Comrade Carl

Letter: Raising the Fight to Stop Mass Incarceration to a New Level

2012-02-24T08:12:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends,

It is urgently necessary to build powerful resistance to the horrific injustice of mass incarceration. I gave a talk at Riverside Church in Harlem on Feb 18^th under the theme: “MASS INCARCERATION + SILENCE = GENOCIDE. (Go here to view the video: http://vimeo.com/37254933 } This theme struck a deep chord with the audience of 250 people. In that talk I said:

“The exposure that has been done on mass incarceration by Michelle Alexander and others together with the resistance built so far amounts to a good beginning, and all this has to be taken to a whole other level, now. The presidential elections are heating up, and none of the candidates are saying anything about mass incarceration or the hell this system brings down on people in the inner cities, except to call for increasing the clamp down. We need to puncture this silence with dramatic resistance.

“We need a day of bold activity — a day when college and high school students hold rallies and teach ins on their campuses, when religious institutions open their doors and invite their congregants and others to speak bitterness about abusive policing, when youth take to the streets determined to no longer accept being criminalized in silence and others from many different walks of life join them. A day when people in the prisons find ways to be part of the resistance, when cultural events targeting mass incarceration are held and statements saying no to this genocide signed by a broad array of prominent people are published as ads in newspapers. All of this involving all kinds of people, from different walks of life and points of view, all saying NO to Mass Incarceration. And thru this beginning to change the way people in society look at mass incarceration and winning many of them to stand against it.”

A Call for a day of this kind of activity has been issued, and I am writing you to urge you to join the effort to make it happen as powerfully as possible. (The text of the Call is below.) This Call has been issued by: Nellie Bailey, Solomon Comissiong, Carl Dix, Cornel West and Clyde Young. Add your name to the issuers of this Call, circulate it to those you know and become part of the process of working out the ways to bring the vision of this day in the paragraph above to life. I propose that the date for this day be April 19^th. We have to spread this day of resistance to as many cities and as many campuses as we can.

The authorities show no inclination to let up in warehousing people in prison, in enforcing the racial profiling that functions as a pipeline to racially targeted mass incarceration or in subjecting the formerly incarcerated to the worst kind of discrimination after they have already been punished. It would be deadly if we responded to all this with silence. Instead we must respond by taking our resistance to a higher and more determined level.

Carl Dix

* * *

RAISING THE FIGHT TO STOP MASS INCARCERATION TO A NEW LEVEL

P.O. Box 941 Knickerbocker Station, New York, NY 10002 * 866-841-94139 x2670

Friends,

The past months have seen important advances to develop resistance to mass incarceration. There has been further work done to expose the horrific injustice that mass incarceration inflicts on so many in society. Organizations fighting this battle have come into existence and some of those that already existed have grown and developed. It is important to note the activity that has developed among students around mass incarceration. And there have been important examples of determined mass resistance to this problem. Especially important have been the several hunger strikes by prisoners in California’s Special Housing Units (and the statements of support for the strikers issued by prominent voices of conscious) and the civil disobedience campaign in New York aimed at stopping “stop & frisk.”

But much more needs to be done. When it comes to mass incarceration, the reality in US society is remains horrific:

More than 2.4 million people, most of them Black or Latino, remain warehoused in prisons across the country;
Black and Latino youth are treated like criminals by the police and the criminal justice system, guilty until proven innocent, if they can survive their encounters with police to prove their innocence;
Former prisoners wear badges of shame and dishonor even after they serve their sentences — discriminated against when applying for jobs, denied access to government assistance, not allowed in public housing, denied the right to vote.

On top of this is the plain fact that many people in the country still don’t know about this ugly reality and most of those who do know about it feel it is the result of criminal activity by those in prison and that it helps to keep them safe from crime.

THIS IS NOT TRUE! MASS INCARCERATION RESULTS FROM THE SYTEM HAVING CRIMINALIZED GENERATIONS OF YOUTH! WE HAVE THE FACTS TO MAKE THE CASE ON THIS. AND WE MUST STEP UP OUR EFFORTS TO DO THAT!

There is great urgency to do this. As the presidential election approaches and the terms of debate around what issues are to be discussed in determining the future direction of the country get set, mass incarceration isn’t being mentioned as a problem by any of the major candidate—not by Obama and not by any of the Republicans vying to challenge him. On the contrary, we are getting the kind of ugly racism that goes with and reinforces the whole program of mass incarceration... and conciliation with that racism. This must be transformed. Mass incarceration, what leads to it and its consequences have to become something that people across the country are aware of and feel compelled to take a stand against. And many more of them need to join the resistance to it. Only our efforts can make that happen!

To advance our efforts to do just this, I propose:

1) A day of national action in April. On this day, demonstrations, rallies, teach ins, and other actions would be held focusing on bringing out the reality of mass incarceration and calling on people to join the resistance to it would beheld in cities across the US. These actions need to draw in many different institutions – especially schools and churches – and different sections of people in society. A special focus of this activity should be college campuses and high schools.

2) A national conference drawing together the forces working to build resistance to mass incarceration. Such a conference could bring together organizations and individuals working on different fronts of this battle; discuss and debate the cause of and solution to this outrage; develop a comprehensive approach to this battle and a plan of action going into the fall. THIS CONFERENCE SHOULD AIM AT NOTHING LESS THAN RADICALLY CHANGING THE NATIONAL TERMS OF DISCUSSION ON THIS.

3) A statement of conscience that sharply and concisely lays out the harsh and unjust reality that mass incarceration inflicts on millions. This statement would be circulated for signature among prominent voices of conscience, published in various significant publications and publicized nationwide.

4) A major concert or other cultural event opposing mass incarceration, featuring a broad spectrum of artists.

I urge people to respond to this proposal, including with additional ideas for how to advance this fight in this critical time period.

· Nellie Bailey, Occupy Harlem

· Solomon Comissiong, Executive Director, Your World News Media Collective (www.yourworldnews.org)

· Carl Dix, Revolutionary Communist, co-initiator of Campaign to Stop ‘Stop & Frisk’

· Cornel West, author and educator, co-initiator of Campaign to Stop ‘Stop & Frisk’

· Clyde Young, Revolutionary Communist, and former prisoner

February 18, 2012

Be There: February 18th at The Riverside Church

2012-02-12T14:42:00.000-08:00

A Talk by Carl Dix

Mass Incarceration + Silence = Genocide!

Mass Incarceration — Its Source, The Need to Resist Where Things Are Heading and The Revolution We Need!

October 21, 2011 at the NYPD 28th Precinct.

2.4 million people, most of them Black and Latino, in prison!
Racial profiling a pipeline to prison for generations of our youth!
Former prisoners discriminated against on virtually every front!

Carl Dix says, “All this comes down to a slow genocide which could easily accelerate into fast genocide.”

On February 18, Dix will break all this down and speak to where things are headed if action is not taken. And he will talk about “what kind of revolution is needed to eliminate mass incarceration and all the brutality and misery this capitalist system enforces on humanity once and for all.” See video here.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 4:00 PM at The Riverside Church, Assembly Hall, 490 Riverside Drive, New York

Enter on the Claremont Avenue side between 120th & 121st Streets • #1 train to 116 or 125 Street

Carl Dix is a longtime revolutionary and a founding member of the Revolutionary Communist Party. In 1970, he was part of the largest mass refusal of U.S. soldiers to go to Vietnam. In 1996, he co-founded the October 22nd Coalition to Stop Police Brutality. In 2006, he coordinated the Katrina Hearings of the Bush Crimes Commission. Recently he participated in a series of dialogues with Cornel West under the theme: “In the Age of Obama: Police Terror; Incarceration; No Jobs; Mis-Education... What Future for Our Youth?” In 2011, he co-issued a call for a campaign of civil disobedience to STOP “Stop & Frisk.”

Sponsor: Revolution Books NYC • 146 West 26th Street, New York City •212-691-3345 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 212-691-3345 end_of_the_skype_highlighting begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 212-691-3345 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 212-691-3345 end_of_the_skype_highlighting end_of_the_skype_highlighting • revbooksnyc@yahoo.com

Hosted by: The Mission and Social Justice Commission of The Riverside Church • www.theriversidechurchny.org

Carl Dix: 2012 New Year's Letter

2012-01-12T17:32:00.000-08:00

At the NYPD's 28th Precinct, October 21, 2011.

January 11, 2012

Dear Friends,

This new year 2012 holds great promise and poses serious challenges. The promise lies in 2011’s outpourings of resistance the likes of which the world hasn’t been seen in decades — the Arab Spring, righteous youth rebellion in London, students and others taking to the streets in Spain, Chile and Greece, and the Occupy movement here in the US. The challenge is to build on this resistance, taking on the attempts by the powers-that-be to suppress it, and to go from resistance to revolution.

The truth is, it will take nothing short of communist revolution — defeating and dismantling the existing oppressive state that serves the capitalist/imperialist system and putting in its place revolutionary institutions and governmental structures — that will make possible a totally different society; one with radically different economic and social relations, culture and ideology that is in transition to a world where exploitation and oppression is no more. Short of doing that, humanity will continue enduring the devastation of the environment, of worldwide mass starvation, the brutality inflicted on women around the world, the pillaging of whole nations, the wars for empire and more.

If people aren’t able to lift their heads and see that things don’t have to be this way, that there’s another way society and the world could be organized and run, the resistance that has been unleashed will either dissipate or get sucked back into the deadly embrace of the capitalist rulers. And the machinery of this blood soaked system will continue humming away in the background breaking bodies and crushing spirits.

In 2011 I threw myself into working to advance the efforts of the Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP) to build a movement for revolution.

1) I co-hosted in New York, the April 11th “Celebration of Revolution and the Vision of a New World on the Occasion of the Publication of BAsics” with an unbelievable array of artists, authors and intellectuals. BAsics, from the talks and writings of Bob Avakian is a new book of quotations and short essays from Bob Avakian, the leader of the Revolutionary Communist Party, that speaks powerfully to questions of revolution and human emancipation. This amazing event took place at the Harlem Stage on the City College campus.

2) I continued the series of groundbreaking Dialogues Cornel West and I have had on the theme of “In the Age of Obama … Police Terror, Incarceration, No Jobs, Mis-Education: What Future for Our Youth?” This year, we did an awesome dialogue at UCLA on April 29th and an even more awesome one at UC Berkeley on December 2nd. (It was broadcasted later by C-SPAN, and you can access it online at this link: http://cs.pn/yEDbB9 .)

3) I helped initiate the Stop Mass Incarceration Network in the summer, and under its auspices, Cornel West and I issued a call for a campaign of nonviolent civil disobedience to end the unconstitutional and racist Stop & Frisk policy of the NYPD. This Call was responded to by some mostly young people who are putting their bodies on the line to take on what Michelle Alexander calls the “New Jim Crow.” We began this campaign on October 21st in Harlem where 34 people, including several ministers and professors, joined Cornel and I in civil disobedience at the NYPD's 28th Precinct. Perhaps you’ve seen the media coverage and my op-ed piece in the Huffington Post (http://huff.to/whDgCy). We followed this up with actions in Brooklyn at the 73rd Precinct which conducts the most Stops & Frisks in NYC, and at the 105th Precinct in Queens where Sean Bell was murdered by undercover cops in 2006. We have plans to continue developing this fight. We have court dates coming up, and we need your support.

