Washington, DC, April 2025â Students at Howard (a traditionally Black university) set up pro-Palestine encampment
Why I Went: Reflecting On Black Workers Sitting Out April 5th
âWhat you doing this weekend?â my sister asked
âIâm going to the Hands Off Our Rights rally,â I said, pulling out a stack of Red Flags. âWeâre mobilizing folks, handing these out.â
She raised her eyebrows. âYou sure thatâs a good idea? It might not be safe for Black folks.â
It wasnât the first time Iâd had this conversation. âI get it. But this is bigger than one group or one protest. I organize workersâBlack, white, brown, immigrant, citizen. All of us. If I sit this out because itâs risky, what does that mean for the folks who canât?â
The April 5 protests stirred complicated and valid feelings among Black workers.
Many of us didnât vote Trump into office. Many of us fought for our rights long before his name hit headlines. So when Democratic Party forces organize these rallies under banners of âdefending democracy,â some Black workers ask: Where was this energy when we were being killed by police? When our housing was stripped from us? When we were locked out of union jobs?
Some are choosing to sit this one outânot because they donât care, but because theyâve seen this movie before. The capitalist media have always been quick to portray Black protesters as âviolent,â âaggressive,â or âa threat to public safety.â Even when weâre peaceful, even when weâre marching alongside others. And with the growing militarization of police and fears of martial law, I canât blame anyone for choosing to stay home. Survival is also a political decision.
Another Black comrade told me: âIâm sitting this one out. I want to see if these white workers are really gonna show up when racismâs on the table too.â
Thatâs true. Solidarity gets tested when racial lines get drawn. Will the same people chanting âHands off our rights!â march when a Black worker is targeted? Will they show up when itâs not just about reproductive rights, or trans rights, or workersâ rights generallyâbut about the specific ways Black people experience state violence, economic exploitation, and political neglect?
Her decision not to protest was a demand. A challenge. One I think we all need to sit with. Still, I participated, not as another voice to protect our rights, but as a communist organizer who wants to win workers, students, and soldiers to our side. Not because I think weâve already built the multiracial unity we needâbut because we havenât.
Class struggle across racial lines in America does exist. Period! Thatâs what gives our party confidence that the masses can defeat this divisive system.
And we have built that unity in our party, so we know itâs possible. But itâs not enough. Which is exactly why I go.
Capitalism thrives on division. Fascism feeds on fear. But workersâunited workersâcan burn it all down and build something new in its place. This is how our party operates.
An elder Black comrade was shocked that people said on social media that the ancestors were telling us to stay home. âWe have learned from our ancestors,â she said. âBut today we can see beyond what they saw. We can see the possibility of communist revolution. I would be out there talking about that if I were still physically able.â
Thatâs why I carry Red Flag. Not just for myself, but for every comrade who canât be there. For every worker, student, and person who is questioning how we can change this capitalist system.
Weâre not free until we all are. And we wonât get there unless we mobilize across differences to build a mass ICWP.
âComrade in Los Angeles (USA)
Read our Pamphlet:
“To End Racism: Mobilize the Masses for Communism” here