BALTIMORE, MD, July 2—Members of Progressive Labor Party (PLP) came out to the street to protest the genocide in Gaza, the West Bank, Sudan, and Congo. We distributed dozens of CHALLENGEs and communist flyers with great response. We had our signature chants on hand: “From Palestine to Mexico, these racist borders got to go,” and “Arab, Jewish, Black and White, Workers of the World Unite!" 
Two Party friends who joined us distributed CHALLENGE, often coming back for more to distribute! One person who received a copy screamed “Free Palestine!” showing solidarity to the workers fighting overseas. The working class in Baltimore and worldwide needs communism and to lead that fight to put these genocidal bosses in the ground once and for all!

Rallying against genocide

We referred to our rally as “Balloon Theater,” which was inspired by our new comrade. We set up our “stage” on the sidewalk between Northeast Market and busy Monument Street, where workers at Johns Hopkins often pass by. We decorated the space with three large balloons painted with slogans “Fight for Communism,” “No to Genocide and Fascism,” and “Smash Capitalism and Imperialism.” 

We had to battle market security personnel, who threatened us with bogus rules. Standing firm, we refused to move and we won in the end!
Workers in Palestine have faced terror, torture, extermination and execution by occupying Zionists since the early days of the 20th century. Our goal was to link this history to the current catastrophes under capitalism worldwide and our urgent need to build an international communist movement in response. 

All bosses guilty of fascism

We held speeches exposing the imperialist U.S. government and their unwavering support for the Zionist state of Israel. Both Democrats and Republicans have a bloody role in the catastrophe, as war criminal Joe Biden’s administration gave about $18 billion and—so far—$4 billion by chief terrorist Trump. We highlighted the U.S. government’s imperialist wars in Sudan and Congo and their support of proxy nationalist factions to do the dirty work of torturing, displacing and murdering workers. 

Our struggles are all connected!

One comrade talked about the ongoing local West Wednesday events, which have been protesting the KKKops who murdered Tyrone West in cold blood 12 years ago. The member also recounted supporting a Black family facing racist attacks in their neighborhood in the early 1990s; a PLP-led collective chased away the racist skin heads, gaining respect from students. As these attack dogs-in-blue kill Black and Latin workers without remorse, their imperialist handlers are ordering the same against our working class brothers and sisters in the Middle East. As the ruling class continues losing its grip on workers, we see increasing fascism abroad and here, with the state attacking those who dare to question this modern-day Holocaust.

A friend to the Party also gave a speech that called out the U.S. and Israel for their treatment of workers in Palestine. We did not agree with the nationalist points made—regarding Iran having the right to defend itself. However, we appreciated their support in joining us. 
PLP is charging boldly to create an egalitarian communist society, where the ills of capitalism, racism, sexism, and exploitation are a thing of the past. Our enthusiasm and determination to continue this action will carry on. We set a date for our next Balloon Theater in August, with a plan to build our base in the community and to invite more friends and community members to participate in our next action on the streets. Since three of our comrades will attend the Boston summer project, the energy from the experience will hopefully strengthen our work once we return.

BALTIMORE, June 21—Members of Progressive Labor Party (PLP) have been attending the annual Marxist Literary Group Summer Institute (MLG-ICS) for more than 25 years, presenting our communist analyses at panels we organize, speaking up in other sessions, and sharing our newspaper and building personal ties with others. At this year’s conference at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore in June, organized around the theme of “Marx and the Rightward Turn,” we upped our game to a new level.

Capitalist issues need communist fightback!

Ten members and longtime friends of the Party presented papers on four different panels addressing important contemporary themes, including: fascism/anti-fascism and its connections with liberalism; the consideration of the Party as a necessary form for revolutionary organization, the value of contemporary literature that shows the value of fighting racism and sexism; an analysis of the accomplishments and shortcomings of the role of the Communist Party’s work in India, and a final panel on how the Party has actively been organizing against the rightward turn of liberals on our campuses and in our communities. Our contingent also reflected the multiracial and intergenerational composition of our Party and the strong leadership role played by women.

