Check this clip from Bob Avakian's landmark Revolution talk, "What to the Slave is Your Fourth of July? From the Past to the Present" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljXoAfxTMdg and in Spanish http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCTE5sLUSMk
Saturday, July 03, 2010
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
On the Ground in Detroit: June 21
Revolution in Detroit - June 21 - Part 1 & 2
Follow Carl Dix on Twitter at www.twitter.com/Carl_Dix
and also follow the on the ground reports by Revolution correspondent Alice Woodward on the revolutionaries in Detroit at www.revdetroit.blogspot.com
Part 2
Follow Carl Dix on Twitter at www.twitter.com/Carl_Dix
and also follow the on the ground reports by Revolution correspondent Alice Woodward on the revolutionaries in Detroit at www.revdetroit.blogspot.com
Part 2
Friday, June 18, 2010
Sunday, June 06, 2010
Detroit: June 15th--30 — Be There!
Put Revolution on the Map
On May 12th, the Detroit police murdered 7-year-old Aiyana Stanley-Jones. Then they treated her family like criminals, arresting her grandmother and testing her for drugs and gun powder residue and making her father lay on the floor in the very room his little girl had just been blown away in, his face in her still warm blood. Then the authorities blamed Aiyana’s family for their little girl’s murder. These pigs are lying thru their teeth! This is wrong, it is illegitimate and it is unacceptable. AND WE MUST NOT ALLOW THEM TO GET AWAY WITH THIS! Come to Detroit and join us in letting people know that there is a revolutionary movement which will not be backed down in the face of this kind of stuff, and which says: “The days when … this system can just keep on doing what it does to people, here and all over the world … when people are not inspired and organized to stand up against these outrages and to build up the strength to put an end to this madness … those days must be GONE. And they CAN be.”
But that’s not all that’s happening in Detroit. The United States Social Forum is happening on June 22-26 – thousands of people coming from all over the country, and beyond, putting their heads together and debating about how to make a different better world. And this revolutionary movement will be there, too – part of the debate, and learning from everyone we can, even as we’re going to boldly put forward our revolutionary solution to this madness.
We’re going to take the need for communist revolution – how it’s the only way to deal with all this – and the existence of our leadership – Bob Avakian and the Party he leads – out to both these sections of people. But that’s not all. The movement for revolution is going to do all it can to bring these two forces together – the basic people in Detroit seething over brutality and injustice, and the activists coming to Detroit to wrangle with making a different and better world. We’re going to work to create a very positive, and very rare, chemistry in this fucked-up society which does everything it can to keep people divided and fearing one another.
If you are sickened and outraged by the police murder of Aiyana Stanley-Jones... if you are outraged by crimes against the environment in the Gulf and the Nazi anti-immigrant laws in Arizona... if you are righteously infuriated by the U.S. rampaging around the Middle East with its thug Israel and you want to fight for a radically different and radically better world where all these things don’t constantly happen… and if you are most definitely down with the Message and Call from the RCP,USA “The Revolution We Need… The Leadership We Have”… if you want to get Bob Avakian and his liberating, emancipating message known to many many thousands in Detroit and beyond… then drop everything and COME TO DETROIT THE 2ND HALF OF JUNE!
Get there June 15th and stay for the whole time. Be there for the United States Social Forum June 22-26, and bring the outrage of the masses in Detroit at this murder into this important gathering of radical activists. And bring the desire of these activists for a better world out among the masses in Detroit. Get there for any part of this time that you can. But get there.
*****
People who want to volunteer to go to Detroit or make a financial contribution to this effort should get in contact with us right away. Write, call, e-mail: Libros Revolucion/Revolution Books (see page 15 for information for different cities) or RCP Publications at Box 3486, Merchandise Mart, Chicago, IL 60654 – 773-227-4066 – rcppubs@hotmail.com. Please give your name, e-mail, phone number so someone can get back to you right away. Checks can be made out to RCP Publications (marked “Detroit Effort”)
On May 12th, the Detroit police murdered 7-year-old Aiyana Stanley-Jones. Then they treated her family like criminals, arresting her grandmother and testing her for drugs and gun powder residue and making her father lay on the floor in the very room his little girl had just been blown away in, his face in her still warm blood. Then the authorities blamed Aiyana’s family for their little girl’s murder. These pigs are lying thru their teeth! This is wrong, it is illegitimate and it is unacceptable. AND WE MUST NOT ALLOW THEM TO GET AWAY WITH THIS! Come to Detroit and join us in letting people know that there is a revolutionary movement which will not be backed down in the face of this kind of stuff, and which says: “The days when … this system can just keep on doing what it does to people, here and all over the world … when people are not inspired and organized to stand up against these outrages and to build up the strength to put an end to this madness … those days must be GONE. And they CAN be.”
But that’s not all that’s happening in Detroit. The United States Social Forum is happening on June 22-26 – thousands of people coming from all over the country, and beyond, putting their heads together and debating about how to make a different better world. And this revolutionary movement will be there, too – part of the debate, and learning from everyone we can, even as we’re going to boldly put forward our revolutionary solution to this madness.
We’re going to take the need for communist revolution – how it’s the only way to deal with all this – and the existence of our leadership – Bob Avakian and the Party he leads – out to both these sections of people. But that’s not all. The movement for revolution is going to do all it can to bring these two forces together – the basic people in Detroit seething over brutality and injustice, and the activists coming to Detroit to wrangle with making a different and better world. We’re going to work to create a very positive, and very rare, chemistry in this fucked-up society which does everything it can to keep people divided and fearing one another.
If you are sickened and outraged by the police murder of Aiyana Stanley-Jones... if you are outraged by crimes against the environment in the Gulf and the Nazi anti-immigrant laws in Arizona... if you are righteously infuriated by the U.S. rampaging around the Middle East with its thug Israel and you want to fight for a radically different and radically better world where all these things don’t constantly happen… and if you are most definitely down with the Message and Call from the RCP,USA “The Revolution We Need… The Leadership We Have”… if you want to get Bob Avakian and his liberating, emancipating message known to many many thousands in Detroit and beyond… then drop everything and COME TO DETROIT THE 2ND HALF OF JUNE!
Get there June 15th and stay for the whole time. Be there for the United States Social Forum June 22-26, and bring the outrage of the masses in Detroit at this murder into this important gathering of radical activists. And bring the desire of these activists for a better world out among the masses in Detroit. Get there for any part of this time that you can. But get there.
*****
People who want to volunteer to go to Detroit or make a financial contribution to this effort should get in contact with us right away. Write, call, e-mail: Libros Revolucion/Revolution Books (see page 15 for information for different cities) or RCP Publications at Box 3486, Merchandise Mart, Chicago, IL 60654 – 773-227-4066 – rcppubs@hotmail.com. Please give your name, e-mail, phone number so someone can get back to you right away. Checks can be made out to RCP Publications (marked “Detroit Effort”)
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Carl Dix Speaks to the Youth On the Murder of Aiyana Jones
Everybody’s talking about crime - But who are the real criminals.
I was in Detroit for the funeral of Aiyana Jones. The police murdered this 7yr old girl, and then they treated her family like they were criminals, arresting her grandmother and making her father lay face down in his daughter’s blood. These pigs acted with wanton disregard for the lives of this Black family. A determined struggle for justice for Aiyana is needed in the face of this outrage.
