Tampa FL – A dozen Tampa Bay activists gathered on May Day weekend to commemorate International Workers Day. Members of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) held a Fight Back! fundraiser. They explained the history of International Workers Day, discussed strategy for revolution and explained the importance of having a newspaper that favored the people’s movements.

FRSO members gave speeches about the historical turning points for the working class, such as the general strike and massive protests that led to the Haymarket Square Massacre. They discussed the brutality of the police against the strikers and the bravery of the protesters. The speakers concluded with the need for socialism and for state power to go into the hands of the working class.

Everyone donated to the paper and then participated in a rich question-and-answer session. Activists discussed concrete ways to support organized labor and the people’s movements, including writing for and distributing Fight Back! Participants criticized corporate news outlets for only presenting the views of wealthy politicians, bankers and CEOs.

Elizabeth A’ya, with Tampa Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) said, “ Fight Back! consistently reports on the progressive movements in the U.S., without demonizing the people, or ignoring the ills of our current society.”

Gage Lacharite, of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization said, “On May Day, we commemorate the working class’s efforts to change society, from protests to strikes to building a vanguard party. It is not the property-owning minority who will change society for the workers, not the class of the bosses or the bankers. It is only the working class that can bring about revolution, because the laboring class produces everything and makes society run. It is the largest and most powerful class in human history.”

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