"We're going to fight racism and capitalism with socialism"

Deji Olayinka (Click to enlarge)

Extracts from a speech by Deji Olayinka, Birmingham Socialist Party, at the protest on 7 June.

My name's Deji. I'm a member of the Socialist Party. And I'm here for the same reason as all of you lot.

Because we've seen too much injustice. We've seen too much brutality. And we've seen too much harm being done to our communities, and to our world around us.

It's not a bug - it's a feature. It's systematic. The country's 'democracy' is a sham. The laws are there to protect the elite. They're there to protect capitalism. They're there to protect the rich who control everything.

But they don't protect our communities. They don't protect us. It's a racist elite that chooses the laws. It's a racist elite that chooses police violence. Because it protects their stores and it protects their wealth.

We don't own these stores, we just work in them. We don't choose these laws, these laws aren't for us.

We need to change the system. We need to protect our communities. And we need to protect ourselves.

We need socialism to fund our libraries. And we need socialism to fund our gyms. And we need socialism to fund our community centres.

This country has weaponised racism for profit. This country's elites got their wealth off the back of slaves. They got their wealth off the back of Africa. And they're still profiting from it.

In America, in the UK, in the Caribbean, in Africa - we are all one people. We are all living under the same system. And nothing will change until we change this system. Until we get rid of racism - until we get rid of capitalism.

We've got to organise. Like the Haitians, when they overthrew slavery. We've got to organise and overthrow capitalism, in this country, and in the world.

We need to educate ourselves after this demo. Because these people, they promised us education, but all they've given us is tests, and scores, and bullshit qualifications.

We need to learn about the Black Panther Party. And we need to read about Huey P Newton. And we need to read about Freddy Hampton. And we need to learn about the Black Panthers' revolutionary programme. And we need to read Karl Marx - because they did!

We'll learn that racism won't go without changing the entire system. Because it's not just a few bad apples, it's structural problems.

Fred Hampton was a leader of the Black Panthers. And he built a Rainbow Coalition, uniting white people, Asian people and black people, against racism, sexism and capitalism.

I'll finish with his words. "We're going to fight racism, not with racism, but with solidarity. We're not going to fight capitalism with black capitalism, but with socialism."

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The coronavirus crisis has laid bare the class character of society in numerous ways. It is making clear to many that it is the working class that keeps society running, not the CEOs of major corporations.

The results of austerity have been graphically demonstrated as public services strain to cope with the crisis.

The government has now ripped up its 'austerity' mantra and turned to policies that not long ago were denounced as socialist. But after the corona crisis, it will try to make the working class pay for it, by trying to claw back what has been given.

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