Newark,NJ, November 16 — Forty students and workers organized by PLP gathered in a church to plan a fightback once the grand jury decision is announced for racist killer kkkop Darren Wilson. This is the second gathering that we have held since September on this issue and mobilize our friends to hit the streets against these racist attacks.
Our attendance doubled since the September event, and we heard more workers talk about “the system” rather than just individual cops and politicians. Our job is to struggle with workers to realize that “the system” is capitalism, and that the only way to defeat it is through communist revolution.
After a socializing hour, a series of speakers illustrated the importance of fighting these racist attacks as well as the potential to win many to communist ideas along the way. The first speaker gave an overview of the attacks on black and Latin workers under capitalism. From the prison industrial complex to police murder, the speaker showed how anti-black racism has increased in this “post-racial era.”  
KKKapitalism Killed Kyam, Mike
The second speaker, Anita Neal, mother of Kyam Livingston, gave a passionate speech about how the racist NYPD murdered her daughter and the struggle in the fight against the state. This struggle has taught her that the entire system needs to change, and that the fight for all young people, not just her daughter, is a fight we all need to be involved in — from police murder to the racist educational system.
A third speaker gave an eyewitness account about the struggle in Ferguson. While detailing the daily fights between the protestors and cops, he talked about the lessons that he derived from this struggle and the potential for many of these workers to be won to communist ideas.
Detailing one of his conversations with young protesters in Ferguson, he discussed the concept of communist revolution. He recalled how many of the young protestors want to change “the system” but are still struggling over the idea of communist revolution. His speech highlighted the militancy of the youth in Ferguson and how they are continuously fighting back against these attacks.
The event shows both the strengths and weaknesses of the working class at this point in the class struggle. While we are hearing more workers talk about police murder and the mass incarceration of black and Latin workers, it also shows that we have a lot of work to do to win workers to see that without a communist analysis, we will never win. For example, the election of Ras Baraka in Newark spreads the illusion that workers have power under capitalism (see CHALLENGE 11/26). Even if Darren Wilson were to be convicted of murder, there will be more young black men killed by the cops.
Many of us in New Jersey made plans inside of our mass organizations to hit the streets the night that the verdict for Darren Wilson is announced. Many other organizations are planning demonstrations for the day after. We know that there is going to be a lot of anger regardless of the verdict. Our job is to turn that anger against Wilson and other racist cops into anger at a system that kills, imprisons, and exploits all workers — especially black and Latin workers. We must name that system: CAPITALISM.

CHICAGO — A hospital on the west side promotes itself as a “national model for urban health care delivery,” but is chronically understaffed.  Understaffing and speeding up workers helps the bosses save money, but they also undercut the medical care workers provide to patients.  Since most of the patient population is black and Latin in this part of Chicago, understaffing helps continue racist oppression.  But workers here are fighting back!
A letter was circulated that explained how understaffing and a lack of equipment are risks to patient safety, and it requested that additional staff in the Respiratory Care Dept. be hired.  Over sixty workers signed the letter, which was given to the chief operating officer and board of directors at their annual meeting.
The bosses were angry and embarrassed that workers dared to present grievances at their board meeting.  They were more concerned about being exposed and humiliated than about the rotten conditions faced by workers and their patients every day.  They subsequently decided to interview all the signatories to the letter and question each person as to how inadequate staffing levels could be solved.  Most workers responded by telling them to hire more workers.
It’s no secret that the hospital is understaffed and lacks adequate equipment, but they wanted to frighten workers who signed the letter.  Instead, they found out how passionately workers felt about patient care and the lack of staff.  As a result, a couple of positions were opened, but many workers are doubtful that conditions will improve much, because of how bad things have been for so long.  Yet workers have expressed approval for the bold action in confronting the bosses.
The workers’ response to this struggle shows how workers can be organized to fight back against abuses.  It is the job of the Progressive Labor Party to point out that the capitalist system is always abusive, and conditions will continue to worsen without a communist revolution.  More workers are taking the Party’s ideas more seriously.  The more workers that read and distribute CHALLENGE, the closer we’ll be to solving inadequate staffing and a lack of equipment.