4) I also traveled to Atlanta to help launch an effort to raise Big Money to get Bob Avakian, and his work and vision everywhere in society. And as part of this effort we’ve just completed a successful fund drive to raise $23,000 to bring into being a film of the April 11th “Celebration of Revolution and the Vision of a New World on the Occasion of the Publication of BAsics” event. Another element of this campaign is to raise the funds to get Basics into the hands of those sisters and brother behind the walls who are hungering to raise their sights and get with the movement for revolution. Through the Prisoners Revolutionary Literature Fund (PRLF) and Revolution newspaper we are raising $20,000 to send 2,000 copies of BAsics to prisoners across the US.

5) I issued statements on important developments and crucial questions facing humanity, including a video statement of outrage in response to the state of Georgia murdering Troy Davis in its execution chamber on September 21st. I also spoke out in support of the very important hunger strikes of the prisoners in California who put their lives on the line to declare they refused to accept the tortuous conditions being enforced on them.

And I plan to come out even stronger on all these fronts in the year to come.

Looking forward in 2012, Cornel and I are already scheduled to do another Dialogue on April 17th in Chicago, and we plan to take our Dialogue nationwide with a special emphasis on hitting Historically Black Colleges and Universities. I will continue to develop the fight to Stop “Stop & Frisk” and contribute to building a movement to end mass incarceration. And I will be getting out there speaking at campuses and in the media.

Through all this I will be hammering home a clear, hard hitting message — That this world is a horror, but it doesn’t have to be this way. That through revolution, communist revolution, we could bring a totally different and far better world into being. This kind of revolution has been made before, in Russia in 1917 and in China under Mao Tse-tung. Many great achievements were made when power was in the hands of the people. Both of these revolutions have been turned back and capitalism is once more in effect in those countries. But based on the work Bob Avakian has done to develop a new understanding of revolution and communism, we could do better and go farther the next time revolution is made and power is once more in the hands of the people.

Through the course of all this, I will be continuing to promote BAsics, from the talks and writings of Bob Avakian (www.revcom.us/avakian/About-Basics-en.html), and the Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America (Draft Proposal) that the RCP has issued.

There is a role you need to play in all this.

• One, you could bring me to your campus or your area to speak.

• Two, you could connect me to media opportunities.

• Three, you and I could put our heads together over how to further develop and spread the resistance to mass incarceration.

• And Four, you could make a generous contribution so that I can raise the money needed to be able to devote my full attention to building a movement for revolution, spreading the message that the world doesn’t have to be this way and building resistance that fights the power and transforms the people, for revolution.

Here’s what you can do to make your contribution: Go to my blog at www.comradecarl.blogspot.com and make a contribution via the Donate tab; or send a check or money order to Carl Dix, c/o P.O. Box 941Knickerbocker Station, New York, New York 10002-0900.

Get connected with the movement for revolution, either by being a subscriber to Revolution by going online to get a paid subscription, or to get a free e-subscription. Go to www.revcom.us.

Contact me to get copies of BAsics, the Constitution, or a DVD of my Dialogues with Cornel West:

Carl Dix, P.O. Box 941 Knickerbocker Station, New York, New York 10002-0900

With revolutionary love,

CARL DIX

Office of Carl Dix, Revolutionary Communist Party, USA, P.O. Box 941 Knickerbocker Station, New York NY 10002-0900, (866) 841-9139 x2670
Blog: www.comradecarl.blogspot.com
Twitter: Carl_Dix
FaceBook Page: "From Buffalo Soldier to Revolutionary Communist"

YouTube: CarlDix1

A Dialogue You Don't Want to Miss!

2011-12-21T03:55:00.000-08:00

December 2, 2011 University of California, Berkeley Pauley Ballroom

Dear Friends,

Earlier this month I had an amazing Dialogue with Cornel West before a standing room only crowd of more than 1800 people on the campus of the University of California at Berkeley. Our theme was “In the Age of Obama … Police Terror, Incarceration, No Jobs, Mis-education: WHAT FUTURE FOR OUR YOUTH?”

I’m writing you about this because you will soon have a chance to experience this conversation. C-SPAN recorded this Dialogue and has plans to air it during the holiday break in Congressional proceedings. They haven’t yet developed their schedule for this period because they don’t yet know when Congress will adjourn. I will send out when the broadcast is scheduled as soon as I find out.

The conversation covered a range of topics including why the world is like it is, what’s the significance of the Occupy Movement and where do things need to go from here. We exchanged perspectives over religion, the role of love in developing and sustaining a movement for radical change, the importance of dreaming. And we argued over a few things to, among them religion and how to assess previous revolutionary societies.

Cornel was in his usual rare form, imploring the mostly youthful audience to not become “… adjusted to injustice …” or “… adapted to indifference …” He said the way people were beginning to stand up in the Occupy movement was important because “… once you stand up, people can no longer ride your back.” And he urged the audience not to aim to be the smartest person in the room but without any concern for poor and working people. My message was that the world is a horror, but it doesn’t have to be that way; that thru revolution we could bring a totally different and far better world into being. And I urged people there to get with the movement for revolution and to engage in resistance to the injustice being rained down on humanity by this system, whether or not they agreed with me about the need for revolution.

In short, this is a Dialogue you don’t want to miss. Look for my follow up note on when it will air on C-SPAN. You could also go to C-SPAN’s web site for their schedule. And as always, I’d like to hear from you. Let me know what you think of the conversation Cornel and I engage in at Berkeley.

Warm Revolutionary Greetings,

Carl Dix

Carl Dix Speaks on Day 2 of Mumia Mobilization December 9-10, Philly

2011-12-13T11:09:00.000-08:00

Carl speaks on Stop & Frisk and Counter-Insurgency, Revolution and the Fight to Free Mumia

We Made It!

2011-12-12T17:45:00.001-08:00

On the Occasion of the Publication of BAsics A Celebration of Revolution and the Vision of a New World is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization. Contributions for the purposes of On the Occasion of the Publication of BAsics A Celebration of Revolution and the Vision of a New World must be made payable to Fractured Atlas and are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.

WE MADE IT!! Thank you to the hundreds who contributed in large amounts and small, thank you to everyone who helped call people, attended house parties, participated in bake sales and more! All of us together accomplished a very important thing in raising and contributing the funds so this film can be produced and released. All the additional funds raised from now until the campaign ends at 11:59PM PST will enable this film to have even greater impact! The community that came together to fund this film can grow further as the film is released... and every single additional donation will help reach a greater community and audience from here forward. Keep spreading the word, and thank you!

Carl & Cornel: Go to indiegogo.com and Support the Making of "On the Occasion of the Publication of Basics: A Celebration of Revolution & the Vision of a New World."

2011-12-10T06:18:00.000-08:00

On the evening of April 11^th, 2011 hundreds of people experienced something incredible at the Harlem Stage, a cultural event so unique in spirit, diversity, imagination, and inspiration that many who attended walked into the Harlem night afterward aching to share what they had just been part of. Many said in one form or another, “If only ___ had been here.” Leaving the event, one student described it this way, "It feels like hope. That’s honestly what it feels like..."

The world can soon experience the hope and vision of On the Occasion of Publication of BAsics: A Celebration of Revolution and the Vision of a New World in the form of a film being made of the event with the potential to reach, challenge, and inspire millions. You can help make that happen.

House parties are being hosted this weekend across the country to raise $23,000 for the film by December 12^th.

Cornel West, Carl Dix speak at UC Berkeley about social change

2011-12-04T09:52:00.000-08:00

at UC Berkeley about

social change

By Adelyn Baxter | Staff
abaxter@dailycal.org

Saturday, December 3, 2011 at 12:12 am
Updated Saturday, December 3, 2011 at 6:14 pm

Thousands of UC Berkeley students, faculty, occupy protesters and residents from around the Bay Area lined up Friday night to view a dialogue between Carl Dix, a founding member of the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA, and Cornel West, a politically progressive professor from Princeton University.

The dialogue — which was titled “In the Age of Obama…Police Terror, Incarceration, No Jobs, Mis-education: What Future for Our Youth?” — featured the speakers addressing topics and answering questions
related to social and economic change in front of an audience that
filled Pauley Ballroom to capacity.

“The issues that the occupiers are talking about are the same we’ve
been talking about for 30 years,” West said to The Daily
Californian before the event. “This is a magnificent awakening …
and we’re proud to be a part of it.”

West and Dix agreed that students play a crucial role in any social
movement, if they recognize injustice and make up their minds to
fight back.

During the dialogue, Dix spoke at length about the need for
Communist revolution in America.

“This is an especially good time to be in Berkeley,” Dix said. “I
saw the video of the folks on Sproul and got a real sense of
inspiration for the sentiment people had … to stand up to
injustice.”

West said that while he considers himself a “revolutionary
Christian,” he disagrees with many of Dix’s political ideas.
The two were arrested together in New York in October with
other demonstrators protesting the New York City Police
Department’s “Stop-and-Frisk” policy, which demonstrators
say targets African American and Latino youth.

In a speech peppered with humor and jazz references, West
emphasized the need to look past prejudice and politics to
implement real change for the poor. He addressed issues ranging
from the lack of accountability from Wall Street executives —
who he charged with causing the economic recession — to the
“warped” political priorities of the federal government.

“Young people are tired of lies … and weapons of mass distraction,”
he said. “They’ve been taught to be well-adjusted to injustice.”

The line extending from the Martin Luther King Jr. Student
Union building where the event was held reportedly stretched
to Memorial Glade prior to the event. Overflow rooms were
set up in Dwinelle Hall to accommodate those who could not
fit into the ballroom.

Both overflow rooms were filled, making the estimated number
of attendees close to 2,000, according to UC Berkeley junior
Justin Richmond, one of the coordinators of the event.

“Unfortunately, we had to turn people away,” Richmond said. “It
was great that so many turned out, I just wish we could have known
how many would come. We could have gotten a larger venue if
we had known.”

Ericka Huggins — a former leader in the Black Panther Party —
and author Alice Walker were also in the audience Friday night.

UC Berkeley sophomore Ashley Cooke said she was inspired after
hearing the speakers from opposing political backgrounds put
their views aside to fight for what they see as a greater cause.

Richmond said Dix and West visited the encampment on Sproul
briefly after the event and talked to Occupy Cal protesters there.

“This event came at the right time,” Cooke said. “With the Occupy
movement on the rise and it being visible even on our own campus,
Cornel West and Carl Dix seemed to fuel the spark of passion for
the movement.”

Carl Dix, Cornel West, occupy movement

2011-12-04T09:46:00.000-08:00

Occasioned by BAsics: A Celebration of
Revolution & The Vision of a New World

THE STORY

April 2011 marked the release of BAsics, a book by Bob Avakian, the revolutionary leader who has developed a new synthesis of communism. This book of quotations and essays speaks to essential questions of revolution and human emancipation. On this occasion, a range of artists, musicians, dancers and actors from a diversity of perspectives came together in a unique cultural event to celebrate revolution and the vision of a new world.

This film will tell the story of what those artists did and why they did it. It will bring a taste of the remarkable connection between these artists and the hundreds in the audience that night.

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.

Contribute toward the production and release of the upcoming full length film about this event (currently set for late winter). Be part of something that can be a source of great inspiration, enabling imagination to take flight with revolution and envisioning a whole other way the world can be.

