Facebook Instagram Twitter YouTube

Black Struggle and Revolutionary Socialism

The fight for Black liberation is, and always has been, part and parcel of the struggle against capitalism. Here we present Left Voice militant and editorial board member Julia Wallace’s speech on Black struggle that was delivered at the recent Latin American and United States Conference, called by the organizations of the Left Front in Argentina.

Julia Wallace

August 7, 2020
Facebook Twitter Share

Comrades in struggle, 

This is the month of Black August — a holiday created by Black revolutionaries in the U.S. honoring the Haitian Revolution, the Nat Turner slave uprising, and the freedom of political prisoners. As I speak these words, youth are in the streets across the United States. They are having battles with federal troops in Portland where the battles have been militant and unrelenting. 

There are less people in the streets but the battles continue with fury. The fury of the uprisings is directed against the police, who are racist, violent, corrupt bigots all over the country, and the world. The combination of the economic crisis and the pandemic — both of which hit Black people in more extreme consequences than any other groups in the country — was the perfect storm. 

The movement has been led by Black people, but includes a multi-racial sector of mostly young people. We’ve also seen some labor actions for Black lives, like the West Coast port strikes and countless statements from unions supporting the Black Lives Matter movement. 

As my comrade Jimena already explained on Thursday, the Democrats are attempting to present themselves as the alternative to Trump, trying to co-opt the movement as they’ve done many times before. I am not going to repeat what she said, but only stress that any opposition to Trump must be accompanied by a clear delimitation of the Democratic Party. 

I want to make clear also the relationship between racism and capitalism. From Lenin to Trotsky, our tradition has long discussed that Black struggle has to be a central concern of revolutionary socialists. This mantle must be taken up by Trotskyists today. 

And we are aware that the only actor that has the power to defeat racism, and all forms of oppression until the end, is the working class. Racism is an enemy of the working class. So we fight for workers’ hegemony, we push our organizations to take up the fight against racism here and now. 

In our workplaces, we are part of the rank-and-file movement fighting to expel cops out of our unions, schools, and workplaces, against the union bureaucracy. The police are not workers — they are our class enemies. 

The uprisings happening are against the police strangling George Floyd to death. In the U.S., police unions have defended the assaults, rapes, and murders by the police. They are rife with white supremacists. 

It is absurd to advocate for police unions! Why would we want our class enemies to have higher wages and better organization? No! No cops in our unions.

We also need to fight for our unions to take an active role in uniting the struggles that are affecting people right now: the coronavirus is on the rise in the U.S., and yet the capitalists want to send teachers back to overcrowded classrooms. Unemployment benefits are ending, as are eviction moratoriums, while Jeff Bezos and other capitalists make massive profits. 

And further, throughout the pandemic, U.S. imperialism has continued to wreak havoc across the world. It continues to drop bombs in places like Iraq, to build the racist border wall, and to deport immigrants to Central America. Likewise, the Republicans and Democrats are united in their hostile policy towards China.

That’s why as Left Voice, we are part of the multi-racial Black led struggle against police brutality and structural racism. We participate in the occupation in New York, we are healthcare workers on the front line of the pandemic, and our comrades were arrested for being at protests. 

We are in our unions fighting to expel the police. With 500 thousand visits a month, Left Voice is a known advocate for a socialist perspective in the fight against racism and for the democratic self-organization of the sectors in struggle. 

Our publication is playing a central role in regrouping the revolutionaries in the US, demanding that the DSA break with the Democratic Party, and laying the ground to build a revolutionary organization for the fourth international at the center of U.S. empire. 

Facebook Twitter Share

Julia Wallace

Julia is a contributor for Left Voice and has been a revolutionary socialist for over ten years. She served on the South Central Neighborhood Council in Los Angeles and is a member of SEIU Local 721. Julia organizes against police brutality and in defense of LGBTQ, women, and immigrants' rights. When she's not actively fighting the patriarchy, white supremacy and/or capitalism, she enjoys many things: she loves Thundercat, plays ultimate frisbee and is a founder of the team, "Black Lives Hammer."

United States

A Pause in Genocide Is Not Enough: Jewish Voice for Peace Shuts Down the Manhattan Bridge

Amid a pause in Israel’s offensive on Gaza, Jewish Voice for Peace is showing that the movement for Palestine will continue. Civil disobedience must lead to broad protests which bring all sectors of the movement together.

Samuel Karlin

November 26, 2023
Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdel Hamid, and Tahseen Ahmed wearing Keffiyes. They were shot in Burlington, Vermont, USA.

The Three Palestinians Shot in Burlington Are Victims of Rising Islamophobia

Three Palestinian men were shot in Burlington Vermont while walking down the street. The campaign against Palestine has dehumanized all Palestinians and left them more vulnerable to these types of attacks.

Enid Brain

November 26, 2023
A rally with people holding signs and a banner reading "Full funding"

Student Workers Stand Up for CUNY and Palestine

Attacks on CUNY and CUNY activists are an attack on all working people and students. Workers and students united can fight back.  

Olivia Wood

November 25, 2023

Protestors Disrupt Thanksgiving Parade With One Message: End Genocide, Don’t Celebrate It

This Thanksgiving, pro-Palestine protestors and Indigenous people refuse to allow the whitewashing of past and ongoing genocide.

Emma Lee

November 23, 2023

MOST RECENT

Robert Habeck Wrote a Play Praising a Right-Wing Mass Murderer

Germany's Green vice chancellor strikes many as an idealist who has been struggling with the tough realities of government. Yet before he was a national politician, he wrote a play that opens a window into a dark soul.

Nathaniel Flakin

December 1, 2023

The World Kissinger Built Must Die Too

Henry Kissinger died at 100 years old. But his legacy remains in the brutal world system he built and the future generations of imperialist ghouls he inspired. They all must go.

Samuel Karlin

November 30, 2023

Fact Check: Did German Leftists Try to Bomb West Berlin’s Jewish Community Center in 1969?

Answer: No. The bombing was undertaken by West Germany’s domestic secret service, originally founded by Nazis.

Nathaniel Flakin

November 29, 2023
Protesters in NYC for Palestinian liberation.

Uniting Workers for Palestine Is a Fight for the Future of Labor

The struggle for Palestine shows the potential for the rank and file to push unions to break with imperialism and to build a new, combative, and internationalist unionism.

Tatiana Cozzarelli

November 27, 2023