LOS ANGELES, CA, January 12—Twenty-five students and workers from Progressive Labor Party (PLP) and friends of the Party came together for a powerful rally that brought a clear, uncompromising message to the community: capitalism offers nothing to our class but war, fascism, and death, and only communist revolution can create a world that serves the needs of working people.
Everything is connected
We held this rally in a neighborhood where the violence of the capitalist state is not abstract. This is the same community where Alex Flores was murdered by the Los Angeles Police Department, and where members of Progressive Labor Party (PLP) have been organizing since 2019 alongside residents, students, and workers to fight police terror and build a fighting party. Holding the rally here was intentional. The fight against imperialist war abroad and racist police murder and attacks on immigrant workers at home is one struggle. The community particularly loved our chant “La Migra, la policía, la misma porqueria.”
At the rally, a half dozen young comrades and friends led chants and gave speeches. They reminded the neighborhood that they are not alone, that we are here to fight alongside them against racist terror in all its forms. One young Latin woman worker spoke passionately about how demoralizing it is to wake up to the daily horrors of capitalism, each day worse than the last, but that she was confident that we can come together in the fight for communism, the world the working class deserves.
Capitalism is violence
A PLP member delivered a speech connecting U.S. aggression against Venezuela with the murder of a protester by ICE agents in Minneapolis. The speech laid bare the priorities of this system: there is “no money” for health care, schools, or housing, but unlimited funding for police, ICE, drones, and military intervention. From Latin America to Los Angeles, capitalism defends profit and empire through violence.
The message resonated. Neighbors stopped to listen, nodded in agreement, and joined conversations about why these atrocities are not accidents, but the predictable outcomes of a system built on exploitation. Many took copies of CHALLENGE, asked questions about Progressive Labor Party, and shared their own experiences with police harassment, low wages, and struggling to survive while the rich got richer. The taco restaurant across from where we rallied even brought us free licuados for all participants in the rally as a show of support for our message
Throughout the rally, we emphasized a central truth: workers create all the wealth in society and therefore have the power to change it. We do not need bosses, landlords, cops, or generals. But this system cannot exist without our labor. When we organize together—across race, nationality, and borders—we become an unstoppable force.
The strong response from the community showed that people are hungry for a revolutionary explanation and a revolutionary solution. Reform has failed. Voting has failed. Appeals to “justice” from a brutal system have failed. What working people need is organization, solidarity, and communist leadership.
This rally was one small but important step in building that movement. We will continue organizing in this neighborhood, distributing CHALLENGE standing with families impacted by police terror, and fighting to unite workers and students against imperialism, fascism, and capitalism itself.
The future belongs to the working class—but only if we organize to take it.
Fight back! Organize! Build communism!