The Revolutionary Communist Tour

Killing to Enforce Capitalism and White Supremacy

2006-12-04T13:54:00.000-08:00

50 REASONS TO GET RID OF THIS ROTTEN SYSTEM THRU REVOLUTION!
By Carl Dix

I?m thinking about the killing of Sean Bell and how it brings to mind the police murders of Amadou Diallo, Anthony Bryant, Mingo Mason, Nicholas Heyward Jr, Anthony Rosario and many more victims of the NYPD than I can list here. And of how the cops who killed them got off scot-free.

This shit isn?t unique to NY. It happens in cities all across the country. Look at Atlanta, where cops recently broke into the home of Kathryn Johnston, a 92-year-old grandmother, on a ?no-knock? drug raid and killed her. At first the cops claimed an undercover cop had purchased drugs at her house. Then they changed to saying a confidential informant had told them he had bought drugs at her house. Now the no longer confidential informant has come forward to say the cops are lying and he had never been to the woman?s house.

Why is it that cops brutalize and even kill unarmed people again and again, year in year out?

The answer to this comes down to what the police are actually out there to do in this society. It isn?t protecting and serving the civilian population. Nor is it making sure that justice is served. It means maintaining and even enforcing the dominant economic and social relations that exist in society, including the severe inequality that these relations concentrate. It means enforcing American capitalism and its all-too-legitimate child, white supremacy.

Before the Civil War, enslaving Black people was legal and much of the country?s economy was based on slavery. In fact, the great wealth of this country that they brag about so much today couldn?t have developed the way it did without slavery. It?s clearly unjust to treat human beings as property to be worked and abused as the owners of this ?property? want. But the law protected and maintained this, including mandating that if any of this human ?property? escaped, law enforcement had a duty to return it to its owner. And anyone who helped slaves escape risked imprisonment, torture and execution. In states where slavery was in effect, it was enforced by both the official police forces and by unofficial forces like the patrollers or ?paddy rollers? who tried to keep slaves from running away. In other words, the police and other armed forces were organized to protect the open slavery of that time.

Today in this imperialist system, people all around the world, including millions in this country, work collectively to produce tremendous wealth. Yet this wealth is taken?expropriated?by a small handful of capitalists. The political and legal institutions in this society?the state?exist to maintain this situation and these relations, and the police are a part of that state structure.

Look today at New Orleans. The government failed to evacuate people before Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast region of the U.S. And after Katrina hit, the government failed to provide either rescue or emergency supplies for people whose lives were at risk. Yet when people took the food and water they needed to survive?that is, when they violated the ?laws of capitalist private property??they were condemned as looters and thugs by the same government officials who had left them there to die.

Police in New Orleans killed people for ?looting? on the direct orders of the governor. How many people did the New Orleans cops kill? We don?t know because no one bothered to count them. What has happened to those servants of this system responsible for the deaths and dislocation in New Orleans? Nothing. They were ?just doing their job ? under this capitalist system.

It?s a fact that police murder and brutality falls most heavily on Black and other oppressed nationality communities. From slavery to Katrina, white supremacy has been woven deep into the economic and social fabric of this society, and it?s a crucial part of what the police are out there to maintain.

Decades ago the resistance of Black people to the oppression they faced rocked this country and electrified the whole world. People won some concessions, but things didn?t go all the way to the revolution that a lot of people hoped and fought for, and which was and is needed. Since then some of the forms of the oppression of Black people have changed. A section of Black people have gotten ahead in this society?but even these folks face racist discrimination and police brutality and even, at times, murder. And for most Black people there is either a life of low wage labor, crime, prison, or all three. The way police patrol oppressed communities, like U.S. Marines swaggering through occupied Iraq, is aimed at keeping this shit in effect and at breaking people?s spirits and keeping their heads down.

OK, so how do we stop all this? To really get rid of this kind of injustice once and for all, we need a communist revolution, one that could sweep away everything reactionary and build a completely new and different society and world in its place.

A world where a handful of capitalists no longer expropriate the wealth produced by the millions who labor around the world, where people aren?t forced to endure oppressive and degrading social relations based on their race or gender and where a handful of imperialist countries don?t enslave and run the whole damned world and wage wars to fortify that enslavement.

A world where the needs of the masses of people, not the profit motive of a handful of super rich capitalists, are what dictates what gets done.

A world where those entrusted with enforcing the laws of society would sooner risk their own lives than take the life of an innocent person.

A world where the old order is shattered and state power is on the side of the masses and used to not only suppress the former rulers and exploiters, but to transform society in the interests of the people; where more and more of the masses are increasingly involved in the actual running of every sphere of the society; and where society is vibrant and full of wrangling and debate, where people who are not yet won to the goals of the revolution can raise their questions and even express their opposition, with all this aimed at getting to the truth of things as part of moving forward to a society without classes and states.

This kind of revolution is what the world is crying out for today. It?s the only way to break the stranglehold that capitalism has on humanity and to unleash the productive capacity that can meet the needs of people all over the world. The only way to cure, prevent or treat the many diseases that needlessly kill and disable so many people around the world. The only way to put an end to the domination of and discrimination against whole nations and peoples. And the only way to stop the police murder and everyday abuse that put Sean Bell, Kathryn Johnston, and too many others in their graves week in and week out. Nothing short of revolution can accomplish this.

Communist revolution can only be the conscious act of the masses of people, organized and led to carry out increasingly conscious struggle to abolish and take humanity beyond capitalism and all systems of exploitation and oppression. In a country like this one, revolution can only be made when there?s a major change in the situation, one where the whole society is engulfed in crisis. Today the U.S. rulers face a difficult situation. They invaded Iraq as part of making their global position so strong no one could even think about challenging it. Yet it has brought them even more opposition. In the U.S., they?re moving to remake society in a fascist direction which is driving broad sections of the people to think very deeply about what?s going on and what needs to be done about them.

All this is creating openings to bring into being another crucial ingredient for making revolution in a country like this?the emergence of millions and millions of people who are conscious of the need for revolutionary change and determined to fight for it. It is urgent that those who are outraged by this police murder and the many other foul things the system brings down develop their understanding of why revolution is needed to end this shit once and for all and how revolution could be carried out when the time is ripe. That they spread this understanding to others. And that they join wherever people are fighting back to hasten forward the day when such a thing is possible. Right now, that means joining in with, supporting and helping to build the struggle for justice for Sean Bell and for all the other victims of police murder.

There is leadership for doing all this. Bob Avakian, the leader of the Revolutionary Communist Party, has developed a vision of the kind of world we can bring into being through making this kind of revolution and how this vision could be realized. People who are concerned about the state of the country and the world need to dig into the writings and speeches of this revolutionary leader and need to get with Bob Avakian and the party he leads.

Go to the web site revcom.us to check out Avakian?s work. And to check out Revolution newspaper, the newspaper of the Revolutionary Communist Party that Avakian leads.

At the same time, we must be building massive political resistance to the ways the system is coming down on the people today. Look at the impact this police murder has had on people. Leading them to question why such foul things happen again and again, and what needs to be done to end them. And look at the way so many people have risen above the muck and mire of day to day life the system keeps us enmeshed in to raise their heads and join in the struggle for justice. This is righteous and must be built on.

Already hundreds of people have taken to the streets in outrage around Sean?s murder in the few days since his death. Calls to remain calm or to wait till all the facts come out must be rejected. Enough facts have already come out. A young man leaving his bachelor party and a few hours away from his wedding is dead. Two of his friends are recovering from gunshot wounds. All were unarmed when the cops fired 50 shots at them. And the police are now carrying out raids in Sean?s neighborhood, arresting family members and friends of the people they shot. That?s enough to conclude that a terrible crime against the people has been committed.

Mass political action that targets the killer cops and the officials who unleash these brutal, murdering cops and cover up and justify their crimes must continue.

Without this kind of resistance, the authorities will feel like they can do any damned thing to us, and we?ll suffer it in silence. We have to make clear we will fight to beat back this kind of injustice. And as we do this, we have to be wrangling with and spreading revolutionary ideas and building a movement that?s winning over millions to see that the system is worthless and revolution is what?s needed.

Carl Dix is the National Spokesperson for the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA and can be contacted at P.O. Box 941 Knickerbocker Station, New York NY 10002-0900, (866)841-9139 x2670, e-mail: carldix@hotmail.com

Building For October 5th in the Projects and Engaging with the New Talks by Bob Avakian

2006-09-16T08:09:00.000-07:00

Building For October 5th in the Projects and Engaging with the New Talks by Bob Avakian
by Joe Veale, spokesperson, RCP Los Angeles Branch

Inspired by the article in Revolution #60??Building For October 5th in the Projects??I want to share a little of the flavor and feel from some of our experience.

We have been taking out the Chairman?s New Presentations, as well as the Call for mass resistance on October 5th from the World Can?t Wait?Drive Out The Bush Regime! in Watts, Los Angeles. We?ve been taking out both these things to the proletarian masses and small shop owners there. A number of these stores carry Revolution, Oct 5th flyers, postcards on new Presentation, and black armbands.

It?s been a trip. A good trip. Of course the road needs to be broadened quickly so that others can begin to take this trip. Here are a few examples.

Dewayne is a proletarian in South Central L.A. He thinks a lot about world affairs, history and likes dealing with general principles and conceptualization. We?ve had ongoing discussions on the New Presentations and he was the first person in this area to buy Ardea Skybreak?s new book, The Science of Evolution and the Myth of Creationism.

After listening to the track on ?Communism and Jeffersonian Democracy,? Dewayne exclaimed: ?Why have I not ever heard this before! They don?t teach you this in school. Jefferson was atrocious. They are all hypocrites with a double standard.?

Dewayne tended to see it as the intentions of the rulers to trick people, and missed how their words and actions come out of the production (economic) relations that they represent. We struggled over this and bourgeois democracy in general, and over urgent questions like how to drive out the Bush Regime and why we cannot rely on the Democrats.

We also struggled over the Chairman. Dewayne said he?s ?very radical for a white man.? I told him, ?The radicalism that you like is because he is a communist leader.? I made comparison to Mao, Lenin and how Avakian is standing on their shoulders and going beyond what they were able to understand and see. Someone like this is rare, unique, and special.

Dewayne thought about this: ?You know I?m very intrigued about the things he is saying. He is very visionary. I want to study more. I?m not ready just yet. But we should continue these discussions so I can learn more.? He wanted to know what would be different if he joined the party. We ended up talking about the life of comrade Mobile?what his life inside the party and out amongst the masses was about. He said he had to learn more before doing that.

Rob is someone else I listen to the New Presentations with. We listen to ?Conservatism, Christian Fundamentalism, Liberalism, and Paternalism: Bill Cosby and Bill Clinton?Not All ?Right? But All Wrong! ?

Rob laughed and voiced agreement at different parts on ??the youth with pants sagging did not fire themselves?,? agreeing and adding that Muhammad Ali?s former name came from a slave master.

He thought there is much truth in what Avakian was saying. He started talking about how he had worked in a chemical plant in the area and now it had closed down and moved out of the country, relating it to the point that he did not fire himself. He now survives by fixing up old cars in front of his house.

