September 28 - The Radical Caucus of the Modern Languages Association (MLA) held an online conference, “Keywords: Complicity,” to examine how U.S. university administrations are now in full complicity with the Israeli-U.S. war machine, repressing pro-Palestinian campus protests. But it is not just now. Universities have always done the bidding of U.S. imperialism. They do war research, they host ROTC military officer training programs and they promote the so-called wonders of U.S. foreign policy. This is no accident as their Boards of Trustees are controlled by rich capitalists and powerful politicians. These ruling class controlled universities are systematically attacking radical faculty on a scale not seen since the anti-communist purges of the Cold War McCarthyism of the 1950s.

The conference started with the image of a tent in Gaza, with the words, “Thank You Columbia Students,” painted on the side, an image of international solidarity honoring the student protests. As more and more wars involving the world’s imperialist powers lead ever closer to world war, this kind of international solidarity is an important step in getting rid of capitalism once and for all with working class power. That’s communism.

Progressive Labor Party (PLP) members have been organizers in the Radical Caucus for many years and new members have joined PLP through this work. Many organizers joined the Caucus at the January MLA convention, where we successfully passed an anti-Zionist resolution. With another group, we are bringing a resolution on BDS (the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign) at the next MLA convention in January. 

Campus bosses back genocide

University bosses became accomplices in Israeli/U.S. genocide by attacking anti-war protests. Pro-Zionist organizations like the Academic Engagement Network (academicengagement.org) are often leading the national repression with plans that include new codes of conduct based on regulating the “time, place and manner” of campus protests. Federal, state, and local politicians push campus administrators to punish protesters with the lie that anti-Zionism equals antisemitism. Administrators are also under pressure from big donors and boards of trustees.
The rulers are demanding that their universities fall in line behind the imperialist genocide, while students and faculty are waging class war against capitalist control of our teaching, learning and action. As protests have grown university administrations have responded with more repression. Their liberal mask is slipping off, revealing the fascism needed to silence protest and wage wider wars.  

Worker-Student Alliance Is key

The first speaker, a historian, showed how McCarthyism set a precedent for the current attacks on pro-Palestinian protest, and told how at Yeshiva University this year the dean put pressure on the entire faculty to sign on to the Academic Engagement Network statement against BDS. Protesters have dubbed California State University “Boeing University” because of its severe repression and close ties to the warmaker aerospace corporation. The speaker told of their efforts to link up students and faculty with union workers in the Labor for Palestine coalition. The next panelist said that Indiana University was punishing faculty, including himself, so that the Board of Trustees could turn out “workers, not thinkers.” 

A colleague from New York University described his campus as a national leader in repression, with 150 student arrests, tighter campus “security” and working with the Academic Engagement Network.  At the University of Michigan a “farcical” policy banned poster images, the word “Palestine,” and even the name of the panelist on flyers announcing her lecture! 

No war but class war!

A National Day of Action is planned on April 17, with 100 campuses already organizing for it, and everyone will join the Caucus push for a BDS resolution at the next MLA convention. A prominent Marxist scholar called for a worker-student alliance to take on the campus repressive apparatus.

The universities pose as havens of free expression and higher learning. Actually they are part of U.S. capitalism with a higher dose of brainwashing. As the imperialist powers (U.S., China, Russia) head closer to world war, the universities cast aside their “neutrality” and become more open agents of U.S. imperialism. PLP fights for the working class to take power from the bosses with communist revolution. In all our work, we must raise that goal and build the Party. No war but class war!

The following is a reprint of an article published in 2017 when we celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution. It is one article of an extensive series about the Bolshevik Revolution and the triumphs, as well as the defeats, of the world communist movement of the 20th century.The following illustrates the Bolsheviks’ armed uprising in Petrograd on October 27 / November 7, 1917. It is often called “the Russian Revolution.” In fact, uprisings took place in a great many cities and towns.

In 1917, ordinary people took their lives into their own hands and remade their world. It was the most important event of the 20th century; for the first time in world history, workers seized state power and pioneered a worker-run society. The workers, organized in committees and councils, took over the means of production.

