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Carl's Mid-Year Message: One Hell of a Spring!

Revolution/Li Onesto Photo.

May 10, 2011

Dear Friends    
It’s been one hell of a spring, and we’re only half way through it.  We look around the world, we see brutality and misery inflicted on humanity without let up.  The wars for empire, the ravaging of the environment, hundreds of millions of people living on the edge of starvation, women seen as sexual objects of the property of some man instead of full human beings.  And in the US, immigrants working and living without rights, facing raids and deportation at any moment; gays and lesbians demonized for loving someone of the same sex; police terror aimed at Black and other oppressed people intensifying; the right to abortion under assault and more.

    At the same time, and more importantly, the movement for revolution we in the Revolutionary Communist Party are building has made important advances, advances that represent great potential to turn the corner on our efforts to put revolution on the map and to let people know about the work Bob Avakian has been doing to address everything standing between humanity and its complete emancipation.

    First, there was the April 11^th “Celebration of Revolution and the Vision of a New World,” held on the occasion of the publication of BAsics, a new book of quotations and short essays from the work of Bob Avakian.  I was part of the host committee for this event, which brought together prominent artists, educators and activists for a cultural celebration that transported people into the future, if only for a couple of hours.  Film clips and quotations from the work of Bob Avakian provided the framework for this celebration.  (For a great report on this Celebration, go to “And Now... A Glimpse of Spring” at http://bit.ly/memcRi) We plan to produce a film of this event to spread its reverberations far and wide.

    Additionally on April 29^th on the campus of UCLA, Cornel West and I had another Dialogue on the theme “In the Age of Obama:  Police Terror, Incarceration, No Jobs, Mis-Education – WHAT FUTURE FOR OUR YOUTH?”  More than 700 people packed the auditorium for this engaging conversation, and another 400 had to be turned away.  The mainly student crowd was entertained, shocked and challenge by the interaction between me and Cornel, and between both of us and the audience.  (For a full report, go to http://bit.ly/kDFbgT.)

    Of course, this isn’t a time to rest on these advances.  Instead we have to redouble efforts to unleash more of those who want to see a different and better way for people live as part of this movement for revolution.  The key doing that right now is to get into BAsics and to get it into the hands of many more people.  This book concentrates more than 30 years of work Avakian has been doing - deeply analyzing the experience of previous revolutionary societies and changes in the world today – to re-envision revolution and communism.  This is something I’m going to be putting a lot of effort into.

    Cornel and I plan to hit more campuses with our Dialogue.  This conversation is sorely needed and almost completely absent today.  Conversation about the youth today usually begins with how messed up they are and ends with blaming them for the conditions the system enforces on them.  Cornel and I get into why these conditions exist, and we challenge the youth and others to grapple with what can and must be done to create a future that holds hope for a meaningful life for our youth and everyone else.

    I also plan to speak on campuses and in other venues, bringing to the masses the truth that things don’t have to be this way; that thru revolution we could bring into being a totally different and far better world.  In this work I will use the Constitution for the Future Socialist Republic in North America (Draft Proposal) the RCP has issued to show how a revolutionary society could end the horrors imperialism inflicts on humanity today.

    I will also strategize with people across the country over what are the issues we need to build resistance around.  Areas of focus for this will be 1) the need for a powerful outpouring on Oct 22, 2011, the 16^th annual National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality; and 2) building resistance to the massive and racially biased incarceration that Michelle Alexander has called The New Jim Crow.

    You can join us in tapping into the potential these advances provide to make the new approach to revolution and communism Avakian is developing much more of a point of reference today.  Get a copy of BAsics, read it and let us know your thoughts on it.  Contribute money  to help send 2,000 copies of this book to people in prison -- http://bit.ly/kceqct. Also contribute to producing the film of the April 11^th Celebration of Revolution and the Vision of a New World -- http://bit.ly/iS7AMk


     Bring the Dialogue between Cornel West and me to your area.  People are hungry for this Dialogue, and Cornel and I engage it in a way that provides them sustenance.  To get a copy of the DVD of our first Dialogue or info on how to bring it to your area:  www.revolutionbooksnyc.org.

    Let me end this note with something I said at the Dialogue at UCLA:  It’s not enough to be a good person in a horrible world.  We can’t leave this imperialist system grinding away, breaking bodies and crushing spirits.  You have to add your efforts to those who are working to resist the horrors of this system and bring a new world into being.

This System Has No Future For Our Youth.  The Revolution Does.

Get With the Revolution!

Revolutionary Greetings,      

Carl  Dix

Cornel West and Carl Dix Dialogue Comes to UCLA:

Revolution Online, May 2, 2011

In the Age of Obama…

Police Terror, Incarceration, No Jobs, Mis-education:

WHAT FUTURE FOR OUR YOUTH?

Carl Dix and Cornel West at UCLA

When Cornel West and Carl Dix entered DeNeve Auditorium on the UCLA campus Friday evening, April 29 to begin their dialogue, the anticipation that had been building for days burst into a boisterous standing ovation.

Word of the event had criss-crossed the campus and beyond in a matter of days, carried across many different social networks, through faculty e-mails and student organizations' Facebook pages; through announcements in classes, flyers posted on bulletin boards and passed out on campus at Bruin Walk and other locales; through ads in the Daily Bruin, UCLA's newspaper, and radio announcements on Pacifica's KPFK.

