BALTIMORE, May 1 — Much of the working class loves and respects boldness in the fight against racism! Members and friends of Progressive Labor Party protested throughout Baltimore today in what was the beginning of a rebellion against racist murderers.
On the night of April 24, a modest-sized group marched through downtown and South Baltimore. They blocked traffic in support of the struggle to win justice for Freddie Gray, and for all victims of police brutality. Many motorists — both Black and white — were highly supportive, honking their horns in agreement, throwing clenched fists in the air, and sharing warm smiles. However, one driver with a confederate flag on his antenna drove threateningly, acting as if he would actually run us over. People courageously stood in front of his vehicle, stopped him, and one person, without hesitation, ripped off his confederate flag.
Burn That Racist Flag
The next day, the first huge rally was held. PL’ers sold hundreds of CHALLENGE and our leaflet was received with enthusiasm. Outside the Western District police station, a member of Progressive Labor Party spoke, held up that confederate flag, and explained where it came from. There was boisterous cheering and applause. Two people came up with cigarette lighters, and the flag was set ablaze! A photo, showing the burning of that racist flag inspired thousands. On social media it was shared and liked, tweeted and re-tweeted, again and again and again. People of all ethnic backgrounds — former students of the PL’er holding up the burning flag — sent message after message of admiration and encouragement.
Working-Class Anger Is Justified
We saw many, many clear demonstrations of workers’ anger. When Black police commissioner Anthony Batts came out to pacify the crowd outside the precinct, angry workers quickly surrounded him and refused to allow him to speak. He was hustled back inside by a group of cops. Workers challenged the police across the barricades, showing they had no illusions that any of the cops were their friends, white or Black. The 2.5-mile march from the precinct all the way down to City Hall was multiracial and multigenerational. Babies in strollers, youth, and elders marched. The slogan of the campaign “All Night, All Day, We will Fight for Freddie Gray!” was evident.
The rebellion shortly after the first huge march and rally. A large number of people marched from the City Hall rally to the baseball stadium. Massive lines of cops were deployed in an effort to control us. As it turned out, several cop cars were parked and empty, right next to us. The police lines were very close, barely half a block away. Nevertheless, young men — deeply angered by years of police racism, arrogance and brutality, and ready to take action after the outrageous killing of Freddie Gray — courageously smashed the windows of those parked cop cars. They also stood on top of the cars, at great personal risk, and fearlessly did as much as possible — in clear view of the cops and international media — to disable those vehicles. During all that time, the cops were unable to do anything.
A while later, due to the late hour, members of Freddie Gray’s family said they needed to head back to the Gilmore Homes neighborhood, where Freddie had lived and been murdered. A group of about 60 people, began the three-mile walk. On the way, the tire on another parked cop car was slashed, an effort was made to break out a cop car’s window, and cops — nervous, jumpy, and highly aggressive — showed up and grabbed one young man. Participants in our walking group made a strong effort to pull him away from the police, but weren’t quite able to do so. As we continued toward Gilmore Homes, the windows on several major businesses — just like the cop car windows — were smashed.
Several blocks later, however, we reached the outer edges of downtown, and began walking up Pennsylvania Avenue, a Black residential area. A couple of people among us spoke loudly and confidently, saying “We’re not downtown anymore. Don’t touch anything.”  Starting at that moment, and for the entire rest of our long walk, not a single person bothered anything. Two police hats with badges on them, which had been taken earlier, from the cop cars near the stadium, were passed around. Members of our large group were jubilant with having turned the tables, at least a little, against the racist police who took the life of much-loved Freddie Gray.
The experience of walking back to Gilmore Homes was profoundly inspiring. The working class showed deep hatred for oppression and racism; a readiness to fight powerfully and courageously against those forces; and a thoughtful, disciplined approach to differentiating between the property and symbols of the enemy, as opposed to the lives and belongings of our sisters and brothers, which are to be respected.
Role of Cops: Terrorize Workers
The ruling class — millionaire business owners — has a problem. On the one hand, to protect their system and keep making huge profits, they have to control us. That’s the purpose of police brutality today, much like the very first U.S. police department, whose purpose was to catch runaway slaves, brutalize them to set an example, instill fear in others, and then return them to slavery.
However, today’s ruling class, in addition to utilizing brutality, also needs to fool us into being loyal to this system. The major capitalists — like Rockefellers’ Exxon-Mobil — need to minimize our desire to rebel, and they also need us to fight and die for them, in their wars to accumulate cheap labor, resources, and markets all around the world. Fearing even greater rebellion if the cops weren’t at least slapped on the wrist, Baltimore City State’s Attorney, Marilyn Mosby, announced that the six cops who took Freddie’s life will face a variety of charges. This includes second-degree murder, manslaughter, assault, misconduct in office, and false imprisonment.
On the other hand, the rest of the Baltimore police — who previously brutalized and killed unarmed Anthony Anderson, Tyrone West and many others — have faced no charges at all, and remain on the force to this day. Since 2011, Baltimore City paid out over $5.7 million to more than 100 people who won court cases against the police for assault, false arrest and false imprisonment. Beyond the killings by Baltimore police, dozens of residents have suffered broken bones — jaws, noses, arms, legs, ankles — along with head trauma and organ failure.
Let’s be clear: the reason six cops have now been charged is not a commitment to justice. No, it’s the fear by the ruling class that there would be more and bigger rebellions and huge business losses if the cops who took Freddie Gray’s life were not at least charged. While those cops may not actually be indicted or tried and found guilty and serve any time, but something had to be done for the moment. After nothing was done in the high-profile cases of Mike Brown and Eric Garner, working-class anger is ready to boil over.
Guard Cheers Anti-Racists
Once the charges were announced, many people in Baltimore hit the streets to celebrate. That Mondawmin Mall was the site of some of the rebellion had taken place during the afternoon and night of April 27. There were many armed personnel carriers. Large numbers of National Guard soldiers stood shoulder to shoulder, each with an assault rifle. Amid the oncoming traffic, was an extensive, informal convoy of a different type. Many cars, one after another, had their horns honking, headlights flashing, and clenched fists jubilantly held out of windows and sun roofs, accompanied by shouts of joy. Left to right, a number of the Guardswomen and Guardsmen were giving the clenched-fist salute, in powerful solidarity with the motorcade participants.
During that day and the following week, over 3,000 communist flyers — announcing May Day, explaining the need for working-class revolution, and countering Obama, who called the rebels “thugs” — were distributed by Progressive Labor Party. Those flyers were eagerly taken by Baltimoreans — of all racial backgrounds — who, in addition to boldly standing up against police brutality, are now more interested than ever in re-considering their opinions about capitalist society, and how to win a new world without racism.
One day, large sections of the military, along with the rest of the working class, will indeed rise up to defeat capitalism and create a new, communist world of sisterhood and brotherhood. This week, many of us saw glimmers of that bright and inevitable future!