This event shook and influenced the whole world. The Soviet Union was an international beacon of hope for workers’ fighting to destroy the capitalists in their parts of the world.

More than 100 years later, the capitalists of the world are still haunted by what our class was able to accomplish. And so, they slander the achievements of our communist predecessors every chance they get, in every media outlet they own. Progressive Labor Party reflects on the mass heroism of our class on this centennial celebration of the Bolshevik Revolution.

The Uprising

After the overthrow of the monarchy, the Bolsheviks and workers formed the Soviets (meaning “worker councils”) of Workers’ Deputies (Moscow Bolsheviks) and of Soldiers’ Deputies. As in Petrograd, there was sympathy for the moderate socialist parties. But by September 24, the Bolsheviks received an absolute majority of seats in district dumas (359 seats out of 710).

On the night of October 24 to October 25, the Bolshevik uprising began in Petrograd. The Moscow Bolsheviks learned about it at noon on October 25 (November 7 on today's international standard calendar). That same day, the Party Combat Center was set up to lead the insurrection. That afternoon, the Combat Center began fighting.

Parts of the Moscow troops were on alert and ready to execute only orders issued by the Military Revolutionary Committee (MRC). The MRC were powerful directing bodies of revolt, installing and securing Soviet power. They stopped the publication of bourgeois newspapers and declared a general strike. Regional MRCs were created, military units that took the side of the Bolsheviks and their allies were put on alert. A provisional revolutionary committee was elected, since the executive committee of the Moscow Soldiers’ Soviet was in the hands of the Bolsheviks’ opponents.

Ten to twelve thousand workers, Red Guards, took to arms. District MRCs sent emissaries to factories and military units. On October 26, the Moscow MRC ordered all units of the Moscow garrison to combat readiness.

However, in Moscow there were perhaps as many as 20,000 Junkers (junior officers), all strongly anti-Bolshevik. The City Duma, headed by the rightwing socialist party, turned into a political center of resistance to the Bolsheviks. It relied mainly on cops and Junkers.

The chief of the Kremlin Arsenal agreed to give weapons to workers. But the Kremlin was blocked by detachments of Junkers. The commander of the Moscow Military District, Ryabtsev, requested loyal front troops while simultaneously entering into negotiations with the MRC.

On October 27, about 300 officers, cadets, and students loyal to the Provisional Government gathered at Moscow University and the Kremlin. The volunteer squad of students was called the “white guards,” the first time this term was used.

At 6 PM, colonel Ryabtsev and the Duma’s anti-revolutionary “Committee of Public Safety” (CPS) learned that troops were being sent from the front. Colonel Ryabtsev declared martial law and ordered the MRC to surrender. They refused. The same day Junkers attacked a detachment of revolutionary soldiers who were trying to break through to the Moscow City Council. Forty-five of the 150 people in the battle were killed or wounded.

Junkers Take the Kremlin

On the morning of October 28, colonel Ryabtsev demanded that the Bolsheviks surrender the Kremlin, claiming that the city was under his control. Not knowing the actual situation, Bolshevik leader Berzin did so. Then two companies of Junkers entered. Surviving soldiers later said that, after the prisoners handed over their weapons, they were shot. The counter-revolutionary forces bayonetted those who tried to flee.
The soldiers fought back. Six cadets and about 200 revolutionary soldiers were killed. Supporters of the CPS gained access to weapons from the Kremlin’s Central Arsenal.

At the call of the Bolshevik Party, the MRC, and city trade unions, a general political strike began. A meeting of soldier committees asked all the military units to support the MRC. By day’s end, the revolutionary forces blocked the city center. From October 28 to October 31, revolutionary soldiers seized the Bryansk railway station and provision warehouses, and stormed the headquarters of the Moscow Military District.

The morning of October 29 (November 11), the red soldiers dug trenches in the streets, built barricades and a stubborn struggle for the center of Moscow began. The Red forces launched an offensive, seizing the city hall. By 9 PM, the revolutionary troops occupied the telephone exchange and began shelling areas occupied by anti-Bolshevik forces, including the Kremlin. A truce was attempted but failed to hold. Anti-Bolshevik forces began to surrender to the forces of the revolutionary MRC.

