Wednesday, January 19, 2005

A Report from DC: The Battle for the Future is ON!

The Battle for the Future is ON!
Jump into the fray!
Come join us in DC!

As protesters converge from all over the country to disclaim and denounce the re-coronation of the Christian Fascist George Bush, the revolutionary communists have hit the ground running!

Efforts to distribute 50,000 copies of the statement "The Battle for the Future Will Be Fought From Here Forward", 3,000 copies of the Revolutionary Worker, DVD's and NO posters are off to a great start! Teams are distributing the new Memoirs from Avakian! Carl Dix and Sunsara Taylor are speaking out in the media across the country! The urgency of history is upon us!

Because of the very promising initial responses, and in order to really
maximize the impact of our unique revolutionary leader - Bob Avakian - in the midst of this very dangerous moment in history - WE ARE CALLING ON MORE VOLUNTEERS TO COME TO DC FOR AS MANY DAYS AS POSSIBLE THROUGH SUNDAY, JANUARY 23.

Contact Revolution Books: 212.691.3345 to volunteer or email
getoutrwor@yahoo.com

IN THIS UPDATE:
1. Kick-off orientation meeting with Carl Dix and Sunsara Taylor
2. Volunteer Highlights; DC PROLETARIAN'S MEMORIES OF BOB AVAKIAN!, Setting up DVD Showings and Getting out "Revolutionary Organizing Kits"
3. Making a splash in the media
4. The Insight Press Volunteers Touch Down with Avakian's New Memoirs!
5. URGENT CALL TO JOIN US FOR THE REST OF THE WEEK OF REVOLUTIONARY ACTIVITY!!!

1. Kick-off orientation meeting with Carl Dix and Sunsara Taylor

Saturday, January 15, RCP National Spokesperson, Carl Dix and Sunsara Taylor led an orientation kick-off meeting for DC volunteers. They laid out where we are at in the goal to distribute millions of the RCP's statement, what difference this will make, and some of the line questions which needed to be struggled out to make a further break-through and really max out during the blood-soaked, gloat-fest of Dubya's re-coronation.

Volunteers dug into the historic crossroads our country and our planet are in the midst of, and why the Party's statement says there are two visions of the future that could win out: that of George W. Bush and that of Chairman Bob Avakian.

We got clear on the BIG QUESTIONS that are up for millions, and all the complexities of a increasingly intertwined and globalized world, and how this is propelling millions towards a reactionary Christian fundamentalism that goes against the interests of most caught up in it - and propelling others into action against it. Through struggle, we all got a better sense of how people are looking for answers on the level of a worldview, how should we relate to the planet and to each other, how to make sense of our lives in these wild and dangerous time in history - and how people need to know that there is a leader, Bob Avakian, who concentrates and is developing a whole different way the world could relate, that mounts a realistic and comprehensive challenge to George Bush that no one else has. We got clear on why it is not a pre-requisite to unite with people about how extreme the Christian Fascists are before talking to them about Avakian, but how this should be the first place we step off.

One example we kicked around was a group of lower income white religious people folks had taken the statement to who scorned evolution and even put forward that AIDS originated from interracial sex. These are folks who are caught up in beliefs that go against their own interests and the interests of the planet - but in order to really break them free of this, it is essential to struggle with them over Avakian's vision of a totally different society - where we don't have to fear the truth about how human's evolved, where we can understand the real cause of disease and apply that understanding to solving such problems, and how that kind of racist thinking is both based on falsehoods about the world and complicit with great horrors and thoroughly unnecessary. We discussed how this approach, challenging their whole framework and offering another one based on the real world and the real interests of the people of the world, is the only way we are going to "peel away" some of these people from the reactionary thinking they are caught up in.

We also focused in on the need to have a societal impact with the Party's statement, the Chairman's DVD, the Revolutionary Worker, and Avakian's new memoirs. Many are agonizing about the dark turn being taken by our country under Bush's leadership and wonder whether anyone will step forward to lead in a different direction. The NYTimes even ran a major editorial on MLK day stating that this is a dark moment in US history and we need an effective leader "who can come from anywhere at anytime" to express the needed moral outrage, to challenge this direction, and to call forward the best in people. The moment is NOW, in the "shadows" of the blood-soaked inaugural ball, to make great leaps in making Chairman Bob Avakian a reference point in society, for millions, to have his vision and his leadership circulating in people's minds as the situation intensifies.

The tone of the meeting was sharp at times, in order to really fight for unity on a correct basis, but non-judgmental and everyone felt invited and eager to put questions or doubts on the table, and to join in struggle to answer them. In the end, everyone agreed, and some talked about it on into the evening, that this had been a communist - unleashing a lot of initiative among the volunteers through struggling for a correct understanding of the world and of the great needs which communists and others are being called out to filled.

2. Volunteer Highlights; DC PROLETARIAN'S MEMORIES OF BOB AVAKIAN!

Already, on the first day out, teams ran into two Black proletarians who asked how Bob Avakian, the revolutionary, is doing. It was clear that the experience of one of these proletarians with Chairman Avakian had gotten deep inside him. Nearly 25 years later, he recalled sections of Avakian's speech calling for the celebration of May Day 1980, when the RCP put this revolutionary holiday back on the map in the U.S. The proletarian talked about the plan to not go to work or school or business as usual and remembered how the state came after the revolutionary leader. He recalled how the whole city and beyond had come to know that Bob Avakian was under attack and eagerly asked what had become of him.

