Paul Robeson, world-famous actor, singer, and fighter against racism and for communism, was born 125 years ago today, in Princeton, New Jersey.
Many are celebrating Robeson's birthday. But very few of them mention that Roberson was a communist. Only the anticommunists say it (e.g. the Washington Post, February 19, 2019).
In fact, Robeson was a "Stalinist" -- an admirer of Joseph Stalin as the leader of the worldwide communist movement and of the Soviet Union, where racism was outlawed.
Stalin was the last Soviet leader who insisted that socialism (as it was then understood) must steadily advance towards communism. He was working towards that goal after World War II. The Soviet advance towards communism was ended under Stalin's dishonest successor, Nikita Khrushchev, and Khrushchev's successors. The last of these successors, Mikhail Gorbachev, paved the war for the restoration of full-blown capitalism in 1991.
Immediately after Stalin died, on March 5, 1953, Robeson wrote this tribute to him. These last lines, quoted from another author, make it clear that Robeson looked forward to communism:
To you Beloved Comrade, we make this solemn vow
The fight will go on - the fight will still go on.
Sleep well, Beloved Comrade, our work will just begin.
The fight will go on - till we win - until we win.
* * * * *
To You Beloved Comrade
by Paul Robeson
There is no richer store of human experience than the folk tales, folk poems and songs of a people. In many, the heroes are always fully recognizable humans - only larger and more embracing in dimension. So it is with Russian, Chinese, and African folk-lore.
In 1937, a highly expectant audience of Moscow citizens - workers, artists, youth, farmers from surrounding towns - crowded the Bolshoi Theater. They awaited a performance by the Uzbek National Theater, headed by the highly gifted Tamara Khanum. The orchestra was a large one with instruments, ancient and modern. How exciting would be the blending of the music of the rich culture of Moussorgsky, Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Khrennikov, Gliere - with that of the beautiful music of the Uzbeks, stemming from an old and proud civilization.
Suddenly everyone stood - began to applaud - to cheer - and to smile. The children waved.
In a box to the right - smiling and applauding the audience - as well as the artists on the stage - stood the great Stalin.
I remember the tears began to quietly flow. and I too smiled and waved. Here was clearly a man who seemed to embrace all. So kindly - I can never forget that warm feeling of kindliness and also a feeling of sureness. Here was one who was wise and good - the world and especially the socialist world was fortunate indeed to have his daily guidance. I lifted high my son Pauli to wave to this world leader, and his leader. For Paul, Jr. had entered school in Moscow, in the land of the Soviets.
The wonderful performance began, unfolding new delights at every turn - ensemble and individual, vocal and orchestral, classic and folk-dancing of amazing originality. Could it be possible that a few years before in 1900 - in 1915 - these people had been semi-serfs - their cultural expression forbidden, their rich heritage almost lost under tsarist oppression's heel?
So here one witnessed in the field of the arts - a culture national in form, socialist in content. Here was a people quite comparable to some of the tribal folk of Asia - quite comparable to the proud Yoruba or Basuto of West and East Africa, but now their lives flowering anew within the socialist way of life twenty years matured under the guidance of Lenin and Stalin. And in this whole area of development of national minorities - of their relation to the Great Russians - Stalin had played and was playing a most decisive role.
I was later to travel - to see with my own eyes what could happen to so-called backward peoples. In the West (in England, in Belgium, France, Portugal, Holland) - the Africans, the Indians (East and West), many of the Asian peoples were considered so backward that centuries, perhaps, would have to pass before these so-called "colonials" could become a part of modern society.
But in the Soviet Union, Yakuts, Nenetses, Kirgiz, Tadzhiks - had respect and were helped to advance with unbelievable rapidity in this socialist land. No empty promises, such as colored folk continuously hear in the United States, but deeds. For example, the transforming of the desert in Uzbekistan into blooming acres of cotton. And an old friend of mine, Mr. Golden, trained under Carver at Tuskegee, played a prominent role in cotton production. In 1949, I saw his daughter, now grown and in the university - a proud Soviet citizen.