Carl Dix & Cornel West Dialogue at UC Berkeley

2011-12-01T18:02:00.000-08:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Updated, December 1, 2011
contact: WhatFuture4theYouth@gmail.com 510-384-1816 (interviews available)

2 of Country's Most Outspoken & Politically Engaged Black Intellectuals to Crack Open Discourse on Dangerous Situation Facing Youth Today; Exploring Pathways and Prospects for Change

CARL DIX, CORNEL WEST -- IN THE AGE OF OBAMA…POLICE TERROR, INCARCERATION, NO JOBS, MIS-EDUCATION: WHAT FUTURE FOR OUR YOUTH?

WHEN: FRIDAY, DECEMBER 2nd, 7PM

WHERE: Pauley Ballroom, UC Berkeley. Free & Open to the Public

Berkeley, California, December 1, 2011 - In the midst of, and as part of the growing political awakening on college campuses and in cities nationwide, two of the country’s most outspoken and politically engaged Black intellectuals – Cornel West and Carl Dix – will speak at UC Berkeley on Friday. Coming in the recent aftermath of shocking police violence against peaceful student protests at both UC-Davis and UC-Berkeley, this event is shaping up to be a dynamic and powerful one, built for and sponsored by numerous student groups and academic departments. While the repression directed towards youth seeking a more just society has been strong, the movement of students on UC-Berkeley and other campuses has grown more determined and continues to inspire many more here and around the world.

The event – titled “In the Age of Obama…Police Terror, Incarceration, No Jobs, Mis-education: WHAT FUTURE FOR OUR YOUTH?” will address issues at the heart of the campus and Occupy protests, the racism and inequalities facing society’s most oppressed, as well as broader issues of moral responsibility, the roots of injustice, and the prospects and pathways for fundamental social change.

Mr. Dix and Dr. West have joined Occupy Wall Street and other Occupy protests, and have recently launched a new initiative against mass incarceration. In October, they were arrested together with other supporters in an action of civil disobedience protesting “Stop & Frisk” – New York City’s program in which 700,000 mostly Black and Latino youth are illegally stopped, searched and harassed every year by police. (See, New York Times link, below.) Just yesterday, organizers around this initiative, along with students at Columbia University confronted NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly inside the School of International Policy and Affairs (SIPA) to present him with the “Bull Connor Achievement Award” for "outstanding service to the white community." (video HERE)

Their dialogue is described by organizers as “a spirited back-and-forth between two of the nation’s foremost thinkers -- one in the spirit of the Black church and liberation theology, and the other, Revolutionary Communist.”

Some 22 student groups and faculty departments (see list below) are sponsoring the event. The dialogue has also been announced at Occupy Cal's General Assembly.

A support letter signed by faculty and students, including History and African American Studies professors, and students from African Arts Society, Latin@Sociological Association, Kroeber Anthropological Society, Students for Hip Hop and other groups states:

“Though differing in perspective, they are joined by their profound respect for each other, their love for and commitment to today’s youth, and their shared desire to crack open the national discourse and foster a spirit of critical engagement and daring to confront the dangerous situation faced by this new generation.....This dialogue will stimulate further moral and political engagement at this time of awakening and activism.”

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

CARL DIX is a longtime revolutionary and a founding member of the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA. He was one of the Fort Lewis 6, six GIs who refused orders to go to Vietnam in 1970; and then served 2 years in Leavenworth Military Penitentiary for this stand. Carl is a co-founder of the October 22nd Coalition to Stop Police Brutality in 1996. In 2006-7, he coordinated the Katrina section of the Bush Crimes Commission, and was in New Orleans fighting to stop the destruction of public housing there. Since 2009 Carl has engaged in a series of Dialogues with Cornel West on the theme of: In the Age of Obama: What Future For Our Youth?" Carl is currently leading mass resistance in New York against racially-targeted mass incarceration — the New Jim Crow — specifically targeting the ugly NYPD practice of ‘stop and frisk’ by determined direct action. And through this, he is bringing forth a new generation of freedom fighters to resist extreme injustice as part of building a movement for revolution.

Initial sponsors include: • Black Student Union • Hermanos Unidos • Students for Justice in Palestine • 100 Black Men • African Arts Society • Students for Hip Hop • Latin@ Sociological Association • Kroeber Anthropological Society • A.G.O.R.A. • Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity • Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity • African-American Studies Department • Department of English • Department of Ethnic Studies • Department of Gender and Women’s Studies • Department of Art Practice • African American Student Development Office • Cross-Cultural Student Development Office • Center for Race and Gender • Townsend Center for the Humanities • Ethnic Studies Fifth Account • Laney College Black Student Union • Department of History • Institute for the Study of Social Change • Revolution Books Berkeley • Project Censored • Media Roots • Media Freedom Foundation

The following Professors signed on to a letter of support for the event: Professor Dee M. Bielenberg, Department of History; Professor Ula Taylor, African American Studies Department; Professor Paul M. Rabinow, Anthropology Department; Professor Cori Hayden, Anthropology Department

For more on the Dialogue, the speakers, see:
“Protesters of Police Stop-and-Frisk Practice Are Arrested,” New York Times, October 21, 2011,http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/21/protesters-of-police-stop-and-frisk-practice-are-arrested/?scp=2&sq=cornel%20west&st=cse

Carl Dix, “Why I Am Getting Arrested Today,” Huffington Post, October 21, 2011,http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mobileweb/1969/12/31/new-york-stop-and-frisk_n_1024234.html

Cornel West: “Dr. King Weeps From His Grave,” New York Times, August 25, 2011,http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/26/opinion/martin-luther-king-jr-would-want-a-revolution-not-a-memorial.html

“Cornel West and Carl Dix in Dialogue at UCLA,” Revolution #233, May 22, 2011,

http://revcom.us/a/233/233Dix-West-dialogue-en.html

###

Carl Dix on KPFA-FM "The Morning Mix with Davey D" - November 29, 2011

2011-11-29T15:23:00.000-08:00

The Morning Mix with Davey D - November 29, 2011 at 8:00am

Click to listen (or download)

OCCUPY WALL STREET AND THE STRUGGLE TO END THE OPPRESSION OF BLACK PEOPLE

2011-10-31T12:03:00.000-07:00

The campaign of non-violent civil disobedience to Stop “Stop & Frisk” emerged out of a strategy session held in NYC in July to discuss racially targeted mass incarceration (which some academics and activists are aptly calling “The New Jim Crow” to stress that it is a system of social control and not the result of benign crime control policies). This was a small gathering—it was attended by Cornel West, a rep from the Center for Constitutional Rights, activists from the October 22^nd Coalition to Stop Police Brutality, several people from the People’s Media Collective, myself and a couple others.

This consensus out of this session was that mass incarceration was an extremely serious problem. (In a paper on this, I characterized it as a key feature of what could be called a slow genocide being enforced on Black people that could turn into a fast genocide. This paper is available at: http://bit.ly/soU7y9. Further we felt that while a lot of forces were doing exposure around mass incarceration and lobbying politicians for policy changes to alleviate the problem, a crucial ingredient was missing—dramatic mass resistance.

We likened it to the situation in the early 60’s when racial segregation enforced by lynch mob terror—the Old Jim Crow—was the law of the land. It took dramatic resistance that only involved a relatively small number of people at the start to kick off the movement that created the conditions in which change could be won. We thought this generation needed its version of the Freedom Riders to spearhead this struggle.

We initiated this campaign before any of us had heard about Occupy Wall Street (OWS). We began with a Call to Stop “Stop & Frisk” co-issued by myself and Cornel West that we circulated as widely as we could. A few other activists signed onto it. (This Call and its co-signers and endorsers is available at www.stopmassincarceration.tumblr.net.)

When OWS began, several of us noted that it as a very positive development. The country had been thru an economic wringer sparked off by a Wall Street centered meltdown of epic proportions. In my view, this was a crisis brought on by the workings of capitalism. People who felt they had secured their share of the American dream were losing their jobs and homes. Yet there had been little outcry or mass protest. It seemed way past time for someone to do something to call this out, and Wall Street was the appropriate target for the protest movement.

I also noted that the participants in OWS were overwhelmingly white and middle class. They were basically correct in addressing the misery this meltdown as something that was inflicted on the masses of people in the US and in targeting Wall Street as being responsible for this suffering. (The 99% vs. the 1%.) But they were also largely unaware of the extra misery capitalism had always enforced on Black people and other oppressed nationalities. For example when their peaceful protest was met by police wielding pepper spray against women who were doing nothing wrong, they were shocked. Many of them asked why the police would do something like that. Some of them even felt they needed to tone down their aggressiveness to avoid alienating the police. There were arguments made that the police, as working people, were part of the 99%.

We decided we needed to take our campaign to Stop “Stop & Frisk” and the October 22^nd National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality to OWS. I felt people’s ignorance to the role of the police was the result of how the ruling class does its dirty work. They shield middle class white people from the terror their enforcers rain down in the ghettos and barrios across the country. So let’s hip them to the 24-7 brutality cops inflict on the oppressed, and then challenge them to join us in fighting to stop it.

We took crews down to OWS several times in the lead up to the October 21^stlaunch of our civil disobedience campaign. At 1^st we only found a few people who were open to hear what we were saying. Those few included some Black and Brown people who were down at OWS, who had their own stories to tell of being harassed by the cops and stopped and frisked. We enlisted them in our efforts to hip people to what was really going on.

One brother told of being stopped and handcuffed by cops. They frisked him and found nothing illegal. They ran his info thru their system and found that he had no warrants or prior convictions. So did the police let this innocent brother go free? Not immediately. A cop told him he had to do the Chicken Noodle Soup dance before he could go free! This pig meant that shit—he didn’t uncuff the brother till he had danced for him.

A growing number of people began to express 1^st shock and then outrage as they heard stories like this. They could hardly believe that this kind of shit was being perpetrated, and they responded to our call that they become part of doing something about it. They formed an Oct 21^st and 22^nd working group and worked on making Stopping “Stop & Frisk” an official OWS activity. At times the process of getting OWS on board re the civil disobedience campaign and the National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality was maddening. How does OWS go about endorsing something? What did you have to do to get to address their General Assembly? How could something get put on their calendar as an official OWS activity? Sometimes the answers to these basic questions were hard to find. Sometimes, you got different answers to them from talking to different people.

But our efforts at synergizing Stopping “Stop & Frisk” with OWS bore fruit. A grouping of about 50 people from OWS came together to Harlem on October 21^st, joining the crowd of several hundred who were there, and about ½ of the 35 people who did the civil disobedience were from OWS.

I need to add here that Occupy Da Hood, the People of Color working group of OWS, and the prisoner solidarity working group gave important support to the efforts to synergize the struggle against police brutality and Stop & Frisk with OWS.

Now the struggle is to maintain the synergy that has been created and to build off it. So far OWS activists have been strong in the house in our follow up meetings to plan for the next civil disobedience—which will be on November 1^st at the 73^rd Precinct in the Brownsville neighborhood of Brooklyn. This pig sty is infamous for stopping the most people under Stop & Frisk. And of the 20 people who have signed up to do civil disobedience, again about ½ of them are OWS’ers. (I’m writing this on October 31^st, so by the time you get to read this, this action will have already happened.)

Our campaign to stop “Stop & Frisk” will go on till that racist, illegal and unconstitutional policy is ended. Already in the works is another civil disobedience on Nov 15^th in Jamaica, Queens, at the 103^rd Precinct, and a day of campus action for December 2^nd. OWS is also vowing to stay in the streets, so there will be more to say about synergizing these efforts.

2011-10-27T10:12:00.001-07:00

Carl's Talk at Sunday's Mass Meeting of the Stop 'Stop & Frisk' campaign of the Stop Mass Incarceration Network.