The excitement and anticipation from diverse sections of people was a clue that something unique was happening; that this event was resonating with a wide breadth of people who shared a thirst and hunger for answers to the question posed in the title of the dialogue—"What Future for Our Youth?"—and more fundamentally, why the situation today is the way it is, and how it could be changed.

UCLA students and many others lined up hours before the start of the program, determined not to miss it. By the time the doors opened and people were let in, the atmosphere was electric. The 700 or so seats in the main hall and overflow rooms could not hold all who'd come, and an estimated 400 people had to be turned away. The bulk of the audience was UCLA students, with some faculty, staff and alumni, and people from the community mixed in. More than half of those who heard the program were Black students and Black people from the community, along with many Latino and white students and others.

The Dialogue Begins

There were brief introductions by the President of the African Student Union; the Associate Vice Provost Charles Alexander; and by Darnell Hunt, Director of the Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies. And finally, an African American student came up and did a spoken word piece that so powerfully and dramatically touched on all of the questions that would be addressed it brought the audience once again to its feet and added to the electricity in the room.

For the next three hours the audience found itself wrestling with the same questions the speakers were grappling with, coming away amazed, angered, challenged, and inspired by what they heard and learned from these two speakers, and by what it meant to have been a part of it. Carl Dix characterized the challenge before the two speakers this way: "…coming from our different perspectives, talk about what actually created this situation; and what needs to be and can be done to transform it."

Message to the Students

This was principally an audience of university students, and both presentations spoke directly to the challenge before their generation to step forward and build resistance to the crimes of this system. Dix explained that "young intellectuals as many of you are here, have always had great influence, and great responsibility, for determining the direction of society. Young people, and young students, can play this role 'cause you grapple with complex ideas, and you can look out and see the gap between the way the world is, and the way it should be. And being young, you ain't yet locked into thinking there's nothing that can be done to bridge that gap." The students responded knowingly as he spoke about the powerful movements of the '60s and the crucial roles played by SNCC (Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee); SDS (Students for a Democratic Society); and the BPP (Black Panther Party), which was founded by two college students—Huey Newton and Bobby Seale.

Dix powerfully exposed the brutality of the system towards millions of Black and Latino youth, from police murder to the way in which the drug laws have been consciously used to criminalize and incarcerate, and essentially write off an entire generation of inner-city youth.

Many people after the program said they had been deeply affected by learning about the blatant racism expressed in the statistics about the relative rates of incarceration for white youth and Blacks and Latinos, and the use of the stop and frisk laws in New York City to intimidate, threaten, and criminalize Black and Latino youth.

Dix said his principal message was that things don't have to be this way; that revolution is both urgently necessary, and possible. During the rest of his talk he spoke to what people need to be doing today to make revolution. He explained how "Fight the Power, and Transform the People, for Revolution" was an important aspect of the Revolutionary Communist Party's strategic approach to building resistance to the crimes of the system, transforming conditions and people. To give concreteness to this, at one point he drew from the Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America (Draft Proposal), contrasting the educational system today with the way it will be when we have state power.

At crucial points Dix opened up and read quotes from BAsics, from the talks and writings of Bob Avakian. This gave people a glimpse of the method and approach of Avakian applied to critical questions, and what it means for revolution and the emancipation of humanity to have this revolutionary leader. And it gave people a sense of the importance of getting their hands on BAsics as a crucial way to get introduced to Avakian and the re-envisioned communist revolution he has brought forward.

For most of the students this was their first experience hearing Carl Dix, or any revolutionary communist. You could tell by the applause, the laughter, the shuddering at the crimes of the system, that the audience "felt" him on it. When he took on the reactionary nature of theocracy, patriarchy, and the attacks on gays and lesbians, a number of African American women students clearly welcomed it. At the same time you could tell that people's low dreams were being challenged, as when he said the crimes against the youth were reason enough to make revolution, though far from the only reason to want to do so.

Cornel West

Woven through West's speech was a powerful and poetic critique of the "lies and mendacity" of this system, and the way in which it has marginalized and written off "poor and working people," and especially the youth. He has become even more critical of the way in which Obama has ignored the worsening conditions of Black and Latino people, while catering to the powerful financial interests. People gasped when he said that Obama's recent State of the Union speech was the first time poverty had been completely left out since 1948!

West's presentation really went after the question of morality—in struggling with the students before him. What kind of morality, what kind of society do you want to live in? While expressing his deep feelings towards them, he challenged them to see that "there's only one way out—the courage to think critically." He said they had to "learn how to be maladjusted to a mainstream that stays at a superficial level." And that they were not going to find the truth beneath the superficial by going to either the Republican or the Democratic parties.

He challenged them to recognize their responsibility to be a part of building resistance to this system's crimes; and to resist being bribed and bought in the pursuit of a career.

There was controversy as well, especially when Carl Dix read the quote in BAsics that "Oppressed people who are unable or unwilling to confront reality as it actually is, are condemned to remain enslaved and oppressed" [Chapter 4, #1], and said bluntly, "There is no God," while Cornel West describes himself as a "Jesus loving Black man." West and Dix come from different starting points; and they have clear differences over certain questions, like religion, and Obama. But there is a deep appreciation, and love, they have for each other rooted in the "heavy overlap," as West described it, of their common dedication and determination to challenge the way things are, and to change the world. And that was in full evidence throughout the evening.