Today in Korea - in Southeast Asia - in Latin America and the West Indies, in the Middle East - in Africa, one sees tens of millions of long oppressed colonial peoples surging toward freedom. What courage - what sacrifice - what determination never to rest until victory!
And arrayed against them, the combined powers of the so-called Free West, headed by the greedy, profit-hungry, war-minded industrialists and financial barons of our America. The illusion of an "American Century" blinds them for the immediate present to the clear fact that civilization has passed them by - that we now live in a people's century - that the star shines brightly in the East of Europe and of the world. Colonial peoples today look to the Soviet Socialist Republics. They see how under the great Stalin millions like themselves have found a new life. They see that aided and guided by the example of the Soviet Union, led by their Mao Tse-tung, a new China adds its mighty power to the true and expanding socialist way of life. They see formerly semi-colonial Eastern European nations building new People's Democracies, based upon the people's power with the people shaping their own destinies. So much of this progress stems from the magnificent leadership, theoretical and practical, given by their friend Joseph Stalin.
They have sung - sing now and will sing his praise - in song and story. Slava - slava - slava - Stalin, Glory to Stalin. Forever will his name be honored and beloved in all lands.
In all spheres of modern life the influence of Stalin reaches wide and deep. From his last simply written but vastly discerning and comprehensive document, back through the years, his contributions to the science of our world society remain invaluable. One reverently speaks of Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin - the shapers of humanity's richest present and future.
Yes, through his deep humanity, by his wise understanding, he leaves us a rich and monumental heritage. Most importantly - he has charted the direction of our present and future struggles. He has pointed the way to peace - to friendly co-existence - to the exchange of mutual scientific and cultural contributions - to the end of war and destruction. How consistently, how patiently, he labored for peace and ever increasing abundance, with what deep kindliness and wisdom. He leaves tens of millions all over the earth bowed in heart-aching grief.
But, as he well knew, the struggle continues. So, inspired by his noble example, let us lift our heads slowly but proudly high and march forward in the fight for peace - for a rich and rewarding life for all.
In the inspired words of Lewis Allan, our progressive lyricist -
To you Beloved Comrade, we make this solemn vow
The fight will go on - the fight will still go on.
Sleep well, Beloved Comrade, our work will just begin.
The fight will go on - till we win - until we win.
‘When bosses cut back, we say fight back!’
On April 11, although New York City Mayor Adams and his friends, the leaders of the Municipal Labor Committee (MLC), finalized their agreement to privatize retiree health coverage, retired city workers continue to fight back. On March 31st and again on April 11th demonstrations were held in front of City Hall. Hundreds rallied on March 31 and over a thousand rallied today. A loud chorus responded to a speaker's call, “Bosses say cut back, we say fight back”. In the midst of this struggle we are getting out CHALLENGEnewspaper to our friends and inviting them to our Progressive Labor Party study group. We are learning from these older workers that you can’t retire from the class struggle and in turn are teaching them how this racist capitalist system works.
As CHALLENGE has pointed out, the bosses throughout the U.S. are shifting health care costs onto the backs of workers. This is because they are preparing for war with their capitalist rivals in China and Russia and need to build their war chests. Union leaders are playing the role of willing accomplice as they “save” money for the bosses. Older workers face greater hardships when health care is denied, delayed or made too expensive for them to afford.
As this struggle plays out in street demonstrations, court suits, proposed legislation and union meetings, we will have ample opportunity to point out how the capitalist state apparatus and its agents in the mass organizations are used to keep workers, old and young, under the oppressive heel of the ruling class. Our involvement in all aspects of this struggle allows us to build schools for communism among workers fighting back.
