WASHINGTON, DC, November 27 — More than 70 people celebrated the 30th annual “Thanks-For-Fighting Racism Feast,” a marvelous international, militant, youthful and multiracial event. Two carloads of Howard University students and a vanload of Baltimore youth kicked off the dinner. We raised funds to support the struggle against racism in Ferguson and sold dozens of new “No to Racism” buttons bearing the names Freddie Gray and Tyrone West, both killed by kkkops. The feast linked different aspects of the Party’s work — from transit and education to health and fighting police terror — as one movement of women, Black, Latin, youth and immigrant leaders for an egalitarian communist society.
Many worked long hours to make posters on the history of militant struggles in the Baltimore-Washington region. The posters attacked a range of racist crimes under capitalism, from supermacist gangs and police terror to modern eugenics and inadequate health care. These visuals prompted intense discussion.
Four youth from Baltimore spoke about their West Wednesdays rallies against the racist murderers of Tyrone West and a high school walk-out to protest the murder of Freddie Gray. Another high school student addressed the intensifying racism aimed at undocumented workers. A professor from China—sharing the viewpoint of many workers there—called the U.S. Thanksgiving a myth of all-class unity that glossed over the genocide of indigenous people in the New World. He said he was happy to be at a dinner in the U.S. where workers agreed with that idea! His friends are pleased that we are fighting back against racism in the U.S.
A mother whose son, Gary A. Hopkins, Jr., was killed in 1999 by the Prince George’s County cops, was heartened to see so many militant youth and called on them to step up and fight back. Ongoing struggles by the People’s Coalition include the fight against the “Law Enforcement Officers’ Bill of Rights” and demands for other reforms. The mother noted thatthe problem of police terror went deeper than “a few bad apples.” As long as other cops maintain the Blue Wall of Silence by protecting murderers in their ranks, she said, there are no “good apples.”
Members of Progressive Labor Party presented their work in the American Public Health Association. On World AIDS Day, December 1, the main target was the big drug companies that value huge profits over workers’ lives (see page 3).
A Howard student, invited by a friend, gave a moving spoken word entitled “One.” It addressed the need for unity as one force against racism. Afterward, she said she was excited to be at the dinner and connect with so many people who are fighting back.
A young Metro bus operator campaigning for union office spoke about the bosses’ attacks on transit operators, including cuts in the pension plan, hikes in health care contributions, the racist background check policy, and increased harassment in the new discipline policy. Back in August, he said, the idea of going on strike was not taken seriously by many Metro workers. After four months of organizing, however, workers have been moved closer to striking to gain leverage over the bosses. But as the driver emphasized, striking alone cannot solve the problem of racist, capitalist exploitation. She talked about the need for a disciplined Party to uproot capitalism and plant communism in a society run by and for workers.
As we prepare for another year of battles against racism and its source, the capitalist system, we are optimistic that more workers will be joining the battle. In the coming year, we need connect racism in the U.S. to racism in the Caribbean, Latin America, Asia, the Middle East, Africa and worldwide by highlighting PLP’s international leadership for the working class. The future remains bright!