For years, raising the politics of our Party has mainly been done one-on-one or in small groups, with friends and scholars we have come to know at the MLG Summer Institute. In part, this was a response to the unspoken notion that participants should leave any party affiliations “at the door.” However, in recent years, new and younger generations of scholars have been less inculcated with these politics, and there has been more interest and discussion of the potential positive role and need for a party. In recent years, we have also raised our Party more openly in discussions at the MLG sessions, put copies of CHALLENGE on the MLG literature table, and distributed our literature in a more mass way. In the opening panel on fascism/anti-fascism, a comrade explored the similarities and differences between liberalism and fascism and another friend provided a case study of the contradictions — achievements and shortcomings — of the communist movement’s role within the massive farmers’ movement.

Developing plans and being bold with our politics

The power of this openness was particularly evident this year in the panel that concluded the conference, made up of four comrades and a friend to the Party focusing on  political repression on campus and beyond, asking “What is to be Done?” In this panel, we discussed the practical strategies and lessons we’ve gained from our campus and community organizing. Each member recognized themselves as a member of PLP, something that—according to what our comrade experienced in the MLG—was traditionally not encouraged.

Our comrade from Newark exposed the hypocrisy of Mayor Ras Baraka’s protesting the detention of targeted workers by ICE this year after being silent in 2010 when Deporter-in-Chief Barack Obama built the ICE detention center there.    Another comrade discussed organizing in Baltimore during the slow-down of the anti-genocide movement against Israel. Practice—distributing CHALLENGE, political conversations, study groups, and protesting in the streets— helping young comrades overcome their fears, illustrating the long-term process required in party-building. 

Workers become radicalized, the bosses exert more control

Two panelists – activists in the Radical Caucus of the Modern Language Association (MLA) and the American Public Health Association (APHA)—outlined the long history of the “rightward turn” of those two organizations. When APHA and MLA members—increasingly outraged by the genocide in Gaza—overwhelmingly passed motions or resolutions  against the genocide in Gaza in 2024, the leaders of both organizations refused to take action, and the following year they refused to consider any proposed resolutions. Furthermore, the MLA  even changed its constitutions to make it increasingly difficult for any meaningful actions to be taken. 

The APHA speaker, a recent Ph.D. graduate who now works as a union organizer, asked how many people in the audience were activists, which elicited a wide show of hands, indicating that while most of the MLG panels focus primarily on issues of theory and literature and culture, participants also see themselves as activists as well as scholars..

For members and friends of the Party this year’s summer institute was inspiring, reflecting both the increased urgency felt by many of the “rightward turn” being witnessed in the U.S., but also recognition of the increased potential for organizing and the urgency of sharpening our discussion of politics to include the need to discuss the importance of building a revolutionary movement and recruiting more friends to join the PLP. 

The National Education Association (NEA) held its annual Representative Assembly in early July. Educators from across the U.S. demonstrated more solidarity with the working class than I have noticed in recent history - but we’ve a long way to go as a revolutionary communist outlook is necessary.

NEA is the largest teachers’ association in the United States whose leadership continues to be completely tethered to the capitalist duopoly but rank-and-file educators from across the U.S. took steps to challenge the status quo. While many new business items (NBIs) reflected a growing hatred of the Donald Trump administration (calling Trump fascist is now NEA-educator approved), I met more educators who expressed a stronger class understanding than I had in previous years. 

The struggle to win people over to a revolutionary outlook started long ago, but gained momentum in recent years, particularly in response to the U.S. and Britain-backed Israeli war on its neighbors. Educators have been doxxed, investigated and fired for publicly supporting Palestine or criticising Israel. 

At the 2024 Representative Assembly (RA) of the NEA, Progressive Labor Party joined with Educators for Palestine in a rally at the NEA Representative Assembly and participated in a campaign to pass resolutions against the genocide in Gaza. We spoke, leafletted, shared CHALLENGE and stood up to Zionist protestors in Philadelphi (see CHALLENGE, 8/14/24). In response, the NEA essentially cancelled its conference and locked out its own staff. This year was a different story. 