Join Us on October 21st to Stopping Stop-N-Frisk!

2011-10-16T14:30:00.001-07:00

2011-10-16T07:55:00.001-07:00

MASS MEETING: 7:00 PM on October 17, 2011 Monday. St. Mary's Episcopal Church, 521 West 126th Street. Between Amsterdam Avenue and Broadway, Harlem. #1/A/C/D/B to 125th Street stops.

For more information: stopmassincarceration@ymail.com, Phone: 973-756-7666 .

---------- Forwarded message ----------

STOP "Stop-n-Frisk”

Illegal, racist, unconstitutional, intolerable.

And it must be stopped!!!

The NYPD is on pace to stop and frisk over 700,000 people in 2011! That's more than 1,900 people each and every day. More than 85%of those stopped and frisked are Black or Latino, and more than 90% of them were doing nothing wrong when the police stopped them.

We are launching a campaign to take the movement to stop it to a higher level on Friday, October 21st, and YOU NEED TO JOIN US!

October 21^st FRIDAY

1:00 PM. Rally at the Harlem State Office Building

1:30 PM. March to the NYPD 28^th Precinct at West 123^rd andFrederick Douglass Boulevard. At the precinct, we will deliver a message that we aim to stop police from violating people's rights through ‘Stop & Frisk.’

The Stop Mass Incarceration Network: P.O. Box 941, New York, New York 10002

Email: stopmassincarceration@ymail.com * Phone: 973-756-7666 * stopmassincarceration.tumblr.com

2011-10-09T10:30:00.001-07:00

Carl Dix had challenged NYPD commissioner Ray Kelly to debate 'stop & frisk' on October 6th at 125th & Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard. Kelly was a no show, but Carl had many opportunities to speak with Harlem residents about 'stop & frisk' and the need to build resistance against it.

Here he is speaking before a group of high school students.

A Challenge to Ray Kelly to Debate 'Stop & Frisk' on October 6th

2011-10-02T17:50:00.000-07:00

Troy Davis Presente!

2011-09-23T10:46:00.000-07:00

THEY MURDERED TROY, BUT WE MUST NEVER FORGET HIM!

September 23, 2011

This system executed Troy Davis — no they murdered him. They delayed his execution a few hours while the Supreme Court considered and rejected a last minute appeal from Troy’s lawyers. The court issued a one sentence statement explaining why they refused again to reopen his case and look at the mounting evidence of his innocence. It might as well have said Black people have no rights we are bound to respect! The content of what the system has told us in this case, as they told us in the case of Shaka Sankofa eleven years ago, is that innocence is no bar to execution.

The powers that be say this country is the homeland of freedom. They tell the world that they are the greatest defenders of human rights. Then they turn around and railroad Troy Davis to jail on trumped up evidence, refuse to even consider the mounting evidence of his innocence and execute him on the basis of that railroad.

This was a legal lynching, plain and simple. It didn’t matter to them that there was no physical evidence to tie Troy to the murder of the cop or that 7 of the 9 witnesses against Troy have come forward and said they lied, several of them claiming they were coerced to lie by cops who were dead set on frying some Black man, any Black man, for the killing of one of their own. No court has even bothered to reopen the case, listen to the witnesses recanting their statements against Troy and consider the police coercion that went into his conviction! What else can we take from that but that they are telling us—‘We railroaded him, fair and square, and now we’re going to strap him down and fry him.’

What can you say about a system that would do all this—railroad a man to death row, ignore mounting evidence of his innocence and go ahead with his execution in the face of widespread international protest? The truth is that it’s rotten to the core, and needs to be done away with thru revolution.

And this isn’t just about Troy Davis. During the protest in Harlem the night of Troy’s execution, a number of people who were hearing of Troy’s case for the 1^st time told me, “They do that to Black people all the time.” Very true. The legal lynching of Troy Davis concentrates the way this system treats Black people. This system has criminalized our youth, treating them like they’re guilty until proven innocent, if they can survive their encounters with cops to prove their innocence, and if they can avoid being framed up in the system’s kangaroo courts. Their cops get away with brutalizing and even murdering people all across the country, all the time. This has been going on for too damn long. It is intolerable, and it must be stopped!

The future this system has in store for many of our youth comes down to either crime and punishment or joining their military and killing people to keep their global empire in effect. Again, what can you say about a system like this?

But things don’t have to be like this. We could end all the horrors this system inflicts on humanity thru revolution, communist revolution. We could get rid of this rotten system and bring into being a society and a world that serves the interests of the people. And we in the Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP) are building a movement for revolution to do just that. Get with this movement, sisters and brothers. Join it to help spread revolution everywhere and to mobilize people to “Fight the Power, and Transform the People, For Revolution.” There are two important things you need to get involved with as part of doing this.

First, get your hands on BAsics, a new book by Bob Avakian, the leader of the RCP. This book concentrates more than 3 decades of work Avakian has been doing studying the experience of previous revolutionary societies and grappling with everything that stands between humanity and its ultimate emancipation. With this book, we can introduce people to the leader we have for making revolution and bring to a new generation the new and revitalized understanding of how to make revolution and bring into a being a viable and desirable socialist society that Avakian has developed If you want to see an end to legal lynchings like we just witnessed in Troy Davis’ case, the way that Black people are beaten down and oppressed and everything else foul this system inflicts on humanity, then you need to get your hands on BAsics. And you need to help spread the word about BAsics and encourage other people to get a copy of it. If you don’t know about Avakian, you need to learn about him, and you need to let other people know about him too. You can’t change the world if you don’t know the BAsics.

And second, Cornel West and I have called for a day of non violent civil disobedience to Stop “Stop & Frisk.” The execution of Troy Davis underscores the need for determined resistance to the way this criminal injustice system mistreats Black people. We have to unite people from many different backgrounds and of different races and nationalities to stand together and say in a loud powerful voice that we refuse to stand by and let them continue to violate peoples’ rights in the way they’ve been doing.

To get connected with this important action, go to stopmassexecution.tumblr.com or call (973)756-7666.

Go to www.revcom.us for coverage on the execution of Troy Davis and to get more info on everything I’ve talked about here.

2011-09-22T08:03:00.001-07:00

Troy Davis—Presente! They Murdered Him, but We Must Not Forget Him!

Last night they executed Troy Davis. They delayed the execution a few hours while the Supreme Court considered and rejected a last minute appeal from Troy’s lawyers. I don’t know if that court issued any statement explaining why they refused again to reopen his case and look at the mounting evidence of his innocence. But the content of what the system has told us in this case, as they told us in the case of Shaka Sankofa eleven years ago, is that innocence is no bar to execution.

This was a legal lynching, plain and simple. It didn’t matter to them that there was no physical evidence to tie Troy to the murder of the cop or that 7 of the 9 witnesses against Troy have come forward and said they lied, several of them claiming they were coerced to lie by cops who were dead set on frying some Black man, any Black man, for the killing of one of their own. No court has even bothered to reopen the case and look at this evidence! What else can we take from that but that they are telling us—‘We railroaded him, fair and square, and now we’re going to strap him down and fry him.’

Out in Harlem last night, a number of people who were hearing of Troy’s case for the 1^st time told us, “They do that to Black people all the time.” Very true. The legal lynching of Troy Davis concentrates the way this system treats Black people. This system has criminalized our youth, treating them like they’re guilty until proven innocent, if they can survive their encounters with cops to prove their innocence, and if they can avoid being framed up in the system’s kangaroo courts.

Two important things—BAsics, a book by Bob Avakian, the leader of the RCP. This book concentrates more than 3 decades of work Avakian has been doing studying the experience of previous revolutionary societies and grappling with everything that stands between humanity and its ultimate emancipation. With this book, we can bring the new understanding of how to make revolution and bring into a being a viable and desirable socialist society that Avakian has developed to the new generation If you don’t know about Avakian, you need to learn about him, and you need to let some other people know about him too. Get hold of BAsics, and help spread the word about it, because you can’t change the world if you don’t know the BAsics.

And 2, Cornel West and I have called for a day of non violent civil disobedience to Stop “Stop & Frisk.” The execution of Troy Davis underscores the need for determined RESISTANCE to the way this criminal injustice system mistreats Black people.

Go to www.revcom.us to get more info on both of these.

Denounce the Murder of Troy Davis!

2011-09-22T04:38:00.000-07:00

We received the below from the supporters of Revolution Uptown/Harlem.

Denounce the Murder of Troy Davis!
138th and Amsterdam Avenue    noon until 2:00 --- today
Harlem State Building- 125th and Adam Clayton Powell 5:00 --- today
Union Square Park     5:00   --- today

Hello Folks,
Last night this system murdered Troy Anthony Davis. As many thousands of people around the country and the world, including here in Harlem, demanded the execution be stopped, the authorities pressed relentlessly toward Troy's death. A hateful, murderous, yes, fascistic message has just been seen. What is our response?

Uptown readers if Revolution newspaper (www.revcom.us) are calling for folks to gather on the corner of 138th and Amsterdam Avenue today from noon until 2pm (and at the Harlem State Building at 5:00) in a powerful denunciation of the execution of Troy Davis and the system that killed him. What happened last night needs to be talked about in every class today, at the bus stop and on the train, at work, and in your circle of friends and family. In a thousand ways, those who are outraged about this legal lynching must spread that outrage, spread the resistance. We need a massive outpourings of resistance! We often look at history and think we would have acted morally, courageously, in the face of slavery, or Jim Crow/KKK terror. This is the New Jim Crow terror- this is a moment that tests our morality and courage.

"There is a place where epistemology and morality meet. There is a place where you have to stand and say: It is not acceptable to refuse to look at something—or to refuse to believe something—because it makes you uncomfortable. And: It is not acceptable to believe something just because it makes you feel comfortable."
     Bob Avakian BAsics 5:11

This is such a place. This is such a time!

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.
from The Revolution We Need...The Leadership We Have

The Whole Damn System Is Guilty!

Do the right thing,
Will

Troy Davis Must Not Be Executed!

2011-09-21T13:52:00.000-07:00

Editor's Note: Troy Davis was executed tonight at 11:08 PM EST as the U.S. Supreme Court refused to grant a last minute stay of execution. What kind of system do we live in where a Black man has been framed and executed for a murder he did not commit?
-----------------------------------------------
SAVE TROY'S LIFE
by Carl Dix

Paris demonstration for Troy Davis (undated).

