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Revolution #252, December 11, 2011
The American Enterprise—Property and Slavery
Peculiar Notions of "Freedom" and Profound Contradictions
In his book A Slaveholders' Union, Slavery, Politics, and the Constitution in the Early American Republic, George William Van Cleve captures, with biting and incisive irony, a contradiction which in fact gets to the very essence of this country and its posturing as the champion and model of freedom.
Occupy LA Eviction: Determined Resistance Up Against Deceit and Repression
On Tuesday, November 29, Occupy LA (OLA) was evicted from its two-month-old site at City Hall Park (renamed Solidarity Park).
BA EVERYWHERE
For everyone who has dreamed of a different and better world or wondered how art and culture can be part of creating it, this is a film that needs to be seen.
But it won’t be made without your support.
indiegogo.com/basicsevent
- NEW 12/8/2011 -> Watch and spread this NEW VIDEO from Sunsara Taylor on why you should help fund the film Occasioned by BAsics: A Celebration of Revolution and the Vision of a New World. Show this at house parties, to friends, and online.
- NEW 12/8/2011 -> Film Concept
Occasioned by the Publication of BAsics: A Celebration of Revolution and the Vision of a New World - NEW 12/8/2011 -> See this VIDEO FROM CARL DIX AND CORNEL WEST calling on people to fund this film.
- SUCCEEDING WITH THE GOAL
$23,000 by December 12 for Occasioned by BAsics: A Celebration of Revolution and the Vision of a New World
(Posted December 1, 2011) - UPDATED 12/8/2011 -> READ why some people are contributing
- Sample Phone Script (Download Word Document)
A REFLECTION ON THE "OCCUPY" MOVEMENT:
AN INSPIRING BEGINNING...AND THE NEED TO GO FURTHER
Posted November 7, 2011
The main—and, up to this point at least, the overwhelming—aspect of these "Occupy" protests has been their very positive thrust: in mobilizing people to stand up against injustice and inequality and the domination of economic, social and political life, and international relations, by a super-rich elite class whose interests are in opposition to those of the great majority of people; and in contributing in significant ways to an atmosphere in which people are raising and wrangling with big questions about the state of society and the world and whether and how something much better can be brought into being. It will be a very good thing if these protests continue to spread and further develop, with this basic thrust and this positive impact. And these "Occupy" protests can be a significant positive factor in contributing to the revolution that is needed—IF this is approached, by those with the necessary scientific communist understanding, in accordance with that understanding and the strategic orientation and approach that flows from it.
Deadly Inequalities... in a World of Capitalist Exploitation and Oppression
The Occupy Wall Street movement has shined a big spotlight on one of the glaring crimes of the system we live under. Under the capitalist-imperialist system, enormous, almost incalculable wealth is concentrated in the hands of a few people, while billions across the planet live in poverty and misery.
- Centerfold Poster (PDF, 17x22)
- Sources
Getting Out BAsics on "Black Friday"
"Black Friday," the day after Thanksgiving—it's the "biggest shopping day of the year," when Americans spend billions of dollars in an obscene orgy of "shop till you drop." But this year, teams of people in different cities went up in the face of all that to create a different scene. Their mission: to get BAsics, from the talks and writings of Bob Avakian into the hands of people and raise money for covering the cost of responding to hundreds of requests from prisoners for copies of the book.
Are Corporations and Banks Corrupting the System, or Is the Problem the System of Capitalism?
The Occupy Wall Street movement is a great and momentous event. It is a fresh wind of resistance. We're protesting multiple outrages of this system, not just one. Occupy Wall Street is throwing up big questions about the source of these outrages and how to bring about a radically different and better world. And it's created space for us to talk about all this! So I'm really happy to be here with you.
New York: Student Action to STOP "Stop and Frisk"
Revolution received the following report from a reader:
December 2, 2011: In coordination with Columbia University's Students Against Mass Incarceration and other students around the city, the Stop Mass Incarceration Network hosted a Student Day of Action. Previous actions organized by the network, which have carried out nonviolent civil disobedience at police precincts in Harlem, Brooklyn and Queens—have led to dozens of arrests. This action focused on "bearing witness"—it featured testimonies from those who have been stopped and frisked, and culminated with a "Frisk-In": a piece of live street theatre, dramatizing the brutality of the stop-and-frisk policy, and the need for a struggle to put an end to it.
Durban Climate Talks:
Criminal Inaction and the Imminent Danger
Representatives from 195 countries are now meeting at the 17th UN-sponsored climate talks in Durban, South Africa. Meetings run through December 9. Since 1992, these UN climate conferences have talked about addressing the urgent problem of climate change—but nothing of substance has been done to stop the problem. Instead, the situation has gotten worse and worse.
