In 2026, as was the case over 500 hundreds years ago, Black workers remain the most brutally attacked section of our class. Now as then, they must help take the lead in building an international communist movement. U.S. history is a chronicle of genocide, slavery, segregation, and enduring racist oppression. Black workers have less invested in the capitalist status quo. Since racism infects all relations within the profit system, they stand to hold fewer illusions about “justice” or “democracy” under the bosses’ dictatorship. 

Though not immune to the false hope of reformism, Black workers are better equipped to understand its limits. As the young rebels in Ferguson declared: “The whole damn system has to go!” And so: Black workers are a key revolutionary force because of their basis for class consciousness—for class solidarity with all workers and class hatred of all capitalist rulers. 

Our Party has developed the understanding that racism and capitalism are bound together. One cannot exist without the other. Only an international communist revolution can liberate the world’s working class from the ravages of racist imperialism. Only a united, multiracial working class can win the fight for communism. Black workers are central to that struggle. 

Workers in general are degraded by capitalism. As a class, we have nothing to lose but our chains. Latin, Muslim, Asian, and women workers all suffer under special oppression by the U.S. ruling class. From the U.S. and Mexico to Europe and the Middle East, immigrant workers—most of them dark-skinned—are terrorized and scapegoated at the fault lines of rising fascism. 

Anti-Black racism is a global epidemic. Black workers have an especially urgent case to revolt and smash the bosses’ state. Throughout U.S. history, from the time they were brought from Africa by force as a pool of no-wage labor, they have served at the forefront of every working-class movement: the war against slavery, the struggle for civil rights, the mass strikes against the industrial bosses, the fights for jobs and housing and decent schools, and led the fight in Vietnam against the U.S. military. Wherever workers have confronted the profit system and its parasites, Black workers have stood at the front lines. 

Wherever workers have confronted the profit system and its parasites, Black workers have stood at the front lines. 

Black workers have always fought back

Workers everywhere have always fought back against the bosses, with Black workers frequently leading the way. This tradition dates to the time of enslaved workers running away, many of whom fled to the mountains. They created self-sufficient communities and defended themselves with armed violence, as necessary. 

In 1739, the Stono Rebellion involved as many as 60 enslaved workers in the British colony of South Carolina. The colony’s legislature was so terrified that it placed a costly 10-year moratorium on the import of Black slaves from Africa. The bosses’ property and lives were at risk. 

In the 1790s, the Haitian Revolution defeated Napoleon Bonaparte’s army and repelled British and Spanish invaders, abolishing slavery in the richest colony in the Caribbean. These Black liberators spread fear among enslavers throughout the Western Hemisphere. They inspired hundreds of rebellions throughout the Americas, all of them violent.

In 1831, Nat Turner led more than 60 slaves and Black freedmen in blazing a bloody trail through Virginia. The rebels did away with Turner’s master and the master’s family, then terrorized the owners of 15 other plantations. Turner inspired John Brown, who led a multiracial group in an 1859 attack on a federal arsenal in West Virginia. The raid on Harpers Ferry sparked the American Civil War to end chattel slavery. 
Over the two centuries preceding the Civil War, historians have documented more than 250 uprisings involving 10 slaves or more on U.S. territory alone.

In the Caribbean, rebellions like the First Maroon War in Jamaica (1728-1741) grew into all-out military combat. After the Maroons repeatedly defeated British forces, the imperialists were forced to sign a peace treaty.

In 1760, an even larger rebellion in Jamaica called Tacky’s War became “a massive shock to the imperial system.” Black workers from the North and newly freed slaves from the South played a vital role in the U.S. Civil War (see “Marx and Du Bois,” p. 18). In the aftermath, the victorious Union capitalists—Rockefeller, Morgan, Vanderbilt, Carnegie—relied on racism to keep workers divided.

In the North, mainly white and immigrant workers waged fierce battles against steel, railroad, and coal industrialists. In the South, mainly Black workers—often led by women like Ida B. Wells, a former slave—fought against lynching and other racist abuses throughout the Jim Crow era. 
Between 1898 and 1902, rising U.S. imperialism defeated Spain and then attacked Filipino independence fighters in the Philippine-American War.

The Filipino warriors, many of whom identified as Black, made antiracist, class-conscious appeals to Black U.S. soldiers. As one wrote, “Why don’t you fight those people in America who burn Negroes, that make a beast of you, that took a mother’s child and sold it?" In a foreshadowing of the Vietnam War, many Black U.S. soldiers deserted.

Black workers are a key revolutionary force because of their role in the U.S. military, where they represent 17 percent of active-duty enlisted men and 30 percent of active-duty enlisted women. They will play a major part in the next global war—and in turning an imperialist war for profit into a class war for communist revolution. Black workers are a key revolutionary force because of their disproportionate numbers in basic U.S. industry and transportation. Within major U.S. cities and metropolitan areas, Black workers are concentrated in mass transit, health care, education, the U.S. Postal Service, UPS, and FedEx. They retain the potential to shut down major population centers and critical infrastructure.
If our class is to seize and hold state power throughout the world, Black workers and their leadership are essential for another fundamental reason. Our class cannot possibly destroy racism—the lifeblood of capitalism—without their leadership.

