the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
Mar 31, 2008
On March 8, one of our co-workers, Demetrius Brown, was found dead in the room he rented in a house in Indian Head, Maryland. He had been shot.
Demetrius was an all around good guy: easy going, laid back, fun loving, generous, sweet, gregarious....
In general, people were shocked, horrified, sad, angry, bewildered. DPI had a memo about Demetrius on the bulletin board with his picture.
The company said he “passed away.” He did NOT pass away–he was killed, shot to death.
One worker said, “He should be cremated and his ashes spread out in the owner’s son’s office ... this is an employee YOU failed. He had to rent a room in a house instead of being able to have his own house.”
Several workers asked, “Who would kill someone like Demetrius?” Lots of people looked in the newspaper for an answer, finding none. There was a little tiny article in the metro section. When something like this happens, we want it on the front page. But newspapers don’t pay attention to ordinary workers.
One worker said, “Someone knows what happened. No way no one heard the gunshot, twice!” Another said, “Another young black man cut down for no reason.”
Many of us are planning to go the funeral services. We decided, if management tries to say we cannot go, there will be a small rebellion.
(Twelve workers from DPI went to the funeral.)