On October 31 the MRC demanded unconditional surrender from the CPS. The Junkers, along with members of the counter-revolutionary CPS, were forced to move to the Kremlin and the Historical Museum.

On November 2 the shelling of the Kremlin by the Bolsheviks intensified and they occupied the Historical Museum. That night the Junkers left the Kremlin and agreed to disarm. A delegation of the CPS went to the MRC for negotiations. The MRC agreed to free all Junkers, officers and students provided they surrender their weapons.

On November 2, at 5 PM, the counterrevolutionary forces signed a surrender agreement. The MRC ordered a cease-fire, although in some areas the Junkers continued to resist and even attempted an offensive.

Finally, on November 3, the cadets, officers and students left the Kremlin and the building of the Alexander College. Many of them later joined the anti-Bolshevik Volunteer, or “White,” Army. Throughout Moscow, the Junkers were disarmed. A detachment of the Red Guard under the command of Comrade Petrov freed arrested revolutionary soldiers of the 56th regiment, led by the former commandant of the Kremlin’s arsenal, Comrade Berzin. The released prisoners were tortured and hungry. They had been kept without food for five days. Some were sick after all they had experienced as prisoners of the “Whites.” The liberated soldiers immediately grabbed the rifles abandoned by the Junkers and rushed at the colonel who had shot their comrades in the Kremlin, and at the Junkers holding grenades, and shot them on the spot.
On November 3, the manifesto of the MRC proclaimed the power of the Soviets of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies. During the uprising, the revolutionary forces suffered between several hundred and 1,000 killed and wounded.

Other Lessons

1. The Mensheviks entered the MRC from a desire “to mitigate the consequences of the insane adventure of the Bolsheviks.” Their participation made the actions of this body less decisive.

2. If the Bolsheviks had not had a very strong and numerous base among the workers and soldiers of Moscow, they could never have beaten the highly motivated military cadets, Junkers, officers, and the regular army soldiers they commanded.

The insurrection in Moscow was a series of hard-fought, bloody battles that took place over a whole week. The armed insurrection in Moscow proves that the Bolsheviks’ support among the workers, peasants, and soldiers, was broad and deep. The Bolsheviks had a strong base, won by years of hard, dedicated work, most of it under difficult, underground conditions.

Migrant workers and all deserve the best: communism

I  attended a rally  this past in defense of migrants against Trump’s racist deportations plan. Though we were small we were a mighty group of multiracial PL’ers. In addition to handing out hundreds CHALLENGES we distributed a leaflet we made explaining our politics as well as the flyers we’ve been using to solicit donations for a mutual aid effort I’ve been leading in my community at a local migrant shelter with the help of our PLP club. We handed out all the copies we had. Self critically we could have printed out more but we didn’t anticipate such a huge turnout. We figured threats by emboldened Trump supporters would would scare workers, but I was happy that this was not the case. Workers bravely took to the streets and many people were enthusiastic about our mutual aid work, and were interested in joining our efforts.

The DSA members joined the march and  had many signs reading. Socialism is better than Fascism. I asked one of them, ‘You know what’s better than socialism?’ No, what? ‘Communism.’ Not surprisingly the response was, ‘You are kidding.’ 

These DSA are yearning to achieve capitalism with wool mittens by voting. They are not seeking a revolutionary alternative - and those who are have not made the historical analysis that socialism reverts to capitalism. On a more positive note a  worker for  NY state health care said that the teachers’ union’s rejection of MediCareAdvantage benefitted all workers’ struggles for decent, affordable health care. He gladly took the CHALLENGE and thanked PLP for challenging the ‘Unity’ caucus leadership role in the UFT.