In the shadow of the fascist ICE crackdown throughout the U.S., about 30 workers and students from Northern and Southern California joined together for our annual Progressive Labor Party (PLP) political retreat. New and veteran members of the Party and their base came together to discuss political theory, its relationship to practice in this period of growing fascism and looming imperialist war, and ways to build the Party and advance the fight for communist revolution.

Why capitalism can't be fixed

The first session of the weekend focused on political eonomy, a document that demonstrates that capitalism cannot be reformed to meet the needs of the workers because it is structurally based on commodity production for profit, not the well-being of workers. Party members created presentations linking theory from Karl Marx’s Capital to current-day examples. They pointed out that workers are forced to sell their labor in order to survive. They explained that only human labor can add value to raw materials. Workers’ labor is thus the source of capitalists’ “surplus value.” 

We discussed how capitalists compete with each other to make as much profit as possible in order to beat out their competitors. When technology advances, individual capitalists lay off workers in order to use this change to produce commodities more cheaply than other capitalists. But soon all competing capitalists are using the new technology. And each capitalist projects that they are going to take a bigger share of the market than they will. The presenters pointed out that these basic elements of capitalism make it inherently unstable, causing cycles of overproduction, economic crisis, and mass hardship for workers. To maintain profits, capitalists attack wages, expand repression, consolidate monopolies, engage in speculation, and turn to war and fascism.

What is our role in fighting fascism?

Our Black and brown class siblings have long been terrorized by the naked brutality of this racist capitalist system. The events in Minneapolis prove without a shadow of a doubt that we are moving toward full-blown fascism. This means that the bosses are no longer able to use democracy to hide the brutality of their system, leading to heightened racist attacks on Black, Latin, and immigrant workers—and, ultimately, attacks on the entire working class. Protesting fascist ICE raids has become a death sentence for white workers, as it has always been for Black and brown workers. 

The second session focused on how our Party must adapt to a prolonged period of fascism and severe capitalist crisis, as well as impending imperialist wars. We discussed why and how we should have a long-term approach to working in mass organizations. 

The third session focused on the dead end of electoral politics. Even the most “progressive” politicians such as Zohran Mamdani, AOC,  and Bernie Sanders cannot give workers what we need. Their role is to squash revolutionary sentiment. The liberals’ role is to convince the working class that capitalism can be reformed. But we in the PLP know that it isn’t just about government-run grocery stores or free child care. The root of all workers’ misery is capitalism, which cannot be voted out, but must be uprooted and consigned to the graveyard of history. 

In the final session members of the Party and their base discussed plans for our respective areas in Northern and Southern California. May Day committees were formed so that we can plan large marches and celebrations. Our retreat was brought to a close on a very positive note when two of the workers who participated announced they wanted to join PLP. All in all, this was a very positive event for our Party, with our growth proving that our confidence in the working class to rise to this historic occasion is well-placed and with many comrades recommitting to the struggle for a communist world!

BROOKLYN, January 15 – How do we as school workers connect with our students’ families when school-sponsored events are mostly remote since COVID? At our school, we decided to organize a school-wide, in-person community event highlighting student projects, art, and music.

Over 150 family members attended our project and arts showcase organized by the anti-ICE rapid response team at our school. Progressive Labor Party (PLP) members are active in this team.

The turnout showed just how hungry families are for connection, solidarity, and collective action. It was a step in breaking down the isolation built under capitalism and magnified since COVID, and a step towards building a communist world run by our  students who are the future of the working class.

ICE out of our schools!

Comrades have been organizing this anti-ICE committee since last year, with as many as two dozen staff members working together to create a response to safeguard our students in case ICE is in the neighborhood or shows up at school. This committee has been pushed forward by the antiracist, pro-student sentiment of a group of dedicated staff members. Most in the group receive CHALLENGE on a consistent basis, showing growing openness to communist ideas. Last year, we also organized a school-wide Know Your Rights assembly to show students that their teachers care about them and are willing to stand up against the fascist kidnappings of our immigrant brothers and sisters.

This year, as ICE raids have ramped up across the country, we knew we had to step it up and reach our students’ families directly. We wanted families to know that we want to connect with them, defend them, and organize with them. Along the way, we had a political struggle over whether Zohran Mamdani’s election would mean a safer city for the working class. There was resounding agreement that no politician will be able to stem the tide of rising fascism. We have to organize with our students and parents to fight back. This understanding reflects over 20 years of communist organizing at the school, including countless rallies and antiracist struggles to defend students against the NYPD, school segregation, and budget cuts. As communists, we understand the importance of challenging the culture of passivity that the bosses push.