The audience came away with a deep appreciation for both speakers. There was no "lobbing volleys" at each other, but instead they were deeply engaged with what the other was saying.

After their presentations the audience had its chance to engage the speakers. People were wrestling with the theme, and the answers provided by the speakers. Dix was asked to elaborate on the idea of "daily resistance" to the system. Another student asked "how do those of us with callings and majors that do not lend themselves to political discourse and revolution, for example engineering, mathematics, etc., contribute to these necessary changes?" Both speakers were asked about their position on the right to marry someone of the same sex, and their responses were welcomed by the crowd. And then the question was posed by someone who is gay—"Do you think it's fair when people in the gay and lesbian community compare our struggle for equal rights with that of Black folks?"

There is something about this dialogue that made it possible to come out of it with something really different; changed. There was a way in which it punctured the toxic atmosphere that is so prevalent on the campuses. One student said afterwards, "Being in a university setting, these are the kinds of things that you hope to be hearing on a regular basis but unfortunately that's not the truth. It's not what you hear and it's not what we're reading."

* * * * *

A graduate student said afterwards, "It was incredible. It was good to have their different perspectives on it. I really enjoyed it. They were wonderful—both of them."

One of the things you couldn't help noticing as the evening unfolded was a feeling of excitement and growing confidence people were getting at discovering that they were in a room full of like-minded people. Afterwards, a student who'd traveled a long way to get to this dialogue remarked: "I was really excited about the reactions that I was hearing to the dialogue. Because oftentimes it's hard to identify other individuals that might be of like minds. So to be able to attend an event like this, which like I said was maximum capacity and then some, and to know that the majority of the people here share the same hope. Not how hope is regularly perceived, but as defined by Dr. West this evening. I think that's a beautiful thing. It's beautiful for humanity. It's necessary."

* * * * *

A significant aspect of this event is that it punctured the atmosphere that is strangling students and faculty who refuse to accept the "official narrative" about this country's history, and its dominant place in the world. It gave you the sense that people who have been suffocating were able to come up for air. And it has contributed to changing the discourse, a process which needs to build on what has been accomplished through the work to bring this event to UCLA.

There is still a great deal more to learn about the impact of this event from those who attended, and this needs to be taken up in a systematic way. Many students expressed that this evening had changed them. And some came up to the speakers asking how to get involved, and to learn more about how to actually organize resistance. There is an opportunity now to build on what was brought forward and in a beginning way transformed, and to discover together the forms to "Fight the Power, and Transform the People, for Revolution."

Send us your comments.

In the Age of Obama …

Police Terror, 

Incarceration,

No Jobs, Mis-education: 

WHAT FUTURE FOR OUR YOUTH?

Friday, April 29th at 7:00 PM

DeNeve Plaza Lecture Auditorium

UCLA, 351 Charles Young Drive West

Limited seating: first come, first served.  Doors open at 6:30 pm.  Arrive early to ensure seating.

CORNEL WEST is one of America’s most provocative public intellectuals and has been a champion for racial justice since childhood. His writing, speaking, and teaching weave together the traditions of the black Baptist Church,
progressive politics, and jazz. The New York Times has praised his “ferocious moral vision.’ Dr. West currently teaches at Princeton University.

CARL DIX is a longtime revolutionary and a founding member of the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA. In 1970 Carl was one of the Fort Lewis 6, six Gis who refused orders to go to Vietnam. He served 2 years in Leavenworth Military Penitentiary for his stand. In 1985 Carl initiated the Draw The Line statement, a powerful condemnation of the bombing of the MOVE house in Philadelphia. In 1996, Carl was a founder of the October 22nd Coalition to Stop Police Brutality. Carl coordinated the Katrina hearings of the 2006 Bush Crimes Commission.

Initial sponsors include: Academic Advancement Program • Undergraduate Students Association Council (USAC) • Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies • The Graduate Division • Black Alumni Association • Department of History • Chicano Studies Research Center • Black Male Institute  • Critical Thinking at UCLA

Photo Slideshow from

On the Occasion of the Publication of BAsics:
A Celebration of Revolution and the Vision of a New World
Monday, April 11, Harlem Stage, NYC

Go here!

April 11, 2011: The day finally arrived. Nearly 400 people came out to an amazing program of visual arts, dance, poetry, music of many different genres—all celebrating revolution and the vision of a new world on the occasion of the publication of a powerful and potentially very popular new book, BAsics—a collection of quotes and short essays from the talks and writings of Bob Avakian.

People came in not knowing exactly what to expect—but wanting something different. As they walked through a visual arts exhibit that was vibrant... defiant... diverse... angry... hopeful... and joyous—there was an air of expectancy...

Then the doors opened, people took their seats.

People experienced an evening of art that went at the themes of revolution and a new world in all kinds of different ways, with the words of Bob Avakian framing the four acts, and weaving in and out of the evening. Singers sent notes into the stratosphere and deep into your body. Powerful dance pieces pulsed with impatient energy. Soaring jazz solos took you way out of—and then sometimes way into—the everyday. A whole range of musicians let you move and feel to the rhythms (and words) of punk, funk, Latin, Indian, and '60s-'70s soul...