Overall it was a  spirited and militant march and we learned valuable political lessons. The first is to have confidence in the working class and working class bravery is a shining beacon that will lead the way. Let’s focus our efforts on building the world we really want to pass on to future generations. Fight for communism!
*****

CHALLENGE in the streets on election day

On election day, four comrades and I organized a CHALLENGE sale by a polling station in a mainly Black Caribbean neighborhood. Here’s how it went. 

Nearby, a street vendor sold t-shirts and hats. She had equal amounts of merch of both the klansman Donald Trump and the genocider Kamala Harris. The woman worker lamented that she didn’t print enough Trump merch, for those sold out while many Harris shirts stayed unsold. 
I used the backpage of CHALLENGE as a poster. The headline read, “Voting, the Big Con.” To draw attention, I called out generic slogans like,

“Trump and Harris are no friends of the working class!” and “We can’t vote our way to liberation—we need communism!”
This drew some attention. A Black woman took CHALLENGE, and she bemoaned the price of groceries and high inflation. “It’s especially because of these illegal immigrants.”

“I was an illegal immigrant…”

“Oh, well…not you,” she backpedaled. The conversation continued about jobs and the economy. She felt the ever-growing pressure of a system in crisis, and essentially chose a “me first” mindset, which pitted one section of the working class against another. The anti-immigrant racism that people feel compelled to conform to is a reflection of how badly the Democratic Party has failed the working class (see editorial on page 2). 
Class consciousness appears low, but because I know it was not always this way, I can trust that it will not always be this way. The period we are in requires patience with the people around us, but it also requires a sense of urgency and boldness. Self-critically, the five of us had a bullhorn, yet only one spoke. We distributed nearly 100 papers, half of what was anticipated. 

Next time, I will come prepared with some points to make on the mic. Canvassing the streets is uncomfortable, but the only way to get better is to do it. 

These next four years will provide us with many chances to respond to attacks with urgency. Let’s stay ready!
*****

Deport Trump, welcome international solidarity

On November 9th at Noon, workers gathered to protest Trump, and his plans to deport millions of migrants once in office. Trumpsters were said to gather as a counter protest. PL’ers said not without us! Nearly a dozen PL’ers joined the hundreds to show no fear, and to fight back against the racist ideology Trump and his cronies represent.

Together we were loud and high spirited. With loud drums marching down 59th Street and Park Ave while chanting ,”No Trump, no kkk, no fascist usa!” We distributed nearly 100 issues of CHALLLENGE and engaging In interesting conversations. One conversation with a worker watching the march said, “He remembers communism in the Soviet Union but I told him communism was never achieved and it was socialism that reverted the Soviet Union back to a capitalist state. He then said, “I can’t wait until you achieve communism with everything they accomplished”. I feel like that was a form of sarcasm, which is the problem with doing a march in an upper class area like Columbus circle. Which is dominated by the rich and a tourist area. 

However, it was great to shut down traffic on behalf of fighting racism.
*****

Fight racist displacement and anti-migrant nationalism

A comrade and I visited friends from past reform struggles we were involved in, in the predominantly Latin neighborhood of Pilsen. We learned the bosses are sowing division in the  housing struggle in Pilsen as a result of a new proposal to expand the Tax Increment Financing program (TIF). TIF is associated with racist displacement. The TIF program collects money in a special fund to spend on so-called “blighted” areas. TIF and the money for the fund has come from the property taxes on home price increases.  Those who are for TIF are duped by the bosses’ promises. The bosses promote the illusion that TIF would be a transfer from rich to poor, but the capitalist class is the ruling class that dominates the state and they use the TIF fund money for subsidies to Fortune 500 companies and luxury developments. When the capitalist class commands the state, reforms remain their tool. 

Many neighbors oppose TIF and are fighting racist displacement, but some are also hostile to the newly arrived migrant workers, mostly from Venezuela who are victims of imperialist displacement. I struggled with them around these contradictions. They brought up the many material hardships they face despite being property owners and operating small businesses. They also pointed out that they have undocumented family members they care for with no assistance from the government. They want to fight with the migrants over a shrinking pile of crumbs. The bosses only deliver these few crumbs because their profit system relies on racist divisions.