Thousands Come Out for Carl Dix and Cornel West Dialogue at UC Berkeley
Friday, December 2 was an extraordinary evening. That night, Carl Dix, a longtime revolutionary and founding member of the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA, and Cornel West, a leading public intellectual and "champion for racial and social justice," brought their dialogue—"In the Age of Obama...Police Terror, Incarceration, No Jobs, Mis-education: What Future for Our Youth?"—to the University of California campus in Berkeley. Both students and longtime observers told us they couldn't remember ever seeing so many turn out for a speaking event on campus.
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
This statement was issued by Bob Avakian in February of this year, when an upsurge by millions of people in Egypt forced the resignation of Hosni Mubarak, the hated head of the U.S.-backed regime. We encourage readers to read the statement, which continues to be very relevant in light of current developments in Egypt.
- 11"x17" Centerfold Poster (PDF)
- 8.5"x11" for printing (PDF)
- Also in Spanish, French, Arabic (PDF), and German
Some Principles for Building A Movement for Revolution
At every point, we must be searching out the key concentrations of social contradictions and the methods and forms which can strengthen the political consciousness of the masses, as well as their fighting capacity and organization in carrying out political resistance against the crimes of this system; which can increasingly bring the necessity, and the possibility, of a radically different world to life for growing numbers of people; and which can strengthen the understanding and determination of the advanced, revolutionary-minded masses in particular to take up our strategic objectives not merely as far-off and essentially abstract goals (or ideals) but as things to be actively striven for and built toward.
The objective and orientation must be to carry out work which, together with the development of the objective situation, can transform the political terrain, so that the legitimacy of the established order, and the right and ability of the ruling class to rule, is called into question, in an acute and active sense, throughout society; so that resistance to this system becomes increasingly broad, deep and determined; so that the "pole" and the organized vanguard force of revolutionary communism is greatly strengthened; and so that, at the decisive time, this advanced force is able to lead the struggle of millions, and tens of millions, to make revolution.
Bob Avakian,
Chairman of the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA
BAsics, 3:30
- Color PDF - 11x17"
- Color JPG for posting on web
Revolution newspaper received the following press release:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 29th, 2011
2011 Bull Connor Award delivered to Ray Kelly by students at Columbia University, Stop Mass Incarceration Network (Stop "Stop & Frisk"), and Occupy Wall Street protesters.
On Tuesday afternoon Police Commissioner Ray Kelly spoke in the Urban Public Policy seminar class at Columbia University. This occasion attracted students, along with protesters from Occupy Wall Street and new Freedom Fighters against the New Jim Crow carrying out non-violent civil disobedience, in the movement to Stop "Stop & Frisk." This grouping greeted Ray Kelly inside the School of International Policy and Affairs (SIPA) to present him with the Bull Connor Award for outstanding service to the white community. The course he spoke at was called Urban Public Policy.
From A World to Win News Service
India: CPI(Maoist) leader Kishenji murdered
November 28, 2011. A World to Win News Service. Mallojula Koteswara Rao, also known as Kishenji, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Maoist), was killed in a forest area of West Bengal on November 24.
A Great Injustice for 30 Years—Mumia Must Be Free!
December 9 marks the 30th anniversary of the night Philadelphia police shot, beat, and arrested the revolutionary journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal. He has now been sitting in solitary confinement on death row for 29 years.
Call for Interns/Volunteers to work on Revolution newspaper project:
Mass Incarceration in the USA:
The history behind it… what it means today… the struggle to put an end to it
Posted 12/01/2011
The United States—the richest and most powerful nation—has 5% of the world’s population, but 25% of its prisoners. More than 2.3 million people are behind bars in the country that brags it is the "leader of the free world." The courageous prisoners on hunger strikes have shined a light on how they are subjected to the inhumane, mind-crushing torture of solitary confinement—kept in small, windowless concrete cells 23 hours a day and denied human contact. Such mental torture is considered a war crime when carried out against prisoners of war, but the U.S. inflicts this on tens of thousands of prisoners.
BIRDS CANNOT GIVE BIRTH TO CROCODILES, BUT HUMANITY CAN SOAR BEYOND THE HORIZON
We are building a movement for revolution…
That movement needs a website…
We need your help to make it happen
This is a world crying out for revolution. Over a billion people on this planet live on less than $1 a day. The earth’s critically endangered ecosystem is under profit-driven assault. In one form or another, everywhere in this world women are degraded as commodities. Creativity is marginalized, coopted, or squashed. And killer police and unjust wars serve and protect all this…
COMMUNISM: THE BEGINNING OF A NEW STAGE
A Manifesto from the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA
Available in English, Spanish, Turkish, and Farsi from RCP Publications, P.O. Box 3486, Merchandise Mart, Chicago, IL 60654 $5 + $1 shipping.
A new draft translation in Arabic is now available online at revcom.us
The first Arabic draft translation is still available also.
We envision a movement of people working to produce high-quality accurate translations in many languages which can then be distributed around the world on the Internet and in print. We invite your comments. Send them to RCP Publications, Box 3486, Merchandise Mart, Chicago, IL 60654 or rcppubs@hotmail.com.