He spoke bitterly about how those in power don?t care about what happens to people like him, and is angry over being trapped in his jobless situation. We struggled over his anger being misdirected towards immigrants, blaming them for doing work at wages that he finds degrading and impossible to live on. We also struggled over him saying that people make ?bad choices? as he disagreed some with what was said about this in the New Presentation.

We got more into why some people attend $10K a plate dinners and make decisions about what country to make war against, or how many billions of dollars of investment to take out of some place like Mexico and invest it in Thailand to pay people even cheaper. I told him about a PBS show I saw where people in the Congo (I think) work for less than 2 dollars a day digging out minerals that people in imperialist countries like U.S., Europe, Japan and other countries used for their cell phones.

I asked him why is it that these people are making these kinds of choices of working like this or starving or stealing something to survive?why those on top are making these other choices? We went back and forth on this. What does that have to do with how human society is organized? With him having to choose between fixing up old cars or going hungry?

He admitted he was wrong about immigrants and they?re not to blame for his situation, but he didn?t budge on the question of ?choices.? He ended up saying it was both things. It?s the system and the choices people make.

Some other young proletarians, Steve and Rahsad, listened to the same Presentation and were very excited. They thought it all was true. They?re from the generation that seems to infuriate Bill Cosby and Clinton.

Yet they tended to see Cosby as someone who?s ?made it? and is now looking down on those who are being eaten up by this meat grinder system. They had a tougher time grasping how what the 2 Bills are doing is an ideological assault on the people. Seeking to rob them of the truthfulness that masses have about their condition. They did not create it, something and somebody else did. This assault is designed to take people?s eyesight from them so that they cannot see clearly what the problem and solution is?and act to change those circumstances and themselves in the process.

It took a little struggle and further discussion to get them to key in on this. But once they did they also asked for literature on immigrants. According to Rashad, 9 out 10 Blacks he talks to take the wrong side on this.

While getting down with people in this way, we?ve also been getting down with them about Oct 5th. A group of us got together and watched the Spike Lee movie When the Levees Broke. Black armbands that say ?Katrina: Never Forgive! Never Forget! Drive Out The Bush Regime! Oct 5th??have been circulating.

People have said things like: ?This is a crime. Something should be done about it. This is how the ?white man,? and sometimes it is said Bush, has always treated Black people?I?m upset about it?people are still suffering?but I?m not shocked.? Then we would get into that people should be shocked because this represents a new twist to the oppression of Black people, especially the poor and those considered ?disposable? people, like gays and the disabled. This is all part of a plan to cleanse society of those who?ve brought a ?stain? on society, in the view of the Christian fascists grouped around Bush.

At other times we would break down how they are waging war for empire, and sometimes people would come back with: the war is because Bush is against all ?third world? people. People then link Katrina up with the Bush Regime being against all ?third world? people. So we would struggle and debate over these points as we would make plans to do something on the anniversary of Katrina, get out the armbands, pass out flyers, and listen to more of the New Presentation by Avakian.

One immigrant proletarian was very excited about doing something on the anniversary of Katrina. He was very upset about how they left people to die. It was his hope that this would encourage Black people to rise up and struggle because he saw Katrina shows how this system has always treated Black people?they lie and try to turn Blacks against immigrants. He saw it as an opportunity to bring out the commonality of the struggle.

So on the 3rd of September a little more than a dozen of us got together in a local park and had a picnic under the theme: Katrina: Never Forgive! Never Forget! Drive out the Bush Regime! Oct 5th, with giant ?Wanted? posters of Bush Regime and pictures from Katrina. Flyers for the 5th and armbands went out to those passing through the park, and also the ?Wanted? t-shirts, Revolution newspapers, and the New Presentations CDs.

I gave a talk on Katrina, Oct 5th and the relation of all this to making revolution. We listened to music, ate, and informally talked about there being a way and day to build a movement to drive out this regime. People had questions about could we get and keep enough people in the streets to do this. Could the required upheaval in society sustain itself and be broad enough to do this? Is there something to learn in this connection from the recent upsurge of immigrants? Bush has a lot of people who support him?what are we going to do about that? Don?t we need someone from the ?inside? to help us?

We discussed and debated these and other questions--with some feeling very inspired, encouraged, and uplifted off of this to reach out to others, taking flyers and making plans to build for October 5th.

Nothing Short of Revolution Can Deal With the Problems this System Forces Black People to Endure!

2006-07-29T10:12:00.000-07:00

KANYE WEST HAD IT RIGHT--AND IT'S EVEN WORSE THAN HE THOUGHT!

by Carl Dix, Revolutionary Communist Tour

Not only does Bush hate Black people -- he and the Christian Fascists grouped around him have a program that has murderous implications for Black people! Look at it: Jobs have been sucked out of the Black community and at the same time more Black people than ever are being locked down in jail! Hospitals are being shut down in the inner cities as health and welfare benefits are being cut to the bone and more and more people, especially more Black and Latino people, are dealing with diseases like diabetes and AIDS. As the economy shifts to being more hightech-based, public education is being degraded, resulting in millions of Black youth being tossed on the scrap heap.

To get a clear sense of what this system has in store for Black people, look at the government response to Hurricane Katrina. Tens of thousands of people, most of them Black and almost all of them poor, were left to die in the wake of Katrina. When people did what was needed to save their own and others' lives, Bush led the charge, calling them "looters and criminals." One of Bush's Louisiana Republican allies said: "We've been trying to clean up public housing for years. Now God has done it for us with this hurricane!"

If these were the only foul things this system was responsible for, it would be reason enough to want to get rid of it once and for all through revolution. But there's much, much more. War and occupation in Iraq. Backing Israel to the max as it kills and maims people in Lebanon and Palestine. Undermining and even taking away rights that people thought they had won decades ago. Enforcing a repressive agenda that has many people smelling the odor of a police state. The Bush crew has their sites set on nothing less than enforcing a fascist theocracy, a government where the Bible as interpreted by suckers like Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson is the law of the land, a set-up where abortion is outlawed and gay people are in camps or worse.

Nothing short of revolution can deal with all this once and for all. Revolution -- meaning millions of people rising up and taking away from these capitalist rulers the power to inflict brutality and misery on countless millions here and worldwide, and going on to build a whole new world on the ashes of this messed up one. The Democrats can't be relied on to mount any serious or effective resistance to all this. The best you can expect from them are half-hearted objections and minor amendments.

This is the starting point of the message being delivered by a project called the Revolutionary Communist Tour. Carl Dix, Joe Veale and Clyde Young are on this tour. They are three veteran revolutionary communist leaders who have lived through the hell this system forces Black people to endure and have come out of it leading the fight to get rid of this system. In addition to indicting this system for the crimes it commits against Black people, and everything else foul it does, they argue that proletarian revolution and communism can deal with the problems imperialism has caused for so many worldwide. see note below They expose how the rulers of this country have lied to people about what communism is and what it has accomplished when working people held power in the Soviet Union and China, before both those countries were taken back down the capitalist path. This Tour also introduces people to Bob Avakian, the leader of the Revolutionary Communist Party, a leader who has re-envisioned the communist future and the way to realize it.

The Tour challenges Black people and others to break with all the things that hold people back from taking responsibility to bring a different future into being. It challenges men to stop dogging and degrading women. It calls on the youth to break out of the gangster, bling-bling "look out for #1" mentality. It says people got to stop looking for some "god" to take care of our problems, or saying that "whatever happens is his will" and there's nothing we can do about it. It calls out the Black preachers who are skinning and grinning with Bush's Christian Fascist crew, selling out Black people to the Bush regime's murderous agenda in exchange for a spot at the "faith-based" funding trough. People who are tired of the hell this system forces millions to endure have to break with all this crap and join the emancipators of humanity.

This tour has already hit LA, Chicago, Houston and Washington, DC, and it's coming to New York. To set up interviews with the speakers or for more information call: (866)841-9139 x2670. Or e mail the Revolutionary Communist tour at: rc_speaks@yahoo.com

Biblical Morality, Slavery and Other Horrors

2006-06-12T20:11:00.000-07:00

On Bush's Constitutional Amendment to Ban Gay Marriage

By Clyde Young, Revolutionary Communist Tour

Some say that Bush's attack on gay marriage is an attempt to rally his base for the mid-term elections. But Bush's call for a constitutional amendment has a far more sinister and dark purpose: to push forward a plan to remake the country on a fascist basis for decades to come. This plan pivots on imposing a government based on a literalist interpretation of the Bible with "traditional values" and "traditional morality" in full effect. These "values" and "morality" are fundamentally rooted in slavery and the patriarchal domination of women -- to say nothing of the near genocide against native peoples in the Americas and rivalry with and domination of other nations. All of this has been reinforced by a superstructure of white supremacy and male supremacy.

The proposed constitutional amendment which the Senate voted on this week reads: "Marriage in the United States shall consist solely of the union of a man and woman. Neither the Constitution, nor the constitution of any state shall be construed to require that marriage or the legal incidents thereof be conferred upon any union other than the union of a man and a woman."

The claim that marriage is between a man and a woman, as President Bush has proclaimed in a previous public statement, is not supported by the bible, as anyone who has actually read the bible should know. In Genesis chapters 29 and 30 we learn that Jacob was married to both Rachael and Leah. Deuteronomy 21:10-17 also provides for a "man having more than one wife," especially in the case of a "beautiful" captive woman whom a "man desires and wants to marry." Also, in I and II Chronicles there is the story of David, the greatest king of all, who had hundreds of wives and concubines. So, we see, based on what is discussed here, the biblical justification for marriage as being only between a man and a woman is not supported by the Christian Bible. Furthermore, the Bible interpreted literally is a horror. This is ancient superstition which is being used in the service of a dangerous Christian fascist program.

The Bible upholds slavery, patriarchal oppression of women, the brutal conquest of one's enemies and many, many more horrors. This is no surprise because the Bible itself was written in societies which existed some two to four thousand years ago in which there existed not only slavery and private property but also patriarchal family relations. The Bible itself was used to justify slavery and the brutal oppression of Black people in the U.S. under a system where human beings were literally "owned" and "bought and sold." Under slavery, Black families were torn apart with family members being sold to different "owners." Now there is a section of the ruling class -- joined by Black ministers who have found common cause with them -- which argues that the Bible is the avenue to strengthening the Black family by restoring Black males to their "rightful place" at the head of the Black family. Black and other oppressed masses don't need a morality based on "males being the head of the family" and in that position dominating over women and children.

"Adam and Steve" and Archie Bunker

In reflecting on the proposed constitutional amendment in preparation for writing this article, I was reminded of a discussion with comrades and masses -- including Willie "Mobile" Shaw -- in Watts at the start of the Revolutionary Communist Tour. In batting around how we were going to take on religion on that tour, one comrade pointed out that there was a saying going around among the Black masses in particular that in the beginning god made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve.

The reality is that there is no god, and the "in the beginning story" in Genesis is a creation myth familiar to other creation myths that existed in patriarchal societies thousands of years ago. Those myths reflected the times, and times have dramatically changed. People are being told to follow norms in the Bible that reflected the culture of societies thousands of years ago. Who needs this "Dark Ages" mentality imposed on them now?