*****
‘My first communist dinner’
Growing up here in America, I always thought I knew what communism was and what a communist looked like. Communism was something that was the work of the devil himself and anyone who dared call themselves a communist was a traitor to all that was right and good in the world and that they should be turned into the C.I.A. immediately. I never believed all that of course but I did grow to dislike the movement after learning about men like Joseph Stalin, and Lavrentiy Beria so when it came to meeting my U.S. history teacher I was very surprised to hear that she was a communist.
Here was a woman who fought for what was right and goes out of her way everyday to make sure that every student gets what they need and challenges the authority who neglects and (many times) abuses the students’ rights. This woman led me to the place that I volunteer with now and later led me to my first communist dinner.
I had no expectations going into the dinner. I had met many of the people organizing the event just the day before and they all were incredibly welcoming. Setting up for the dinner was fun as I got to know more of the people I was helping. Once people started to trickle in I got to see the nice community that has been made in that small building in Brooklyn. The hugs were only matched by the smiles people gave one another. I was introduced to many great people who talked with me about college and how they got involved with the movement.
As we ate the amazing food, we heard fantastic speeches from the organizers explaining the importance of the Party. After, came the main event of the night, the auction, in which all proceeds go to preparing for the big event of the year “May Day” or “International Workers Day.”
A massive show of force by workers all over the planet. The auction was filled with an insane amount of content, ranging from a communist history walk tour to posters made by the organizers celebrating community and working together. By the end of the event hundreds of dollars were raised and while I myself am not a communist, I believe that the community work that they are doing is absolutely critical in making sure we have a better tomorrow.
*****
It takes a village to make a banner
The collective process at work produced communist banners today.
We had a victorious banner-making this afternoon where comrades as well as folks not yet in the Party--children as well as someone over 80—traveled miles to participate. The surprising aspect to me was not only the beauty of the many finished products but how the banners were perfected. The main banner, huge at about 4 feet by 10 feet, was sketched in advance by a practiced graphic artist who could not attend. It took a literal army of most of us participants to color in the red silhouetted army of marching workers and the illustrating words. Later, some smaller, poster-board sized creations revealed true communist principles in the making.
During poster making, a worker worked with three children who were arguing over who should color in the words at the top of a poster board. The adult worker simply suggested turning around the poster itself so that no one needed to reach over the others and thus avoided a squabble.
Finally, on this very day in an email there appeared a summary from an article discussing the errors and lessons from the Soviet and Chinese Revolutions. Specifically, the Cultural Revolution brought out how “Struggle over capitalist versus working-class ideas is best when it fuses theory and practice. The theoretical side (the ideas in our banners) is conscious understanding of class relations.
The practical side is how they operate in the village, the work unit, etc. The struggle is not over ideology by itself; it is about how we run things, overall (i.e., how the banners were produced)."
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Workers’ rebellion in France: Coup capitalism with communist revolution
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- 13 April 2023 880 hits
As Emmanuel Macron, the president of France and a shameless stooge for finance capital, tries to ram through a plan to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64, millions of workers are waging the largest mass fightback in that country in more than fifty years. Enraged by former investment banker Macron’s anti-worker reforms, garbage collectors, utility workers, train conductors, and museum workers have walked off their jobs in droves.
Worldwide capitalism--and the charade of liberal democracy that gloves its iron fist—is in crisis. As the global economy plunges into recession and inter-imperialist rivalries intensify, the ruling class has no choice but to claw back wages and benefits from workers—and to use state terror and their mad dog racist kkkops against the inevitable rebellions. Wherever we see workers willing to withhold their labor and militantly reject the rulers’ agenda for fascism and war, it’s a good sign for our class. It points to our potential to build an international communist Progressive Labor Party, and to a future without bosses or exploitation.