Short theatrical pieces and poems movingly evoked the different life experiences of people in this system. Hard truths about the history and present day of this system—along with penetrating questions to the audience—were put into stark imagery and poetic cadences. A collection of very powerful dramatic pieces and readings and speeches illustrated the span of Avakian's work and his connections to the '60s, to prisoners, to revolutionaries all over the world. Video clips of Avakian himself, from the '60s to today, introduced many to this leader and thinker, evoking a wide range of responses.

One person put it well: "I don't like to use the word inspirational, because it's so overused. But there is no other word to describe this."

This was art that would stay with you long past the applause—art that spanned a tremendous amount of expressive diversity, both in form and content. It was indeed a joyous celebration—and at the same time a serious, sometimes humorous, sometimes angry, often visionary and above all revolutionary delving into the theme of the evening that tied together each performance and shared electricity and emotion with the audience.

Afterward the lobby was a place of hugs, grins, high-fives and most of all excited conversation and just plain trying to take in with others what people had just been through. The artistic performances and everyone who took the stage this night, had together, shown not just that another world is possible... but also the outlines of a future where humanitycould emancipate itself and flourish. And for an evening—and, potentially, for much longer—a new kind of community was formed.

A woman walked up to one of our reporters and said, "I want to introduce you to my new friends." It turned out she had met these new friends when she was trying to figure out how to get to Harlem Stage. Walking up the street, she noticed many others walking down the block holding the palm cards for the event. And so she went up to this one group of women, they all figured out where to go, then, once inside, sat and shared the evening together.

In the weeks to come, Revolution will be giving you more sights, sounds and reflections from this evening, from different angles. But right now, perhaps the most fitting thing we can leave you with is by echoing the thank you at the end of the program:

THANK YOU to the April 11 Host Committee, including Revolution Books, who made this event possible; to the artists and performers who made it provocative and joyful; to the Harlem Stage staff for all their assistance; to the numerous volunteers whose hard work and creativity brightened our present by making this program happen and provided a vision of the future world that could be; and most of all thank you to Bob Avakian, the author of BAsics, whose words provided the occasion for this night and whose compassion, commitment to humanity, and critical spirit has never wavered in the course of 45 years.

A Message from Carl Dix about April 11th at Harlem Stage

April 3, 2011

Dear Friends,

I’m writing to give you a chance to be a part of what promises to be a wonderful event. At 7 PM on Monday, April 11th, at the HarlemStage on the campus of the City College of New York, “On the Occasion of the Publication of BAsics; A Celebration of Revolution and the Vision of a Whole New World.” This celebration is bringing together an amazing array of people -- artists, intellectuals and activists. (See below.)

If you are one of the growing numbers of people who are dissatisfied with the state of the world and inspired by the risings of people in North Africa and the Middle East, you need to be a part of this celebration. If you are in or can get to New York City on April 11th, buy a ticket and experience this celebration. If you absolutely can’t get to New York on April 11th, help make this event as powerful as it can be.

• Spread the word on it -- tell everyone you know, send it out to your e list, put it on your blog, do everything you can to make sure this celebration of revolution touches as many people as possible.
• Make a generous contribution to this effort. Money is needed to offset the expenses of the event and to purchase tickets for high school students and people from the projects.
• Help spread the reverberations of this event. Let us know if you can post a report on the celebration or get it into the media.
• Get a copy of BAsics, the new book of quotations and short essays by Bob Avakian, read it and let me know what you think of it.

In this tense and intensifying world situation, a celebration of revolution is sorely needed. I believe the publication of BAsics provides a great occasion to celebrate.

Revolutionary Greetings,

                                                            Carl Dix

For more information on performers, artists and speakers, and to purchase tickets:

http://bit.ly/f8EKP2 or http://www.revolutionbooksnyc.org/April11.html

On the Occasion of the Publication of Basics: 

A Celebration of Revolution and the Vision of a New World

April 11th, 7pm, at the HarlemStage at Aaron Davis Hall on

the Campus of the City College of New York

A statement of support for BAsics, from the Talks and Writings of Bob Avakian:

A salute to Revolutionary Bob Avakian on his book "BASICS." I recall meeting Bob Avakian in the early, early days of the Black Panther Party for Self Defense while working on the BPP newspaper with Eldridge Cleaver, then the Minister of Information for the BPP. We worked out of his studio apartment in San Francisco, CA. Bob Avakian then a college student would come by often to converse with Eldridge on political issues, on many occasions I observed the conversations to be very intense at times, Eldridge always prodding and pushing Avakian to his limits with his responses. I'm sure from those conversations did help mold the student Bob Avakian into the Revolutionary leader and critical thinker he is. Bob Avakian thereafter would begin to talk at many BPP rallies on the issues of Liberation and Revolution which he unwavering continues to express in "BASICS." Bob Avakian continues to Educate to Liberate.