It has been productive to dig a bit into the origin of the "Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve" business. What has become clear since that discussion in Watts is that this "god made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve" line is reported to have originated with Archie Bunker, the backward and racist character in a 1970s TV sitcom. But in reality -- and not in 1970s television sitcoms -- the phrase "god made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve" appears to be a familiar statement in sermons delivered by some conservative Black ministers. Do we really want to be "modeling" and popularizing the ignorance and stupidity of a racist character in a 1970s sitcom? No we don't need that.

Black Clergy Who Would Ride with the KKK

In 2004 and again in 2006 conservative Black clergy have organized in support of a constitutional amendment prohibiting same-sex marriage. For example, in 2004, Rev. Gregory Daniels, a Black minister in Chicago, made the blatantly outrageous and reactionary statement that "If the KKK opposes gay marriage, I would ride with them."

A very sharp and necessary question arises in relation to Daniels' statement: What is the KKK and what has been (and continues to be!) its social and historical role in US society? The KKK was formed in the South during and after Reconstruction and, from the beginning, its role has been to enforce the semi-feudal exploitation of Black people as peasants which existed in the South along with the white supremacist superstructure which was a reflection of the existing productive and social relations prevailing in South at the time and reinforced those relations. The KKK --both in and out of official police uniform -- enforced those relations through brutally lynching Black people and burning them at stakes and otherwise terrorizing them. The book Without Sanctuary, which contains many photographs that have been displayed in museums, depicts the savage and brutal lynching and burnings of Black people at stakes at the hands of members of the KKK and other reactionary whites. History records the brutal lynching of thousands upon thousands of Black people in this country, including the savage and brutal murder of Emmet Till for supposedly whistling at a white woman. And the KKK is not a thing of the past but continues to play a role, together with scores of other white reactionary groups, as the unofficial enforces of the oppression of Black people -- and other oppressed and progressive peoples -- and of white supremacy.

Statements like the one attributed to Rev. Daniels is indefensible and reactionary. Daniels is part of a growing schism within Black churches and among Black clergy -- a schism in which we find on the one hand a significant and growing number of Black ministers peddling this kind of reactionary nonsense among the Black masses in service, whether consciously or unconsciously, of a Christian fascist agenda and program. On the other side of the equation, we find a growing number of Black clergy who are speaking up and speaking out against those who would find common cause with a section of the rulers who have a dark and sinister program, which includes a genocidal element in the case of Blacks and others who refuse to go along with the program and "stay in their place."

Black ministers are being courted by Christian fascists, and a section of Black clergy have hitched their sails to the program and message of these Christian fascists. For example, Rev. Herbert Lusk -- former football player and pastor of the Greater Exodus Baptist Church in North Philadelphia -- was recently appointed to the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA). Lusk has no HIV-related experience, according to reports. Lusk distinguished himself through a statement that he made on Justice Sunday III at his church, which was organized by, among others, the Family Research Council and Focus on the Family: "I want to say, first of all, be careful how you fool with the church. You mess around with the church, something stirs up inside of me! You be careful because the church has surviving power. My friends, you know this and know this well. Don't fool with the church because the church has buried many a critic, and all the critics that we have not buried, we're making funeral arrangements for them!" Sounds like a statement made by someone about to launch a Christian Crusade. And Black ministers like Lusk are indeed on a crusade to contribute as much as possible to the establishment of a theocracy in this country.

"Male Role Model" Bullshit and Revolutionary Role Models

While listening to a radio program about bisexuality (on the "down low") among Blacks which was hosted by Michael Baisden -- who has a nationally syndicated radio program and who took a good stand on the immigration struggle -- it was apparent what the Bible says about homosexuality being "an abomination" is having a very negative and deadly impact among Blacks. As was pointed out by callers on that Michael Baisden show, given the social stigma associated with homosexuality and bisexuality among Blacks, backed up and bolstered by the Bible, Black men who are into the "down low" are hiding their sexual preferences in many cases from their spouses, and what is particularly significant is that the AIDS rate among Black women in particular is extremely high. As I listened to that radio show, I was filled with rage at what I was hearing about the tremendous harm that Bible was doing in this case: the Bible itself, especially as it is interpreted literally, is an "abomination" and a horror.

In reading statements in the newspaper and on the Internet by some of the fundamentalist Black clergy who are organizing against gay marriage, you will often hear arguments about how homosexuality is destroying the Black family and undermining Black manhood. These are arguments for male supremacy and for patriarchy. And they are hypocritical to boot. A pamphlet put out by the Revolutionary Communist Party cuts right to the core of the argument about the breakdown of the Black family: "One more 'theory' -- one more way of covering up for the system and blaming Black people for their own oppression -- that we will cut into right here is the claim that the real problem is the breakdown of the Black family and the lack of 'male role models' for Black male youth in particular... This 'theory' covers up the fact that the 'traditional family' is itself an institution of oppression. It is an expression of the fact that society is divided into masters and slaves, and that division into master and slave is built into the 'traditional family' itself, where the man is to be the master, lording it over his wife (and children)... Along with all this has gone the idea that A MAN IS STRONG while a woman is weak. This is bullshit. It comes from the enemy -- from those who run systems based on enslaving and exploiting. It should be put with the rest of the bullshit from systems like this... And we cannot let our enemy tell us what 'role models' we should follow. Youth of today, Black youth and youth in general, don't need male 'role models.' They need revolutionary 'role models' --women and men. ("Cold Truth, Liberating Truth: How the System has Always Oppressed Black People, and How All Oppression Can Finally Be Ended," online at revcom.us/coldtruth/index.htm)

The woman question itself is an ace in the hole for our revolution -- both now and in the future socialist society where the woman question will be one of the "unresolved contradictions" driving forward the revolution.

Black Ministers Speaking Out Against Attacks On Gays

The New York Times reported in February 2004 that Genevieve Wood of the reactionary Family Research Council made an impassioned plea to Black evangelical ministers and lay people that they must speak out against advocates of gay marriage. In its coverage of the speaking event, the New York Times wrote: "'They are wrapping themselves in the flag of civil rights,' says Ms. Wood, who is white, as visitors from across the country shook their heads in dismay. 'I can make arguments against that. But not nearly like you all can.'" It is clear that the Christian fascists are doing everything that they can to woo Black ministers -- and through them the Black masses -- to the Christian fascist program in whole or in part. But this program is not in the interest of the masses of Black people in this country. This is not the polarization that revolutionary communists and radical and progressive people of all nationalities want and need; this polarization must be radically and dramatically recast in favor of revolution.

Black ministers who are not down with the Christian fascist program have been speaking out against attacks on gays and against a constitutional amendment in opposition to gay marriage. In fact there is a deep rift developing within Black churches and among Black clergy. For example, in an important summit last January, more than 200 ministers and gay right activists met in Atlanta at First Iconium Baptist Church in Atlanta. Keynote speeches were given by Rev. Al Sharpton and Bishop Yvette Flunder of the City of Refugees Church in San Francisco. This was a very important development which needs to be built on and spread widely. (See "Black Church Summit Takes Stand Against Anti-Gay Discrimination," Revolution #33, February 5, 2006, for coverage of this landmark summit in Atlanta.)

As a matter of record...

2006-06-11T10:08:00.000-07:00

Akil Bomani was, for a certain period time, part of the Revolutionary Commust Tour as a member of the Chicago Revolutionary Writer's and Artists Collective. However, after a certain point it became clear that Akil Bomani actually has very significant disagreements with the viewpoint and aims of the Tour and of the RCP, and since early October 2005, he has no longer been a part of the Tour and has had no political association with the Tour or with the RCP or Revolution newspaper, nor does the Tour or the RCP have anything to do with any artistic or other endeavors Akil Bomani may have undertaken.

The Haditha Massacre Concentrates the Nature of the US War on Iraq

2006-06-04T19:04:00.000-07:00

by Carl Dix

The foul massacre perpetrated by US Marines at Haditha must be condemned by everyone who opposes injustice. This incident concentrates everything that's wrong with the US war in Iraq,including the attempt to bury the murders with the lie that the victims of the massacre were killed by bombs exploded by Iraqi insurgents. (Do these lies remind anybody of Bush's claims of "Weapons of Mass Destruction" in Iraq?)

After a US soldier was killed in a bombing, Marines gunned down several men who were near a check point. They went into a house and killed an entire family. And then went into other houses. When the massacre was over, five hours later, 24 people -- men, women and children, ranging in age from two-years-old to grandparents had been killed, some of them execution style.

Despite government claims to the contrary, this was no isolated incident. Stories about other massacres committed by US troops are starting to come out. These atrocities reflect the nature of the war the US is waging. Remember how they began the war with massive bombing runs they called "Shock and Awe?" Remember the times that Iraqis were gunned down at US-manned check points? Remember the leveling of Falluja? Remember Abu Ghraib?

This is what an unjust war comes down to. An imperialist power wielding high tech weaponry to pound an oppressed country into submission. Occupying troops committing atrocity after atrocity against the people.

We've seen this before -- I know about this from the Vietnam war. I was in the US army back then, and they gave me orders to go to Vietnam. I decided I had to find out what I would be a part of if I went. I talked to everyone I could find who had done time in 'Nam. I already knew about the My Lai massacre where US troops destroyed a whole village -- killing hundreds of men, women and children and burning down the whole village. What I learned from talking to GI's was that the foul massacre at My Lai concentrated Standard Operating Procedure for US troops in Vietnam -- that it seemed like everyone over there was the enemy, so everyone was fair game to be killed or brutalized, including women, children and old people. All this is why I refused to go to Vietnam -- because I refused to be a part of the criminal war the US was waging in Vietnam.

I got sent to jail for two years for refusing to go to Vietnam, while the real criminals -- the officers who ordered the My Lai Massacre, the GI's who participated in it, to say nothing of the architects of the whole war -- basically went unpunished. But I have no regrets. The stand I took, to refuse to fight in an unjust war, was the right stand to take during the Vietnam War. And this experience was a big part of how I came to see that this system is rotten to the core -- and a big part of how I became a revolutionary communist.

The war the US is waging in Iraq is, like the war in Vietnam, a criminal war. No one should be a part of this kind of war. And people who oppose this war need to support the troops who refuse to fight in it.

Our Flag is Red, Not Red, White and Blue

2006-05-13T14:57:00.000-07:00

On May First, over a million immigrants and their allies filled the streets of cities and towns from border to border and coast to coast. They brought a fresh and needed wind of struggle into society. Their outpourings were a challenge and inspiration to everyone. But many carried the flag of U.S. imperialism.

People need to understand what that flag really stands for. And that we have a different flag--the red flag--that represents the historic mission of those with nothing to lose, to lead a revolution and a revolutionary society that will abolish all oppression and exploitation.

What does the American Flag Stand For?
The American flag is the flag that brought Black people to this country in chains, buying and selling them as slaves. Many of those 13 stripes on the flag stand for slave states. And where did those stars come from? Many of them represent states stolen from Mexico in an unprovoked, unjust war of conquest to extend the U.S. empire, and within that the slave states in the South.

This is the flag carried into battle by the U.S. Cavalry as it carried out genocide against the Native Americans, murdering, burning and pillaging a bloody trail across the country. This is the flag that invaded and conquered Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines, killing hundreds of thousands in 1898. This is the flag that killed two million in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia with napalm, carpet bombing, death squads and village massacres. This is the flag that twice made war on the people of Iraq, invading and occupying, killing hundreds of thousands. This is the flag that threatens nuclear war against Iran.

