LOS ANGELES, CA, JULY 23-26—The horns from cars driving by were almost as loud as the family of Bryan Bostic (killed by Inglewood PD on 3/10/26 - see CHALLENGEe article) joined Progressive Labor Party’s chants “No good cop in a racist system”. Inglewood residents are very familiar with the role police play under capitalism, as they shared their stories and we shared CHALLENGE newspapers. Our speeches connecting police violence to ICE attacks on immigrants and imperialist wars abroad were well received by the family of Bryan Bostic and the working class passing by. This inspiring march and rally closed the four day summer project in Los Angeles.
With about 30 participants, including multiracial and multi-generational new and veteran members as well as the base of the Party, the LA summer project included a study group series on imperialism, CHALLENGE sales, two rallies, two marches, a movie and discussion, as well as plenty of bonding opportunities. These jam-packed four days inspired new and veteran members of the Party and had everyone recommitting to growing the Party in our area and beyond.
Connecting historical materialism to the world today
The imperialism study group series challenged us by reading Lenin’s document on imperialism, which laid the basis for the second session tying in the Party’s line that liberals are the main danger to the working class. We highlighted the Carter Doctrine which laid the groundwork for imperialist attacks on the Middle East from every democratic president following Carter. The third session prompted participants to connect the three laws of dialectical materialism to the war in Iran. Although all three sessions were challenging, the newer members and base present felt like they gained a solid understanding through the power of the collective and connecting the theory to practice.
The CHALLENGE sales and rallies we held were particularly empowering for our new members. Some had never sold the paper or spoken on the bullhorn before. To scaffold this, we incorporated a session where participants could read the newspaper and pull out what they wanted to share with those they encountered at the sales and practice doing this with a partner. We also held a speech writing session where drafts were written and then in small groups revisions were completed. This filled them with the confidence they needed to not only sell the paper and speak on the bullhorn, but volunteer to go first and inspire those listening to check out the Party further. A high school student shared after that he was scared before giving his speech, but then he realized this is what he believes in, so nothing should stop him from expressing that to anyone in earshot.
Participants also shared appreciation for the time they had to bond with each other. Whether through a beach trip, riding to a protest together, or sharing a delicious meal, everyone there got to know each other better and they felt this increased their desire to grow the Party.
As an outgrowth of this project, we plan to expand from our current three clubs into five clubs. We will continue our young leaders study sessions and expand our city committee. And that is how our quantitative developments will turn into a qualitative leap for the future strength of Progressive Labor Party in Southern California. The fight for communist revolution is advancing with each new member as another nail in the bosses’ coffin. The struggle continues!