The authorities in Detroit are blaming Aiyana’s family for the murder their pigs committed. They say the cop’s gun went off accidentally when her grandmother struggled with the cop. And they say Aiyana’s family put her in harm’s way by shielding the guy the cops were after.
Even if any of this were true, it wouldn’t justify what they did to Aiyana. They threw a grenade into a house they knew kids lived in, and they ran into the house guns drawn AND shooting. Are they saying it’s legitimate to kill children if they get between them and somebody they’re after? Are they saying they can be judge, jury and executioner all rolled into one?
Moreover, these pigs are lying. The guy the cops had the warrant for lived in the apt upstairs, over top of Aiyana’s home. The pigs ran into the wrong place and blew away a little girl. There’s a video of what happened that night. The lawyer for Aiyana’s family has seen the video, and he says it proves the cops are lying. The cops have the video and have refused to let it be shown. If that video backed up the cops’ story, it’d be all over the TV.
Now a lot of people are saying Aiyana’s murder was caused by the culture of crime and violence in Detroit – that because Black youth are killing each other, the cops have to operate like they do. The Detroit police chief said people concerned about what happened to Aiyana have to do more snitching to the cops. At Aiyana’s funeral, Rev Sharpton, who did the eulogy, said, “I’m going to start looking at the man in the mirror. We’ve all done something to contribute to this.” – referring to Aiyana’s death.
This is pure poison. It comes down to blaming the masses for the shit the system enforces on them. Look, I’m not naive. I know the youth are into some bad shit – gangs, crime and drugs; killing each other and preying on the people. But who’s responsible for all this? The capitalist system. The system has sucked the jobs out of the ghettos, moving them ½ way across the world where they can exploit people even more viciously. The system has created schools that are like prisons. Our youth have no legitimate way to survive and raise families. They face futures of prison, the military, or early graves. Even a mainstream economist has said crime is a rational choice for the youth, the best one they can make under the circumstances.
Anybody who wants to do something about crime and violence has to target what’s responsible for all this – the capitalist system.
Now, I want to speak to the youth, youth out there with their defiant attitudes and sagging pants, youth who are in gangs and involved in the underground economy trying to make it or earn some respect.
Look I know the system offers you no future. Unleashing pigs to beat you down, dragging you into court where no one is on your side, framing you up on BS charges and throwing you in jail even if you’ve done nothing wrong. I know they say your lives are worthless, and this has scarred you deeply, physically and emotionally. I know the impact that watching your families lose jobs and homes, seeing your fathers locked up or missing from your lives can have.
I get why you’re angry, why you don’t want to play by the system’s rules, why you’re impatient and want to fight. But answer me this – are you going to let this system, the very system that put you in this situation, keep on playing you? Are you going to keep swallowing and spitting back out their message, that you’re nothing but a criminal, an animal out to kill or be killed? Are you going to keep on being a tool for this system, doing dirty work that serves its interests, killing each other and preying on the people? Or joining their military to go off to do the same shit for them in Iraq and Afghanistan?
Or are you going to cast off what they say about you and prove them wrong. Are you going to rise above what this system has put on you, not by getting on your knees and praying to a non existent god. That won’t ease your conscience or stop the never ending nightmares you see happening around you every day.
What you gotta do is get out of the shit you’re into and get into the revolution. Refuse to become what the system is trying to make you into. Take the rage that burns within you, rage that is completely justified, and direct it where it needs to be. Become a fighter for the revolution, an emancipator of humanity. You have heart and a brain – use them to get into this revolution. Spread the message of this revolution, that things don’t have to be this way, that thru revolution we could end the way the police brutalize and even murder people, end the wars this system inflicts on the world, end the way the great majority of humanity is forced to endure poverty and misery while a handful live in obscene wealth. Grapple with the questions involved in making revolution and building a new society that could meet people’s needs and deal with the problems we face.
Use your rage to stand up against the outrages this system brings down on people here in the US and around the world. Like the cold blooded murder of Aiyana Jones and all the other people these pigs have murdered.
The days when the system can just keep on doing what it does to people here and all over the world, when people aren’t inspired and organized to stand up against these outrages, and to build up the strength to end this madness, those days must be gone, and they can be.
Make your life about something that really matters, not just for yourself and those around you, but for all of humanity. Do something to get rid of this system that has robbed you and all the people of this planet of lives worthy of human beings.
The choice is yours. Are you gonna continue to let this system play you, are you going to end up in an early grave or in prison or a mindless killer in their military? Or are you going to rise above it, getting with the revolution, waking other people up, shaking them out of their silence and passivity, helping jump off a new stage of revolution.
This system has no future for you. But the revolution certainly does.
Get with the revolution.
I was in Detroit for the funeral of Aiyana Jones. The police murdered this 7yr old girl, and then they treated her family like they were criminals, arresting her grandmother and making her father lay face down in his daughter’s blood. These pigs acted with wanton disregard for the lives of this Black family. A determined struggle for justice for Aiyana is needed in the face of this outrage.
The authorities in Detroit are blaming Aiyana’s family for the murder their pigs committed. They say the cop’s gun went off accidentally when her grandmother struggled with the cop. And they say Aiyana’s family put her in harm’s way by shielding the guy the cops were after.
Even if any of this were true, it wouldn’t justify what they did to Aiyana. They threw a grenade into a house they knew kids lived in, and they ran into the house guns drawn AND shooting. Are they saying it’s legitimate to kill children if they get between them and somebody they’re after? Are they saying they can be judge, jury and executioner all rolled into one?
Moreover, these pigs are lying. The guy the cops had the warrant for lived in the apt upstairs, over top of Aiyana’s home. The pigs ran into the wrong place and blew away a little girl. There’s a video of what happened that night. The lawyer for Aiyana’s family has seen the video, and he says it proves the cops are lying. The cops have the video and have refused to let it be shown. If that video backed up the cops’ story, it’d be all over the TV.
Now a lot of people are saying Aiyana’s murder was caused by the culture of crime and violence in Detroit – that because Black youth are killing each other, the cops have to operate like they do. The Detroit police chief said people concerned about what happened to Aiyana have to do more snitching to the cops. At Aiyana’s funeral, Rev Sharpton, who did the eulogy, said, “I’m going to start looking at the man in the mirror. We’ve all done something to contribute to this.” – referring to Aiyana’s death.
This is pure poison. It comes down to blaming the masses for the shit the system enforces on them. Look, I’m not naive. I know the youth are into some bad shit – gangs, crime and drugs; killing each other and preying on the people. But who’s responsible for all this? The capitalist system. The system has sucked the jobs out of the ghettos, moving them ½ way across the world where they can exploit people even more viciously. The system has created schools that are like prisons. Our youth have no legitimate way to survive and raise families. They face futures of prison, the military, or early graves. Even a mainstream economist has said crime is a rational choice for the youth, the best one they can make under the circumstances.
Anybody who wants to do something about crime and violence has to target what’s responsible for all this – the capitalist system.
Now, I want to speak to the youth, youth out there with their defiant attitudes and sagging pants, youth who are in gangs and involved in the underground economy trying to make it or earn some respect.
Look I know the system offers you no future. Unleashing pigs to beat you down, dragging you into court where no one is on your side, framing you up on BS charges and throwing you in jail even if you’ve done nothing wrong. I know they say your lives are worthless, and this has scarred you deeply, physically and emotionally. I know the impact that watching your families lose jobs and homes, seeing your fathers locked up or missing from your lives can have.