As I write this, Troy Davis is hours away from his scheduled execution. His case is a damning exposure of how the criminal “injustice” system in the US is rotten to the core. Troy Davis was railroaded to prison 20 years ago on charges of murdering a cop in Savannah, Georgia. There was no physical evidence connecting Troy to the cop who was killed, and 7 or the 9 witnesses who placed him at the scene of the killing have since recanted their statements. Several of them have said that they were coerced into fingering Troy as the killer by cops who didn’t care that their statements were untrue. And one of the witnesses who maintains that Troy killed the cop has told acquaintances that he was the one who really killed the cop!
It is an extreme travesty that Troy has been on death row for 20 years in this case and that he has gotten to the brink of being executed several times. And it will be an outrageous crime if this system goes ahead with his execution.
What the system is saying with how this case has been dealt with is a big step back to the days of the Supreme Court’s Dred Scot decision—that Black people had no rights the system needs to respect. At every level, from the cops to the prosecutors to the courts, the message has been the same. We railroaded you the way we so often do to poor people and oppressed people, and we don’t give a damn if you’re guilty or not! Every appeals court, including the Supreme Court, has refused to consider the mounting evidence that Troy is innocent and allowed his execution to steamroll ahead.
Thinking about this injustice reminds me of Shaka Sankofa. The state of Texas executed him despite a lot of evidence that he was innocent, and in that case too the courts ruled that process — "we railroaded him fair and square" — trumped evidence of innocence. And it brings to mind Mumia Abu Jamal, another victim of a railroad by a lynching judge presiding over a kangaroo court. Mumia has spent three decades on death row.
These cases concentrate the way this system treats Black people! It is intolerable that people get railroaded to prison on trumped up charges and coerced evidence, that people can be executed on the basis of shit like this. And it must be stopped.
We must do everything we can down to the final minute tonight to fight to save Troy’s life. And we must stand up and fight to end the way horrific numbers of Black and Latino youth are warehoused in prisons across the US. Cornel West and I have issued a Call for a day of Stopping “Stop & Frisk.” The aim of this day of resistance is to take the movement against racially targeted mass incarceration to a whole new level. This Call is available at www.revcom.us, or you could get a copy by writing to the Network to Stop Mass Incarceration at stopmassincarceration@ymail.com. I urge people to take up this Call, spread it and help make this resistance as powerful as possible.
It’s going to take revolution, millions of people rising up to get rid of this system and replace it with a totally different system that serves the interests of the people, to end mass incarceration and all the other horrors this system enforces on humanity. And a big part of getting ready to revolution is mobilizing people to resist the system’s attacks — Fighting the Power, and Transforming the People, for Revolution.
So stand up and fight back, for Troy’s life, to end mass incarceration and to end everything this system brings down on the people.

Attica Means Fight Back! Remembering the Legacy of the Attica Rebellion on the 40th Anniversary.

2011-09-06T12:41:00.000-07:00

"We are men. We are not beasts, and we do not intend to be beaten and driven as such.” With this declaration, men in the Attica State prison rose in the most powerful prison rebellion in US history. The Attica Brothers took guards as hostages and controlled the prison for 4 days, issuing demands that included an end to brutality, better conditions in the prison and no reprisals against them for rising up.

Their example of defiance electrified the country and the world. And the way in which the prisoners conducted themselves while they controlled the prison showed a glimpse of how the world could be different. They overcame differences between Blacks and whites, they refused to back down in the face of threatened attacks by the state police, they shared what food and water they had amongst themselves and with their hostages, and no one took vengeance against the guards for the brutality they had inflicted.

KATT WILLIAMS IS A SICK JOKE!!! by Carl Dix

2011-09-06T12:35:00.000-07:00

Black comic Katt Williams recently unleashed an ugly, reactionary rant during a stand up routine in Phoenix. Addressing a heckler who took exception to his “humor,” Williams told him, “Remember when white people used to tell us to go back to Africa? … If you love Mexico so much, get the fuck back there. America is the greatest country in the world.” When the heckler declared, “This is Mexico,” Williams replied, “This used to be Mexico – Now it’s Phoenix.” Then he capped all this off with, “We were slaves –Y’all just work like that at the landscaper.”

Williams explained his rant by saying, “I wasn’t being anti Mexican. I was just defending my country.” This so called greatest country in the world was forged thru stealing the land from the native inhabitants and committing genocide against them, and thru dragging African people to these shores in slave chains.

Williams was defending not only these original sins of the US, but all the foul shit America has done since then as it spread its tentacles around the world, and the shit it continues to enforce on humanity today. “This used to be Mexico – Now it’s Phoenix.” That comes down to defending the theft of half of Mexico by the US in the 1800’s. And his “joke” about Latinos being worked like slaves is nothing but upholding the way so many immigrants have been forced into the bottom tier of the US workforce, slaving for starvation wages.

Williams talks about being descended from slaves. Let me tell you, he still has the mentality of a slave. Contrast his slavish upholding of the crimes of America to this statement by Bob Avakian, leader of the Revolutionary Communist Party.

Three Strikes...

“The book by Michelle Alexander, The New Jim Crow, Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, has shined a bright and much needed light on the reality of profound injustice at the very core of this country.
   And this brings me back to a very basic point:
   This system, in this country, in the whole history of its treatment of Black people, what has it been?
   First, Slavery... Then, Jim Crow—segregation and Ku Klux Klan terror... And now, The New Jim Crow—police brutality and murder, wholesale criminalization and mass incarceration, and legalized discrimination yet again.
   That's it for this system: Three strikes and you're out!”

Which view gets at the history and current day reality of this country? And which points in the direction of getting out from under this rotten set up.

-30-

London Police Killing Sparks "Righteous Fury"

2011-08-18T07:49:00.001-07:00

2011-08-09T18:55:00.000-07:00

Taking the Movement of Resistance to Mass Incarceration to a Higher Level Thru Unleashing Determined Mass Resistance

by Carl Dix

Posted August 9, 2011

The decades-long massive incarceration of Black people, along with other people of color, is an outrage that should shock the conscience of the world. It shows the utter illegitimacy of the system. 2.4+ million people are in prisons across the country, the overwhelming majority of them Black or Latino, because the system has criminalized large sections of people and not because these people are criminals. As a revolutionary communist, I stand with Bob Avakian, the leader of the Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP) who has said, "There will never be a revolutionary movement in this country that doesn't fully unleash and give expression to the sometimes openly expressed, sometimes expressed in partial ways, sometimes expressed in wrong ways, but deeply, deeply felt desire to be rid of these long centuries of oppression [of Black people]. There's never gonna be a revolution in this country, and there never should be, that doesn't make that one key foundation of what it's all about." (Quoted from Basics, 3:19)

This injustice is accepted by society because it is carried out under the appearance of color blindness, and that must stop.

A whole lot is at stake in whether we succeed to build a determined movement of resistance to this incarceration. Mass incarceration is a huge attack on the masses, especially on oppressed nationality masses. 100,000's are jailed for simple possession of banned drugs. People in prison are subjected to horrible conditions. The pipeline leading to this warehousing in prison includes inner-city educational systems that are geared to drive millions of youth to drop out and a criminal justice system that treats a whole generation of youth like potential criminals, guilty until proven innocent, if they can survive to prove that innocence. It includes racial profiling by police, gang injunctions and discrimination in the courts.

And after release, millions of people are stamped with a badge of deprivation and shame. Denied job opportunities, access to public housing, food stamps, government loans for education, the right to vote, and more. All this is the result of conscious policies adopted by the ruling class.

This horrific racially targeted massive incarceration is a consequence of not having made revolution in the '60s. The revolutionary upheaval of that period rocked the ruling class back on its heels, but it didn't seize power from them. Having ridden those storms out, and conscious of the role the uprisings of Black people played in spearheading that and their potential for sparking future upheaval, the ruling class has moved to viciously suppress that potential before it can manifest itself—counter-insurgency before the insurgency.

If things are allowed to continue on this trajectory, the reality of millions of the oppressed penned up in the ghettos and barrios without opportunity or hope will intensify. Going in and out of jail will remain a rite of passage for millions of oppressed youth, many of whom already look to their immediate future and can see nothing more than prison or death. This is slow genocide and, given the sharp divisions in the ruling class and the building up and unleashing of outright fascist forces, it could easily become fast genocide.

This massive incarceration is accepted by most of society as just, as the result of criminal activity by those who end up in jail. Those who are aware of the racial disparity in who gets incarcerated mostly accept that as well, seeing it as reflecting that "those people" commit more crimes. Even those masses who are most directly hit by this incarceration are affected by the chorus of "it's your own damn fault" that comes at them from every sector of society. This is because this extreme oppression is being perpetrated under a cloak of apparent equality. There are no longer laws on the books that say it's illegal for Black people to do this or that. The forms thru which the Black masses were held down under the old Jim Crow have been largely done away with. It appears that Black people have a certain equality of opportunity, so those who don't make it and end up being ground down by the system are thought to be responsible for their fate. This appearance/essence contradiction needs to be broken thru on.

If the rationalizations for this mass incarceration could be broken thru, a determined movement of resistance to this horrific injustice could be brought forward. This could dramatically transform the political terrain. Those who do suffer this could throw off the 'blame the victim' justification and stand up and resist. People who don't directly face this could see it for the injustice that it is and join in the resistance. The way in which being saddled with convictions, parole and probation, or the threat of them, holds many of the youth back from even considering joining in resistance could be busted thru. The feeling on the part of the oppressed that they're alone in the struggle could be addressed by both building resistance among the basic masses and rallying youth and others from the middle strata to join in.

What is key to bringing a determined movement of resistance to mass incarceration into existence? People have to change their thinking about incarceration—millions no longer accepting the justifications for this and millions of the oppressed also breaking with thinking there's nothing to be done about it and/or it's really their own fault. In particular, some big transformation on the matter of the appearance of equality and the related fact that most people, including many of the oppressed, feel incarceration is driven by crime. And because of this, accept it as justified. But this can't be accomplished by exposure alone, or by a focus on exposure around how unjust this is. Much more exposure is needed, and the work done by Michelle Alexander and others remains important. But the key to changing people's thinking about incarceration comes down to unleashing and guiding a mass movement that engages in determined resistance to the outrage of mass incarceration. This movement needs to be aimed at making this a dividing line question in society, one that everybody has to look at, re-evaluate and develop an opinion and a stand on.

Here the experience of the Freedom Riders in the 1960's is instructive. The brutality and indignity of Jim Crow segregation had been in effect for decades. Although there had been important outbreaks of resistance to it, most Black people accepted its horrors as foul shit you just had to put up with. The reality of what Black people were forced to endure was under the radar screen for many whites, and those who were aware of them either eagerly supported them, or were taken in by the rationalizations given for enforcing these conditions on Black people. It took the dramatic actions of a relative handful of courageous resisters to put this situation onto society's front burners and force people take a stand on it. The same will be needed today in relation to mass incarceration and all that it entails.

In this light, the importance of the hunger strike now being waged by prisoners in California must be emphasized. This hunger strike has pushed the outrages of what is done to prisoners into the minds of millions who formerly either never knew about it or gave it a thought, and it has inspired thousands of others to rally to their support. This strike must be supported and used as a springboard for further struggle.

This is the way to get people to think about this deeply and begin to think differently about it. (There's also a global aspect to this. The US still goes around the world, lecturing other countries on freedom and democracy and crowing about the freedoms it affords to its people. A determined movement of resistance targeting the massive and racially disproportionate incarceration the US enforces would lay bare the injustice suffered by so many of the oppressed in this so-called leader of the free world.)

There is a real basis to bring this mass movement of resistance into existence! Something significant is happening right now that needs to, and can, be tapped into. 100's are coming out to hear Michelle Alexander speak about this issue, large numbers of people are reading her book and some of them are recommending it to others and forming study groups around it. The 100's who've come to the dialogues between Cornel West and myself on the theme of "What Future For Our Youth?" include many, many people who gasp when they hear of what's being done to basic masses by the criminal injustice system and who respond positively to the call for people to stand up and resist all this. Something is afoot here. Not that the majority of people have changed their thinking on this, or are even all thinking about this. But a critical mass of people are changing their thinking, and many are ready to be part of doing something about this horrific injustice. This critical mass needs to be forged and unleashed into a movement resisting this outrage in a determined way. Thru doing this, the political terrain can be dramatically affected.