Emory Douglas, Revolutionary Artist
former Minister of Culture, Black Panther Party

Interviews about BAsics and the Celebration are available with Carl Dix

Press Advisory                                                                                        For Immediate Release                                                                                                Contact Annie Day 917.971.4588 Musicians, Artists, Authors participate in: "On the Occasion of the Publication of BAsics: A Celebration of Revolution and the Vision of a New World"

Click to watch Cornel West's invitation on YouTube. Read more letters and invitations from Host Committee members at  http://www.revolutionbooks nyc.org/April11media.html

"On the Occasion of the Publication of BAsics: A Celebration of Revolution and the Vision of a New World" April 11, 7pm Harlem Stage at Aaron Davis Hall on the campus of the City College of New York BAsics, from the Talks and Writings of Bob Avakian is a book that speaks powerfully to questions of revolution and human emancipation being released on April 5. This release will be an opportunity to bring people together from different arenas and perspectives in a celebration of revolution and the vision of a whole new world. Bob Avakian is a serious revolutionary leader and wide-ranging thinker. He is the leader of a party and a movement aiming to make revolution when the possibility opens up. He is someone who, in the words of Cornel West, "is a long distance runner in the freedom struggle against imperialism, racism and capitalism." An evening of music, visual art, poetry and readings including musician Guillermo Brown; Richard Brown, former member Black Panther Party and co-founder of The Committee for the Defense of Human Rights, founded by the SF8; Ruby Dee; poet and playwright reg e. gaines; Moist Paula Henderson, baritone sax player and composer; jazz musicianDavid Murray; Outernational; Abiodun Oyewole from The LastPoets; Ted Rall, cartoonist and author; excerpts fromTapsloitation; and jazz musicians Matthew Shipp and William Parker. A visual arts exhibition specially curated for the night will include the work of Derrick Adams, Richard Duardo, Skylar Fein, Kyle Goen, Dread Scott, SenOne and others to be announced. The April 11 Host Committee, in association with Revolution Books, includes Aladdin, actor and playwright; Paul Von Blum, Senior Lecturer Emeritus, African American Studies and Communication Studies, UCLA *; Herb Boyd, journalist and author; Elaine Brower, National Steering Committee of World Can't Wait* and anti-war military mom; Dr. Robert Keith Collins, anthropologist; The Committee For the Defense of Human Rights, founded by the SF8; Carl Dix, founding member of the Revolutionary Communist Party; Jessica Green, media maker and co-director, Maysles Cinema*;Nicholas Heyward, Sr., father of Nicholas Heyward, Jr. (murdered by the NYPD in 1994); Russ Jennings, theatre producer and writer; Erin Aubry Kaplan, journalist and author; Rev. Earl Kooperkamp, St. Mary's Church*, Harlem;Mike Ladd, poet and music producer; Philip Maysles, visual artist, co-director, Maysles Cinema*; John Santos, musician;Matthew Shipp, musician; Dr. Tolbert Small, co-founder and physician at the Harriet Tubman Medical Office in East Oakland, CA and former physician to the founding chapter of the Black Panther Party; Clarence Taylor, professor of History, Baruch College*; Cornel West, Professor of Religion, Princeton University*; Robert M. Young, film maker, andDavid Zeiger, film maker. (* for identification purposes only)   [READ THEIR STATEMENTS HERE] Interviews about BAsics and the  Celebration are available with Carl Dix. ### Carl Dix is a founding member of the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA.  In 1970 Carl was one of the Fort Lewis 6, six GI's who refused orders to go to Vietnam. He served two years in Leavenworth Military Penitentiary for the stand. In 1996, Dix was a co-founder of the October 22nd Coalition to Stop Police Brutality.  Last year, he was on a campus tour titled, "From Buffalo Soldier to Revolutionary Communist" convincing students not to fight in America's wars.  He recently participated in the second of two major dialogues with Cornel West at Aaron Davis Hall titled, "In the Age of Obama Part 2: Police Terror, Incarceration, No Jobs, Mis-education: What Future for Our Youth?"

All Played Out: Words by Bob Avakian; Music by William Parker

Announcing new release Tuesday, March 22

ALL PLAYED OUT

Words by Bob Avakian
Music by William Parker
Centeringmusic BMI

All Played Out is a cathartic message by Bob Avakian who like all political strategists is a mover and thinker who is trying to shed some light on this fog of ignorance and gullibility, that is the backbone of our existence here in America. He is telling us that since 1492 when Christopher Columbus landed in Hispaniola and killed the first Tainos Indians things have gone down hill from there. The founding fathers were all gangsters, thieves and liars. He is telling us that we are not free and we have never been free there were never any good old days. 
Racism, sexism, extreme capitalism has been the word for the last five hundred years and continues to be present at the core of America today. All Played Out is a 12-minute rap with a message to America and anyone else that is listening to Wake Up! Revolution Now!

Music is political because it inspires us to think to see beyond the horizon so it was my intent to give Avakian’s message some lift but also to become the words to bring them to life in another way too. A word is sound, a sound is a word.

William Parker

 "All Played Out" by Bob Avakian, music by William Parker by AllPlayedOut

No good can come from U.S. imperialist intervention of any kind.

Get Ready for the Publication of BAsics

Revolution #225, February 27, 2011

Get Ready for the Publication of

BAsics

...and for the April 11 Celebration of Revolution and the Vision of a New World

Last issue, we announced two big upcoming events in our centerspread. These were the release of the book BAsics, from the Talks and Writings of Bob Avakian; and a major event on April 11, "On the Occasion of the Publication of BAsics: A Celebration of Revolution and the Vision of a New World." Taken together, these initiatives can have a major impact on people's thinking at a time when, suddenly, new possibilities are in the air.

