I was lucky enough to make it to this year's PLP Summer Project and had a great time. I was only recently introduced to the Party, so this was diving into the deep end for me, but the entire time I felt very welcome. It was incredibly inspiring to see an intergenerational struggle that is this well organized.

Speaking to the comrades who attended the 1975 project was one of the first times I’ve been exposed to leftist organizing in such a pragmatic manner rather than an exercise in theory. Hearing their stories of standing together in the face of violent racism gave me a framework of how we can push back against the transgressions we see mounting daily as ICE careens down a path of hostile militancy.

More than anything else, the biggest takeaway of this experience for me is simply that there is hope. Suffering is inevitable when alone, but struggle is possible when we unite- and with enough struggle we may finally find ourselves free of our chains. Until now, I had mistaken my suffering to be equivalent to struggle. Hearing and seeing what it takes to unite, fight, and win opened my eyes to this difference. As I move forward conducting myself in this struggle, I know this experience will help guide me.