The social base for such a movement has several components: those who suffer this directly—those in prison, former prisoners, their family and friends. Such people are largely basic masses, but many middle strata Blacks also fit into this category, having family and friends who are in and out of prison. (John Edgar Weidman wrote on this in both his Pittsburgh-based fiction and in a memoir.) The same is true for other oppressed nationalities. There are significant numbers of white youth who are already horrified by what they know about the warehousing of so many people in prison and can be won to join in resisting it. And many more from all sections of society could be won to oppose this if they could see thru the justifications to the underlying horrific reality. There are many professionals whose work puts them in contact with masses who suffer this—teachers, social workers, attorneys, others—who see the humanity in these masses and could be won to join in the resistance. Several of the panelists at Michelle Alexander's Riverside event were people who worked on re-entry of formerly incarcerated people. Sometimes people involved in this work are themselves former prisoners.

Students and prisoners can play important roles in breaking this resistance movement loose—both are important, and there's a potential synergy here. Historically, students have been the first section of society to step out and fight injustice, and they will need to play this role in this effort. If things are left to the basic masses to shoulder the responsibility of kicking this movement off, it won't happen because these masses already feel alone in this fight and think they have no chance of winning.

At the same time, there are many, many prisoners who want to be a part of changing the direction of things in society. The prisoners who have engaged in significant resistance in recent months—the California prison hunger strikers, prisoners in Georgia and Ohio—number in the 1000's . There are 100's of prisoners who receive Revolution newspaper regularly and many write to the paper about the influence that reading the writings of Bob Avakian and other articles in the paper have had on them. These prisoners can play an important role in reaching out to other masses, both others on the bottom of society and many in the middle class,c and awake them to this injustice and inspire them to join in the resistance. These prisoners are among the many, many people this system has classed as subhuman and not worthy of consideration. The letters some of these prisoners write to Revolution Newspaper and the Prisoners Revolutionary Literature Fund can put the lie to this and make real the potential for people criminalized by this society to transform themselves and get with the emancipators of humanity. Their examples can reach the hearts of students who are disturbed by the state of the world today and draw them into the fight on this front.

There need to be points where this new movement comes together for action—like supporting the heroic hunger strike of the prisoners in California and taking to the streets to mark 40 years since the Attica Rebellion. And then to join in the effort to unleash powerful determined resistance to mass incarceration in the lead-up to the October 22nd National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality, Repression and the Criminalization of a Generation. As an example, in New York the Network to Stop Mass Incarceration has called for a day of No Stop & Frisk in the days leading up to October 22nd. These must not be the usual, routine actions; the situation is too urgent for that. The Network to Stop Mass Incarceration is also working on a statement of conscience condemning racially targeted mass incarceration that will be signed by prominent people in the arts and sciences, the clergy, etc. from all over the world. The aim of this statement will be to contribute to dramatically changing the way people look at the way so many people are warehoused in US prisons.

Demands need to be drawn up that can both rally people to stand with this effort because they can see the justness of what's being called for and serve as focal points for fighting to stop the shit the powers-that-be are doing. The overall theme of this movement needs to be calling for an End to Mass Incarceration. We should develop a theme for it that calls it out as a racially targeted method of social control. Forces involved in taking on the various aspects of racially targeted mass incarceration have developed demands that get at much of the reality of mass incarceration. Here is my contribution to what the demands need to be:

releasing people convicted or arrested for drug possession.
ending mandatory minimum sentences.
ending entirely the crack/powder cocaine disparity.
ending the way parole is restricted for many in prison and denied in punitive ways.

Other demands could focus in on the way the criminal justice system targets the oppressed:

ending racial profiling.
Stop Stop & Frisk. (This demand is specific to New York city where the police enforce this illegal unconstitutional policy, but as an important focal point of resistance, it has national significance.)
Ending the practice of getting convictions and violations on youth before they're teens as part of criminalizing a whole generation.

Other demands would focus on the stigma and denial of rights people face when they're released:

ending discrimination in employment. (There is already an effort called "Drop the box," which targets the box on employment applications which asks have you been convicted, etc.)
Abolishing the one-strike laws and other laws and policies that deny public housing to those formerly incarcerated.
abolishing laws and policies that deny those formerly incarcerated access to govt assistance like food stamps and education loans.
restoring the right to vote, etc.

Coming out of the Session, it may be necessary to assemble a commission to sort thru the demands raised by various forces to develop a focused list of demands that can broadly characterize and concretize the reality of mass incarceration in an overall way. Then these demands can be promoted thru the various initiatives taken up to focus the attention of society broadly on the injustice of racially targeted mass incarceration; at actions of mass resistance, at forums and teach-ins, etc.

I will close with a quote from a statement issued two years ago by the RCP titled, "The Revolution We Need... The Leadership We Have:" "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." What we do coming out of the Stop Mass Incarceration Strategy Session needs to be approached as contributing to taking concrete steps to end those days!

If you know someone who would want to get involved in this effort to unleash determined mass resistance to racially targeted mass incarceration, or if you'd like to get involved yourself, contact us at: stopmassincarceration@ymail.com.

2011-08-08T07:14:00.001-07:00

2011-07-21T04:02:00.000-07:00

Support the Pelican Bay Prison Hunger Strike, July 2011
Go here: http://bit.ly/nqQ2rm

Carl Dix, Revolutionary Communist Party, Served 2 years in Fort Leavenworth Military Prison for refusing to go to Vietnam in 1970 says:

The people on hunger strike in the prisons in California have stood up and declared that they are human beings, not animals, and that they refuse to submit to the torture being enforced by the California Dept of Corrections.

The hunger strikers have put their lives on the line to fight to achieve their demands, and we must support them. They are asserting their humanity and thru doing that, they are challenging us to reclaim our own humanity—by refusing to allow torture to be carried out in the prison system in our name.

Prisoners at Pelican Bay SHU Announce Hunger Strike

Revolution newspaper received a copy of the “Final Notice: PBSP SHU D-Corridor Hunger Strike” written by prisoners in the SHU at Pelican Bay State Prison. This notice calls for a hunger strike, to start on July 1, 2011, and includes five core demands, which in summary are:

1. End “group punishment” where an individual prisoner breaks a rule and prison officials punish a whole group of prisoners of the same race.

2. Abolish “debriefing” and modify active/inactive gang status criteria. False and/or highly questionable “evidence” is used to accuse prisoners of being active/inactive members of prison gangs who are then sent to the SHU where they are subjected to long-term isolation and torturous conditions. One of the only ways these prisoners can get out the SHU is if they “debrief”—that is, give prison officials information on gang activity.

3. Comply with recommendations from a 2006 U.S. commission to “make segregation a last resort” and “end conditions of isolation.”

4. Provide Adequate Food. Prisoners report unsanitary conditions and small quantities of food. They want adequate food, wholesome nutritional meals including special diet meals and an end to the use of food as a way to punish prisoners in the SHU.

5. Expand and provide constructive programs and privileges for indefinite SHU inmates—including the opportunity to “engage in self-help treatment, education, religious and other productive activities...” which are routinely denied. Demands include one phone call per week, one photo per year, 2 packages a year, more visiting time, permission to have wall calendars, and sweat suits and watch caps (warm clothing is often denied even though cells and the exercise cage can be bitterly cold).

Cornel West Slammed by Obama Supporters For Telling the Truth About Obama

2011-06-06T08:06:00.000-07:00

By Carl Dix

A shit storm has been raging around critical comments by Cornel West about Barack Obama’s presidency, in an interview done by Chris Hedges for the online magazine, Truthdig. West has been accused of launching personal attacks and hurling racial slurs at Obama. The attacks on West have had several striking features in common. One is how his accusers have had little or nothing to say about what he actually said about what Obama has, and hasn’t, done as president. The other is how those attacking West have either distorted his history and track record or gone after him like he has neither. (For the interview, go to www.truthdig.com.)

In his interview with Hedges, West bitterly describes Obama as “a black mascot of Wall Street oligarchs and a black puppet of corporate plutocrats. And now he has become head of the American killing machine and is proud of it.”

Is this true? Obama is the commander in chief for the U.S. global empire. In that capacity, he has continued much of the thrust of the Bush regime, waging wars for empire, ordering drone attacks that destroy whole villages, carrying out government spying, torture and indefinite detention.

As it says in the 2010 statement issued by World Can’t Wait, “Crimes Are Crimes No Matter Who Does Them”: “In some respects, this is worse than Bush. First, because Obama has claimed the right to assassinate American citizens whom he suspects of ‘terrorism,’ merely on the grounds of his own suspicion or that of the CIA, something Bush never claimed publicly. Second, Obama says that the government can detain you indefinitely, even if you have been exonerated in a trial, and he has publicly floated the idea of ‘preventive detention.’ Third, the Obama administration, in expanding the use of unmanned drone attacks, argues that the U.S. has the authority under international law to use such lethal force and extrajudicial killing in sovereign countries with which it is not at war.

“Such measures by Bush were widely considered by liberals and progressives to be outrages and were roundly, and correctly, protested. But those acts which may have been construed (wishfully or not) as anomalies under the Bush regime, have now been consecrated into ‘standard operating procedure’ by Obama, who claims, as did Bush, executive privilege and state secrecy in defending the crime of aggressive war.” (To read the entire statement, go to www.worldcantwait.net.)

And on domestic policy, Obama has represented the interests of the capitalist class while their system is caught up in an intense financial crisis. This is the backdrop against which Obama has pushed legislation and policies that serve banking and other corporate interests and that has caused severe economic deprivation for the masses. This deprivation includes massive unemployment, a record number of foreclosures and evictions, and cutbacks in all kinds of social services, from education to health. And all this hits minority people disproportionately. While Obama has taken the spotlight off immigration, more deportations have been carried out on his watch than under Bush.

Right-wing forces have continued and escalated their attacks on abortion rights during his presidency. And before him, Bill Clinton did harm on this front, by implying that abortion was morally wrong a stand which Obama has not just echoed but taken further.

And Obama has been singing lead in the chorus that blames poor Black people for what the system does to them. How often has he blamed the poverty and miserable conditions faced by Black youth on absent Black fathers without mentioning how the criminal “injustice” system targets Black men disproportionately and warehouses hundreds of thousands of them in prison? Or blamed Black parents for the high drop-out rates of Black youth while giving a pass to the education system that is geared to fail those youth?

Those slamming West argue that Obama has done the best he can, and that, whatever his shortcomings, he represents the best Black people and progressive people are going to get. They also argue that any criticism of Obama by a prominent voice of conscience like West only aids his right-wing opponents. Instead, people should shut up, get behind Obama and, at most, try to nudge him into a better direction.

But what are people supposed to get behind? Obama’s wars for empire? His attacks on Black people and immigrants? If people fall for swallowing all that because something worse might be waiting in the wings, then the capitalist rulers of this country will ram even worse down their throats. As Bob Avakian, the leader of the Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP), puts it in his new book BAsics, from the talks and writings of Bob Avakian : “If you try to make the Democrats be what they are not and never will be, you will end up being more like what the Democrats actually are.”

What West is really doing in the Truthdig interview is calling Obama out for what he has done, and hasn’t done, in heaping abuse on people in the U.S. and around the world. He has dared to say the emperor has no clothes.

This is consistent with who Cornel West is and what he’s done all his life. He has a history of speaking truth to power, of dramatically telling the truth about the way the powers that be have abused “the least among us.” He tours college campuses across the country to challenge the youth not to become “adapted to indifference” or “adjusted to injustice.” He goes into prisons to meet with, educate and learn from those locked down in this country’s dungeons. He tirelessly speaks out about how Black people and other oppressed nationalities, poor and working people, women, lesbians and gays are being mistreated by the wealthy and powerful. And he bends every effort to forge unity among oppressed groups and between people from different class backgrounds.

