Brooklyn, NY—“No ICE on campus, that’s right!” is by far the most common student response and sums up the attitude of hundreds of students in response to leaflets calling for student-worker unity in the face of immigration raids. “Come for four, come for us all!” sums up the attitude of most faculty and staff we’ve spoken to who are outraged at City of New York’s (CUNY) recent termination of the “Fired Four” adjuncts for supporting pro-Palestinian students on campus. While these sharpening attacks may seem unrelated, they reflect rising fascism and a lashing out of declining U.S. imperialism against any threats – external and internal – to their sagging but lethal empire.
How are Progressive Labor Party (PLP) members in our CUNY club connecting the struggle over the escalating attacks on immigrant workers, the Fired Four, and increasing worldwide U.S. imperialist violence? By organizing a student-worker alliance at Brooklyn College, Kingsborough Community College and beyond through basebuilding among students, staff, workers and faculty. Throughout the semester we’ve struggled to ensure regular leafleting and building CHALLENGE readership, while sharpening our club’s internal struggle to follow up with contacts, arrange home visits and social outings. Here is our midterm progress report.
Contest the spaces, rule the schools!
At Kingsborough, our club’s first step this semester was reclaiming the campus hallways. Beginning last year, campus police informed students and faculty leafleting to meet antiracist students and faculty that all leafleting must be approved by the administration. Many workers still hold the bosses’ illusions about so-called freedom of speech. However, as the bosses try to normalize and force workers to accept rising fascism, reality is exposing this contradiction.
This year, student and faculty PL’ers included our friends and coworkers, especially in the faculty and staff union, the Professional Staff Congress and custodian’s union, DC 37, in our plans to mass distribute leaflets against ICE and in support of the Fired Four in the same hallways we were banned from. Printing out the PSC’s own resolutions and flyers and encouraging students and staff to sign PSC petitions has grown our circle of new friends, and exposed for them and us both the emptiness of “freedom of speech” and the necessity of breaking the bosses’ bans on antiracist organizing.
This has also led to a few confrontations with campus police. At first, they kept their distance, and then got bolder by once again telling us all literature distribution must be approved, and that we cannot use the tables in the hallway without a “reservation” from Student Life. Last week, the chief of public safety himself approached us, grabbed a leaflet from a student’s hands and warned them “you shouldn’t have this!” To us, the chief stated that “this flyer hasn’t been approved by Student Life.” We gave another leaflet to the student and when we asked what Student Life has to do with our union, the PSC, the chief mumbled something in reply and walked away. After that we continued leafleting for the remainder of our planned time, making new contacts. After discussion, we plan on bringing our own table and playing video of the NYPD’s attack on Brooklyn College students last May.
Basebuilding and boldness disrupt fascist business as usual
KCC’s students, who are majority immigrant, Muslim, Black and Latin youth from Brooklyn, have a sharp understanding of rising fascism and have already made the connection between the Fired Four and fascist ICE raids. One young Black student who stopped to get more information asked, “Why aren’t more people protesting? Are we?” Excellent question. We need organization and leadership to confront fascism, whether from Donald Trump’s fascist ICE shock troops or the Big Fascist CUNY administrators, both servants of the same imperialist U.S. capitalist state.
Declining U.S. imperialism can only offer the working class fascism in two flavors. Trump-flavored fascists are the most open about their Nazi goals, hoping to divide worker-led fightback with racist terror and promote traditionally sexist cultural norms. Meanwhile, Democrat-flavored fascists co-opt worker-led fightback into elections, hoping to divide worker-led fightback with identity politics and “hope” that the capitalist state can serve the working class. These Big Fascists are the biggest danger, and we cannot underestimate the dangers ahead. However, both are no match for a united working class under communist leadership, and our recent struggles prove it.
Dare to struggle, dare to win
A year ago, KCC’s administration probably thought they’d won. They saw the potential power of students and workers when more than 50 KCC students protested against the Gaza genocide almost seven hours outside the campus gates (see CHALLENGE, 6/5/24). So, the following fall, tightening rules regarding student clubs were in place.
On May 8, 2025, when Brooklyn College’s president probably thought they’d won, they called the fascist Strategic Response Group kkkops against a peaceful student protest and fired and investigated faculty, following ruling class orders.
In the same way, despite the defeats of past revolutions in the Soviet Union and China, capitalists around the world probably think they’ve won. As communists and CHALLENGE readers know, fascist attacks in both “blue states” and “red states” do not surprise us, and with basebuilding, they can be defeated. It’s not just about Trump, or about electing a new Democrat savior like Zohran Mamdani, whose spokesperson recently confirmed NYPD commissioner Tisch “acted appropriately” when ordering the NYPD to stand by when ICE conducted an immigration raid on Canal Street (PIX11, 11/7). WE are the leadership we’re looking for- JOIN US!