BAsics will concentrate more than 30 years of Avakian's work on everything standing between humanity and complete emancipation into a single concise book of essential quotes and short essays.This book can not only introduce many many more people to the thinking of someone who has put communism back on the agenda as a vital and viable force—it can play a major role in bringing forward and forging a new wave of revolutionaries. To look at the table of contents (on this page) is to look at the key questions that present themselves to someone agonizing over the question of whether and how they can actually change the world in a fundamental and meaningful way. We're going to be talking more about BAsics over the weeks to come—for now, though, we want to alert people that we expect the book to be out sometime in mid- to late March and to encourage people now to get out there to raise money to enable the book not only to be printed, but to be promoted in a serious way.

The $200 "BAsics Challenge" printed in Revolution #224 should be a major tool used by every regular reader of this paper with everyone they know. Enabling people to contribute to making sure this work has the needed impact means giving people a chance to make their resources count for changing the world. You are also informing them about this book—and you should definitely use the table of contents, along with some of the quotes we've printed on the back page of this paper over the past year or so, to give people a flavor of what to expect, and to bring home the fact that..."you can't change the world if you don't know the BAsics!"

April 11—A Time to Celebrate

The host committee for the April 11 event, still in formation, includes Aladdin, actor and playwright; Herb Boyd, journalist and author; Elaine Brower, National Steering Committee of World Can't Wait* and anti-war military mom; Carl Dix, founding member of the Revolutionary Communist Party; Nicholas Heyward, Sr., father of Nicholas Heyward, Jr. (murdered by the NYPD in 1994), Russ Jennings, theatre producer and writer; Erin Aubry Kaplan, journalist and author; Rev. Earl Kooperkamp, St. Mary's Church, Harlem*; Mike Ladd, mc and poet; Philip Maysles, visual artist, co-director, Maysles Cinema*; Matthew Shipp, musician; Cornel West, Professor of Religion, Princeton University* and David Zeiger, film maker. (* for identification purposes only)

To mark this book's publication, on Monday, April 11, Harlem Stage will be the venue for a major cultural celebration: "On the Occasion of the Publication of BAsics: A Celebration of Revolution and the Vision of a New World." This event will bring together well-known musicians, writers and actors, and people from the community and the youth. People from different perspectives and different spheres—but all animated by celebrating revolution and the vision of a new world, and taking the publication of BAsics as a very appropriate time to do that—will come together.

The night will include poetry, music, visual arts, and readings of letters from prisoners responding to Avakian's words and to the ideas of revolution and bringing into being a new world. These will be interspersed with people's own reflections (from the stage or via video) of what it means to them to celebrate revolution and the vision of a new world, and will include some readings of quotes from BAsics as well.

Already the over a dozen hosts for the event and the growing list of artists who will perform gives a sense of the potential for a celebration like this. (Go to www.revolutionbooksnyc.orgfor these lists.) How often do people come together to celebrate revolution and the vision of a new world? How often do people—and all of society—get to see a range of viewpoints and all kinds of different art coming together with the voice of a leader like this and the content of what is in this book? Even to raise these questions is to underline how unique and unprecedented this event is going to be and how, especially in today's landscape, this should be able to really stand out and offer a vision not only of a new world, but of a world in which people would really want to live. There's going to be a message coming out of Harlem that night—in short, that revolution and the vision of a new world is something to celebrate... and that this author needs to become much more broadly known and his ideas and works need to become a major point of reference among people who are disturbed about the state of the world and seeking (or seriously engaging with the question of whether there could be) another, better world. That's a powerful and very important message linking up with and amplifying a powerful and important book.

Unleash the Potential

But for this celebration to be what it needs to be, for it to reach its potential, for it to play the role it has to play in shining a light on this important new book, a lot of work must be done—AND YOU NEED TO BE PART OF DOING THIS NECESSARY WORK!

Here's some of what needs to be done:

• Go to www.revolutionbooksnyc.org for PDFs of promo cards to print out and distribute all over, and to email around as well.
• A lot of money needs to be raised to both publish the book and put this event on.  (Go to www.revolutionbooksnyc.org for more information.) Make a generous donation yourself, and go to others to do the same. Take up the BAsics fundraising challenge. (See issue Revolution #224, February 6, 2011.)
  But take up other ideas as well, and make this a question for people very broadly—in fact, fundraising should be a major way that people get to know about this. In one area, some people who work with the "revcoms" came up with the idea of a day when they would make and sell pre-ordered dinners for people as both a fundraiser and a way to publicize the upcoming book and the event. There are all kinds of creative and communal ways that people can raise money for this.
• Buzz and anticipation need to be created for the celebration. Wherever you live: make this known about among artistic and intellectual circles. Invite people to travel to be part of the night itself, to send video messages, to join the host committee, to strategize with us about who to reach out to. Let's not be bound by geography!
  And let's also build this very big in the communities into which this paper reaches. Let's work with people in those communities to raise money to send delegations from around the country to this event and where a whole lot more people are able to be there in spirit, even if they can't travel all the way to NY. Statements from these delegations on why they are coming can be a major part of the buzz that is needed.
• Key neighborhoods and campuses need to be blanketed with posters, palm cards and other promotional materials. Clubs, cafes and other gathering spots need to have stacks of cards promoting this event.
  It is also very important to make real efforts, starting now, to reach out to teachers and talk with them about this book and about this celebration. See what their ideas might be on how to promote this...on how to link this up with the young people they teach...and what they see as the potential here.
• This event and the book need to get way out there in the media and online. Print and electronic media outlets, large and small, need to be covering this—addressing the fact that a celebration like this is being held and noting the new and surprising artists and others who are getting involved in it. The word needs to be spread through Facebook pages, Twitter feeds and e-lists. It needs to be blogged about and taken up in other ways. Advertisements in key media need to be lined up.
• People need to be gotten into the house on April 11. This can require more than just letting everybody know it's happening. Tickets have to be sold in advance. In some cases, people should be organized to gather and come to Harlem together on that night. And again—if you're not in NY, you can organize people to raise the funds to send a delegation to the celebration and to bring the reverberations from the event back to your area.
• In all this work, familiarize people with Bob Avakian himself. In other words, don't just tell them about Avakian—make sure that they have a chance to watch the Revolution talk DVD (also available at revolutiontalk.net), or to get into the memoir, or to read the recent statement on Egypt, for example. One very good and important tool: Avakian's recent spoken word piece "All Played Out," available for downloading online atsoundcloud.com/allplayedout/all-played-out-by-bob-avakian. Playing this in classes or with individuals who may not have even heard of BA until now is an excellent introduction.