The American flag is the flag that proclaims the right to go anywhere in the world and invade any country that it claims is a potential threat to the U.S. This is the flag that economically dominates and devastates vast areas of the globe, ruining the lives of billions. This is the flag that holds thousands of people in Guantánamo and secret prisons throughout the world, proclaiming the right to torture and jail them forever. And this is the flag over prisons that hold two million people, many of them Black and Latino, mostly for the crime of being hungry, poor, and desperate. This is the flag of U.S. imperialism and its global empire. Even the rights and freedoms this system brags about?to the extent they are anything but total lies?are built on the blood and bones of those they murder and work to death here and around the world to create the prosperity you see in la jaula de oro (the cage of gold).

Our Flag is Red
It was heartening to see red flags throughout the crowds in some of the May First protests. The people carrying them represent a whole different future. The red flag is the flag of the proletariat, the working class worldwide. It is the flag of the class that can only free itself by freeing all humanity.

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The essence of what exists in the U.S. is not democracy but capitalism-imperialism and political structures to enforce that capitalism-imperialism.

What the U.S. spreads around the world is not democracy, but imperialism and political structures to enforce that imperialism.

Bob Avakian
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Proclaim Our Vision, Celebrate Our Achievements, Intensify Our Struggle

May 1 is the revolutionary holiday. Red flags flying, we proclaim our vision:

A world free of the rule of capital; a world, instead, in which the needs and wants of the people--and NOT the never-ending search for ever more profit--determines what and how things get produced and distributed; a world where the planet is cherished, rather than plundered and even destroyed...

A world free of the social relations that divide people into exploiter and exploited, oppressor and oppressed... a world free of the prisons, the torturers and cops, and the armies that march over the planet to extend and enforce those social relations; a world, instead, in which people confront each other as freely interacting human beings...

A world free of the thinking that flows out of and reinforces the division into classes and the institutions of oppression--free of the fear and ignorance spread by religion; free of the bigotry that can imagine nothing higher than lording it over someone else; free of the constant me-first calculations imposed by daily life under capitalism... a world, instead, where people come together to confront and understand reality with open inquisitive minds, taking joy in the search for truth ...

A world free of the division between those who work with their minds and those who must work with their backs, free of borders, free of the domination of women by men ...a world, instead, where people come together cooperatively and voluntarily, working with both hand and mind, to transform the world. . . and to transform themselves in the process...

In short, a COMMUNIST world.

The Dream Can Be Realized
Humanity can do this. The class divisions and oppressive institutions and ideas that weigh on people today have NOT been here forever. Nor are they part of "human nature." They came into being at a certain point in history--and they can also go out of existence and be replaced with something far better.

For tens of thousands of years people lived in small, communal societies, unable to produce much beyond their immediate needs. But as people's knowledge developed over generations, it became possible to create a surplus over and above what was needed for survival. With that, the basis arose for one part of society to compel the majority to work for it, and to control the wealth they created. And that's what happened, in several different parts of the world--humanity divided into antagonistic classes: master and slave, exploiter and exploited.

The new ruling classes monopolized knowledge for themselves, and generated new oppressive institutions--from the subordination of women in the family, to the rise of armies and prisons, high priests and kings. And they generated new oppressive ideas to justify those institutions. Through all the history which followed--as capitalism replaced slavery and feudalism as the dominant mode of production, and as presidents and parliaments took command of the instruments of repression from kings and emperors--people have never stopped fighting to get free, and never stopped dreaming of a better world.

Today, we can do more than dream--and the freedom we dream of and fight for can be something very different, and on a far higher level, than even the loftiest aspirations of the past. Today?s forces of production--which include the technology and the knowledge that people have, and people themselves--could produce abundance for everyone. Moreover, these productive forces are, for the first time, highly socialized. That is, many people must work together to utilize and even create these means of production. But these productive forces, though now socialized, are still privately owned and dominated by capitalists, and this fetters, distorts and perverts their great potential.

Confronting these capitalists is the proletariat--the new exploited class whose members work together on the huge, globally integrated productive forces, but own nothing. Before the proletariat arose the oppressed classes of earlier times could fight heroically, but their victories ultimately resulted--and due to the relatively crude and small-scale nature of the productive forces, could only result--in new forms of exploitation. But the proletariat can only achieve its emancipation by seizing today?s highly socialized productive forces for all of society, and by leading society to put an end to all forms of exploitation and all forms of oppression and all the ideas that correspond to and reinforce them: a revolution to emancipate all of humanity.

May 1 is a day to renew and deepen and proclaim everywhere that vision--that this communist world IS the other world that is possible, the new world straining to be born within the death-agonies of the old, the red flower pushing up through the concrete.

Revolution--And A Radically Different State Power
To do all this requires a revolution, led by the proletariat and involving tens of millions of people, to establish socialism. That revolution would be a great and liberating leap in and of itself, and an opening of the pathway to full emancipation. And that revolution--and the whole historical epoch of transformation which it begins--in turn requires a Party, drawing in people from all parts of society who take up and dedicate themselves to the communist outlook and cause. The exploiters and oppressors of centuries must be overthrown: their instruments of dictatorship--their armies, their prisons, and so on--must be shattered, and their grip over the people broken. And all this must be led.

Surrounded by imperialist countries and contending with overthrown exploiters, dealing with the ?birthmarks? of the old society, the victorious proletariat will still need a state and instruments of suppression, or dictatorship. But this must be a state of a radically different kind--a state that serves the masses and suppresses the exploiters, one that fosters the elimination of exploitation and exploitative relations, and the elimination of all oppressive divisions, institutions and ideas, and NOT their fortification and extension. A state that meets the basic needs of the people for housing, healthcare, education etc, and doing this in a way that builds up the material and the social and ideological foundations for communism. A state that not only defends itself against attack, but also supports revolution all around the world, aiming for a global society of freely cooperating people. It must hold firmly onto power--and it must go as far as it can, at every point, to involve the broadest numbers of people in wrangling over and running things, as part of getting toward communist society, where neither state nor party will any longer be required. But until communism is reached, there must be a state: and this state must be the dictatorship of the proletariat. It means democracy for the masses on an unprecedented scale in conjunction with the suppression of exploiters, old and new.

On May 1, we celebrate our achievements in this world-historic struggle and especially the first great milestones on that path: the October Revolution of 1917, where the proletariat for the first time seized and held power for nearly 40 years in what became the Soviet Union; and the Chinese Revolution, and especially the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, in which the proletariat not only seized power but in which the masses themselves, led by Mao and revolutionaries within the Chinese Communist Party, later rose up to prevent the restoration of capitalism by new exploiters who arose within the communist party itself. Both of these revolutions emancipated people in a way never before seen in history, achieving incredible things; but both were eventually defeated by the still-remaining and formidable strength of imperialism.1 We draw inspiration from these revolutions, and we must learn all we can from their amazing achievements under severe fire; that isoverwhelmingly the main thing. At the same time, we must analyze their shortcomings and push further in our thinking, and in our practice.

Today Bob Avakian, Chairman of our Party, has re-envisioned communism and developed a "new synthesis"--that is, a new comprehensive and systematic understanding--of the experience of the whole first wave of proletarian revolutions and of Marxism itself. He's developed a model of socialism in which the proletariat both holds firmly onto power but also fosters and promotes dissent and critical thought and "struggle from below" as essential elements in the struggle to reach a communist society. The leadership of the new society would encourage and fight for a critical and scientific approach to understanding and getting at the truth--with plenty of room for awe and wonder and imagination. As part of that, this radical new kind of state would embrace scientists, intellectuals, and artists--they would do intellectual and artistic work, raising questions and searching for the truth, even as they were led to contribute to breaking down the barriers with other sections of society, especially the formerly exploited and oppressed.

The new society would forge a new morality, one that rejected the me-first dog-eat-dog ways of capitalism and instead cherished the lives of the people of the world and stood for equality between nations and peoples and between men and women. This new morality would value and encourage struggle against the oppressive relations that would still remain, not resignation and surrender to them. There is a complexity to Chairman Avakian?s thinking on this that we cannot do justice to in a short essay like this. But we can say that engaging deeply with Bob Avakian's thinking on all this is absolutely essential to getting to a better world, and his crucial, critical contributions are also something to celebrate on this day.

Two Worlds In Struggle
May 1 is, finally, a day to take the next steps in this monumental struggle. To make a revolution, you need millions of people who are willing to put everything on the line, a party with a correct strategy and deep ties among the masses, and a deep crisis in society itself. We don't have that situation now; but we do have the opportunity and the urgent necessity to do the political preparation that can hasten that time.

Things today are very sharply posed. You could almost see it as "two universes." Their universe poses a future--and a present--of greatly heightened worldwide exploitation and the destruction of whole peoples in the process; of imperialist war and occupation, with threats of even worse to come; of religious fundamentalism running amok all over the planet, including the real threat of a Christian Fascist theocracy within the U.S. itself, all serving to tighten the chains on women and to clamp the blinders of ignorance on everyone; of intensifying racist oppression, especially within the U.S., as shown by the government response to Katrina and the attacks on the immigrants; and of the destruction of the environment in a profit-driven frenzy to plunder the earth.

But there is another "universe," one made up of people whose most fundamental interests stand opposed to all this and many of whom already want something different, something better. People who are sick of the lies and brutality and suppression. Who can't stand the way that this society exploits and dogs and diminishes people, and who want to see--who yearn for--a society where people in their great masses could really flourish. Who have been shaken by the events of the past several years, and hunger for new directions and new thinking. Who are willing to dream of, and critically think about, what a different world might look like and how we might get there. People who say no and, in saying it, say yes very profoundly. People who resist. People who are ready to reach out to and challenge those still in the grip of the system?s madness, or locked in fatalism and paralysis, and win them over.

The stakes in all this are very high. There is the horror that "life as usual" under imperialism means for billions; and there is the intensified horror of all that wedded to a new Dark Ages, as the imperialists move to make radical changes in the ways in which they've carried out their domination. But as these imperialists move to radically restructure their rule, there is a real chance to wrench out a revolutionary opening for a different kind of radical change. But only if the people struggle, and only if they do so increasingly conscious of their own interests, reaching out ever more broadly and resisting the pull back to the confines of the system that got us in this situation in the first place.

* * *

It is fitting that May 1 takes place in the heart of spring, when the new and arising defies--and triumphs over--the dead hand of winter. So let us celebrate this occasion as we should--in the streets, banners high, proclaiming our vision, new life surging in our voices as we get the word out far and wide. There is a world to win!

1. Even though China still calls itself socialist, and even though the ruling party there still claims the name of "communist," they have since a coup in 1976 been a capitalist country with communist trappings. back to article

Immigrants Are Our Sisters and Brothers, Not Our Enemy! Tear Down That Wall!

2006-04-17T16:32:00.000-07:00

Photo: http://isisimagery.blogspot.com

Revolution #044, April 23, 2006, posted at revcom.us

Note: Revolution newspaper has received a large number of online comments in response to our coverage of the upsurge of the immigrant rights struggle. In this issue, Revolution is reprinting with permission one of the more substantial comments we received, and Joe Veale from the Revolutionary Communist Speaking Tour responds in the form of an open letter.