This year’s debate over the role of Zionist propaganda in our curriculums came to a halt with the vote to cut ties with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). The ADL pretends to be a civil rights organization but has proven again and again to be “ a wolf in sheep’s clothing’ - an increasingly brutal mouthpiece for the Zionist state of Israel.  

A basic analysis of the RA reminds us that we cannot take any small wins for granted. For example, the RA voted overwhelmingly to ‘take bold action’ and ‘unite for the common good’ by ‘organizing [for May Day, 2026] across the public and private sector for racial, economic and social justice’. 

The acknowledgement of May Day and acknowledgement that organizing across unions was an incredible moment!  But most of us have seen, first hand, that the Democrats will co-opt May Day and destroy the left if it can. Many rank-and-file teachers I spoke with understand the real meaning behind May Day. PLP will continue to continue to struggle with each other to maintain the revolutionary momentum, May Day and the need for class struggle.

From streets to jobs, spread the fight

On July 4 residents of Greenbelt celebrated the holiday by holding a rally with speakers in the Roosevelt pavilion to stand against the passage of Donald Trump’s Big, “Beautiful” Bill and to call for sharper fightback. A Progressive Labor Party speaker shared part of Frederick Douglass’ “What to the Slave is the 4th of July” and went on to call for workers to take control of society and support the struggle against genocide in Gaza and Sudan.  A young man running for Greenbelt City Council said that Greenbelt should oppose genocide. This is a step forward in Greenbelt which was one of the few cities in Prince George’s County that did not pass a ceasefire resolution – using the excuse that they are only concerned with local issues. After the speeches we distributed a dozen CHALLENGES and had good discussions with our friends and neighbors about communism and the need for a revolutionary party. 

We join in struggles against ICE including Monday rallies in Baltimore at the detention center. Local rapid response groups are becoming better organized to respond to events and show up to local mutual aid events where ICE might appear.  We are continuing to demand that  the courts  bring Kilmar Abrego Garcia back to Maryland and to stop Trump’s threat to immediately  deport him to another country. 

A PLP  member addressed the Metro Board demanding that they remove their ads recruiting for the Border Patrol and apologize to the community! Over 150 postcards protesting the ads have been sent to the board and it was clear they knew that this has become an issue.

Meanwhile we joined ATU 689 members (transit system workers) in their protest against cutbacks among station managers and train operators with the chants: “Who has the Power, We Have the Power.” We will expand our struggles against ICE, against Genocide and for workers’ power in an ongoing campaign with these workers. 
*****

You got to talk to people

I go to a lot of demonstrations, and I always have a good supply of CHALLENGEs and/or Progressive Labor Party (PLP) leaflets. Usually it is possible to have a conversation with at least a few people, which is the most important activity. Recently, I asked one young man who was handing out “socialist” literature what he liked about the group. He knew very little, just that they were large, friendly and active, and he was interested in our differences with their uncritical support for national liberation and China. A second young person had hooked up with a phony left group just because he met them first, and we then had an email discussion about their line vs. ours. Both of these contacts showed up the next week at a PLP study group. Many young people are out there looking for answers and how to get involved. It certainly doesn’t always work out this well, but I was just reminded how vital it is to talk with as many folks as we can.
*****

Say the F word: fascism

I recently heard my minister describe the Donald Trump administration as an example of “competitive authoritarianism.” Not long after, I saw the same term used in a Facebook post criticizing Trump’s military parade and drawing comparisons to Viktor Orbán in Hungary and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Turkey—leaders who also operate within what some call competitive authoritarian regimes. 

But let’s be clear: this term is increasingly being used by liberals as a softer stand-in for what is, in fact, creeping fascism. 