I get why you’re angry, why you don’t want to play by the system’s rules, why you’re impatient and want to fight. But answer me this – are you going to let this system, the very system that put you in this situation, keep on playing you? Are you going to keep swallowing and spitting back out their message, that you’re nothing but a criminal, an animal out to kill or be killed? Are you going to keep on being a tool for this system, doing dirty work that serves its interests, killing each other and preying on the people? Or joining their military to go off to do the same shit for them in Iraq and Afghanistan?
Or are you going to cast off what they say about you and prove them wrong. Are you going to rise above what this system has put on you, not by getting on your knees and praying to a non existent god. That won’t ease your conscience or stop the never ending nightmares you see happening around you every day.
What you gotta do is get out of the shit you’re into and get into the revolution. Refuse to become what the system is trying to make you into. Take the rage that burns within you, rage that is completely justified, and direct it where it needs to be. Become a fighter for the revolution, an emancipator of humanity. You have heart and a brain – use them to get into this revolution. Spread the message of this revolution, that things don’t have to be this way, that thru revolution we could end the way the police brutalize and even murder people, end the wars this system inflicts on the world, end the way the great majority of humanity is forced to endure poverty and misery while a handful live in obscene wealth. Grapple with the questions involved in making revolution and building a new society that could meet people’s needs and deal with the problems we face.
Use your rage to stand up against the outrages this system brings down on people here in the US and around the world. Like the cold blooded murder of Aiyana Jones and all the other people these pigs have murdered.
The days when the system can just keep on doing what it does to people here and all over the world, when people aren’t inspired and organized to stand up against these outrages, and to build up the strength to end this madness, those days must be gone, and they can be.
Make your life about something that really matters, not just for yourself and those around you, but for all of humanity. Do something to get rid of this system that has robbed you and all the people of this planet of lives worthy of human beings.
The choice is yours. Are you gonna continue to let this system play you, are you going to end up in an early grave or in prison or a mindless killer in their military? Or are you going to rise above it, getting with the revolution, waking other people up, shaking them out of their silence and passivity, helping jump off a new stage of revolution.
This system has no future for you. But the revolution certainly does.
Get with the revolution.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Statement on Aiyana Jones Murder by Detroit Police
My name is Carl Dix and I’m with the Revolutionary Communist Party and I have something to say about the police murder of 7 year old Aiyana Jones in Detroit this week.
The days when this system can just keep on doing what it does to people, here and all over the world… when people are not inspired and organized to stand up against these outrages and to build up the strength to put an end to this madness… those days must be GONE. And they CAN be.
Aiyana Jones was sleeping in her own home when she was burned with a stun grenade thrown through her window by Detroit police and then shot in the head and killed by police.
Don’t tell me this was an accident that couldn’t have been avoided—they threw a stun grenade into a home, burning Aiyana while she slept. Then they fired the bullet that killed Aiyana while they were still on the porch outside. All this happened despite the fact that Aiyana’s cousin, Mark Jones, was outside pleading with them that there were children inside.
Don’t tell me the cops were remorseful over Aiyana’s death— they made her father, Charles Jones, lay face down in broken glass and in his little girl’s blood, all the while lying to him, telling him Aiyana was OK. Then they arrested the grandmother, and when they took her for a drug test, they PUT HER IN CHAINS.
Don’t tell me this is just “one bad apple” – because after this murder, the police department started lying to cover it up. They cooked up a lie that the murdering cop’s gun went off by accident and blamed this on the alleged resistance of Aiyana’s grandmother, Mertilla Jones.
Don’t tell us to be patient until all the facts come out -- it turns out the cops who killed Aiyana had pointed his gun at a 2 year old girl several years earlier and he hasn’t been punished for that outrage.
Don’t tell us to wait patiently while the cops investigate and find out what happened—the cops are spreading lies about how this happened and trying to cover up the truth. A TV crew was filming the police while all this happened, and the cops confiscated the film and haven’t let anyone see it.
Don’t tell us to wait for the federal government to come in and investigate this—cops have killed innocent people again and again, in Detroit and all across the country. Whether the feds come into the cases or not, these murdering pigs almost always get away without any punishment.
People in Iraq and Afghanistan have faced the same thing that was perpetrated on Aiyana's family. Night time raids, stun grenades, family members killed. This is standard procedure for the US military too--shock and awe. What kind of system is this that perfects this kind of procedure and carries it out against people all over the world, again and again.
There's been rivers of tears and oceans of blood. Why do we have to live in a society where cops can brutalize and murder people and get away with it? Why do we have to live in a society where people can work hard all their lives and do everything they're supposed to, and then see their homes taken away from them because of the workings of capitalism's financial system? Why do we have to live in a world where billions of people live on the edge of starvation, dealing with misery and disease while a handful live in obscene wealth?
We don't. Things don't have to keep going down like this. Things don't have to be this way.
It is this capitalist system that has got us in the situation we are in today, and keeps us there. And it is through revolution to get rid of this system that we ourselves can bring a much better system into being. The ultimate goal of this revolution is communism: a world where people work and struggle together for the common good… Where everyone contributes whatever they can to society and gets back what they need to live a life worthy of human beings… where there are no more divisions among people in which some rule over and oppress others, robbing them not only of the means to a decent life but also of knowledge and a means for really understanding, and acting to change, the world.
And look, if you’ve heard bad things before about communist revolution – that’s just more of this system’s lies. The fact is, when we have state power, we can crfeate a totally different and far better society for people to live in. When we are leading a new revolutionary society, our public safety officers would sooner take a bullet themselves then kill or injure an innocent person and that is just the beginning.
This revolution is real. We have the leadership we need in Bob Avakian and the Revolutionary Communist Party. And right now we are building a movement for revolution. Fighting the power and transforming the people for revolution.
Get with the revolution!
What future does this system have to offer our youth? Being blown away by some trigger happy cop? Being trapped in ghettos and barrios that have been stripped of jobs and opportunity? Having little in the way of legitimate ways to survive and raise families? This system has no future for our youth, but the revolution certainly does.
Don't tell us about crime and gangs--It's your system that's really criminal.
Don't tell us about being patient and not to get angry--this has gone down again and again. We're right to be angry and we should express that anger.
Little Aiyana is dead, and the cops are lying about it to cover up their foul murder. We don't want to or need to hear their phony apologies or watch them shed crocodile tears. Come out to her funeral, show her, her family and oppressed youth all over the world some love. Protest her outrageous murder. And join the movement for revolution!
The days when this system can just keep on doing what it does to people, here and all over the world… when people are not inspired and organized to stand up against these outrages and to build up the strength to put an end to this madness… those days must be GONE. And they CAN be.
-30-
The days when this system can just keep on doing what it does to people, here and all over the world… when people are not inspired and organized to stand up against these outrages and to build up the strength to put an end to this madness… those days must be GONE. And they CAN be.
Aiyana Jones was sleeping in her own home when she was burned with a stun grenade thrown through her window by Detroit police and then shot in the head and killed by police.
Don’t tell me this was an accident that couldn’t have been avoided—they threw a stun grenade into a home, burning Aiyana while she slept. Then they fired the bullet that killed Aiyana while they were still on the porch outside. All this happened despite the fact that Aiyana’s cousin, Mark Jones, was outside pleading with them that there were children inside.