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Comment from a reader:

I have always stood behind your motives and beliefs. The idea of your organization promoting undocumented and illegal immigrants from wherever makes me sick. I am now questioning your stance to AMERICA. They (illegals) eat up mine and your tax dollars. It is that simple. My woman is diabetic and works her ass off to supply herself with insulin. She can't get prescription coverage because the system is being milked by millions who use the loopholes, created by our government, I KNOW! Explain to me why you support this! I don't care if they are Dutch, latino, or Arab, they are not citizens, PERIOD. I do not like going to Miami and feeling like an outcast. People look at me funny when I can't speak spanish or haitian. You and I live in America, with the American flag, we speak English here. And once again, you support this?

I have attended your rallies, screaming at the top of my lungs to support legitimate causes, however, this motion does not do it for me. I have no clue where you all have gone blind. Maybe a little too liberal and "awww poor him". Wake up and explain to me how letting millions of illegals remain with a free pass is good for this nation. The lack of work force and the contributions they make does not make a sound rebutal for you. It is overused. You are supporting laws being broke. That simple.

Bush wants what you are supporting. Am I wrong? I am civil, I am not racist, I know right from wrong and this (in all legal sense) is wrong. It is against AMERICAN LAW!

Please write back and explain this position. I understand everyone has their own views. Your organization was going so great with me until this issue. Boggles my mind!

A Reader, Michigan
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Response by Joe Veale, for the Revolutionary Communist Tour to the above comments

Well, what about the questions this letter raises? First of all, just because something is law does not mean it should be respected or abided by. Have you ever heard of the Dred Scott decision? That was a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1850s upholding the Fugitive Slave Act that gave slave-catchers the right to kidnap Black people who had run away from slavery. The Dred Scott decision said a Black man had no right that a white man was bound to respect.

At one time in the South there were laws that said Black people could not drink out of the same water fountain as white people. Or that a Black person could not look a white person eye to eye when addressing them because it showed disrespect and insolence. It was called "reckless eyeball," and people were murdered straight out for these kinds of things.

What interest did those laws serve? Who benefited from them? The slave system. And the plantation sharecropping system and Jim Crow segregation that followed that.

At a certain point people said: fuck it! We are gonna defy and break these damn laws whether anybody likes it or not?because this shit is unjust, oppressive, and barbaric.

And when they did, a lot of people of all nationalities came to their side and supported them in that struggle.

Who was right? Those that upheld and enforced those laws and brutally punished people who defied them? Or the people who refused to go along, and others who supported them? Those laws were unjust and wrong, and people had to rise up against them in order to get rid of them.

There's Nothing Worth Respecting About This Border

That's why you cannot just look at the borders of the U.S. and simply say it is against the law and wrong to cross it. You have to ask how did that border get there? What interest does it serve? Who benefits from it? What program does it serve?

Let's talk about what is real. Here it is: This country and its border were established on genocide of native people, slavery of Africans, and the theft of half of Mexico in the war of 1846. There were no borders when humans first crossed from Asia to what's now known as the Americas. The Spanish conquerors landed in the 16th century and drew their borders as part of subjugating and murdering the people for the wealth. And the British colonists on the east coast of what's now the U.S. drew their borders as they almost wiped out the people who lived there before the colonists arrived.

In the 1840s the U.S. launched an unprovoked war of aggression against Mexico (which had outlawed slavery, in contrast to the U.S. where the slave system was in full effect in the South). Behind the war was the drive for more territory by both the Southern slave owners and the Northern capitalists. What do you think the Alamo and its "heroes" -- Davy Crockett, Samuel Houston, Jim Bowie, and Daniel Boone -- were about? Murder and thievery of Mexican land for the purpose of spreading slavery and capitalism to that part of the territory. Later, to consolidate this thievery they created the Texas Rangers. It's just that simple.

After the war the U.S. forced Mexico to sign the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo. In return for stealing huge amounts of Mexico territory (now the U.S. Southwest), the U.S. government promised land, language, and other rights to Mexicans living in this area now occupied by the U.S. But the U.S. broke the treaty as quickly as they had signed it.

There is not a goddamn thing worth respecting about these U.S.-created borders or the laws that enforced them. That's why we say: Tear down that wall!

The Border Is an Expression of an Oppressive Relationship

Let's step back and talk about what is going today. How this unjust, unequal, oppressive and exploitative relationship between the U.S. and Mexico plays itself out today.

For an example, look at Alicia and José Jiménez. They are busting their ass -- trying to feed themselves and raise their family in one of the rural areas of Mexico. What happens? Their situation, which was already desperate, becomes more desperate. This is because the relationship the U.S. has with Mexico is one of domination and exploitation. It's like having a relationship with the Godfather, Tony Soprano, or the "Goodfellas." In typical gangster fashion they make Mexico "an offer it can't refuse."

They flood Mexico with U.S. goods, and the millions of Alicias and Josés are driven to extreme poverty by this unequal competition. So they are forced to leave the land and go to the city in search of work. What happens here? Right at the border, just a few feet inside Mexico, the U.S. has set up factories called maquiladoras for the millions of Alicias and Josés who work under extremely brutal and dangerous conditions for one-tenth of the pay of workers just across the border.

The workers in those maquiladoras are slaving away in these U.S.-owned high-tech sweatshops making TVs and computer parts that people in the U.S. and other imperialist countries use -- and then they have to go home to shantytowns where they have no electricity and their children die of diseases like cholera because there is no sewage system or clean drinking water.

But even this pool of cheap labor doesn't satisfy the appetite of these bloodsuckers, who in recent years have closed down many of the maquiladoras, throwing hundreds of thousands out of work, and have moved a lot of their investment to Asia where they can pay even cheaper wages and exploit workers even more brutally. This is what U.S. imperialism means for people.

What would you do if you were in the situation of people like Alicia and José?

This is the relationship that U.S. imperialism forces on Mexico. This is what this imperialist system does around the world. It?s because of this system of imperialism that in the U.S. there are over one million millionaires, while about half the world population of 6 billion lives on $2 a day.

This is the real reason why immigrants are forced come to this country. Because as RCP Chairman Bob Avakian says, the U.S. has fucked up the rest of the world more than it has fucked up things here. And these ruthless fuckers at the head of this monstrous octopus with its tentacles all over the world sucking the blood of people make gangsters like the Godfather and others look like Bambi in comparison.

What happens when immigrants get here? Those that don't die in the desert or get shot by vigilantes on the border -- must elude and evade la migra (the immigration police). They are forced to work for extra cheap wages that the capitalists reap extra profits from. They are forced to live in the shadows -- fearing that they may be rounded up and deported back into even more horrible conditions of existence. They have no rights?and that is why they are forced to endure this shit, stay quiet and out of sight -- until now!

It reminds me of how Black people were kind of living in the shadows when it was against the law for them to look a white person in the eye for fear that they might be lynched.

Immigrants Are Not the Reason Your Wife Gets No Health Care!

You say undocumented immigrants are taking advantage of loopholes in the system to milk it for health resources that should go to people like your wife. This is simply not true. The health care system, like everything else under capitalism, is about maximizing profit. It is that which stands in the way of your wife's health care, NOT immigrants ? who often don't even use health care services for fear of being deported. And if the bill passed by the House becomes law, these immigrants would put in jail as felons.

To be frank, by blaming immigrants, you are being played for a sucker and a fool. They got you thinking that those who are victimized by the working of this system are your enemy and those who are doing this victimizing and plundering of the world are your friends.

It's Not "Our" Nation

Let me give another quick example. You talk about whether this is "good for this nation." A few years ago the right-wing fascist Pat Buchanan wrote a book entitled The Death of the West: How Dying Populations and Immigrant Invasions Imperil Our Country and Civilization. In it he complained about U.S. society losing its national identity, its national cohesion -- the thing that has cemented the oppressive "social compact" of this society. Clearly he was talking about the white, Christian, English-speaking identity of the American nation. This is one of his worst nightmares, and he's not the only one. Others in the top echelons of the U.S. empire, including Bush, also have this nightmare. In the face of this massive upsurge amongst immigrants, they are scrambling and trying to come up with a plan to carry out the re-cohering of a new oppressive "social compact" without their whole system beginning to become unglued. This is especially the role of the chief executive "W" -- to keep his fascist core and program together, and lead them to implement their whole program without things flying apart. The logical conclusion of your argument will lead you right into the killing embrace of these fascists and imperialists.

As for the "good of the nation," that's the way the system wants you to see it. But nations are divided into classes, with different and fundamentally opposed interests. And this nation in particular is an imperialist, oppressor nation, and we oppose imperialism and don't give a damn about what is "good" for it. Here's how we see it: We are not Americans. We are proletarians. We are made up of all races. We are the class of people who can work only if it enriches the capitalist class. Under this system work plays "hide-and-seek" with many of us because the ruling class cannot make profits from our labor. Thus we are left to fend for ourselves, and many are driven into a situation where crime seems like the only option.

Our class is international, comprising billions throughout the world. Undocumented workers are part of our class. They are our brothers and sisters. We speak different languages and have different cultures, but we are all proletarians. Their blood is our blood. Their suffering is our suffering. We welcome them ALL with open arms. Our labor is at the foundation of this modern-day slave system and it creates tremendous wealth, which under this system goes into the hands of the capitalist class. We have a common interest: To rise up as proletarians, under our revolutionary leadership, the Revolutionary Communist Party and its Chairman Bob Avakian, and, when the conditions are right, to overthrow this system.

So let me put the challenge back to you -- what if the millions of people like yourself who have gone for the divisive stuff woke up and put it down? What could we -- the dispossessed of all nationalities -- accomplish then?

Another World Is Possible -- with State Power!

It is possible for every man, woman, and child on the planet earth to have the best that technology, science, and the knowledge of human beings have acquired over the centuries. It's possible to use all this to provide a better life for all the people of the world. It is possible for everyone to contribute what they can to better life for the people and in turn receive from society what they need to live as full human beings and contribute even more to society. There is no need for anyone to have to worry about or not to receive the health care they need. We can provide this for people. Cholera is preventable. Treatment for things like diabetes, Hepatitis C, HIV, kidney problems, and other chronic conditions could be free in a socialist system.

Everyone could have jobs, no one would have to live in ghettos or barrios. No one would have to worry about where their next meal is gonna come from, or if they will just be thrown out in their old age. We can create a world where the people hold all society's resources in common, and work, struggle, and decide how to make things better for the people.

A world without one group dominating another. A world without the brutalizing and murdering police. Or la migra. A world without borders. Without men dominating women. Without whites dominating people of other races. Without those who do intellectual work having domination over those who do manual work.

We can do all these things and have people's lives enriched through sports and art. We can take care of the environment -- be caretakers of the earth and hand it down to future generations in better condition than when we were here.

The only reason all this does not happen is because all the wealth, technology, science, and knowledge is controlled by a tiny handful of capitalist-imperialists, and they use it to make profits -- not to serve the people -- and they use it to keep us down here in this fucked-up situation.

This is why we need state power. Power in the hands of our class whose collective labor creates all this wealth and who is the only group in history whose most fundamental interest lies in making this kind of revolution -- and whose goal is not only putting all of society's resources in the hands of the people collectively, but leading them to become the decisionmakers and the emancipators of themselves and all humanity.

