LOS ANGELES, July 14—The Progressive Labor Party (PLP) strengthened its ranks against fascism at this year’s Summer Project. The theme was “Fighting Fascism in all its Forms.” A PLP Summer Project is an opportunity for comrades and friends from around the world to unite for intense political work in support of existing struggles to build communist understanding and PLP (see first-hand accounts on page 6).
We began with a lively orientation where we learned about the week ahead of us. Our first reading was the foreword to German communist Karl Billinger’s Fatherland (1935). The foreword clearly states that we have two choices: following the road to fascism or fighting for communism. After team building activities and icebreakers, we made posters and chant sheets for the different antiracist actions planned for later in the week. We concluded our first day with a communist barbecue and card games. At every turn, collectivity was at work.
Study fascism
Every morning began with a study group. The topics were What is Fascism?, Racism and Fascism, and How to Fight Fascism. We aimed to improve our understanding of the world and what that means for our daily struggles on the job and in our mass organizations.
A small group also got a chance to learn more about writing and editing for CHALLENGE. CHALLENGE is the main way we share struggles in our mass organizations and our communist analysis of the world with our base, ourselves, and the rest of the international working class. We must share what we learned and fight for more comrades to write, edit, and translate for the paper.
We also had a movie showing and discussion of Who is Dayani Cristal? This documentary showed the difficult and sometimes deadly journey that migrant workers from Central America take to come to the United States.
Fight fascism
We supplemented our study of fascism by fighting the rising features of fascism in Los Angeles. This is mainly in the form of antiracist protests against the racist terror machinery that is the capitalist government: the Kops, the Kourts, and the Ku Klux Klan.
Our first action was a victory for the Anaheim 3, the antiracists who fought the Ku Klux Klan. PL’ers and other antiracist fighters rallied outside the courthouse and then packed the courts. In the courtroom we cheered for a victory that took two and half years of struggle to achieve (for more details see CHALLENGE, 7/25).
The following day, we rallied outside of District Attorney (DA) Jackie Lacey’s office. She is the first woman and Black DA for Los Angeles County who was just re-elected. Lacey refuses to indict killer cops from the LAPD and LA County Sheriffs who have killed Ezell Ford, Omar Abrego, Brendan Glenn, CJ Snell, and Anthony Weber, just to name a few.
We called out DA Lacey and the capitalist criminal injustice system for its constant racist attacks on the working class, especially Black and Latin workers. During our rally we met some antiracists from the #OccupyICE encampment.
Our final rally was in front of the Metropolitan Detention Center where an #OccupyICE encampment has been in place for almost a month. Some of them joined our picket line. As we made speeches and chanted,  detained workers beat their cell walls in solidarity. One held up a sign from her small window that read, “No ICE.” That along with the honks of solidarity from workers driving by showed us that workers are open to communist ideas and are ready for more.
Build the Party
At all of these actions, we chanted, made speeches on the bullhorn, and distributed CHALLENGE. Some workers made bullhorn speeches for the first time. The actions, study groups, and recreation were planned collectively.
Summer Projects are a way PLP shows how communists live and work together. We strengthen our ranks, our communist analysis , and our fighting spirit, all to be carried back to the working class in local areas.
Organizing for a communist revolution is the only way we can defeat capitalism and its fascist, sexist, and racist system. Join PLP and the fight for communism.