Don’t tell me the cops were remorseful over Aiyana’s death— they made her father, Charles Jones, lay face down in broken glass and in his little girl’s blood, all the while lying to him, telling him Aiyana was OK. Then they arrested the grandmother, and when they took her for a drug test, they PUT HER IN CHAINS.
Don’t tell me this is just “one bad apple” – because after this murder, the police department started lying to cover it up. They cooked up a lie that the murdering cop’s gun went off by accident and blamed this on the alleged resistance of Aiyana’s grandmother, Mertilla Jones.
Don’t tell us to be patient until all the facts come out -- it turns out the cops who killed Aiyana had pointed his gun at a 2 year old girl several years earlier and he hasn’t been punished for that outrage.
Don’t tell us to wait patiently while the cops investigate and find out what happened—the cops are spreading lies about how this happened and trying to cover up the truth. A TV crew was filming the police while all this happened, and the cops confiscated the film and haven’t let anyone see it.
Don’t tell us to wait for the federal government to come in and investigate this—cops have killed innocent people again and again, in Detroit and all across the country. Whether the feds come into the cases or not, these murdering pigs almost always get away without any punishment.
People in Iraq and Afghanistan have faced the same thing that was perpetrated on Aiyana's family. Night time raids, stun grenades, family members killed. This is standard procedure for the US military too--shock and awe. What kind of system is this that perfects this kind of procedure and carries it out against people all over the world, again and again.
There's been rivers of tears and oceans of blood. Why do we have to live in a society where cops can brutalize and murder people and get away with it? Why do we have to live in a society where people can work hard all their lives and do everything they're supposed to, and then see their homes taken away from them because of the workings of capitalism's financial system? Why do we have to live in a world where billions of people live on the edge of starvation, dealing with misery and disease while a handful live in obscene wealth?
We don't. Things don't have to keep going down like this. Things don't have to be this way.
It is this capitalist system that has got us in the situation we are in today, and keeps us there. And it is through revolution to get rid of this system that we ourselves can bring a much better system into being. The ultimate goal of this revolution is communism: a world where people work and struggle together for the common good… Where everyone contributes whatever they can to society and gets back what they need to live a life worthy of human beings… where there are no more divisions among people in which some rule over and oppress others, robbing them not only of the means to a decent life but also of knowledge and a means for really understanding, and acting to change, the world.
And look, if you’ve heard bad things before about communist revolution – that’s just more of this system’s lies. The fact is, when we have state power, we can crfeate a totally different and far better society for people to live in. When we are leading a new revolutionary society, our public safety officers would sooner take a bullet themselves then kill or injure an innocent person and that is just the beginning.
This revolution is real. We have the leadership we need in Bob Avakian and the Revolutionary Communist Party. And right now we are building a movement for revolution. Fighting the power and transforming the people for revolution.
Get with the revolution!
What future does this system have to offer our youth? Being blown away by some trigger happy cop? Being trapped in ghettos and barrios that have been stripped of jobs and opportunity? Having little in the way of legitimate ways to survive and raise families? This system has no future for our youth, but the revolution certainly does.
Don't tell us about crime and gangs--It's your system that's really criminal.
Don't tell us about being patient and not to get angry--this has gone down again and again. We're right to be angry and we should express that anger.
Little Aiyana is dead, and the cops are lying about it to cover up their foul murder. We don't want to or need to hear their phony apologies or watch them shed crocodile tears. Come out to her funeral, show her, her family and oppressed youth all over the world some love. Protest her outrageous murder. And join the movement for revolution!
The days when this system can just keep on doing what it does to people, here and all over the world… when people are not inspired and organized to stand up against these outrages and to build up the strength to put an end to this madness… those days must be GONE. And they CAN be.
-30-
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Monday, April 12, 2010
12 Iraqi Civilians Murdered By US Troops Firing From Apache Helicopter
THIS MASS MURDER MUST BE ROUNDLY CONDEMNED!
The video recently released by Wikileaks cries out for a response of outrage and condemnation. (You can view this video at Wikileaks.org.) This video shows US forces in Iraq launching an unprovoked assault from an Apache Helicopter on a group of Arab men in July of 2007. After the attack one of the men he tries to crawl to safety, and the helicopter fires at him again! Then a van pulls up and tries to pick up the dead and wounded, and the helicopter fires a missile at it, killing and wounding more people, including 2 children! US ground troops arrive and pick up the children to take them to a hospital. The helicopter relays orders to leave the children to be picked up by Iraqi police, if they survive till the Iraqi police arrive. In all, 12 people were killed in this murderous assault.
The initial US response to complaints over this assault was: "There is no question that coalition forces were clearly engaged in a fire fight with hostile forces." "The actions of the soldiers were in accordance with the rules of engagement." And "No innocent civilians were killed on our part deliberately. Our forces took great pains to prevent that. We did everything we could to help them. We don't know how the children were hurt." These are all lies aimed at keeping those who did not witness the assault in the dark about what really happened.
Two of the men attacked were carrying cameras, and none carried weapons of any kind. No one took any hostile action against the US forces, even after the unprovoked assault. The soldiers in the helicopter acknowledged that the people in the van were picking up bodies right before they fired a missile at them. And in the video you can clearly see that the children in the van before the helicopter fired at it.
This was mass murder carried out at a safe distance, firing at people who were in no way threatening the US forces. And the soldiers were calm and upbeat as they went about this murderous deed in a callous and uncaring way. They lie that the men have weapons and have fired at them and joke as they kill people for no good reason! Another thing that stands out is how eager they are to kill. They plead several times, "Let us shoot," as they await the OK to kill the defenseless people below them. When someone in the helicopter says they have wounded children, another soldier replies, "It's their fault for bringing their kids to a battle!"
The statement that the troops' actions were in accordance with the rules of engagement only serves to underscore that the war in Iraq Afghanistan are unjust and immoral. As does the reported response to the leaking of the video. Craig Considine writes that a secret report from the Army Counterintelligence Center, also leaked by Wikileaks, says, "Wikileaks represents a potential force protection, counterintelligence, operational security and information security threat to the US Army." This report also suggests that those responsible for leaking this report be hunted down and prosecuted.
I’m a Vietnam era veteran and war resister from inside the US army. This assault brought back bitter memories. Of the My Lai massacre, where US soldiers murdered several hundred Vietnamese villagers and burned down their village. Of US warplanes bombing irrigation facilities in farming areas and dropping napalm on defenseless villagers. Of earlier cover ups and lying justifications. Of attempts to prosecute those who exposed war crimes, not those who ordered or carried them out.
None of this--the murderous assault or the official response should surprise anyone. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are unjust, immoral wars, wars in which whole cities like Falluja have been flattened, in which wedding parties have been bombed at least 6 times! And the US has perpetrated war crimes like these since its very beginning, a beginning which has at its foundation genocide against the native inhabitants and theft of their land. This is why the Revolutionary Communist Party says in its Statement, The Revolution We Need ... The Leadership We Have that this capitalist/imperialist system "brings horror upon horror, a nightmare seemingly without end, for the vast majority of humanity ... wars, invasions and occupations ... assassinations and massacres ... planes, missiles, tanks and troops of the USA bombarding people in faraway lands while they sleep in their homes or go about their daily lives, blasting their little children to pieces, cutting down men and women in the prime of life, or in old age ..."