This is what we need to have our sights on. Chairman Avakian is the leader who can lead us to reach that goal. He is one of a kind. He deeply and scientifically understands revolution and the whole process. He has learned from the experience when our class held power before in the Soviet Union and China with Mao. He has learned from the great accomplishments of those revolutions but also from the shortcomings and errors that were made. He gives us the revolutionary and scientific approach to revolution so that we too can become leaders with him in this great cause.

You need to get with this leader. He has made great breakthroughs and discoveries in the cause of emancipating humanity, the cause of communist revolution. And like any great scientific discovery at first it illuminates the peaks and mountain tops, and then it illuminates the whole world.

Get with this party. Download the audio track "Why Do People Come Here From All Over the World?" by Bob Avakian (at revcom.us or bobavakian.net). Get your hands on his DVD, REVOLUTION: Why It's Necessary, Why It's Possible, What It's All About. (threeQvideo.com)

So, again, let me pose it back to you -- think where we could get if you could put this narrow, me -- first capitalist thinking down. And think where we'll end up if you, and millions like you, don't break with it.

Join us.

Joe Veale, for the Revolutionary Communist Tour

Immigrants Struggle: Big Changes and Big Lessons

2006-04-03T19:43:00.000-07:00

(CNN photo via Google)

A Fresh and Powerful Spring Wind
Revolution #042, April 9, 2006, posted at revcom.us

There is a fresh and powerful spring wind blowing across America! Thousands -- no, millions! -- have hit the streets, defiantly demanding justice for undocumented immigrants. This struggle should not only be supported, but pushed forward. And as we intensify this battle, we should keep in mind some of its key lessons so far.

1) The mass upsurge of the immigrants has changed the political landscape. It has inspired millions and opened the minds of tens of millions more. The politicians in Congress plan to drastically intensify the persecution and exploitation of the 10 to 20 million undocumented immigrants in this country. But instead of just shrugging their shoulders, the people have risen up in resistance, at great personal risk. This heroic spirit can be seen in the article about the student walkouts, and should be cherished and spread.

And there is a great lesson here for the tens of millions in this country who sit there angry but paralyzed as one basic right after another is taken away by the system, in particular by the Bush Regime that is now running things. Don't wait for elections -- break out of the framework NOW. Stand up and fight, no matter what the odds!

2) The bill now being supported by most Democrats and some Republicans, like McCain and Specter, is a trap. It does not satisfy people's most basic demands, and will actually put the masses of immigrant workers -- and immigrants more generally -- in a much more vulnerable position than they are now. (Go to www.revcom.us to see more articles on the immigration bills.) The great mass upsurge must not be channeled into supporting this deceitful and destructive bill, but must persevere in insisting on full rights for undocumented immigrants, the halt to and reversal of the militarization of the border, and an immediate end to the persecution of immigrants.

3) The 10 to 20 million undocumented immigrants have been driven into this country by the heartless workings of capitalism and imperialism. Take Mexico, for example, where U.S. capital has transformed Mexican agriculture and driven 1.5 million farmers off the land since the 1994 NAFTA agreement. This same sort of thing has gone on all over the world, with over 200 million people driven out of the countrysides of the oppressed nations and forced to seek work in the cities of the imperialist countries of the U.S., Europe and Japan. Hundreds of people die crossing just the Mexico-U.S. border every year because of the desperation caused by imperialism. Imperialism drives people from their lands, persecutes and even murders them as they cross the border, and then super-exploits and demonizes them once they are in the imperialist countries. This system must go!

4) There is nothing at all worth respecting about the U.S.-Mexican border! It was created by an unprovoked U.S. war against Mexico in the 1840s, a war that was waged to rob huge amounts of land to extend the slave system (which had been outlawed in Mexico) and, more generally, to expand U.S. capitalism. Any concessions to this idea that "the border must be defended" denies this reality, and ends up playing by the enemy's rules.

5) The imperialist rulers are pushing these vicious "reforms" for two main inter-connected reasons. First, they are driven by worldwide dog-eat-dog competition to more systematically exploit and more viciously repress the tens of millions of immigrant workers within this country. Second, they are driven by the big social and economic changes in American society to hammer down a fascist social order. And to do that they aim to reinforce in the minds of tens of millions of middle-class and working-class people the idea that America should be a white, Christian, highly militarized country -- and that this will somehow deal with the insecurity, desperation and despair in their lives. And there is a particular effort directed at Black people: to mislead the Black masses into blaming their terrible and oppressive conditions, which have been caused and enforced by imperialism, on people with whom they share a similar situation of being oppressed nationalities within America and of being overwhelmingly proletarian.

But there is every basis to step to tens of millions of people with the "real deal" -- to show them where their real interests lie, which is in fighting against the very system that so badly oppresses them and then tries to mislead them as to the source of that oppression. By continuing militant and united action, and by bringing out the real truth in thousands of ways as we do so, we can change the political "polarization" into one much more favorable to the people.

6) This whole situation -- the tens of millions of people driven off their lands into a life of desperately seeking work, even at the risk of death; the ways in which the fears of millions of native-born people are being manipulated; the divisions that are fanned and enforced between nationalities, even among oppressed nationalities -- all these are products of capitalism. But even more importantly, all this can be overcome by a socialist revolution. Such a revolution must be led by the proletariat -- the class of people who own only their ability to work and have nothing to lose but their chains -- and must result in a whole new state power that builds on the achievements of past proletarian revolutions, and goes further, unleashing a vibrant and lively socialist society. The undocumented workers who are now being demonized in the media and by the politicians are a potentially important part of the class that can carry out this revolution, institute this new state power, and bring about a far better future.

This state power in turn must and will serve new social and economic relations aimed at getting rid of exploitation and all the oppressive institutions and ideas that fortify exploitation, and eventually getting to communism -- a world without classes, without oppression and, yes, without borders. There is a party and a leader that can lead this revolution in this country -- the Revolutionary Communist Party and its Chairman, Bob Avakian. The excerpt from the Draft Programme of the RCP, USA shows how the proletariat in power could take immediate steps to change all this. This can really happen, and must be fought for -- and the struggles of today must be diverted and directed into preparing for such a struggle.

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from the Draft Programme of the RCP,USA
Socialism Will Abolish Discrimination Against Immigrants

The following excerpt from the Draft Programme of the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA, gives a vision of how the situation of immigrants will be radically transformed under socialism, the rule of the proletariat:

* * *
Great numbers of immigrants have come to the U.S. from Mexico, Latin America, Asia/Pacific Islands, the Middle East, the Caribbean, and other parts of the world, including many from countries oppressed and plundered by U.S. imperialism. The bourgeoisie considers many of these immigrants - some of whom have a bitter hatred towards a system that has raped their countries - a potential source of instability and upheaval inside the U.S. The proletariat for its part welcomes these immigrants, who strengthen the internationalist character of the revolution here.

Millions of undocumented immigrants live in the shadows of U.S. society without the most basic rights, constantly facing arrest, deportation, and sudden separation from their families. Each year hundreds perish trying to cross the U.S.-Mexican border. Entire groups of immigrants, such as Arabs, are scapegoated and demonized, and non-European immigrants generally are targets of racism.

The proletariat in power will abolish all forms of discrimination against immigrants in jobs, housing, health care, education, etc. No human being will be treated as "illegal," ending the labels used by the imperialists to degrade people and keep them in super-exploited conditions. The apparatus that terrorized immigrants -- la Migra, the police, military border patrols, and paramilitary vigilantes -- will be smashed.

The proletarian state will apply to immigrants its overall orientation and policies for achieving real equality, including equality of languages and cultures, and it will encourage and cherish the full participation of immigrants in all aspects of building the new socialist society.

(The Draft Programme of the RCP,USA can be read and downloaded online at revcom.us/margorp/progtoc-e.htm)

Representin' at March 18, 2006 DC March Against the Iraq War

2006-03-26T06:10:00.000-08:00

Photo by: http://isisimagery.blogspot.com

An Urgent Appeal: Funds needed to open a RC Speaking Tour Office in the Anascostia section of southeast Washington, D.C.; and to fight the arrests of Joe Veale, one of the Revolutionary Communist Tour speakers, and A.T., of the Revolutionary Communist Youth Brigade.

Leading up to the Feb. 4 protest at the White House to demand that "BUSH STEP DOWN", Joe and A.T. were maced, pepper-sprayed, roughed up and arrested while leafleting in a poor, oppressed Prince Georges County, Maryland neighborhood. Thousands of dollars are needed now to fight these arrests.

You can donate online at the RC Tour webpage. Go to: www.rc4tour.info - click on "Call for the Tour" at the top and then scroll down to "Make a Donation."

March 14th Katrina March and Rally Against Evictions and for Justice in Washington, DC!

2006-03-20T07:08:00.000-08:00

A March for Justice:
For more photos, go to Isis's Imagery at http:/isisimagery.blogspot.com/ Report by RC Tour speaker Joe Veale follows below.

This was a march on March 14, 2006 to demand housing for victims of Hurricane Katrina and a moratorium on evictions.
Photo from www.KatrinaMarch.org: Rev. Lennox Yearwood flanked by Bilial Moron from New Orleans (right), and Dr. Rashad Zayban from Iraq (left)

Report by Joe Veale on the March 14, 2006 March and Rally: "Katrina: Never Forgive, Never Forget"

Tuesday, March 14, was a very cold and windy day in D.C. But the weather could not stop the determination of hundreds of people who came out to protest, march and rally in support of those who the government abandoned, evacuated, and dispersed across the country, separating people from their families in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The marchers went from the Capitol to the White House demanding that the government immediately stop its evictions of those who have been displaced from their homes in New Orleans.

The marchers demanded: "viable, affordable and immediately accessible housing for all those who were evacuated; protection of the right to vote for those who have been displaced to places like California, NY, Pennsylvania and D.C.; Congressional passage of H.R. 4197, The Hurricane Recovery, Reclamation, Restoration, Reconstruction and Reunion Act".

In a press release Rev. Lennox Yearwood of the Hip Hop Caucus who spearheaded the protest said: "...We have waited too long for FEMA, for the President and for Congress to act. We need to take to the streets, to show with our feet, our bodies and our voices that collectively we demand justice for all Katrina survivors now -- not months from now."

The march was led by drummers, followed by 25 to 30 people from New Orleans. Hundreds of others desired to come but could not get buses to bring them from the different states they have been evacuated to.

There were college students from the University of Maryland. Students from Prince George community college. High school students from Maryland as well as students from Las Vegas. Revolutionary communists. SEIU union workers. Laborers from Virginia. DC activists. Clergy. World Can't Wait. NOI and other Muslims. National Organization for Women. One group was asking people: "if you ruled the world how would things be different?" The NAACP and ANSWER also participated in the march and rally.

Speakers at the rally were: Rev. Yearwood for the Hip Hop Caucus; Travis Morales of World Can't Wait -- Drive Out The Bush Regime; Congresswoman Maxine Waters; the Nation of Islam; NOW; a representative of United For Peace and Justice; Katrina Survivors and many others. The march and rally lasted from 2 p.m. to midnight with different kinds of activities.

When the march reached the FEMA building, it stopped. Rev. Yearwood told a very moving and heart-wrenching story -- of a young teen age mother who had been driven to despair after being basically left to die by the government -- she ended up committing suicide to escape this horror. He talked about how the government knew a natural disaster was unfolding and did nothing.