A Call To Prisoners—Celebrate the BAsics! Let us hear from you your thinking on the publication of BAsics, and on celebrating revolution and the vision of a new world, as contributions to the April 11 event called for above. And be sure to spread the word to ties on the outside about this event, this book, and this leader.

All this will require a broad range of people contributing their time and energy in the ways and on the level that they are able. It will require the collective efforts of everyone who recognizes that it is crucial for what Bob Avakian has been bringing forward to become a major part of the discourse in this society.

BAsics will have just gotten published when the April 11 celebration occurs. People will be starting to read it in the projects, on campuses and elsewhere. So think about this book, and its author, becoming a significant point of reference in society and in the world. Think about those whose eyes are opening to new possibilities as they witness the massive upheaval roiling Egypt, Libya, Iran and other countries finding out about Avakian and the work he's been doing. Think about how this could both fuel the inspiration they draw from these events and give guidance for realizing the most positive aspirations that are sparking these upsurges—providing a solid, scientific basis for both hope and daring among a new generation rising up, and among more than a few from the previous generations who maybe had given up their dreams of there being any better way for people to live. Think about this, and then act to make it happen!

Taken together, Basics—and the celebration on the occasion of its release—will introduce many, many new people to the most radical revolutionary on the planet; to a leader whose sense of humor is as sharp as his hatred for oppression is fierce; to a visionary who deeply understands that humanity can and must radically transform the world without "turning out the lights" on artistic and intellectual experimentation. The night of April 11 will bring together a broad range of people—including prominent, influential voices—who want to celebrate revolution and the vision of a new world and who have an equally broad range of reasons for wanting to see Avakian and his work become a mass question in society.

So...let's make it happen!

Revolution #226, March 6, 2011


Statement from the 
Revolutionary Communist Party

ON THE STRATEGY FOR REVOLUTION

Under this system of capitalism, so many in this society and so much of humanity are forced to endure great hardship and suffering, exploitation, injustice and brutality, while wars and the ongoing destruction of the natural environment threaten the very future of humanity. In the Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America (Draft Proposal) our Party has set forth an inspiring vision, and concrete measures, for the building of a new society, a socialist society, aiming for the final goal of a communist world, where human beings everywhere would be free of relations of exploitation and oppression and destructive antagonistic conflicts, and could be fit caretakers of the earth. But to make this a reality, we need revolution.

Read on…

EGYPT 2011: MILLIONS HAVE HEROICALLY STOOD UP... THE FUTURE REMAINS TO BE WRITTEN

A Statement By Bob Avakian, Chairman of the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA

February 11, 2011

Millions of Egyptian people from all walks of life, drawing inspiration from the people of Tunisia, have heroically risen up, defied the hated regime of Hosni Mubarak and forced Mubarak to resign. This has shattered the notion that “things can never change.” It is a powerful demonstration that there is no permanent necessity to the existing conditions under which the great majority of humanity suffer so terribly. Oppressed people and people who hunger for an end to oppression, in every country all over the world, have deeply shared in the joy and hope of these massive uprisings. And the stirrings of revolt continue to spread.

At the same time, while Mubarak has stepped down, the same basic forces that have so cruelly ruled over and exploited the Egyptian people remain in power. And, despite their honeyed words of praise for the masses of youth and others who have risen up, despite their promises of “freedom” and “democracy,” in reality they are determined to bring about a “transition” that will ensure that there is no fundamental change—that whatever new arrangements are engineered in the political process will still keep the masses of people in Egypt, in Palestine, and other countries of strategic importance for U.S. imperialism, in unbearable conditions. After all, the armed forces in Egypt — which are now supposed to carry out this “transition”—are the same armed forces which for decades faithfully and brutally enforced the rule of the Mubarak regime, while the heads of this military enriched themselves through becoming major exploiters of the Egyptian people; and the imperialists of the U.S. — who fully backed Mubarak and his cronies and kept them in power for 30 years, without any regard for the suffering of the people — are the very same imperialists who are now seeking yet again to call the shots and give the ultimate orders in terms of what the “transition” in Egypt will be.

