Boston, MA, May 2nd–Chanting all the way, Boston Progressive Labor Party (PLP) and our base, 30 strong, marched up a commercial street in Roslindale where we regularly distribute CHALLENGE and people recognize us. We brought our full line to the working class, chanting, “We’re fighting for a real solution, Fight for communist revolution!”And we brought our fighting organization as we chanted, “The Cops, The Courts, ICE, All Part of the Bosses’ Plan,” and “Asian, Latin, Black and White” and “Same Enemy, Same Fight, Workers of the World Unite.”

Bringing workers together! 

We gathered in a park in the center of Roslindale to hear speeches before we marched. One comrade spoke passionately about the importance of the fight against the attacks on trans people. She said that even though they are few in number, their vulnerability makes them an easy target, setting a precedent for fascist attacks against the whole working class. A community college student, marching with us for the first time, was proud of distributing PLP leaflets to a few workers and seeing their support. Another student and first-time marcher said she felt comfortable and proud to be part of a march that she agreed with. It was an important opportunity for these friends to participate in the fighting spirit of an openly communist May Day march. Our leaflet called for “Students, Workers and Soldiers: Rebel Against Trump, Capitalism, War and Fascism!”

After the march, we gathered in a Party member’s backyard to have lunch. Even though it was rainy and cold, we enjoyed our comradeship by the fire pit. One weakness of the march was the small amount of street traffic (made worse by the rain) which limited our distribution of literature and contact with the community. Having workers respond to our march is both a source of morale for marchers, and a way we measure success. Also, our base in Roslindale didn’t come to the march, which we are evaluating.  

A strength of the march is that we held it in Roslindale, an integrated working-class community, where we’ve been doing mass work for the last one to two years. At that time, we started distributing CHALLENGE in local shops and outside our local farmers market and food distribution sites. In March, newer comrades were instrumental in organizing a pop-up rally in front of the Family Dollar Store where a man was kidnapped and detained by ICE that morning. Our rally was well received, and neighborhood friends joined us then­—new and old.

More recently we’ve been organizing against the ICE raids in mass organizations, both in RISE (Roslindale is for Everyone) and among families in a local elementary school where a comrade’s children attend. This is being done in connection with efforts to protect children and families from ICE by organizers in the Boston Teachers Union. PLP counters the reformist messages of voting for Democrats to make our lives better with the important understanding that racism and anti-immigration racism isn’t just the work of Trump but the product of capitalism. We must be persistent, learn from our mistakes, build our spirit and not become cynical! 

It’s the whole damn system!

We brought our communist message to a large May Day March on the Boston Commons on May 1st as well where many organizations and unions marched. Although it was not anti-capitalist, it was inspiring to see so many young people choosing to fight fascism through their unions and open to our communist analysis. We talked to friends in our unions, distributed leaflets and CHALLENGEs and held up our banner IT’S NOT JUST TRUMP, IT’S CAPITALISM! We represented the heart and soul of the May Day communist holiday fighting for a world where the murderous profiteering of workers and our families is abolished forever. 

Worcester, MA 

At the PLP May Day in Worcester, we joined about 200 people, mostly young workers and students, who stood in solidarity with  immigrant workers in fighting ICE and the rising tide of fascism. Many speakers called to fight the billionaire class. One of our members gave a passionate impromptu speech calling on workers and students to unite against anti-immigrant racism and to fight to get rid of the entire profit system. He shared how his mother was an immigrant garment worker and undocumented for a while. He said he understands what the immigrants are going through and that only by uniting in a multi-racial militant way can we fight to end this capitalist system and win an egalitarian world. His talk was well received as were the Challenges and flyers we passed out at our literature table. Several of our friends came by as well as a group of high-school students.