Everyone with an ounce of conscience needs to think about this latest outrage perpetrated by this rotten system. Think about the 12 people killed in this unprovoked, murderous assault. Think about the 2 children who were severely wounded. Think about the sense of loss this caused for their loved ones and friends. Think about all this, and respond to it with outrage and condemnation, and with a sense of urgency.
--Carl Dix
-30-
The video recently released by Wikileaks cries out for a response of outrage and condemnation. (You can view this video at Wikileaks.org.) This video shows US forces in Iraq launching an unprovoked assault from an Apache Helicopter on a group of Arab men in July of 2007. After the attack one of the men he tries to crawl to safety, and the helicopter fires at him again! Then a van pulls up and tries to pick up the dead and wounded, and the helicopter fires a missile at it, killing and wounding more people, including 2 children! US ground troops arrive and pick up the children to take them to a hospital. The helicopter relays orders to leave the children to be picked up by Iraqi police, if they survive till the Iraqi police arrive. In all, 12 people were killed in this murderous assault.
The initial US response to complaints over this assault was: "There is no question that coalition forces were clearly engaged in a fire fight with hostile forces." "The actions of the soldiers were in accordance with the rules of engagement." And "No innocent civilians were killed on our part deliberately. Our forces took great pains to prevent that. We did everything we could to help them. We don't know how the children were hurt." These are all lies aimed at keeping those who did not witness the assault in the dark about what really happened.
Two of the men attacked were carrying cameras, and none carried weapons of any kind. No one took any hostile action against the US forces, even after the unprovoked assault. The soldiers in the helicopter acknowledged that the people in the van were picking up bodies right before they fired a missile at them. And in the video you can clearly see that the children in the van before the helicopter fired at it.
This was mass murder carried out at a safe distance, firing at people who were in no way threatening the US forces. And the soldiers were calm and upbeat as they went about this murderous deed in a callous and uncaring way. They lie that the men have weapons and have fired at them and joke as they kill people for no good reason! Another thing that stands out is how eager they are to kill. They plead several times, "Let us shoot," as they await the OK to kill the defenseless people below them. When someone in the helicopter says they have wounded children, another soldier replies, "It's their fault for bringing their kids to a battle!"
The statement that the troops' actions were in accordance with the rules of engagement only serves to underscore that the war in Iraq Afghanistan are unjust and immoral. As does the reported response to the leaking of the video. Craig Considine writes that a secret report from the Army Counterintelligence Center, also leaked by Wikileaks, says, "Wikileaks represents a potential force protection, counterintelligence, operational security and information security threat to the US Army." This report also suggests that those responsible for leaking this report be hunted down and prosecuted.
I’m a Vietnam era veteran and war resister from inside the US army. This assault brought back bitter memories. Of the My Lai massacre, where US soldiers murdered several hundred Vietnamese villagers and burned down their village. Of US warplanes bombing irrigation facilities in farming areas and dropping napalm on defenseless villagers. Of earlier cover ups and lying justifications. Of attempts to prosecute those who exposed war crimes, not those who ordered or carried them out.
None of this--the murderous assault or the official response should surprise anyone. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are unjust, immoral wars, wars in which whole cities like Falluja have been flattened, in which wedding parties have been bombed at least 6 times! And the US has perpetrated war crimes like these since its very beginning, a beginning which has at its foundation genocide against the native inhabitants and theft of their land. This is why the Revolutionary Communist Party says in its Statement, The Revolution We Need ... The Leadership We Have that this capitalist/imperialist system "brings horror upon horror, a nightmare seemingly without end, for the vast majority of humanity ... wars, invasions and occupations ... assassinations and massacres ... planes, missiles, tanks and troops of the USA bombarding people in faraway lands while they sleep in their homes or go about their daily lives, blasting their little children to pieces, cutting down men and women in the prime of life, or in old age ..."
Everyone with an ounce of conscience needs to think about this latest outrage perpetrated by this rotten system. Think about the 12 people killed in this unprovoked, murderous assault. Think about the 2 children who were severely wounded. Think about the sense of loss this caused for their loved ones and friends. Think about all this, and respond to it with outrage and condemnation, and with a sense of urgency.
--Carl Dix
-30-
Monday, March 29, 2010
Tavis Smiley’s “The Black Agenda is the American Agenda”
Friends,
I’ve had a busy month, and I wanted to drop you a note about one part of that month—Tavis Smiley’s “The Black Agenda is the American Agenda” event in Chicago on March 20th. This event came out of a dispute between Tavis and Rev Al Sharpton, among others, over whether President Obama needed to have, or even to address, a Black agenda. This event focused on an important question, one that is up for large numbers of people in this country. That question is, how to assess Obama’s 1st year plus in the White House? To be blunt, do we need to give “the brother” more time to affect the kind of changes needed, or is the oppression of Black people runs so deep in this society that Obama couldn’t do anything about it if he wanted to? I’ll speak to this question in a minute.
Tavis’ panel of 11 notable Black people contained an array of divergent views. Angela Blackwell-Glover felt that the Black agenda was clear, and Obama was quietly working on it, tho’ she wished he’d be more vocal about that. From the other end, Cornel West felt that the cabinet and advisors Obama had surrounded himself with and the failure to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan pointed to a failure to act for change. Dorothy Tilghman urged people to get active, “to mobilize people to speak out for the things they need, just like other groups do.” Julianne Malveux felt that the depth of the conditions faced by Black people underscored the urgent need for an approach directly geared to these problems. Louis Farrakhan said that Obama had been selected to sit in the White House to represent white interests. Michael Eric Dyson went so far as to say, “Obama is not Moses. He’s Pharaoh!”
Despite this diversity of views, there was an overall framework that all the speakers stayed within, and I think this is framework is one that needs to be broken out of. That framework was that the way to work to end, or at least ease, the oppression Black people face is within the confines of this system. This approach limits people to working to pressure those with the power to do something about the problems they face.
The problem with this approach is that the oppression of Black people and all the other problems people face today around the world are built into the very fabric of the imperialist system we live under. Staying within the confines of the system means putting up with these problems and working to lessen them.
But things don’t have to be this way! We could end the oppression of Black people, the wars for empire, the oppression of women, the starvation and disease, everything foul people endure today thru revolution. All this is why we in the Revolutionary Communist Party are involved in a campaign centered on broad distribution of the statement, “The Revolution We Need … The Leadership We Have.” The goals of this campaign are to put revolution back on the map in this country, introduce people to the leadership we have for this revolution in Bob Avakian and to mobilize a core of people who are clear on the need for revolution and are determined to fight for it.
Had I been on this panel, all this would have been injected into the discourse. The 4000 plus people who attended this event, must of whom were in their seats in the auditorium when it began at 8 AM sharp, would’ve heard a radically different alternative to staying within the channels the system puts out there. Which is something I think is critically needed today.
I’ll write more on the other things that have taken me from DC to LA to Chicago and back to NY soon. Anyone who wants to get more info on Tavis’ event in Chicago should go to the web site: www.tavistalks.com.