Again from West’s interview with Chris Hedges: “‘When you look at a society you look at it through the lens of the least of these, the weak and the vulnerable; you are committed to loving them first, not exclusively, but first, and therefore giving them priority,’ says West, the Class of 1943 University Professor of African American Studies and Religion at Princeton University. ‘And even at this moment, when the empire is in deep decline, the culture is in deep decay, the political system is broken, where nearly everyone is up for sale, you say all I have is the subversive memory of those who came before, personal integrity, trying to live a decent life, and a willingness to live and die for the love of folk who are catching hell. This means civil disobedience, going to jail, supporting progressive forums of social unrest if they in fact awaken the conscience, whatever conscience is left, of the nation. And that’s where I find myself now.’”

Cornel West, a widely respected public intellectual listened to by many, promotes critical thinking. He challenges the young generation to have the courage to speak the truth and to be committed to working to alleviate the suffering of those on the bottom of society. He displays a poetic spirit. In his own words, Cornel would describe himself as “engaging in Socratic questioning, being committed to the least of these and being a bluesman in the life of the mind.” All this is why I love this brother so much.

This is also why he has become the target of Obama’s defenders. The concerted chorus of condemnation of West has coincided with indications of widespread unease and dissatisfaction over the actions, and inactions, of the first Black president, among Black people and progressive people in general. Cornel West is giving voice to that spreading discontent in his critique of Obama, and to some that makes him a dangerous man. But those who are still catching hell every day under Obama, just as they have before, and those not willing to swallow their principles and go along with the continuing outrages, should cherish and defend Cornel West.

The attacks on West come down to a concerted attempt to tear down and discredit him among the Black masses and progressive people generally and to place criticisms of Obama’s presidency and exposure of whose interests it is serving outside the bounds of acceptable discourse. On one level, this shores up the prospects of a second term for Obama as president, but on another and deeper level it serves the global and strategic interests of the U.S. imperialist ruling class.

In 2008, Bob Avakian likened the U.S. ruling class allowing/having Obama win the presidency as their global empire faced heavy challenges around the world and domestically, to them playing a major trump in a bid whist card game to try to change the flow of the game. This was gotten into in an article in Revolution newspaper #148: “Tears & Pride, Reality & REAL Change.”

“Anyone on this planet with any sense of the real history and present-day reality of the U.S.A. and how deeply white supremacy is embedded into the operation of this exploitive system… Anyone who knows about the slave master’s whip…the lynch mobs…and present-day reality where any young Black man who steps out of his door faces a death sentence waiting to be executed by a policeman… Anyone who has any sense of this understands and feels the tears and celebrations that met the election of Barack Obama as President of the United States.”

The article goes on to lay out the global and domestic challenges facing the rulers of the U.S. Then it says:

“In the face of all this, put yourself in the shoes of those who run this system: They see storms on the horizon, and they have some idea of the pent up anger and outrage among Black people in particular. From that perspective, you can begin to get a sense of why they took what is for them, the major strategic step of turning now to a Black man to represent the interests of this system.

“Obama is not talking about any real or substantial positive changes in the conditions of Black people. The ‘first Black president’ is not a concession to struggles or potential struggles against the oppression of Black people. Study Obama’s actual proposals and speeches. Listen to the theme in Obama’s victory speech, calling for ‘a new spirit of sacrifice.’ Obama is a vehicle to rally America, including those who have been systematically cut out of the so-called American Dream, to identify with the system as it forces people to sacrifice.”

We in the Revolutionary Communist Party, along with a very few others, stood against the wave of Obama mania in 2008. We called out how progressive people who were backing Obama in order to end the horrors of the Bush regime were engaging in wishful thinking and self-deception in “On the Nation’s Open Letter to Obama.” (revcom.us/a/139/Nation-en.html) I exposed in “Don’t Be a Buffalo Soldier” how Obama’s call for a new spirit of service to America was aimed at pumping up Black youth and others to enlist in America’s wars for empire. (revcom.us/a/buffalo_soldiers-en.html) We also spoke to how even before his election, Obama was adding his voice to those blaming Black people for the things the system does to them.

We also said that we would stand together with people to oppose injustice, whatever their position on Obama. Cornel stands out as someone whose principles have moved him to re-evaluate his stance on Obama and to expose, rather than ignore or try to justify, actions which inflict abuse on people in the U.S. and around the world.

Again, from his interview with Chris Hedges: “‘I have to take some responsibility,’ he admits of his support for Obama as we sit in his book-lined office. ‘I could have been reading into it more than was there.’”

Cornel was among the many signatories to the “Crimes are Crimes, No Matter Who Does Them” statement I excerpted above. The attacks being aimed at Cornel are vicious, and people need to support him.

Revolution #235, June 12, 2011

2011-06-05T14:53:00.000-07:00

Contribute to the 30/30/100 Campaign. Be Part of the Movement for Revolution. Go to: http://bit.ly/iS7AMk

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

2011-05-11T04:02:00.000-07:00

Revolution/Li Onesto Photo.

May 10, 2011

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Get With the Revolution!

Revolutionary Greetings,

Carl Dix

Cornel West and Carl Dix Dialogue Comes to UCLA:

2011-05-03T19:24:00.000-07:00

Revolution Online, May 2, 2011

In the Age of Obama…

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

WHAT FUTURE FOR OUR YOUTH?

Carl Dix and Cornel West at UCLA

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

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

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

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

The Dialogue Begins

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

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

Message to the Students

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

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

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

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

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

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

Cornel West

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

* * * * *

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

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

* * * * *

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

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

Send us your comments.

2011-04-21T10:02:00.000-07:00

In the Age of Obama …

Police Terror,

Incarceration,

No Jobs, Mis-education:

WHAT FUTURE FOR OUR YOUTH?

Friday, April 29th at 7:00 PM

DeNeve Plaza Lecture Auditorium

UCLA, 351 Charles Young Drive West

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

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

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

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

2011-04-17T06:43:00.000-07:00

Photo Slideshow from
On the Occasion of the Publication of BAsics:
A Celebration of Revolution and the Vision of a New World
Monday, April 11, Harlem Stage, NYC
Go here!
April 11, 2011: The day finally arrived. Nearly 400 people came out to an amazing program of visual arts, dance, poetry, music of many different genres—all celebrating revolution and the vision of a new world on the occasion of the publication of a powerful and potentially very popular new book, BAsics—a collection of quotes and short essays from the talks and writings of Bob Avakian.
People came in not knowing exactly what to expect—but wanting something different. As they walked through a visual arts exhibit that was vibrant... defiant... diverse... angry... hopeful... and joyous—there was an air of expectancy...
Then the doors opened, people took their seats.
People experienced an evening of art that went at the themes of revolution and a new world in all kinds of different ways, with the words of Bob Avakian framing the four acts, and weaving in and out of the evening. Singers sent notes into the stratosphere and deep into your body. Powerful dance pieces pulsed with impatient energy. Soaring jazz solos took you way out of—and then sometimes way into—the everyday. A whole range of musicians let you move and feel to the rhythms (and words) of punk, funk, Latin, Indian, and '60s-'70s soul...
Short theatrical pieces and poems movingly evoked the different life experiences of people in this system. Hard truths about the history and present day of this system—along with penetrating questions to the audience—were put into stark imagery and poetic cadences. A collection of very powerful dramatic pieces and readings and speeches illustrated the span of Avakian's work and his connections to the '60s, to prisoners, to revolutionaries all over the world. Video clips of Avakian himself, from the '60s to today, introduced many to this leader and thinker, evoking a wide range of responses.
One person put it well: "I don't like to use the word inspirational, because it's so overused. But there is no other word to describe this."
This was art that would stay with you long past the applause—art that spanned a tremendous amount of expressive diversity, both in form and content. It was indeed a joyous celebration—and at the same time a serious, sometimes humorous, sometimes angry, often visionary and above all revolutionary delving into the theme of the evening that tied together each performance and shared electricity and emotion with the audience.
Afterward the lobby was a place of hugs, grins, high-fives and most of all excited conversation and just plain trying to take in with others what people had just been through. The artistic performances and everyone who took the stage this night, had together, shown not just that another world is possible... but also the outlines of a future where humanitycould emancipate itself and flourish. And for an evening—and, potentially, for much longer—a new kind of community was formed.
A woman walked up to one of our reporters and said, "I want to introduce you to my new friends." It turned out she had met these new friends when she was trying to figure out how to get to Harlem Stage. Walking up the street, she noticed many others walking down the block holding the palm cards for the event. And so she went up to this one group of women, they all figured out where to go, then, once inside, sat and shared the evening together.
In the weeks to come, Revolution will be giving you more sights, sounds and reflections from this evening, from different angles. But right now, perhaps the most fitting thing we can leave you with is by echoing the thank you at the end of the program:
THANK YOU to the April 11 Host Committee, including Revolution Books, who made this event possible; to the artists and performers who made it provocative and joyful; to the Harlem Stage staff for all their assistance; to the numerous volunteers whose hard work and creativity brightened our present by making this program happen and provided a vision of the future world that could be; and most of all thank you to Bob Avakian, the author of BAsics, whose words provided the occasion for this night and whose compassion, commitment to humanity, and critical spirit has never wavered in the course of 45 years.

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

2011-04-03T04:44:00.000-07:00

April 3, 2011

Dear Friends,

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

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

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

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

Revolutionary Greetings,

Carl Dix

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

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

On the Occasion of the Publication of Basics:

A Celebration of Revolution and the Vision of a New World

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

the Campus of the City College of New York

2011-04-01T09:13:00.001-07:00

2011-03-27T12:24:00.000-07:00

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

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

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

Interviews about BAsics and the Celebration are available with Carl Dix

2011-03-23T11:47:00.000-07:00

Press Advisory For Immediate Release Contact Annie Day 917.971.4588

Musicians, Artists, Authors participate in:

"On the Occasion of the Publication of BAsics:

A Celebration of Revolution and the Vision of a New World"

Click to watch Cornel West's invitation on YouTube.

Read more letters and invitations from Host Committee members at http://www.revolutionbooks nyc.org/April11media.html

"On the Occasion of the Publication of BAsics: A Celebration of Revolution and the Vision of a New World"

April 11, 7pm Harlem Stage

at Aaron Davis Hall on the campus of the City College of New York

BAsics, from the Talks and Writings of Bob Avakian is a book that speaks powerfully to questions of revolution and human emancipation being released on April 5. This release will be an opportunity to bring people together from different arenas and perspectives in a celebration of revolution and the vision of a whole new world.

Bob Avakian is a serious revolutionary leader and wide-ranging thinker. He is the leader of a party and a movement aiming to make revolution when the possibility opens up. He is someone who, in the words of Cornel West, "is a long distance runner in the freedom struggle against imperialism, racism and capitalism."

An evening of music, visual art, poetry and readings including musician Guillermo Brown; Richard Brown, former member Black Panther Party and co-founder of The Committee for the Defense of Human Rights, founded by the SF8; Ruby Dee; poet and playwright reg e. gaines; Moist Paula Henderson, baritone sax player and composer; jazz musicianDavid Murray; Outernational; Abiodun Oyewole from The LastPoets; Ted Rall, cartoonist and author; excerpts fromTapsloitation; and jazz musicians Matthew Shipp and William Parker.

