Progressive Labor Party (PLP) here recently hosted a screening and discussion of the documentary PROFILED about the fight against police killings in New York. A group of comrades and friends gathered to eat and watch the movie, including three families impacted by racist police violence. Even though the movie came out five years ago, the movement against police terror still faces the same issues: What is justice? And how do we get there?
Despair to revolutionary optimism
After the movie there was a discussion that ranged from grief and despair to revolutionary optimism. One impacted family member brought up how futile the fight seemed when presented with families that have been fighting for justice for decades with seemingly no results.  “I thought it was a sad documentary.  It seemed like no matter how many baby steps or changes we make, things have gotten worse...It did show a great deal of unity between families that I loved how they helped each other, like what you guys (PLP and mass organization) do for us.”
When asked about the revolution versus reform discussion, she said, “I think something big has to happen in order for things to change and eventually we need a revolution and I feel that it is coming.  Do I think it’s needed?  Yes, I just hope something positive comes from it.”  
Veteran comrades chimed in with their experiences of organizing for communism over the decades and how they keep their optimism as they continue to plant seeds. There was wide agreement that the problem of police brutality could not be solved under capitalism which led to a lively discussion of reform versus revolution.  
Two women workers join the fight for communism
It was good that earlier that week, two of the young women—the kkkops murdered their brother—joined our club in which we read excerpts of PLP’s Reform and Revolution.  In one instance, her brother was killed while hospitalized last year while in a mental health crisis.  It is more and more clear to her the complicity of not just the killer cops, but also the hospital bosses, and that simply “defunding the police is not enough.”  
The other young woman has been a militant fighter for nearly two years since her brother was murdered in South LA and has grown close to the Party as we have with her.  She and her family have seen the documentary twice, including last year when the sister of Shantel Davis came to Los Angeles for our Party forum.  This year she joined our club and said she recognized how these “pigs are connecting families all around the country and world and is inspired by the families dedication to keep fighting even though they won’t get ‘justice’ under capitalism.”
She joined Party members in Minneapolis last year and said, “It was only because we fought militantly and the workers rebelled that Chauvin went to jail, but that reforms only build illusions in this system while revolution changes the system.”  
She also liked what one friend said about how he was recently taken out of his bubble and now is a committed organizer who is open to learning more about alternatives to capitalism and how to get there from here.  She said this “light switch” moment in him was inspiring and shows how we can “expand this movement.”
As PLP’s involvement in the anti-police terror campaigns in LA has expanded from one family to a coalition of 30 families, between almost daily actions and meetings it is difficult to not get caught up in just the day to day of the reform struggle.  We have made a recent decision to be more intentional about raising revolutionary communism as an alternative with certain families and base members as our relationships have deepened.  
Fight builds working-class leaders
It is heartbreaking and infuriating at the untold pain these families suffer at the hands of kkkops and capitalism. Most reform organizations rely on the families to simply share the horrors that happened to them over and over again, which is re-traumatizing. Of course, the families want every opportunity to use these platforms to share the story of their loved one. Yet it is heartening and inspiring at how this mass work, with our leadership, has grown. Dozens of families are uniting and finding ways to support each other. They are becoming organizers and leaders. They have moved from not only talking about their tragedy, but also fighting for other families. Most importantly, they are discussing how we need to change this whole damn system of capitalism.
We still have a long way to go in this fight, but we are in the trenches with these incredible families and supporters, raising our revolutionary communist ideology and practice with them.  We have a world to win!