Carl
I’ve had a busy month, and I wanted to drop you a note about one part of that month—Tavis Smiley’s “The Black Agenda is the American Agenda” event in Chicago on March 20th. This event came out of a dispute between Tavis and Rev Al Sharpton, among others, over whether President Obama needed to have, or even to address, a Black agenda. This event focused on an important question, one that is up for large numbers of people in this country. That question is, how to assess Obama’s 1st year plus in the White House? To be blunt, do we need to give “the brother” more time to affect the kind of changes needed, or is the oppression of Black people runs so deep in this society that Obama couldn’t do anything about it if he wanted to? I’ll speak to this question in a minute.
Tavis’ panel of 11 notable Black people contained an array of divergent views. Angela Blackwell-Glover felt that the Black agenda was clear, and Obama was quietly working on it, tho’ she wished he’d be more vocal about that. From the other end, Cornel West felt that the cabinet and advisors Obama had surrounded himself with and the failure to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan pointed to a failure to act for change. Dorothy Tilghman urged people to get active, “to mobilize people to speak out for the things they need, just like other groups do.” Julianne Malveux felt that the depth of the conditions faced by Black people underscored the urgent need for an approach directly geared to these problems. Louis Farrakhan said that Obama had been selected to sit in the White House to represent white interests. Michael Eric Dyson went so far as to say, “Obama is not Moses. He’s Pharaoh!”
Despite this diversity of views, there was an overall framework that all the speakers stayed within, and I think this is framework is one that needs to be broken out of. That framework was that the way to work to end, or at least ease, the oppression Black people face is within the confines of this system. This approach limits people to working to pressure those with the power to do something about the problems they face.
The problem with this approach is that the oppression of Black people and all the other problems people face today around the world are built into the very fabric of the imperialist system we live under. Staying within the confines of the system means putting up with these problems and working to lessen them.
But things don’t have to be this way! We could end the oppression of Black people, the wars for empire, the oppression of women, the starvation and disease, everything foul people endure today thru revolution. All this is why we in the Revolutionary Communist Party are involved in a campaign centered on broad distribution of the statement, “The Revolution We Need … The Leadership We Have.” The goals of this campaign are to put revolution back on the map in this country, introduce people to the leadership we have for this revolution in Bob Avakian and to mobilize a core of people who are clear on the need for revolution and are determined to fight for it.
Had I been on this panel, all this would have been injected into the discourse. The 4000 plus people who attended this event, must of whom were in their seats in the auditorium when it began at 8 AM sharp, would’ve heard a radically different alternative to staying within the channels the system puts out there. Which is something I think is critically needed today.
I’ll write more on the other things that have taken me from DC to LA to Chicago and back to NY soon. Anyone who wants to get more info on Tavis’ event in Chicago should go to the web site: www.tavistalks.com.
Carl
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Overturn the Ban of Revolution Newspaper!
Revolution #196, March 28, 2010
Pelican Bay State Prison, CA and Menard Prison, IL:
Overturn the Ban of Revolution Newspaper!
End the Political Censorship and Thought Control at Prisons Nationwide!
Along a remote stretch of California’s spectacular coast line 13 miles south of the Oregon border, sits Pelican Bay State Prison. 3,400 inmates are locked up in this super-max prison. 1,200 of these inmates are incarcerated in the Security Housing Unit (SHU), a notorious isolation unit. 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, these prisoners don’t see beyond the hallways of their cells.1
The Prisoners Revolutionary Literature Fund (PRLF) provides subscriptions to Revolution newspaper to over 45 inmates at Pelican Bay. Each paper is shared with other prisoners. As one subscriber from Pelican Bay wrote, “I been getting the Revolution newspaper for about 8 years and can’t imagine being in this dungeon without it.”
Revolution newspaper is a lifeline for these prisoners.
In February 2010, Pelican Bay State Prison authorities issued formal notification to RCP Publications that Revolution newspaper is contraband and is therefore banned from that prison altogether. No subscriber will be allowed to receive Revolution. According to the PRLF, the prisoners were not notified until February 2010 that newspapers from as far back as October and November 2009 and all subsequent issues had been confiscated. Meanwhile, another letter from a prison official in California’s Chuckawalla Valley State Prison indicates the ban could be instituted in the rest of the state prison system.
Over the last few years incidents of the paper being withheld from prisoners have been increasing across the country. But this transparently political ban at Pelican Bay prison, with its significant number of subscribers, is a major escalation in the suppression of Revolution newspaper. For over 20 years, the PRLF has made revolutionary literature available to prisoners, including in California. Now the authorities slam the door shut on Revolution reaching its subscribers.
This ban at Pelican Bay (and any other prison) must be overturned. It is illegal, unconstitutional and immoral.
Revolution, and the Revolutionary Worker before it, has been going into Pelican Bay Prison for decades. So why now is it being banned?
To understand this, one must go back to July 2009. At that time, the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA, issued a message and call and launched a major campaign: “The Revolution We Need... The Leadership We Have.” As a part of this, Joe Veale wrote a public letter to prisoners encouraging them to correspond, to speak to the youth who are trapped in dog-eat-dog ways of thinking and acting... and broadly to others, including in the middle strata. Veale called on them to move, inspire and win many, many people to the cause of revolution and to recognize the rare and precious leader we have in Bob Avakian.
And in the summer and fall of 2009, there was a flourishing of letters from prisoners. Three examples of this correspondence, from Pelican Bay and other dungeons, are in the accompanying article. It was clear this statement, and the campaign which it launched, had struck a chord in the hearts of these prisoners.
But that’s not all.
These letters and more were printed in the pages of Revolution and posted on the Internet. The voices of men and women who brave what might seem to be insurmountable odds to speak out from the dungeons where America has locked them up and locked them down were being heard broadly in society. These voices were having a profound effect on those who were listening. These are human beings who refuse to be destroyed, mentally and physically—and who grapple with the biggest questions of the revolution. Prisoners put pen to paper in order to communicate with the world.
Hundreds attended benefits for the PRLF which featured dramatic readings of these letters by a range of professional actors. And still more broadly, people from all strata have read these letters and responded, including with donations. No one should underestimate the impact it can have—and what it means—for people of all sections of society to read and hear what these prisoners are writing. As one Black woman who came to a benefit for the Prisoners Revolutionary Literature Fund (PRLF) said, “This is amazing. The prisoners are so smart and thoughtful and write so well. These are our people saying these beautiful things. It gives me hope.”
Then, in fall 2009, Revolution announced there would be a special issue of the paper focused on prisons and prisoners. (Special Issue on Prisons and Prisoners in the U.S: From the Hellholes of Incarceration to a Future of Emancipation, Revolution #183, November 15, 2009) It contained analysis, both from prisoners as well as regular writers for the paper. At the heart of it was a powerful centerfold with a passage of Bob Avakian’s talk, Revolution: Why It’s Necessary, Why It’s Possible, What It’s All About (available at revolutiontalk.net), which took off from the horrible, dog-eat-dog conditions in prison to show that, yes, another world is indeed possible... and that the wretched of the earth have a central role to play in it. This issue we now know never reached a significant number of prisoner subscribers, especially at Pelican Bay.
And the Ban Comes Down
The letter banning Revolution newspaper from Pelican Bay State Prison in California read, “This letter is to advise you that your weekly periodical ‘Revolution’ will not be delivered to inmates housed at Pelican Bay State Prison. Your periodical newspaper has been determined to be contraband because it ‘promotes disruption and overthrow of the government and incites violence to do so....’”