It reminds me of the old saying: it’s a recession when your neighbor is out of work; it’s a depression when you are. In the same way, liberal commentators seem comfortable labeling foreign regimes as authoritarian or fascistic but hesitate to apply the same label to the United States—even as it unleashes the military and federal agents against domestic populations. 

It is fascistic when Marines and National Guard troops are deployed to suppress protests. It is fascistic when ICE raids schools, car washes, and Home Depot parking lots to round up and deport workers—often without due process. These are not anomalies; they are symptoms of a capitalist system in deep crisis. 

When capitalism enters crisis, its mask slips. The claws come out: nationalism, racism, sexism, and anti-communism are pushed to the forefront to divide and discipline the working class. We saw this in the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII. We saw it in Jim Crow segregation. And we see it today in the scapegoating of immigrants and the erosion of civil liberties. 

As the U.S. ruling class becomes more desperate in its global competition with rising powers like China, Russia, and Iran, it will rely more and more on fascist methods—not just abroad, but at home. This will mean not only repressing workers and the oppressed but disciplining even those members of the elite who fail to toe the fascist line. 

In such moments, quantity turns into quality. What begins as authoritarian drift becomes full-blown fascism. Liberal democracy is not “under threat”—it is being dismantled before our eyes. 

The only real alternative is not a return to some idealized version of U.S. democracy, but the abolition of the capitalist system itself. We need to build a revolutionary communist movement capable of eliminating the ruling class and its fascist machinery once and for all. 
Fight for communism. Join PLP.
*****

For a world without bosses, smash racism

No Bosses Day of International Action

The bosses are working overtime to ensure Black workers don’t join the current 50501 (50 protests, 50 states, one movement) “No Kings” protests. In contrast, the Progressive Labor Party (PLP) has raised the slogan: “No Bosses!” The contradictions within these protests—where over five million workers have taken to the streets—reveal liberal fascism in action. The liberal line frames the protests as opposition to Trump as a “king,” aiming to build the nationalism necessary for all-class unity.

Black workers have every reason to be skeptical. Organizers are demanding only U.S. flags for optics, pushing non-violence rhetoric, encouraging protesters to register online, and training marshals to make marchers sit when violence erupts—making it easier for police to identify and arrest them.

The fake left, saturated in the errors of the old communist movement, pushes workers to organize around nationalism, race, and identity—anything but class. PLP is clear: the working class must unite against the bosses, and Black workers are key to revolution.. Racism divides the working class. Capitalism needs both racism and sexism to divide and dispossess workers.

Borders are used to justify lower wages and devalue labor globally. U.S. imperialism depends on exploiting South American workers, with corporations like Dole funding death squads to ensure extreme violence and profit. But that’s not enough: prison labor drives production costs even lower. In Alabama, 40 percent of mostly Black prisoners’ meager wages are garnished—60 percent left is 3/5ths, a grotesque echo of slavery. Our imprisoned class siblings produce hundreds of millions in value while earning as little as 23 cents an hour.

Now, the same bosses building Cop Cities in NYC and Atlanta are opening super-prisons to detain deportees. Undocumented workers there earn $1 a day and pay $5 per phone call. It’s easy to imagine deals made where detainees “volunteer” to stay in exchange for avoiding deportation—creating racist concentration camps, suppressing wages, and enriching the ruling class.

Videos of ICE agents kidnapping children and students damage the U.S.’s carefully crafted image. U.S. imperialism is losing its ideological cover. The 50501 movement wants to abolish kings—but only to preserve the system that let Obama and Biden deport millions and cage children without media scrutiny. Kamala Harris, who made her name locking up Black youth, would’ve been a loyal servant of the empire.

U.S. liberalism is more dangerous than Trump’s vulgar racism. The Black working class, grounded in hard-won experience, is right to distrust liberal leadership. PLP’s role is to connect the dots: every struggle—wars against Iran, new Cop Cities, environmental destruction, racist deportations, fascist cops assassinating enemies—is part of a dying empire clinging to power. Fascism signals weakness. The only way to end this dying beast is with communist revolution.
*****