The plans and designs of these oppressors and exploiters are NOT what the masses of people desperately want and need. Theirs is the cry of “freedom,” and the struggle must be carried forward until real freedom is achieved—freedom from the rule of the imperialists and their local henchmen and junior partners, freedom from all forms of oppression and exploitation. Freedom from both the outmoded forces which would enslave women, and the people as a whole, in medieval darkness and oppression — and from the outmoded forces who would enslave people in the name of “democracy”...”freedom”...and capitalist imperialist exploitation marketed as “progress.”

It has frequently happened in history, as has been the case in Egypt (as well as Tunisia), that the domination of imperialism and the rule of local exploiters has taken a concentrated form in the regime of a “strong man” butcher. This was the case, for example, in Iran, with the torture-chamber rule of the Shah, in the Philippines with the tyranny of Marcos, and in Indonesia with the long monstrous reign of Suharto—all brutal dictatorships put in power and long kept in power by U.S. imperialism. In Iran in the late 1970s, in the Philippines in the 1980s, in Indonesia more recently, massive uprisings of the people forced the U.S. imperialists to throw aside these hated tyrants and to allow some changes. But in every case, the ultimate result was not one which led to real “freedom” for the people — instead they have continued to be subjected to cruel oppression at the hands of those who replaced the old, hated rulers, while these countries have remained within the overall framework of global imperialist domination and exploitation. But historical experience has also shown that the continuation of oppressive rule, in one form or another, is NOT the only possible outcome.

In Russia, in February 1917, another brutal despot, the Czar (absolute monarch), was overthrown by the uprising of the people. Here again, the U.S., British, and other imperialists, and the Russian capitalists, tried to continue the oppression of the Russian people in a new form, using the mechanisms of “democratic rule” and elections which, while allowing for some broader participation of different parties, would still be totally controlled by the exploiters of the people and would ensure their continuing rule, and the continued suffering of the masses of people. In this case, however, the masses of people were enabled to see through these maneuvers and manipulations, to carry forward their revolutionary rising, through many different twists and 

turns and, in October 1917, to sweep aside and dismantle the institutions and mechanisms of bourgeois dictatorship and to establish a new political and economic system, socialism, which for several decades continued to advance in the direction of abolishing relations of exploitation and oppression, as part of the struggle throughout the world toward the final goal of communism. The crucial difference was that, in the uprisings in Russia, there was a core of leadership, communist leadership, that had a clear, scientifically grounded, understanding of the nature of not just this or that ruthless despot but of the whole oppressive system — and of the need to continue the revolutionary struggle not just to force a particular ruler from office but to abolish that whole system and replace it with one that would really embody and give life to the freedom and the most fundamental interests of the people, in striving to abolish all oppression and exploitation.

Even though the revolution in Russia was ultimately reversed, with capitalism restored there in the 1950s, and today Russia no longer seeks to disguise the fact that it is a capitalist-imperialist power, the lessons of the Russian Revolution of 1917 hold valuable, indeed decisive lessons for today. And the most decisive lesson is this: When people in their masses, in their millions, finally break free of the constraints that have kept them from rising up against their oppressors and tormentors, then whether or not their heroic struggle and sacrifice will really lead to a fundamental change, moving toward the abolition of all exploitation and oppression, depends on whether or not there is a leadership, communist leadership, that has the necessary scientific understanding and method, and on that basis can develop the necessary strategic approach and the influence and organized ties among growing numbers of the people, in order to lead the uprising of the people, through all the twists and turns, to the goal of a real, revolutionary transformation of society, in accordance with the fundamental interests of the people. And, in turn, when people massively break with the “normal routine” and the tightly woven chains of oppressive relations in which they are usually entrapped and by which they are heavily weighed down — when they break through and rise up in their millions — that is a crucial time for communist organization to further develop its ties with those masses, strengthening its ranks and its ability to lead. Or, if such communist organization does not yet exist, or exists only in isolated fragments, this is a crucial time for communist organization to be forged and developed, to take up the challenge of studying and applying communist theory, in a living way, in the midst of this tumultuous situation, and to strive to continually develop ties with, to influence and to ultimately lead growing numbers of the masses in the direction of the revolution that represents their fundamental and highest interests, the communist revolution.

In my writings and talks, in Communism: The Beginning of a New Stage, a Manifesto from the 

Revolutionary Communist Party, USA, and in other major documents of our Party, we have striven to draw as deeply and fully as possible the critical lessons from the historical experience of the communist revolution and the socialist societies it has brought into being — the very real and great achievements, and the serious errors and setbacks — and to learn from the broader experience of human society and its historical development, in order to contribute all we can to the advance of the revolutionary struggle and the emancipation of oppressed people throughout the world. As the Constitution of our Party states: 

“The Revolutionary Communist Party, USA has taken the responsibility to lead revolution in the U.S., the belly of the imperialist beast, as its principal share of the world revolution and the ultimate aim of communism....

“The emancipation of all humanity: this, and nothing less than this, is our goal. There is no greater cause, no greater purpose to which to dedicate our lives.” 

It is in this spirit, and with this orientation and goal in mind, that I extend heartfelt support and encouragement to the millions who have risen up. To all who truly want to see the heroic struggle of the oppressed masses develop, with the necessary leadership, in the direction of real revolutionary transformation of society and genuine liberation: engage with and take up the emancipating viewpoint and goals of communism, and the challenge of giving this organized expression and a growing influence and presence among the struggling masses.

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