Disapproval notifications sent to prisoners in February 2010 stated the reason for banning issues of the newspaper as far back as October 2009 was “Incites racial violence and promotes governmental anarchy.”
The ban at Pelican Bay is an egregious act of political suppression based on the content of the newspaper. The discussion of revolution found in the pages of the newspaper is well known and undisputedly constitutionally protected speech measured by Supreme Court decisions on this over the last 50 years.
Who Promotes Racial Violence... And Who Promotes Unity in Struggle Across Racial and National Lines?
The other pretext for the ban—that Revolution newspaper promotes “racial violence”—has no credibility. One prisoner commented, “First off what racial group in particular are they speaking of? In other words to which audience is the paper targeting to incite racial violence when the fact is prison officials are basically the architects of racial disharmony among prisoners.”
Countless letters from prisoners who read Revolution demonstrate it is an invaluable tool in reaching across divisions by nationality and forging of multi-national unity among the prisoners:
I’m currently in one of the three SHU’s in California. I can’t imagine any deeper, darker, or more desolate pits in the U.S. than these.... The SHU “just so happens” to be where they isolate and slam down the most progressive, revolutionary, intelligent and indomitable elements of the prison population. When, by word of mouth or by my political activity on the tier, these cats learn I’m a communist revolutionary with revolutionary literature available for all regardless of race, groups, etc. a lot of them are interested in taking advantage of this opportunity to use this literature....
Let’s talk about who actually has a well-documented history of inciting racial violence. The prison system, especially in California, foments widespread gang and racial clashes as a means to divide and conquer the prisoners and then uses this as a rationale for more repression, brutality and torture against the prisoners. For instance, at the Corcoran SHU in California, the guards literally instigated gladiator type fights—they would take prisoners and whip them into a frenzy against each other, put them in pens and then release them out to fight each other, sometimes to the death.
The Ban Must Go!
A prisoner at Pelican Bay wrote about the ban on Revolution newspaper:
I am...offended by their notion that they are “cultivators” of my mind, that they “water” my mind with their approved books and approved reading and I will “grow” to be an “approved crop” instead of a weed.
We can not let the ban on Revolution stand. A mass and massive political and legal struggle must be mounted to overturn the ban at Pelican Bay. And let’s meet this challenge with the aim of not only overturning the ban—but geometrically spreading Revolution behind prison walls and the words of these revolutionary minded prisoners out into society. Revolution newspaper calls for support for the work of the Prisoners Revolutionary Literature Fund. People can contribute to the fight against the censorship in many ways: raising awareness and funds, developing networks of support, dramatic readings of the prisoners’ letters. The ban must be challenged at Pelican Bay and at other prisons as well, like Menard prison in Illinois (where authorities have placed Revolution newspaper on their “banned literature” list.)
Taking on and waging the struggle against this ban can also contribute, very strongly, to achieving the goals of the campaign, to putting communist revolution, as it has been reconceived by Bob Avakian, on the map in this society; to broadly make known in this society the leadership of Avakian—giving people a sense of and building support for the work he is carrying out, his history and character as a rare and outstanding communist leader… and through strengthening the core of the revolutionary movement and the party that is leading it.
1. NPR, Laura Sullivan, July 26, 2006, “At Pelican Bay Prison, a Life in Solitary” [back]
What You Can Do
Support the work of the Prisoners Revolutionary Literature Fund (info below; 773‑960‑6952).
Donate! And raise money for the struggle to overturn the ban on Revolution.
Take part in the struggle against the ban: Spread the word about the ban and the struggle against it, develop networks of support, organize dramatic readings of the prisoners’ letters, and in many other creative ways.
Lawyers and others in the legal arena: Help in legal challenges against the ban on Revolution newspaper at Pelican Bay and at other prisons.
Meet this challenge by spreading Revolution behind prison walls and the words of these revolutionary-minded prisoners out into society.
Pelican Bay State Prison, CA and Menard Prison, IL:
Overturn the Ban of Revolution Newspaper!
End the Political Censorship and Thought Control at Prisons Nationwide!
Along a remote stretch of California’s spectacular coast line 13 miles south of the Oregon border, sits Pelican Bay State Prison. 3,400 inmates are locked up in this super-max prison. 1,200 of these inmates are incarcerated in the Security Housing Unit (SHU), a notorious isolation unit. 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, these prisoners don’t see beyond the hallways of their cells.1
The Prisoners Revolutionary Literature Fund (PRLF) provides subscriptions to Revolution newspaper to over 45 inmates at Pelican Bay. Each paper is shared with other prisoners. As one subscriber from Pelican Bay wrote, “I been getting the Revolution newspaper for about 8 years and can’t imagine being in this dungeon without it.”
Revolution newspaper is a lifeline for these prisoners.
In February 2010, Pelican Bay State Prison authorities issued formal notification to RCP Publications that Revolution newspaper is contraband and is therefore banned from that prison altogether. No subscriber will be allowed to receive Revolution. According to the PRLF, the prisoners were not notified until February 2010 that newspapers from as far back as October and November 2009 and all subsequent issues had been confiscated. Meanwhile, another letter from a prison official in California’s Chuckawalla Valley State Prison indicates the ban could be instituted in the rest of the state prison system.
Over the last few years incidents of the paper being withheld from prisoners have been increasing across the country. But this transparently political ban at Pelican Bay prison, with its significant number of subscribers, is a major escalation in the suppression of Revolution newspaper. For over 20 years, the PRLF has made revolutionary literature available to prisoners, including in California. Now the authorities slam the door shut on Revolution reaching its subscribers.
This ban at Pelican Bay (and any other prison) must be overturned. It is illegal, unconstitutional and immoral.
Revolution, and the Revolutionary Worker before it, has been going into Pelican Bay Prison for decades. So why now is it being banned?
To understand this, one must go back to July 2009. At that time, the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA, issued a message and call and launched a major campaign: “The Revolution We Need... The Leadership We Have.” As a part of this, Joe Veale wrote a public letter to prisoners encouraging them to correspond, to speak to the youth who are trapped in dog-eat-dog ways of thinking and acting... and broadly to others, including in the middle strata. Veale called on them to move, inspire and win many, many people to the cause of revolution and to recognize the rare and precious leader we have in Bob Avakian.
And in the summer and fall of 2009, there was a flourishing of letters from prisoners. Three examples of this correspondence, from Pelican Bay and other dungeons, are in the accompanying article. It was clear this statement, and the campaign which it launched, had struck a chord in the hearts of these prisoners.
But that’s not all.
These letters and more were printed in the pages of Revolution and posted on the Internet. The voices of men and women who brave what might seem to be insurmountable odds to speak out from the dungeons where America has locked them up and locked them down were being heard broadly in society. These voices were having a profound effect on those who were listening. These are human beings who refuse to be destroyed, mentally and physically—and who grapple with the biggest questions of the revolution. Prisoners put pen to paper in order to communicate with the world.
Hundreds attended benefits for the PRLF which featured dramatic readings of these letters by a range of professional actors. And still more broadly, people from all strata have read these letters and responded, including with donations. No one should underestimate the impact it can have—and what it means—for people of all sections of society to read and hear what these prisoners are writing. As one Black woman who came to a benefit for the Prisoners Revolutionary Literature Fund (PRLF) said, “This is amazing. The prisoners are so smart and thoughtful and write so well. These are our people saying these beautiful things. It gives me hope.”