At the event itself, students presented projects highlighting important social and political issues impacting society today, including gentrification, the MTA budget cuts, organized resistance against slavery and so much more. Student artwork and music were also showcased. A potluck brought together this multi-racial parent and student body, with families eating delicious food and celebrating student work together. 
Our committee also organized a food pantry to support families facing food insecurity due to food stamp budget cuts or ineligibility for aid. Students helped organize the pantry, pack bags of food, and distribute them to anyone who wanted. Under capitalism, neither housing nor food, healthcare, or education are guaranteed. That is why we need to fight for communism, a society where the working class is in charge and will guarantee these basic human rights. 

How to respond to fascist attacks by ICE

Over 40 family members packed into a classroom for the ‘Know Your Rights’ workshop organized by our committee; this workshop was the driving force behind the school-wide event. We presented our plans to help keep students safe from NYPD and ICE attacks. We shared how we’ve organized ICE watches in the neighborhood and had to jump into action just months ago after reports of ICE activity nearby. We also discussed a Department of Education email sent to some NYC high schools detailing plans to immediately arrest any student found with a “weapon.” While some parents initially thought this would improve safety, they were shocked to learn that “weapons” could include items like forks or safety pins. Involving the NYPD immediately opens the door for ICE to access vulnerable students. Although the DOE claimed the email was sent in error, it has not been retracted in schools.

Parents signed up to join our committee and participate in ongoing organizing efforts. Families also took part in an activity writing messages of solidarity on butterflies to build a bulletin board welcoming all students. These small acts help break down the racist and nationalist walls that capitalist media and schools work overtime to build. We ended the workshop by inviting families to join us the next morning for a before-work rally across the street from the school. 

The next morning, about 20 staff members, joined by a few students, rallied in frigid temperatures. With signs in hand we chanted for working-class, multi-racial unity and fightback against the vast number of capitalist attacks we are witnessing: school budget cuts, food and healthcare budget cuts, imperialist wars, but mainly racist ICE raids and killings. This was the fourth rally we’ve held since last June, and we received enthusiastic support from passing vehicles, MTA buses, and waves of students on their way to school. 

We need communism!

A teacher and Party member spoke about the society our students deserve. Capitalism, organized for the profit of a few at the expense of most, offers only war, instability, and police terror. Students everywhere deserve better. We must continue to organize worker-student-parent multi-racial unity to fight against all of these attacks. But unless we win our co-workers, our students, our families, to the understanding that capitalism must be smashed once and for all, we will be on a hamster wheel of forever fight-back. 

It is the task of communists to be bold in sharing our solution, the need for communist revolution. Admittingly, it is easier to write that in an article than to struggle to overcome anti-communist ideas and develop the confidence that the working class will heed our call. There is no short cut. Fight for communism! We have nothing to lose but our chains.

On Friday, January 30th, Progressive Labor Party members and friends at a university in Kentucky decided to hold a demonstration in response to the call from workers in Minneapolis for a general strike and a national day of action. At first, the plan was to stage a sit-in inside one of the university’s main buildings where there was a Starbucks and a burger spot. Unfortunately, our numbers were too small because of the snow and ice which had kept most people from being out on campus, and so we decided instead to go out into the cold and demonstrate in the campus’ main plaza. 

Despite not many students being outside due to the weather, as soon as we went out and started chanting, some immigrant workers nearby heard us chant “ICE out of Kentucky now!” They stopped working to chant with us. At first we weren’t sure whether to go over to them or not (they were a distance away and there was lots of ice on the ground between us and them) but suddenly one of the workers came over to us and asked us if we were protesting against ICE. We promptly responded yes to which he became ecstatic and immediately started asking for literature and more information. In rural Kentucky it’s very rare to see anti-racist actions like the one we held, so our presence was a surprise, especially considering the icy conditions keeping most people at home. We exchanged info and told him we’d let him know as soon as possible if we caught wind of any ICE activity. 

Afterwards, we moved closer to the dining hall where there was more traffic, and we gave out flyers linking the ICE terror in Minneapolis to rising fascism and capitalism in crisis. Most people took them gladly and were supportive. Eventually we moved to another spot to try and take advantage of even more traffic and less snow on the ground to give out more literature, handing out a combined total of 100 flyers and CHALLENGEs while comrades gave as speeches.  

One comrade’s voice became hoarse from leading chants which caused one of the other comrades to go into the Starbucks and grab some tea. After she returned a Starbucks worker came out behind her and gave everyone free hot chocolate in an inspiring act of working-class solidarity! 

Energized from the love and support we received from students and workers on campus, comrades began to go up and give impromptu speeches on the bullhorn. One comrade gave a speech calling out the university administration for their fascist behavior, demanding that they make the university a sanctuary for migrants. Another comrade read a poem that showed the similarities between fascism in Nazi Germany and what we are seeing today in the U.S. Another comrade went up and gave a speech about working-class solidarity and how we all have an interest in fighting against fascism because we all share the horror of living under this system. And another comrade spoke about how Minneapolis is just a testing ground, emphasizing how we need to prepare and organize for the bosses’ fascist behavior to be repeated in other cities and states, and explaining that only a communist revolution can stop fascism dead in its tracks.