It’s possible some of the TIF opponents can be won to our line. But we must counter their racist ideas by fighting alongside them in the struggle. Progressive Labor Party (PLP) members and residents were able to do this when we mobilized a community defense brigade to watch for Trump’s promised immigration raids in 2020. Workers were won over to antiracist ideas through this struggle. As communists, we must continue to build class conscious communist fightback at the level of local politics by joining more fightbacks against racist and sexist policing.
*****

Check out these red books!

Several comrades are in a leftist book group, in which we’ve read and discussed non-fiction books like A People’s Guide to Capitalism by Hadas Thier, and What Is Anti-Racism and Why It Means Anti-Capitalism? by Arun Kundnani. We’ve just begun to readClass War: A Literary History by  Mark Steven.

For our first meeting, we were asked to come with two books or plays that had a positive influence on moving us to the left. Eleven of us met today and recommended the titles below. We think that CHALLENGE readers would enjoy these books. Please send in other titles you think are worthwhile.

Howard Fast (Freedom Road, Spartacus, My Glorious Brothers), Jack London (The Iron Heel), Lorraine Hansbery (A Raisin in the Sun), Alice Walker (The Color Purple), Charles Johnson (The Middle Passage), William Pomeroy (The Forest), Thomas Hardy (Jude the Obscure, Tess of the d’Urbervilles), Truman Nelson (The Surveyor), Myra Page (Moscow Yankee), John dos Passos (USA Trilogy), John Steinbeck (The Grapes of Wrath), Upton Sinclair (The Jungle), Ursula Le Guin (The Dispossessed), Emile Zola (Germinal), Cecilia Bobrovskaya (Twenty Years in Underground Russia), Steve Yarbrough (The Oxygen Man), Ousmane Sembene (God’s Bits of Wood), Anna Seghers (The Seventh Cross), Albert Maltz (The Cross and the Arrow), Suzanne Collins (Hunger Games), Veronica Roth (Divergent).

God’s Bits of Wood was written by Ousmane Sembene, the great African novelist and film director. His home of Senegal was a French colony when Sembene was drafted into the French army during WWII. After the war he returned to Senegal and took part in a long railroad strike against French authorities that began in 1947 and ended in 1948. God’s Bits of Wood tells the exciting story of that strike.

This is what was said about one of these books:

“Stowing away on a ship, Sembene traveled back to France and worked first in an auto factory and then on the docks in Marseille, where he joined the French Communist Party and became a labor militant in the communist-led CGT union. His novel Black Docker is based on these experiences.”

“One of the most satisfying aspects of God’s Bits of Wood is the important role that women take on in resuscitating and leading the strike, reminiscent of the film Salt of the Earth. It really is a terrific novel.”
*****

This year’s American Public Health Association’s annual meeting was in Minneapolis, the city that burned a police station over the murder of George Floyd. Progressive Labor Party members led rallies outside and inside the convention center to protest the APHA leadership’s unwillingness to entertain a sharper statement against genocide (See page ). This was a continuation of our fights against state violence that included a sharp position paper on police violence as a public health issue that passed in 2018 after three years of persistent struggle with APHA leaders. Of course they were glad to have such a position when George Floyd was killed in 2020 and this year we visited George Floyd Square.

This is a true memorial to his murder and the murders of so many others at the hands of the police which impacts families and communities. Party members and friends saw revolutionary art in real life here. Murals, flower beds, poetry, a “Say Their Names” cemetery and over two blocks of names in the street leading up to the central display. A community “tourist interrupter” shared the history of the neighborhood which had been ignored by city services including trash collection and medical emergency vehicles. Later at the conference we learned of an inspiring 10 year struggle by tenants nearby in  East Phillips to displace landlords and gain their own building. The reminder of the ceaseless murders by police in the U.S., the role of Israeli police training U.S. police and the ongoing genocide in Gaza sharpened our struggle against racism. At the conference we kept up the pace and distributed 900 APHA CHALLENGE fliers calling out the APHA for supporting genocide and met many public health workers also willing to join the fight. More work to do!