Capitalist bosses protect banks, not workers
“The social state and the social safety net is disappearing,” said Francoise, a social worker (The Guardian, 03/23). Three months shy of retiring at 63, she has joined the fightback in Paris. Workers and students are taking to the streets to light garbage on fire and damage bus stops, newspaper kiosks, and traffic lights. They firebombed Macron’s favorite restaurant and stormed the Paris office of BlackRock, the multinational investment giant (Washington Post, 4/6).
For now, France’s trade unions are vowing to stay on strike until Macron withdraws the retirement reform (AP, 4/10). But we know how sell-out union leaders use working-class anger to get a few crumbs of temporary concessions from the bosses—and then to pacify their members and get them off the streets. In 2017, a number of French unions backed Macron for his first term as president, despite his pro-business platform, when he faced off against open racist Marine Le Pen (New York Times, 5/1/17). Many leading French liberals did the same. Liberals are the main danger! The only long-term win for workers is the revolutionary fight for a communist world run by and for the international working class. While this process will be violent, it must be led with discipline and strategy. Smashing property isn’t enough. Workers need to drive out the bosses and smash the whole capitalist system.
French rulers mobilizing for war
For the French bosses to get a seat at the table with the top imperialist powers, they must ramp up their attacks on workers. Even as Macron pushes to cut French workers’ pensions, France is increasing its military budget by more than one third by 2030, to 400 billion euros. As Macron told the French military, “We must be ready for more brutal and numerous wars” (Wall Street Journal, 1/20). In line with Macron’s pension reform, France plans to increase the age limit for army reservists to 70 and in some cases to 72 (msn.com, 4/4).
Amid the sharpening rivalry between the U.S. and China, France cannot be taken for granted. On a recent visit to China to meet with President Xi Jinping and seal a $15 billion trade deal, Macron made clear that the French ruling class won’t be in lockstep with the U.S. bosses. As the New York Times noted, Macron “staked out an independent European position, and both leaders repeatedly lauded a ‘multipolar world,’ thinly disguised code for one that is not American dominated” (4/8). History shows us that any alliance between bosses is temporary, and that they won’t hesitate to attack one another to protect their profits.
At his inauguration last June, Macron called for a “war economy” (Le Monde, 6/14/22). The bosses are telling us loud and clear that they are preparing for world war. It’s the job of the working class, with communist leadership, to turn inter-imperialist war into worldwide communist revolution.
Lesser evils rob workers of revolutionary power
Workers in France have a long history of mass militant fightback. In 1789, the French Revolution overthrew the parasitic monarchy and inspired rebellions against slavery in Haiti and other French colonies in the Caribbean and Africa. In 1871, the Paris Commune marked the first attempt by workers to put communist ideas into practice and provided lessons to future communists on how to win. In the 20th century, French communists and anti-fascists fought vigorously and contributed mightily to the defeat of the Nazis.
During World War Two, the French Communist Party (PCF) adopted the “Popular Front” line of the international communist movement. By calling for collaboration with “good capitalists” in the U.S., Britain, and France, this robbed the international working class of its revolutionary potential. Our class has suffered from “lesser evil” politics ever since. In 1968, when students and workers in France waged a violent struggle against the capitalist state, culminating in a wildcat general strike of 11 million workers, the PCF betrayed them. Just last year, these fake leftists showed their true colors when they backed the finance capitalist Macron for his second-term run-off against Le Pen.
Voting for liberal or fake-left misleaders--whether Macron in France, Biden in the U.S., AMLO in Mexico, Petro in Colombia, or Lula in Brazil--is a deadly trap. Our class deserves a world where older workers are treated with respect and gratitude for their decades of contributions to society. We deserve a world where imperialist war is ancient history, and where workers' needs come first. In short, we deserve a communist world. Let’s fight for it!
NEWARK, NJ, April 12—For the first time in its 250-year history, a coalition of Rutgers workers— 9,000 graduate workers, adjuncts, and part-time lecturers (PTL)— called a strike on what would have been communist Paul Robeson’s 125th birthday.