THE BRONX, November 20 — One of the many capitalist lies that we are force-fed is that workers are essentially selfish and lazy, looking out for only ourselves. But we don’t need to look far to see that despite the barrage of individualist ideas from the media and schools, workers are usually ready to stand together and fight back.
A multiracial group of 20 students and professors showed this capitalist lie for what it is at the Bronx Community College (BCC) today. Led by Progressive Labor Party, and a campus club of mainly black and Latin students, the group demonstrated against the racist murder of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri and the disappearances of 43 students in Guerrero, Mexico. Every student left with a copy of CHALLENGE and some even signed up to travel to Ferguson!
In response to “natural” (read: caused by capitalist inequalities and racism) disasters or racist police murders, we can witness solidarity among workers at an international level. The bosses’ biggest lie, that workers can’t run society and communism can’t work, is laid bare in these situations.
We marched in front of the campus and down University Avenue, chanting “Hey, hey, ho, ho, racist cops have got to go!” and “How do you spell racist? N-Y-P-D!” In fact, many of the chants were about the racist NYPD, which speaks to another truth that workers and students know: cops in New York are the same as cops in Ferguson, in Chicago, in Mexico: racist, vicious, and ready to kill workers and students. Passersby nodded their heads, honked their horns in solidarity, and took CHALLENGE.
Rely Only on the Working Class
No one in the crowd was from Missouri or Mexico or knew Mike Brown or any of the missing students. But here was the solidarity of workers that emerges all over the world. The attack is on the same class everywhere. We felt compelled to march because, as one speaker put it, we know that only we the working class can make change. The cops aren’t going to do it, the politicians aren’t going to do it. It’s up to students and workers. Some spoke of being optimistic, despite our relatively small numbers. “This is just the beginning,” said one speaker. “Every big movement started out small,” said another.
A professor reported about a concurrent demonstration at Hostos Community College, another City University New York. This Hostos rally was held after professors heard about the boldness of students at BCC. Everyone agreed that we would be ready to demonstrate again the day of the grand jury’s verdict about whether or not to indict Darren Wilson.
This club, full of revolutionary potential, is an incubator for the kind of fightback that we need to build a communist movement. The key to winning is to organize black, Latin, and immigrant students on campus, those who bear the brunt of the bosses’ attacks. PLP is working to bring more and more students around to see that the fight has just begun, and that abolishing racism means abolishing capitalism.

LOS ANGELES, November 6 — Nearly one hundred students participated in forums to discuss the mass deportations of immigrant workers under the Obama administration. It was organized at University of California Los Angeles and a nearby Cal State University. This discussion took place in the build-up to Obama’s announcement of an executive order to grant approximately five million undocumented immigrants a temporary reprieve from deportations. Students from the Progressive Labor Party participated in these discussions and are building a base for the Party’s ideas among other students. This includes  inviting Ezell Ford’s (25-year-old black man killed by the cops on August 11) family to speak at a future event on campus to discuss how students can build a multiracial response to racist police terror.
The main speaker at the campus forums argued that mass deportations and the building of a police state are symptoms of capitalism in crisis and the need for compliant, flexible and disposable labor, both U.S. urban centers and in Latin America. PL students drew the connection between the racist killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri and the police terror experienced by immigrant families fearing deportation.
From Debate to
Demonstration
In the weeks following these forums,  PL students involved in immigrant rights groups have helped organize regular weekly protests. They  “chanted down the walls” outside of the Los Angeles Metropolitan Detention Center demanding the release of undocumented immigrants being processed for deportation. As protestors rally outside the detention center, immigrant workers who can be seen through their cell windows wave back. Last week, students connected the fight against anti-immigrant racism to solidarity actions in support of the 43 Ayotzinapa college students who were disappeared. An outdoor teach-in and rally was held on campus. Later that day students participated in a mass mobilization of approximately 500 people who occupied 6th street in front of the Mexican Consulate and McArthur Park in solidarity with Ayotzinapa.
Connecting the racist policing of immigrant workers, black youth and our working-class sisters and brothers in Mexico is critical during this period. We need to encourage students and workers to fight against the oppression of global capitalism, as exemplified by the working class in Ferguson and Ayotzinapa. As we continue to build the Party, our abilities to move masses of workers into battle against the root of the oppression in both places will bring the day when we can abolish racism and borders for good!