One woman said her relative died of a heart attack because of the conditions in the wake of Katrina. She said she still does not know where four of her family members are -- whether they are dead or alive. One young man talked about the mental pain, the anguish of getting up each day and not knowing what was going to happen to him, whether he would have a place to lay his head or whether he would be on the streets with nothing and nowhere to go.

MASS MURDER BY THE SYSTEM

There are many theories out there about who and what is responsible for all the suffering caused by Katrina, and why Bush did what he did (and didn't do what he didn't do). But to get to the bottom of all this, people need to understand some cold but liberating truth: The neglect, abandonment, abuse, and brutality of Black people after Hurricane Katrina was a crime of the capitalist system.

This crime is connected to a whole legacy of slavery and oppression of Black people down to today. It hooks up with the fact that this system has always treated Black people as exploitable, expendable, and undesirable.

The government knew for years what would happen if a huge hurricane hit New Orleans. Hundreds of scientific reports predicted that the Black neighborhood of the 9th Ward, and the mainly working class neighborhood of St. Bernard, would be flushed away and the industrial districts and wealthy neighborhoods would survive. The way the levees were built made this all but inevitable. But Congress slashed funds for the levees and Bush cut those funds more. It was known for days, as Rev. Yearwood says, that Hurricane Katrina was coming, but the authorities failed to evacuate the city. Then after the storm hit on August 29, they abandoned the poorest sections of New Orleans, with the highest population of Black people. They left those most vulnerable to face the storms and flooding with no help of any kind. Bush refused to interrupt his vacation and allowed people to suffer and die for days. Over 1,000 died and hundreds of thousands suffered and are still suffering -- unnecessarily.

Whether by negligence or design or a combination of both, this was MASS MURDER carried out by the authorities, beginning with Bush. THE BUSH REGIME MUST BE MADE TO POLITICALLY PAY FOR THIS CRIME!

Bush and the crew are not ordinary Christians. They are Christian fascists and nazis. What they did in the wake of Hurricane Katrina powerfully indicates that genocide is part of the program they have for all (not just Blacks) those whom they consider undesirable, punishment based on a literal interpretation of the Bible "to get America back into the good graces of god."

The mood of those in the march was one of anger, outrage, and defiance. Many felt that the evictions were adding insult to injury. A Party supporter who attended the march described the conditions that the masses from New Orleans continue to face as a mugging that never stops. Never stops degrading you. Never stops de-humanizing you. An endless horror.

A college student from Morehouse said this is a "crime" that this is still going on. When is it going to stop?

A Black woman who works to build unity between Native Americans and Blacks said: "I never thought I would see ethnic cleansing in America... but here it is in front of our eyes." In anger, others compared the forceful removal of poor Blacks and others in New Orleans with what is happening in D.C., where there is a growing trend of the working poor being forced out of the city because of the high cost of living in D.C.

The march received a lot of support from tourists and others along the route, with some of them joining in.

One of the high points of the rally was when Rev. Yearwood, Bilial Moron from New Orleans, and Dr. Rashad Zayban from Iraq were on stage together holding hands. In an interview, Rev. Yearwood told me that Dr. Zayban had sold her practice in Iraq to help people in Iraq who have been evicted by U.S. bombs and military occupation. She came in support of Black people displaced from New Orleans. Rev. Yearwood said that they wanted to draw the parallels between people who have been displaced and evacuated in New Orleans with those who have been displaced and evacuated in Iraq. Because, he said, we are not just victims of Katrina we are also victims of Bush.

Some of our party organizers in attendance were wearing t-shirts which said: WANTED FOR MASS MURDER ? THE BUSH REGIME. These t-shirts have the pictures and profiles of Bush, Cheney, Chertoff (the head of Homeland Security) and Condoleezza Rice on them. Many youth told us they loved this t-shirt and wanted to know where they could get them. Revolutionary literature circulated among the crowd: The Revolution newspaper, the Chairman's pocket-size statement on the death of comrade Mobile and the DVD sampler of the film of his talk: Revolution: Why it's necessary, Why it's possible, What it's all about.

Masses of Blacks and others are still suffering. 10,000 families in Louisiana and Mississippi face evictions from hotels on March 15. Over 15,000 families across the United States have already received eviction notices, subjecting approximately 40,000 individuals to the prospect of homelessness. Currently, more than 300,000 survivors are dispersed in 44 states.

People are living in temporary housing, doubling up with other families, living in garages, out of cars, in tent or trailer "cities." Tens of thousands of people are on waiting lists for trailers. In New Orleans many areas still don't have electricity. Even some of the FEMA trailers don't have power. At the beginning of December, only 10% of public buses were in operation and only ONE out of 116 public schools was open. And now it has come to light that it will be official policy to withhold rebuilding funds from the Black 9th Ward.

THOSE WHO ARE RESISTING MUST BE SUPPORTED. THE GOVERNMENT MUST PROVIDE DECENT HOUSING IN NEW ORLEANS FOR THOSE WHO WANT TO RETURN. JUSTICE MUST BE DONE FOR THOSE MURDERED BY THE AUTHORITIES.

NEVER FORGIVE... and NEVER FORGET!

also posted on Revolution #040, March 26, 2006, at revcom.us

Free the DC 2!

2006-03-04T11:23:00.000-08:00

Photo: Bladensburg High School where the arrests took place.

On February 3 three of us traveled to Bladensburg High School in Maryland to pass out the World Can't Wait leaflet calling for a protest the next day at the White House demanding BUSH STEP DOWN and take your program with you.

As school let out we said: "Leaving thousands of people to die in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina -- are you with that shit or against that shit -- waging war based on lies, killing over one hundred thousand Iraqis -- are you with that shit or against that shit -- Bush Step Down."

We asked the students: What kind of future did you want? We told them people in New Orleans, in Iraq, Guatánamo Bay -- are counting on you.

Students were grabbing up our leaflets and stickers and passing them out to each other.

One Black parent stopped her car in the middle of the street and listened and watched what we were doing. She shouted out: "This is really good!" Many other parents took leaflets.

A school administrator told us he supported what we were doing. We challenged him to organize his colleagues and come out and stand up with us on February 4.

After only about 10 or 15 minutes of doing this a school police rolls up on us.

He yells: "You cannot do that here!" When I explain that what we are doing is not against the law he yells: "You cannot do that in Bladensburg!"

After stopping only long enough to laugh at this modern-day George Wallace, we continued leafletting. (George Wallace was the white supremacist governor of Alabama in the early '60s who stood in front of a school with the police to prevent Black students from coming in to integrate the school and said: "This is not the United States, this is Mississippi!")

Suddenly some Bladensburg police cars roll up. The cops jump out and confront us. One of them says: "No ifs, ands, or buts about it. They pass out another leaflet, cuff them!"

We pass out more leaflets. Two pigs rush me. They lift and slam me onto the patrol car. Two others rush A.T. (A.T. is a member of the L.A. Revolutionary Communist Youth Brigade.)

They singled out the two Black people in the group of us leafletting. One pig had his fist balled up as he beat on A.T. Immediately they came out with pepper spray. Burning, blinding, and choking us with this shit. During this time, students were grabbing leaflets off the ground and from the hood of the police car. The police got into a confrontation with the students and threatened to arrest those who were taking the leaflets.

They charged us with resisting arrest and disorderly conduct. They added a battery charge on A.T. Our lawyer comes to the jail but they refuse to let him see us. They refused to accept 10 percent of the bail, so we had to come up with the full amount. It took us a little while to get over all the obstacles they were putting up and when we finally raised the money through donations and got out--the protest at the White House was over.

Why did they come down so heavy-handed -- the real way they rule -- for passing out leaflets? What are they afraid of?

It was clear to me that they wanted these students to stay in their "place." They feared these Black and Latino students busting out of their "place," standing up and taking responsibility for changing the direction of society. They feared these students acting on the call from World Can't Wait with people of other races and from other parts of society -- bringing their experience and insights into this movmement to force: BUSH TO STEP DOWN AND TAKE HIS WHOLE PROGRAM WITH HIM.

DROP ALL CHARGES!
FREE THE DC2!
BUSH STEP DOWN AND TAKE YOUR WHOLE PROGRAM WITH YOU!

by: Joe Veale, DC REVOLUTION correspondent,Revolutionary Communist Tour

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An urgent appeal: Funds needed to fight the arrests of Joe Veale, one of the Revolutionary Communist Tour speakers, and A.T., of the Revolutionary Communist Youth Brigade.

Leading up to the Feb. 4 protest at the White House to demand that "BUSH STEP DOWN", Joe and A.T. were maced, pepper-sprayed, roughed up and arrested while leafleting in a poor, oppressed Prince Georges County, Maryland neighborhood. Thousands of dollars are needed now to fight these arrests. You can donate online at the RC Tour webpage. Go to: www.rc4tour.info - click on "Call for the Tour" at the top and then scroll down to "Make a Donation."

Or send your donation to:

The Revolutionary Communist Speaking Tour
P.O. Box 941 Knickerbocker Station
New York, NY 10002-0900
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The Revolutionary Communist Tour is Now In Washington, D.C. -- Funds Are Urgently Needed to Open an Office

2006-02-27T03:54:00.000-08:00

Photo: A view of the Capitol from southeast Washington, D.C.

IT'S TIME TO THROW OFF THE CHAINS OF OPPRESSION AND GET WITH THE EMANCIPATORS OF HUMANITY!

In these dangerous times, a speaking tour of revolutionary communists is now in Washington, D.C., spreading straight-up revolution and communism -- unadulterated by nationalism and reformism -- and challenging those at the base of society to step forward and become emancipators of humanity. These revolutionary communists are enthusiastic followers of Bob Avakian, Chairman of the Revolutionary Communist Party, and are themselves revolutionaries who have come from conditions of oppression and have raised their heads to become communist leaders.

Is revolution really possible? What does it mean to emancipate all of humanity and what does that have to do with Black people's experience of slavery and oppression which continues down to today? Why is communism the answer and what does it mean for people to be communists and to get involved in a communist movement?

What kind of leadership do we need? How do you judge revolutionary leadership? Is it based on nationality/race or should it be based on a vision of where we need to go and what we need to do to get out of this nightmare of a system and bring into reality our dreams of a better world?

Is communism still a viable alternative to capitalism? Is communism a European ideology? Are Black people too much into religion to be attracted to communism? What about spirituality: is it true that communism is cold and devoid of soul?

What future does this capitalist system have for the youth in the ghettos and barrios: Prisons and jails, military uniforms and Bibles, calling on the youth to pray to a non-existent god while fighting, dying, and killing others like themselves for empire.

Many of the youth have no prospect of ever getting a job. Given the circumstances, for these youth, crime is a rational choice. "What kind of system have you got... if you can say that for millions and millions of youth in the inner city crime is a rational choice, the best choice they can make under your system?"

Now the same system has brought us the George W. Bush regime which aims to establish a government based on a literal interpretation of the Bible. Pat Robertson, one of Bush's Christian Fascist advisors, has called for a "biblical model" for crime and punishment which suggests genocide against the masses of people in the inner cities and others as well as preparation to use extreme repression and even execution against people who do things which are minor crimes--or in many cases not crimes at all.