On day one of the strike, members of the Progressive Labor Party were out in full force distributing CHALLENGE newspapers as picketers rallied and gave passionate speeches at the Newark campus. Together, workers and students shut down the $5 billion/year university across several campuses!
As the contradictions of capitalism bring the bosses’ global system closer to World War III, such strikes and other forms of class struggle will intensify. Strikes have the potential to be schools for communism, and leading the struggles with revolutionary ideas builds the confidence of workers in choosing our class over the bosses’ system forever.
Workers ready to fight, bosses & their misleaders cower
Workers’ rage and lack of confidence in liberal misleadership and electoral politics is key to producing and maintaining strikes in an environment of growing fascism and war. Thousands of ordinary workers at Rutgers University chose the power of our class over the deadly defeatism of the liberal union bosses and the empty promises of NJ Governor Phil Murphy to fight for our needs. Getting closer to the strike launch, union misleaders tried to fool workers that it was in our best interest to believe that the threat of a strike is more powerful than its actual realization. Their lack of confidence in the working class, opportunism and pacifism - which no union boss or elected official can avoid - had them trying to convince rank and file members that they weren’t “ready” to fight for each other. These misleaders were very wrong. When members were told that Murphy was requesting the union give him a short period of time to resolve the differences between Rutgers bosses and workers to avoid the strike, workers responded with a roaring no! PLP members worked with their union siblings to ensure the membership was ready, and that workers’ need for a strike won over liberal misleaders' doubt and fear.
Cutbacks, low wages part of war prep
As the inter-imperialist rivalry between the U.S., Russia, and China reaches new heights, the bosses are hoarding resources and superexploiting workers in preparation for recruiting us into their mounting wars. Universities play a complex role in this preparation. While their workers and facilities absorb the cutbacks that go hand-in-hand with resource hoarding, universities are also key sites for recruiting and training students to become a pacified workforce and the liberal misleaders of tomorrow.
The bosses need masses of people won to liberal ideas in college to reproduce the nationalism and helplessness that supports conditions of war. At Rutgers, diversity projects like the Honors Living and Learning College train students to believe in their individual exceptionalism, convincing them that a few Black students getting elite career opportunities will help liberate the entire Black working class. In the program, students get a minor in Social Justice, but only very few have participated in the strike effort, while even more have spent their time creating a Black Professionals Network. But no amount of politicians of color can change the material conditions for the international working class; only communist revolution led by PLP will smash capitalism’s racist exploitation once and for all.
Bosses like Phil Murphy, Ras Baraka and Jonathan Holloway will show their true colors as liberal supporters of finance capital as they try to crush worker’s unions in the coming days or betray workers in years to come when they run for greater seats of power. Governor Murphy, a former hedge fund executive at Goldman Sachs— the second largest investment bank in the world— will demand sacrifice from workers and will use increasingly fascist tactics to end the strike. Rutgers president Holloway will do whatever his real bosses–finance capital–dictate to keep pumping out obedient workers, generate profit for the state and pay Rutgers’ external debt, which totals more than $250 million, including about $140 million to construct athletic facilities (USA Today 1/19/2022).
As the Rutgers strike continues, it will be imperative for workers and students to use it as a school for communism. Only on the picket lines will they learn the important lessons for liberation, and the tools to refuse the bosses’ austerity without being won to liberal ideas that lead to imperialist war. With multiracial unity and an international Progressive Labor Party on the front lines, the Rutgers strike will help teach us all to have confidence in each other, and to embrace communism as our class’s only way to win the world.
**Future issues of CHALLENGE will contain further analysis and reports of our involvement in this strike.**
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Spring Break Project for May Day brings red blossoms
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- 13 April 2023 601 hits
NEW YORK, NY, April 10–For several days, Progressive Labor Party (PLP) members and friends in New York City and Newark, New Jersey held events to prepare for May Day and build our confidence in the working class. We united students, workers, and retirees in anticipation of the most important day on the international working class’s calendar: May Day! Several newer members gave leadership to the spring break project, which included a film screening, a fundraising dinner, banner/sign making, and discussions—all to build our communist movement.