Several of the volunteers this week were part of the DC volunteers those many years ago and this brought back stories and experiences, some of which hadn't been shared in decades. The young volunteer who talked to these proletarians took the time to fill them in on how for the last couple decades that revolutionary leader they remembered so fondly had deeply studied and interrogated the experience of socialist societies, and of human societies more generally, and had advanced the science of revolution in world-historic ways. The volunteer gave them a sampler of Avakian's talk called, "Revolution, Why Its Necessary, Why Its Possible, What Its All About," stacks of the statement, the Revolutionary Worker newspaper, an ways to get further involved.

Also, among the new communities of DC, like the growing numbers of
immigrants from Africa and Central and Latin America, a Spanish speaking team met a restaurant owner who wants to host a screening of the DVD, Revolution, for their customers and another store that donated to get the first "Revolutionary Organizer's Kit" which features hundreds of statements, a short-term subscription to the RWOR, a DVD sampler, and several copies of the current RW-OR. Both places were eager to be part of introducing to many others the prospect of a revolutionary leader with a vision of a better world.

3. Making a Splash in the Media

Carl Dix, National Spokesperson of the Revolutionary Communist Party, is on the ground in DC speaking on behalf of the RCP and seizing the microphone to let people know about the leader we have in Chairman Avakian, what he has done that is so new and essential to achieving a better world and giving people a taste of how Avakian and his Party approach the Battle For The Future and their vision of a new society.

Sunsara Taylor, a young revolutionary communist writer, is also on the ground in DC seizing the mic to hound George Bush for his declaration that the "accountability moment" for any mistakes or misjudgments in entering the war on Iraq was "called the 2004 election" and pointing out how we could achieve a world where those who run society don't have such contempt for the people and their views, but foster dissent and involving people in administering society, with the leadership of Chairman Avakian.

During one joint interview, a listener called in to thank the radio host for having them on, saying they were absolutely right in what they were saying, calling them "beautiful people." Another caller tried to jam them with the claim that Stalin and Mao had murdered many millions, but became flustered and aggressive when they responded with a very forthright answer boldly defending the actual experience of socialism in China and the Soviet Union while at the same time boldly criticizing the actual shortcomings in those societies. The caller tried to throw them off by making crude sexist comments to Sunsara, and they proceeded to both continue to talk about how Avakian has re-envisioned socialism to go beyond Mao Tse-Tung and to come back to speak about how this revolution will be in large part fueled by the struggle against the oppression of women and will finally make good on completely liberating women and all people from the chains that bind us today.

After another interview, a listener told them that they appreciated and were motivated by the seriousness of the situation which they conveyed - but also the optimism, that we could do something about this. She said if she hadn't been sure she should be on the streets before listening, she would be after hearing them.

Carl and Sunsara are both popularizing Avakian's approach to the world and to a new society and the plans underway to take this leader to the people by the tens of thousands on the streets of DC throughout the week as well as the need for everyone to take part in issuing a BIG NO to Bush during his inaugural frenzy, when the whole world will be watching. So far, they have appeared on half a dozen radio programs across the country and a press team is working energetically and creatively to line up further interviews and stories in the national and international press.

4. The Insight Press Volunteers taking out Avakian's Memoirs Touch Down

A team of young volunteers delayed their arrival to DC to take a last-minute detour up to a conference of librarians in Boston. Many of the librarians leafed through the new memoir from Bob Avakian, From Ike To Mao, and Beyond, and spoke openly about their deep concern at the direction this country is going in and were excited to talk to these young volunteers who were determined that we could bring into being a better world. Several were refreshed to have a radical and unapologetic voice from the 60's and one commented about how important books like this are right now when the "government is trying to tell people how to think."

Beginning Tuesday morning the team will be taking the new book out to bookstores, college campuses and clubs, to protests and all around the city.

Surely some of the proletarians who ask about how Avakian's been will be thrilled to get this chance to get to know this revolutionary leader in a very intimate and inspiring way.

5. URGENT CALL TO JOIN THE REST OF THE WEEK OF REVOLUTIONARY ACTIVITY!!!

Anyone who wants to turn on a light, to offer people a glimpse of future and a way out of this madness and the leader who knows how to get there - anyone who wants to steel the smug triumphalism from the Bush program onslaught - should find a way down to DC as soon as possible. History is being made!

We all have something to say about how it will turn out.

The basis exists and the experience is making this even more evidence, for Bob Avakian to emerge as the leader who will be embraced, referenced, and looked to by millions who can't bear to think of the future with George Bush at the helm, but who don't yet know that there is a way out. Our approach and our plans enable each volunteer to make a qualitative impact, increasing the reach of this revolutionary answer to thousands more.

Come to DC today! Call Revolution Books: 212.691.3345 or email
getoutrwor@yahoo.com

Come down, donate money or offer help in other ways!