CHICAGO, FEBRUARY 28—A multiracial, multigenerational group of over 50 workers and youth gathered in a local fieldhouse to celebrate our annual Black and Red event today, a tradition that elevates and honors the vast contributions and leadership of Black communists, past and present. 

Black and Red serves to dispel the anti-communist myth that revolutionary struggle grounded in Marxist-Leninist theory and practice exists in the limited domain of white workers and those of European descent. Revolutionary communist struggle has in fact been embraced over generations by billions of working people all over the world – including across Africa, the Caribbean, and Latin America – to advance the cause for liberation from racism, oppression and exploitation.

As Progressive Labor Party (PLP) has long stated, the militant leadership of Black workers has always been essential in the ongoing fight against capitalism and its use of racism to divide, attack, and exploit the entire working class. The intimate experience and rage of Black workers everywhere confronting this racist capitalist system lights the fire for the international working class to rise and fight for a communist society free from all the chains of the old world.

Celebrating antiracism and Black leadership

To kick off the event, our veteran comrade emcee spoke on the ongoing need for communist revolution in a volatile and dangerous world. Everyone in the room had woken up this morning to the news of the US and Israeli imperialists launching a racist war on Iran. Sharing a common space with other workers helped to process the grim news in a grounded way and still face the growing carnage with a sense of revolutionary duty and optimism.

There was no better way to express some revolutionary optimism than starting our program detailing the experience of Black workers in the small island country of Grenada, who led a successful revolutionary movement to repel British imperialism in the late 1970s. We watched some short videos about how the socialist government led by the New Jewel Movement was able to advance democratization of workplaces on the island as well as significantly improve health and literacy efforts. A table talk followed in which everyone present broke out into smaller groups to discuss and gather lessons from the revolution which was ultimately toppled when U.S. imperialists invaded in 1983.

This was followed by a “fireside chat” with a long-time Black veteran comrade who detailed his experience over decades of antiracist struggle in PLP. In an inspiring way, this comrade described his journey from early childhood and how the politics of egalitarian communism always found a way to align with his personal experience and influence him to do the right thing in the moment. He spoke of the supportive and guiding role of the Party in providing a vehicle for his desire to see an antiracist society, and how committing ourselves to the organization should not be seen as a sacrifice, but the highest expression of dedication and love to the working class.

Finally, we wrapped up with a fun activity, joining with others at our tables to answer trivia questions about Black communists and their incredible history of fightback, including leaders like Paul Robeson, Claudia Jones, and many others.

Communist revolution charts path to worker power

The road ahead for the international working class will not be an easy one, as the capitalist ruling classes around the world are set on unleashing more racism, fascism, sexism and war to prop up their profit system in crisis. However, events like Black and Red and the commitment of the mass multiracial PLP to turn the coming wars into communist revolution help chart the path to a far better future.