In part because of these events, one student rekindled their connection to PLP and joined, and two workers are considering joining. Ours is a movement that is dedicated to smashing capitalism along with the racist terror and imperialist war the system creates.
Fighting Racism from the Screen to the Streets
One of our first events of the week was a film screening that sparked discussion about our internationalist and antiracist political line. It was chosen by a newer member who also led the post-movie discussion. The film, La Haine, was about a group of French working class youth who were tired of the rotten system that had failed them and the racist police who brutalize them. While the young men in the film are full of contradictions (such as the racist, sexist, and reformist ideas they’ve been taught), their lived experiences as part of the working class eventually turns them all against the racist police.
In our discussion afterward, several people pointed out that a Black youth in the film advocated nonviolence and passivity but this ultimately led to his friend being killed by police. On the other hand, another youth argued for individualist violence that, as his friends pointed out, wouldn’t change the nature of society by ending police terror for everyone. We took yet another stance: We need revolutionary violence, not individual adventurism, in order to change the situation. One friend of PLP asked “How do we get everyone on the same page?” We must put revolutionary ideas and practice at the forefront of class struggle while exposing the many types of misleaders that capitalism produces. Only by fighting for communism can we finally end police terror.
The following day, we had a May Day organizing meeting, CHALLENGE newspaper sale, and fundraising dinner. At the meeting, a new member led the discussion, and she encouraged all friends and members to contribute based upon their commitment. Newer comrades prepared speeches about fighting back against racist attacks and experiences that led them to join PLP.
Dinner and Door-to-Door Organizing Bring PLP Ideas to Workers
The fundraising dinner that night was definitely a highlight of the May Day preparations. Over 70 new and veteran comrades met to bolster enthusiasm for our big day. The responsibility for hosting was shared in a collective way. We sang songs dedicated to the international working class and our fight for communism. Workers of all ages contributed food, decorations, words, activities (to be auctioned), and funds to ensure our march on May Day would be a success. One comrade spoke about the history of May Day going back to the 1886 Haymarket “Riot” when workers fought for the 8-hour workday - noting that we carry on that struggle today.
The next day, we went door-to-door in Newark housing projects to do our third Challenge sale of the spring break project. Our ongoing involvement in struggles against the racist police, landlords, and politicians in New Jersey and around the world were at the forefront of our conversations with workers about why they should march with us on May Day. Between this event and two sales we had along our May Day march route in Brooklyn, we distributed around 400 papers as part of the spring break project.
After the sale, we held a banner-making event that highlighted the intergenerational character of our organization (see photo). Comrades took time to paint the banner and signs, share a meal, and take turns in childcare.
Wrapping Up with an Eye on Fascism
On the final day of our pre-May Day events we held a study group on fascism, or a stage of capitalism when the bosses struggle to maintain their power under the facade of liberal democracy. During our discussion, we deepened our understanding of what fascism is and how we can build our communist movement as it develops. One comrade shared their recent experiences in a high school, where a principal has used scare tactics and bribery to pacify students from fighting back against the administration’s racist response to the murder of a former student after he was pushed out of the school. We discussed the idea of having a citywide campaign to reject school push-outs and to fight the bosses’ lie that students are expendable.
Afterwards we took time to write submissions for our newspaper CHALLENGE - since it is a paper that is written collectively by members and friends of the PLP (see letters on page 6). Throughout the project, we socialized and connected based on our shared goal on the long road to a communist future.
In a period of increasing imperialist conflict between the U.S., Russia, and China, our hard work towards building a revolutionary communist movement is more important than ever. While the bosses have nothing to offer our class but death and destruction, we stand prepared to build a society determined to meet the needs of all members of the working class around the world. Join us and march with us on May Day!
