. Why do we fight for communism? It is not just a question, but rather the only solution that we must tirelessly strive towards as we fight to win future comrades among our class brothers and sisters.

Mexico

The Progressive Labor Party (PLP) in Mexico sends a solidarity-filled and militant international greeting!
As fascism advances and the threat of imperialist war increases, our class resists, fights, and organizes itself to face racist and nationalist attacks. The working class will always respond to the call to fight. That's why our role as communist organizers is vital in maintaining the flame of the communist revolution amid the class struggle.

The PLP collective in Mexico is organized to participate in the commemoration of May Day, to turn it into a revolutionary, international, and communist celebration. We will bring our slogans, banners, and literature to the thousands of workers who will demonstrate in two cities of the country. We will march hand in hand with them and with all the workers of the world as one class. We wish you a communist and revolutionary May Day. Long live, long live, long live communism! Let it die, let it die, let capitalism die! The working class has no borders!

Pakistan

As we stand on the eve of May Day 2024, we honor the struggles and triumphs of the working class. We recognize the sacrifices made and the battles won in the fight for fair wages, safe conditions, and dignity. We stand in solidarity with the workers who built our communities, served our families, and kept the world afloat. We acknowledge the injustices still faced and the struggles still waged. And we recommit to standing together, united in the pursuit of a world where labor is valued, respected, and empowered. Solidarity forever! Workers of Pakistan, united and resolute, extend our solidarity to the international working class in the unwavering struggle for communism. We stand shoulder to shoulder with our brothers and sisters across the globe, sharing a common dream of a communist world where exploitation and oppression cease to exist. From the factories of Karachi to the fields of Punjab to the coal mines in Pukhtoonkhawa & Balouchistan, we appreciate the universal struggle against capitalist tyranny and imperialist dominance. Our collective voice echoes the rallying cry: 'Workers of the world unite!' We will continue to organize, resist, and fight for a world where the means of production are owned by the people, not the profiteers. Long live international solidarity! Long live the communist revolution! Long live the International Revolutionary Communist Party...Progressive Labor Party.

BROOKLYN, April 14 - An intergenerational, multiracial crowd of nearly 120 workers and students gathered for Sunday brunch in preparation for May Day or International Workers Day. Each year, Progressive Labor Party (PLP) invites the working class to marshall under one flag, the red flag for the communist revolution. 

The international working class, particularly students, is publicly exposing the duplicitous nature of the liberal ruling class. Since the 2020 elections, U.S. President Biden has folded on his promises to support reparations for slavery, address rampant police murders, create pathways for citizenship for migrant workers, and erase student loans. Instead of serving the needs of the working class, the ruling class is sending $95 billion toward Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan’s militaries. Bosses also stamped sanctions against China, Russia, and Iran. This package demands that TikTok creators sell their stake in the company or face a ban in the U.S. (Reuters, 4/20). As one of the event's first speakers, a Black woman comrade, said, “The U.S. ruling class is continuing to leave millions dead, homeless and starving…our supposed leaders are more concerned with protecting profits and winning the public to blame rivals like China or Russia for the crises under capitalism.” 

PL’ers continue the momentum and victories of the past year

In reforms, misleaders often push us to put communist ideas and building the Party for revolution, on the back burner. The international fight against genocide in Gaza is no different. Some workers believe that fighting for a Palestinian state and exchanging the war budget for money for health and jobs is the solution. We challenge that even if workers from Iran to Palestine-Israel were to be freed from Israel and the U.S.’ grip, the horror of capitalism and racist divisions that affect us all would still exist. No matter what immediate gain we seize from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or U.S. President Joe Biden, they have the state power to turn around the victory, and bosses like them always do it.

PLP is involved in active militant fightback to affirm that eliminating the profit-driven system is the only way to break out of this prison. We need a mass multiracial, antiracist, antisexist communist party with deep roots in the working class to break free. Unlike individual reforms and pushes for nationalist sovereignty, developing and sustaining an internationalist party that makes class politics primary is the hardest victory for the ruling class to overthrow. Hosting social events like the recent Sunday brunch, paired with militant, collective actions like our May Day march, is a tactic we use to deepen our roots and our understanding of communist ideology. 

Turn reformist fightback into revolutionary wins

Each table contained a bowl with printed guided questions. One question read, “What is the difference between communism and socialism?” Another Black woman comrade explained that communism at its core is equality and community. Following this discussion, one veteran comrade took the stage and reminded us that what we do counts. “People remember what you do; you might not always agree with friends politically, but what you do in the face of struggle counts.” Workers and students also shared the history of May Day, ranging from comrades in Chicago being murdered for organizing workers in Chicago to fight for the 8-hour work day in 1887 to the Soviet Union, where workers turned the imperialist World War II into a class war for workers to run one-sixth of the earth’s surface. We solidified that we stand on the shoulders of great movements and have the opportunity that they didn’t to learn from the past.

During the brunch, we lovingly remembered our comrades who passed and reflected on their commitment to dedicate their lives to building the party. We sang Bella Ciao with these comrades in mind and lifted comrades who recently battled attacks. One teacher spoke about openly supporting students who wrote a letter to demand the school administration take a stance against anti-Jewish racism AND anti-Muslim racism. In retaliation, this anti-racist worker was held for 100 days in a room akin to solitary confinement. Days after this comrade was removed from his school, over 100 students, with their parents' support, immediately sent letters of protest to the school administration, superintendent, and school chancellors. This fight, amongst others, proves that we, as workers, have the stamina to forge a communist world when we have confidence in the working class and commit to building a fighting party. What we do does count.

We have nothing to lose but our chains

As members of the Progressive Labor Party, we carry with us a rich legacy of 59 years of struggle. Throughout the decades, our unwavering dedication to empowering the working class in the fight for communism has defined us. Our ongoing mission is to mobilize the working class, challenging capitalist elites' dominance and resisting oppression across every facet of our existence. Our journey is etched with tales of resilience in the face of adversity, victories hard-won, and the somber acknowledgment of setbacks endured. 

As workers and students, May Day is our day to raise our red flags unabashedly and unafraid. May Day is our day to declare the need for an internationalist communist party in the face of Israel-U.S. sanctioned ethno-nationalist genocide, sexist terror, and racist murder from NYC to Haiti. May Day is our day to stress and cement the wins of our struggles. We must build the foundation and a long-range outlook toward communist revolution and egalitarian world-building to win the world we deserve. Progressive Labor Party is organizing May Day marches in Brooklyn, D.C., L.A., and Chicago this year. We are marching with our friends, united with us in smashing racism, smashing borders, and building an internationalist communist Party under the banner of PLP. From all the rivers to all the seas, communism will set us free.