Then, in fall 2009, Revolution announced there would be a special issue of the paper focused on prisons and prisoners. (Special Issue on Prisons and Prisoners in the U.S: From the Hellholes of Incarceration to a Future of Emancipation, Revolution #183, November 15, 2009) It contained analysis, both from prisoners as well as regular writers for the paper. At the heart of it was a powerful centerfold with a passage of Bob Avakian’s talk, Revolution: Why It’s Necessary, Why It’s Possible, What It’s All About (available at revolutiontalk.net), which took off from the horrible, dog-eat-dog conditions in prison to show that, yes, another world is indeed possible... and that the wretched of the earth have a central role to play in it. This issue we now know never reached a significant number of prisoner subscribers, especially at Pelican Bay.
And the Ban Comes Down
The letter banning Revolution newspaper from Pelican Bay State Prison in California read, “This letter is to advise you that your weekly periodical ‘Revolution’ will not be delivered to inmates housed at Pelican Bay State Prison. Your periodical newspaper has been determined to be contraband because it ‘promotes disruption and overthrow of the government and incites violence to do so....’”
Disapproval notifications sent to prisoners in February 2010 stated the reason for banning issues of the newspaper as far back as October 2009 was “Incites racial violence and promotes governmental anarchy.”
The ban at Pelican Bay is an egregious act of political suppression based on the content of the newspaper. The discussion of revolution found in the pages of the newspaper is well known and undisputedly constitutionally protected speech measured by Supreme Court decisions on this over the last 50 years.
Who Promotes Racial Violence... And Who Promotes Unity in Struggle Across Racial and National Lines?
The other pretext for the ban—that Revolution newspaper promotes “racial violence”—has no credibility. One prisoner commented, “First off what racial group in particular are they speaking of? In other words to which audience is the paper targeting to incite racial violence when the fact is prison officials are basically the architects of racial disharmony among prisoners.”
Countless letters from prisoners who read Revolution demonstrate it is an invaluable tool in reaching across divisions by nationality and forging of multi-national unity among the prisoners:
I’m currently in one of the three SHU’s in California. I can’t imagine any deeper, darker, or more desolate pits in the U.S. than these.... The SHU “just so happens” to be where they isolate and slam down the most progressive, revolutionary, intelligent and indomitable elements of the prison population. When, by word of mouth or by my political activity on the tier, these cats learn I’m a communist revolutionary with revolutionary literature available for all regardless of race, groups, etc. a lot of them are interested in taking advantage of this opportunity to use this literature....
Let’s talk about who actually has a well-documented history of inciting racial violence. The prison system, especially in California, foments widespread gang and racial clashes as a means to divide and conquer the prisoners and then uses this as a rationale for more repression, brutality and torture against the prisoners. For instance, at the Corcoran SHU in California, the guards literally instigated gladiator type fights—they would take prisoners and whip them into a frenzy against each other, put them in pens and then release them out to fight each other, sometimes to the death.
The Ban Must Go!
A prisoner at Pelican Bay wrote about the ban on Revolution newspaper:
I am...offended by their notion that they are “cultivators” of my mind, that they “water” my mind with their approved books and approved reading and I will “grow” to be an “approved crop” instead of a weed.
We can not let the ban on Revolution stand. A mass and massive political and legal struggle must be mounted to overturn the ban at Pelican Bay. And let’s meet this challenge with the aim of not only overturning the ban—but geometrically spreading Revolution behind prison walls and the words of these revolutionary minded prisoners out into society. Revolution newspaper calls for support for the work of the Prisoners Revolutionary Literature Fund. People can contribute to the fight against the censorship in many ways: raising awareness and funds, developing networks of support, dramatic readings of the prisoners’ letters. The ban must be challenged at Pelican Bay and at other prisons as well, like Menard prison in Illinois (where authorities have placed Revolution newspaper on their “banned literature” list.)
Taking on and waging the struggle against this ban can also contribute, very strongly, to achieving the goals of the campaign, to putting communist revolution, as it has been reconceived by Bob Avakian, on the map in this society; to broadly make known in this society the leadership of Avakian—giving people a sense of and building support for the work he is carrying out, his history and character as a rare and outstanding communist leader… and through strengthening the core of the revolutionary movement and the party that is leading it.
1. NPR, Laura Sullivan, July 26, 2006, “At Pelican Bay Prison, a Life in Solitary” [back]
What You Can Do
Support the work of the Prisoners Revolutionary Literature Fund (info below; 773‑960‑6952).
Donate! And raise money for the struggle to overturn the ban on Revolution.
Take part in the struggle against the ban: Spread the word about the ban and the struggle against it, develop networks of support, organize dramatic readings of the prisoners’ letters, and in many other creative ways.
Lawyers and others in the legal arena: Help in legal challenges against the ban on Revolution newspaper at Pelican Bay and at other prisons.
Meet this challenge by spreading Revolution behind prison walls and the words of these revolutionary-minded prisoners out into society.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Sunday March 21st 4pm Carl Dix Speaking at Chicago's Revolution Books
One Year Into the Age of Obama
THE INTENSIFYING OPPRESSION OF BLACK PEOPLE, CONTINUING CRIMES OF THE SYSTEM AND THE REVOLUTION WE NEED!
Come to Revolution Books Chicago and dig into why the change many people hoped for with the election of Obama in reality were false dreams.
Talk with Carl Dix, a representative of the RCP and a longtime revolutionary from the 60's. Last summer, Carl and Cornel West held an historic event in Harlem attended by 750 people on the theme "The Ascendancy of Obama ... and the Continued Need for Resistance and Liberation.". Let's talk about the very real and intensifying oppression of Black People in the age of Obama... and about the RCP's campaign to put revolution back on the map in this country and introduce people to the leader we have for this revolution in Bob Avakian, Chairman of the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA.
Chicago Revolution Books, 1103 North Ashland, Chicago, IL 60622 773/489-0930
http://chicagorevolutionbooks.blogspot.com/
THE INTENSIFYING OPPRESSION OF BLACK PEOPLE, CONTINUING CRIMES OF THE SYSTEM AND THE REVOLUTION WE NEED!
Come to Revolution Books Chicago and dig into why the change many people hoped for with the election of Obama in reality were false dreams.
Talk with Carl Dix, a representative of the RCP and a longtime revolutionary from the 60's. Last summer, Carl and Cornel West held an historic event in Harlem attended by 750 people on the theme "The Ascendancy of Obama ... and the Continued Need for Resistance and Liberation.". Let's talk about the very real and intensifying oppression of Black People in the age of Obama... and about the RCP's campaign to put revolution back on the map in this country and introduce people to the leader we have for this revolution in Bob Avakian, Chairman of the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA.
Chicago Revolution Books, 1103 North Ashland, Chicago, IL 60622 773/489-0930
http://chicagorevolutionbooks.blogspot.com/
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Carl Dix: Women's Liberation, Black Manhood & Total Revolution!
Remarks by Carl Dix, March 6, 2010 at IWD Dinner at La Pregunta Cafe
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Russia Today: From Buffalo Soldier to Revolutionary Communist
March 4, 2010
Carl Dix is interviewed by Russia Today about the "From Buffalo Soldier to Revolutionary Communist" Tour.
Carl Dix is interviewed by Russia Today about the "From Buffalo Soldier to Revolutionary Communist" Tour.
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