Some Principles for Building A Movement for Revolution
In each issue of Revolution, you'll find "Some Principles for Building A Movement for Revolution," by Bob Avakian, Chairman of the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA. The events covered in this issue of Revolution demonstrate the critical importance of these principles, and of proceeding from them.
- Poster (PDF)
Support... Sustain... Revolution
In this world of unjust war, unbearable suffering and environmental catastrophe… in these days of discontent, upheaval and questioning… it is critical that this newspaper—Revolution—publish! And that it continue to improve its content and look, and expand its readership.
A 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.
- Poster (PDF)
THERE IS NO "PERMANENT NECESSITY" FOR THINGS TO BE THIS WAY
A RADICALLY DIFFERENT AND BETTER WORLD CAN BE BROUGHT INTO BEING THROUGH REVOLUTION
One of the more important statements in the Manifesto from our Party (Communism: The Beginning of a New Stage) is the quote from Marx: "Once the inner connection is grasped, all theoretical belief in the permanent necessity of existing conditions breaks down before their collapse in practice." This is not just a matter of abstract theory—it has a broader effect. That belief weighs heavily on people who don't like the way things are—they are weighed down by a belief in the "permanent necessity of existing conditions." Over and over we are confronted by the fact that people can't see beyond the way things are now.
What Is Communist Revolution?
It is this system that has got us in the situation we’re 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.
This revolution is both necessary and possible.
Who Is Bob Avakian, Chairman of the Revolutionary Communist Party?
In Bob Avakian, the Chairman of our Party, we have the kind of rare and precious leader who does not come along very often. A leader who has given his heart, and all his knowledge, skills and abilities to serving the cause of revolution and the emancipation of humanity. Bob Avakian came alive as a revolutionary in the 1960s—taking part in the great movements of those days, and especially working and struggling closely with the most advanced revolutionary force in the U.S. at that time, the Black Panther Party. Since then, and while many others have given up, Bob Avakian has worked and struggled tirelessly to find the way to go forward, having learned crucial lessons and built lasting organization that could continue the struggle, and aim to take it higher, while uniting with the same struggle throughout the world. He has kept on developing the theory and strategy for making revolution. He played the key role in founding our Party in 1975, and since then he has continued the battle to keep the Party on the revolutionary road, to carry out work with a strong revolutionary orientation. He has deeply studied the experience of revolution—the shortcomings as well as the great achievements—and many different fields of human endeavor, through history and throughout the world—and he has brought the science and method of revolution to a whole new level, so that we can not only fight but really fight to win. Bob Avakian has developed the scientific theory and strategic orientation for how to actually make the kind of revolution we need, and he is leading our Party as an advanced force of this revolution. He is a great champion and a great resource for people here, and indeed people all over the world. The possibility for revolution, right here, and for the advance of the revolution everywhere, is greatly heightened because of Bob Avakian and the leadership he is providing. And it is up to us to get with this leadership…to find out more about Bob Avakian and the Party he heads…to learn from his scientific method and approach to changing the world…to build this revolutionary movement with our Party at the core…to defend this leadership as the precious thing it is…and, at the same time, to bring our own experience and understanding to help strengthen the process of revolution and enable the leadership we have to keep on learning more and leading even better.
Works by Bob Avakian (PDF)
Now available
The Ascendancy of Obama
and the Continued Need
for Resistance and Liberation
A Dialogue between
Cornel West and Carl Dix
This historic event took place in Harlem, N.Y. on July 14, 2009
$20.00 per copy
15% discount for 10 or more copies
Add $5.00 shipping for 1-5 copies
For shipping costs for 6 or more copies contact Revolution Books.
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Video Available!
- Rough cut of the video without the audience Q&A;
- Rough cut of the of the Q&A; that followed the dialogue
- Click here for the audio only of the July 14 dialogue (mp3)
- Watch the Youtube video announcement of the July 14 dialogue
- Response to Obama's "No Excuses" speech at NAACP convention by Carl Dix (Part 1 / Part 2)
Go to YouTube for these must-see videos:
Inaugural issue now online! demarcations-journal.org
Demarcations
A Journal of Communist Theory and Polemic
Demarcations: A Journal of Communist Theory and Polemic seeks to set forth, defend, and further advance the theoretical framework for the beginning of a new stage of communist revolution in the contemporary world. This journal will promote the perspectives of the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA.
¡FUERA CON TODOS LOS DIOSES! Desencadenando la mente y cambiando radicalmente el mundo
AWAY WITH ALL GODS! Unchaining the Mind and Radically Changing the World
Is believing in gods actually harmful? How has Christianity for centuries served as an ideology of conquest and subjugation? Why is the "Bible Belt" in the U.S. also the "lynching belt"? Why is there a rise of religious fundamentalism throughout the world? In the intensifying conflict between U.S. imperialism and Islamic fundamentalism, is the only choice to take one side or the other? Why is patriarchy and the oppression of women foundational to so many religions? Can people be good without god? These are just some of the questions explored in this provocative work by Bob Avakian.