A visual arts exhibition specially curated for the night will include the work of Derrick Adams, Richard Duardo, Skylar Fein, Kyle Goen, Dread Scott, SenOne and others to be announced.

The April 11 Host Committee, in association with Revolution Books, includes Aladdin, actor and playwright; Paul Von Blum, Senior Lecturer Emeritus, African American Studies and Communication Studies, UCLA *; Herb Boyd, journalist and author; Elaine Brower, National Steering Committee of World Can't Wait* and anti-war military mom; Dr. Robert Keith Collins, anthropologist; The Committee For the Defense of Human Rights, founded by the SF8; Carl Dix, founding member of the Revolutionary Communist Party; Jessica Green, media maker and co-director, Maysles Cinema*;Nicholas Heyward, Sr., father of Nicholas Heyward, Jr. (murdered by the NYPD in 1994); Russ Jennings, theatre producer and writer; Erin Aubry Kaplan, journalist and author; Rev. Earl Kooperkamp, St. Mary's Church*, Harlem;Mike Ladd, poet and music producer; Philip Maysles, visual artist, co-director, Maysles Cinema*; John Santos, musician;Matthew Shipp, musician; Dr. Tolbert Small, co-founder and physician at the Harriet Tubman Medical Office in East Oakland, CA and former physician to the founding chapter of the Black Panther Party; Clarence Taylor, professor of History, Baruch College*; Cornel West, Professor of Religion, Princeton University*; Robert M. Young, film maker, andDavid Zeiger, film maker. (* for identification purposes only)

[READ THEIR STATEMENTS HERE]

Interviews about BAsics and the
Celebration are available with Carl Dix.

###

Carl Dix is a founding member of the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA. In 1970 Carl was one of the Fort Lewis 6, six GI's who refused orders to go to Vietnam. He served two years in Leavenworth Military Penitentiary for the stand. In 1996, Dix was a co-founder of the October 22nd Coalition to Stop Police Brutality. Last year, he was on a campus tour titled, "From Buffalo Soldier to Revolutionary Communist" convincing students not to fight in America's wars. He recently participated in the second of two major dialogues with Cornel West at Aaron Davis Hall titled, "In the Age of Obama Part 2: Police Terror, Incarceration, No Jobs, Mis-education: What Future for Our Youth?"

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

2011-03-22T05:05:00.001-07:00

Announcing new release Tuesday, March 22

ALL PLAYED OUT

Words by Bob Avakian
Music by William Parker
Centeringmusic BMI

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

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

William Parker

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

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

2011-03-18T21:15:00.000-07:00

Get Ready for the Publication of BAsics

2011-03-01T19:48:00.000-08:00

Revolution #225, February 27, 2011

Get Ready for the Publication of

BAsics

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

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

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

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

April 11—A Time to Celebrate

The host committee for the April 11 event, still in formation, includes

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

(* for identification purposes only)

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

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

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

Unleash the Potential

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

Here's some of what needs to be done:

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

A Call To Prisoners—Celebrate the BAsics!

Let us hear from you your thinking on the publication of BAsics, and on celebrating revolution and the vision of a new world, as contributions to the April 11 event called for above.

And be sure to spread the word to ties on the outside about this event, this book, and this leader.

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

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

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

So...let's make it happen!

ON THE STRATEGY FOR REVOLUTION

2011-02-28T09:11:00.000-08:00

Revolution #226, March 6, 2011

Statement from the
Revolutionary Communist Party

ON THE STRATEGY FOR REVOLUTION

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

Read on…

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

2011-02-14T08:37:00.000-08:00

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

February 11, 2011

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

# # #

New! From Bob Avakian!

2011-02-06T05:29:00.000-08:00

We are excited to hear, and want to share with you, the following spoken word piece from Bob Avakian. Something new and fresh! We encourage you to listen and share it with one and all.

ALL PLAYED OUT

from Bob Avakian, listen online today

Listen to this spoken word piece HERE.

Check this out, and help spread it:

Download and play this in neighborhoods, schools, everywhere.
Post the link on your Facebook, Twitter and blog. Review through StumbleUpon and Reddit. Post it on other websites you visit.
Send this to everyone you know, through e-mail, text messages, and online social media.
Play it, where appropriate, at open-mics and other events.
Request it on the radio, and tell them where they can download it.

Write to allplayedout@ymail.com with your ideas.

The full URL to listen and share ALL PLAYED OUT is: soundcloud.com/allplayedout/all-played-out-by-bob-avakian/

New Articles from Revolution Online on the Eruption in Egypt!

2011-02-05T08:48:00.000-08:00

Below are the links to new articles from Revolution Online about the unfolding events in Egypt.

A massive and courageous uprising has erupted throughout Egypt—the most populous Arab country—with the youth at the forefront. What direction this will ultimately go, and how far, is to be determined. But this uprising already has been—and even more could be—an important element in shaking up the whole reactionary world order—giving oxygen to all those who hunger for liberation or are even dissatisfied with the way things are.

Egypt Erupts!

http://www.revcom.us/a/224/egypt-en.html

The "Grand" -- and Deadly -- Illusion

http://www.revcom.us/a/224/grand_illusion-en.html

A Profound Lesson... And A Deep Challenge

http://www.revcom.us/a/224/profound_lesson-en.html

Revolution urges readers to study (or re-study)Bringing Forward Another Way, by Bob Avakian, Chairman of the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA

Bring the Cornel West and Carl Dix Dialogue to Campus!

2011-02-05T08:42:00.000-08:00

Dear Student Organization and/or Academic Department:

We want to personally extend the invitation to host the ground-breaking dialogue, "In the Age of Obama –– Part 2: Police Terror; Incarceration; No Jobs; Mis-education: What Future for Our Youth? A Dialogue between Cornel West and Carl Dix" at your school or university.

Stopped and frisked continually, massively incarcerated, jobless in a recessed economy, living in fear of the police, or compelled into the military to kill and die in the U.S.’s global wars — today’s youth certainly face a multitude of challenges unprecedented by their parents’ generation. But what should be the future of such youth?

Cornel, currently a professor at Princeton and prolific scholar on matters of race and democracy, illuminates the predicament for our youth: “[T]hey have accepted a definition of being human as ability to be titillated and stimulated by various commodities… and measure one’s success by how well adapted they are to injustice.”

While Carl, a founding member of the Revolutionary Communist Party, challenges us to examine the legitimacy of the system of capitalist-imperialism which criminalizes an entire generation: "We can't leave this system as it is, grinding away, crushing the spirits and destroying the bodies of so many of our youth. And we don't have to --there is another way. Through revolution we could bring a totally different, and far better, world into being.”

Unique in vision, the Dialogue itself is a spirited back-and-forth between two of the nation’s foremost thinkers -- one in the spirit of the Black church and liberation theology, and the other Revolutionary Communist -- on one of the most pressing issues facing our country today. Though differing in perspective, they are joined by their concern for the youth and the urgency of cracking open the national discourse to make room for such critical space.

You have the opportunity to engage in a rare, riveting discussion which brings to the surface one of the most egregious outrages of U.S. society today — one which is flagrantly ignored by policy makers and mainstream media pundits alike. In the wake of the police slayings of Danroy Henry, Oscar Grant, Sean Bell, and Aiyana Stanley Jones, this is a timely conversation in urgent need of being thrust into the public discourse.

Be a part of spreading this into a nationwide conversation, and bring this impactful program and its speakers to your school or university as early as January this spring semester. Enclosed in this packet is a sample of promotional materials from the October 29^th speaking engagement at Harlem Stage at Aaron Davis Hall.* For further inquiries about scheduling and honoraria, please contact us.

We look forward to hearing back.
Best,

The Dialogue Coordinators

866-841-9139 x2670

Cornelcarldialogue@gmail.com

* Write us!

------------------------------

A sold-out crowd of more than 650 people filled the Harlem Stage at Aaron Davis Hall on October 29^th. After the event, the lobby was full of people who were clearly inspired, moved, provoked, and intrigued—by the Dialogue. Here are some of their comments:

* * *

"I've been motivated, entertained, and uplifted all in one. Fantastic." - 23-year-old African-American student

"Everything that they talked about is exactly the things that I think are prevalent to me right now as a teenager, as a student, as the youth….this is what I feel—that this is a moment in time where we have the future ahead of us and we have to seize it, and it's our decision what we're gonna do with it." - 17-year-old white high school student from Brooklyn

"I connected to everything...This is my life. This isn't just an event for me. This is already a cause I'm already actively pursuing. So to know that I'm not alone, it's the most amazing feeling. The most amazing feeling. Like I cried—I'm not a crier, I'm a f--king boxer."
- A young boxer, one of whose parents is from Puerto Rico and the other from Guam

“I liked the focus on the youth, a lot of the talk in politics has to do with what is happening, but no one really talks about the youth.” - A student from Columbia University

"You know, I was surprised by how enthusiastic everybody around me was. It was inspiring to see everybody so into it. To see people feeling—and not just sitting around and listening— People taking it in and feeling it and feeling like they can go out and do something. - A high school student

“I liked the depth of the analysis, the internationalism, the humor, the camaraderie between Dr. West and Mr. Dix….” - A community observer

# # #

Comrade Carl

Letter: Raising the Fight to Stop Mass Incarceration to a New Level

Be There: February 18th at The Riverside Church

Mass Incarceration + Silence = Genocide!

Carl Dix: 2012 New Year's Letter

A Dialogue You Don't Want to Miss!

Carl Dix Speaks on Day 2 of Mumia Mobilization December 9-10, Philly

We Made It!

Carl & Cornel: Go to indiegogo.com and Support the Making of "On the Occasion of the Publication of Basics: A Celebration of Revolution & the Vision of a New World."

Cornel West, Carl Dix speak at UC Berkeley about social change

Most Related Posts

Carl Dix & Cornel West Dialogue at UC Berkeley

Carl Dix on KPFA-FM "The Morning Mix with Davey D" - November 29, 2011

OCCUPY WALL STREET AND THE STRUGGLE TO END THE OPPRESSION OF BLACK PEOPLE

Join Us on October 21st to Stopping Stop-N-Frisk!

A Challenge to Ray Kelly to Debate 'Stop & Frisk' on October 6th

Troy Davis Presente!

Denounce the Murder of Troy Davis!

Troy Davis Must Not Be Executed!

Attica Means Fight Back! Remembering the Legacy of the Attica Rebellion on the 40th Anniversary.

KATT WILLIAMS IS A SICK JOKE!!! by Carl Dix

London Police Killing Sparks "Righteous Fury"

Cornel West Slammed by Obama Supporters For Telling the Truth About Obama

By Carl Dix

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

Cornel West and Carl Dix Dialogue Comes to UCLA:

In the Age of Obama…

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

WHAT FUTURE FOR OUR YOUTH?

Photo Slideshow from

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

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

Interviews about BAsics and the Celebration are available with Carl Dix

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

ALL PLAYED OUT

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

Get Ready for the Publication of BAsics

BAsics

April 11—A Time to Celebrate

Unleash the Potential

ON THE STRATEGY FOR REVOLUTION

ON THE STRATEGY FOR REVOLUTION

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

New! From Bob Avakian!

We are excited to hear, and want to share with you, the following spoken word piece from Bob Avakian. Something new and fresh! We encourage you to listen and share it with one and all.

ALL PLAYED OUT

from Bob Avakian, listen online today

New Articles from Revolution Online on the Eruption in Egypt!

Bring the Cornel West and Carl Dix Dialogue to Campus!

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