And if anyone thinks the claim of genocide is an exaggeration, just look at New Orleans, in the wake of Katrina, where thousands and thousands of Black people were left to die, and didn't have to die.

Can we really rise up and actually get rid of this capitalist system?

These are all big questions. We'll be getting into all these questions and more. No holds barred.

If we are going to be liberators of humanity, we must have a revolutionary, scientific way of looking at the world and approaching all questions. We must confront the world as it actually is and transform it. For all this we need the most advanced revolutionary science on the planet--Marxism-Leninism-Maoism.

We also need the leadership of Bob Avakian, Chairman of the Revolutionary Communist Party. We say straight-up that Bob Avakian is a visionary and creative revolutionary communist thinker and leader who is serious about leading a revolution in this country. He will be the leader of the future socialist state or, in any case, his writings will be decisive in the goal of establishing such a state. He has love for and profound confidence in the people:

"One of the things that I see, something that I haven't lost sight of, is this: I see all the strength of the ruling class, but I also see all the way through all this shit, all the contradictions in society -- I actually see a force in this society that, if it were developed into a revolutionary people, actually could have a go at it, could have a real chance of making revolution, of being the backbone force for revolution, when the conditions were ripe. I see a force of millions and millions and millions--youth and others--for whom this system is a horror."

The tour of the revolutionary communists is aiming to connect that potential and creativity with revolutionary science--a powerful combination that could actually mean that we would have a fighting chance to really make revolution.

We are revolutionary communists. We do not believe in gods or saviors. We are passionate about changing the world. We are:

CARL DIX: RCP National Spokesperson. In 1970 Carl was one of six active duty GI's at Ft. Lewis who refused orders to Vietnam. A veteran revolutionary activist, Carl was formerly with the Black Workers? Congress and the African Liberation Day Support Committee. He represented the RCP, USA at the founding press conference for the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement in London in 1984. And he helped co-found the October 22nd Coalition to Stop Police Brutality in 1996.

CLYDE YOUNG: In 1990, the Revolutionary Worker published a lengthy interview with Clyde Young, referring to him as Comrade X in that interview. As a teenager, he served time in juvenile "correctional institutions" and while serving a lengthy prison sentence he became a revolutionary--leading prison rebellions and other political activity. He was influenced by the revolutionary leaders and movements of the 1960s, including Malcolm X, George Jackson and the Black Panther Party. He was also greatly influenced by Mao and the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution in China. Upon his release from prison, Clyde Young met Bob Avakian and recognized in him unique and special qualities as a leader and also his enormous sense of humor. Clyde Young's writings for the revolutionary press range from essays on Martin Luther King and the Vietnam War, Muhammad Ali and boxing to a major analysis of demographic changes, "Since the 60s: Trends of Impoverishment, Oppression, and Class Polarization in the Black Nation."

JOE VEALE: Joe Veale is the spokesperson for the Los Angeles branch of the RCP. Joe arrived in L.A. during the '92 Rebellion determined to link up with the courageous fighters there and fuse their determination to confront injustice with the science of MLM and the cause of communist revolution. Joe is a veteran of the Black Panther Party.

*****

On the tour we will also challenge various trends among the masses which must be broken with if those at the base of society are to play a backbone role in the revolution: What's up with all those crucifixes?gold and otherwise?that are so popular? Why is the "Preacherman" speaking for and representing Black people, including some preachers who are hanging out with the Christian Fascists and the Bush crowd, skinnin' and grinning' and spreading that poison among Black people? And what about Bill Cosby's recent (and on-going) tirade about personal responsibility and why is he playing the role of a bootlicker and a flunkey for the ruling class (the powers-that-be) with all that drivel?

What about all that dissin' and disrespectin' the sisters and all that "manhood" shit?

And why do so many young women with so much creativity and revolutionary potential think that the only thing they can do in life is to make babies?

What about all that hip-hop capitalism and entrepreneurialism? How can the masses change the world if they, the very people who need revolution the most, are caught up in all that "bling-bling" and "gettin' paid and gettin' rich" and "pimpin' and playin'" and "bangin' and slangin'"?

People of all nationalities who are brutally oppressed and exploited at the base of society need to start "fighting the powers that be" and start being revolutionary communists and emancipators of humanity!

This tour is right on time. We are restless, and we are passionate. So look out, here we come, dropping science as we travel from one end of the country to another.

FUNDS ARE URGENTLY NEED! Thousands of dollars are needed right away:

· To establish an office in Washington, D.C., a place where people can find the Party and get organized.
· For publicity, posters, flyers, and other advertisement.
· For renting and decorating venues.
· For support of full-time tour organizers.

We call on everyone--masses in the ghettos and barrios, youth and students, and revolutionary-minded people in the arts, sciences, sports, hip hop, teachers, lawyers, doctors?to donate generously to make it possible for the speaking tour to happen. Get in touch. Help us to spread the word. And invite us to your town.

Send Checks to: "Revolutionary Communist 4 Speaking Tour"

P.O. Box 941 Knickerbocker Station, New York, NY 10003-0900
Email: rc_speaks@yahoo.com
Phone/Fax: 866-841-9139 x 2670

To contact us in Washington, D.C.:
Phone: 202-421-4528
Email: RC4_tour_DC@yahoo.com

Carl Dix Speaks on February 4th: Bush Step Down!

2006-02-20T18:21:00.000-08:00

Editor's Note: The following is the speech by Carl Dix, national spokesperson of the Revolutionary Communist Party, and one of the RC Tour speakers at the February 4th "Bush Step Down and Take Your Program With You!" Rally, Washington, D.C. Go to http://www.worldcantwait.net/ for reports on WCW actions on January 31st and February 4th.

* * *

First off, I want to give big props to everybody who's thrown themselves heart and soul into this effort to forge this movement. A movement that aims at nothing less than Driving the Bush regime out of power. What we are doing is historic. We're aiming at nothing less than forging a movement that can drive a sitting president out of power.

We are locked in a political battle for the future. We face a tough fight, but what we're doing is right. We are speaking for and acting for millions out here today. There's nothing too horrible for them to inflict on the people. As the World Can't Wait call states, "the Bush regime is setting out to radically remake society very quickly, in a fascist way, and for generations to come." In the wake of the wiretapping revelations and the Alito appointment, can anyone doubt it?

If you want further proof, look at Bush's state of the union speech. He began it by going on the offensive and justifying the war and his wiretapping. Then he declared that the only people he would listen to are those who are trying to help accomplish the goals he has set out. And as he neared his conclusion, he vowed to deal with the AIDS epidemic by channeling $$ for treatment thru faith based organizations. Based on the dictates of the Bush regime, this approach has been implemented in places like Uganda, and it has led directly to the deaths of 1000's of people.

Yet with all this being shoved down our throats, most of the top democrats support the war and the Patriot Act. Even on things they differ with Bush on, they almost never put up a real fight. And even then the fight they put out was pitiful.

We have to rely on the only thing that has ever changed this world: the people, struggling for their real interests against their real enemy. If we are to really drive out this regime brothers and sisters we must reach out to those millions; and we must mobilize thousands upon thousands of them to join in this movement. And together with them we have to take up the kind of actions that can tap into the dreams of those millions to change the direction of society and can inspire them to join in the resistance.

Think for a minute what it would mean to force Bush to step down, just in relation to the abuses spoken to in the World Can't Wait call: the unjust and vicious wars, the Residentially approved torture and detentions, the drive to outlaw abortion, and the whole dark ages mentality and "culture of greed, bigotry, intolerance and ignorance." At minimum, their whole thing would take an enormous political blow, and a truly progressive dynamic would gain strength and momentum. There would still be a battle - a huge one, for the direction of society - but it would become two-sided for the first time in many years.

Part of that dynamic should include debating what kind of society people need. Our Party stands for a revolution consciously made by millions, which would put the interests of the vast majority of people - and not those of a handful of imperialists - at the foundation of everything it stands for and everything it does. We have the understanding and strategy to do that. And we have the leadership of our Chairman, Bob Avakian, who's gone deeply into the experience of previous revolutionary and socialist societies, drawing from the achievements and analyzing the shortcomings, and who's developed an inspiring vision of a whole new society and how to get there. We invite everyone here to engage that.

But right now the common objective of all of us is to politically force Bush to step down and take his program with him. We are determined to do that and to fight relentlessly until it's done. We can do this--every day new outrages get dragged into the light of day. Every day more and more people feel driven to join the fight to oust Bush.

Finally, actions like ours here today do make a difference. I know this from my own experience. In the 60's I was drafted into the army and given orders to go to Vietnam. I refused to go, and they put me in jail. This was the right thing to do, and I know what gave me the understanding and courage to do it. It was the millions of people out there protesting the war in Vietnam. Their marches and rallies helped create a political atmosphere where people like me were inspired and challenged to join the resistance. Our actions today can do the same.

That's why it's so important that we're out here today. And that we carry thru and build off of what we do today to continue to mobilize people to drive the Bush regime from power. Our unity in this fight and our determination to carry it thru till Bush & co are gone must challenge and inspire many, many others to join in.

BUSH STEP DOWN AND TAKE YOUR WHOLE PROGRAM WITH YOU!

International Tribunal Finds Bush Regime Guilty of Crimes Against Humanity

2006-02-20T18:20:00.000-08:00

Editor's Note: The Revolutionary Communist Speaking Tour is fully in support of the work of the International Commission of Inquiry. Carl Dix, one of the RC Speakers, was the coordinator of the prosecution team for the Katrina segment of the Commission's investigation. The following article is from Revolution #035, February 19, 2006, posted at revcom.us
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Photo by Isis's Imagery: Delivering the indictments to the White House, January 10, 2006 (isisimagery.blogspot.com)

On February 2 at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, the International Commission of Inquiry on Crimes Against Humanity Committed by the Bush Administration delivered its preliminary findings. The findings were read out by Ajamu Sankofa, executive director of the Physicians for Social Responsibility-NY and former national secretary of Blacks for Reparation in America.

The findings were based on five days of public testimony in New York in October and January. The work of the Commission brought together former government officials, experts in international law, human rights monitors, and victims of the crimes under investigation. It was a Commission of great legal, ethical, and moral credibility based on its integrity, its rigor in the presentation of evidence, and the stature of its participants. Based on the testimony, evidence, and documents submitted, the Commission delivered its preliminary findings that the Bush administration was guilty of crimes against humanity.

On the first charge of committing wars of aggression, the Commission found: "The evidence is overwhelming that the Bush Administration authorized and is conducting a war of aggression against Iraq in violation of international law, including The Nuremberg Principles, Geneva Conventions of 1949, the United Nations Charter, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In doing so, the Bush Administration has committed war crimes and crimes against humanity."

On the indictment for illegal detention and torture, the Commission found: "There was substantial evidence submitted through testimony and documents that the Bush Administration committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in conducting its 'War Against Terror.' It did this by developing and implementing policies and practices that violated international law and international human rights to force information from detainees and to punish those whom it believes may be 'enemy combatants.'"

On the indictment for destruction of the global environment: "The testimony of scientists and the scientific reports and other documents submitted during the inquiry support a conclusion that the Bush Admministration has committed crimes against humanity by its environmental policies and practices."

On the indictment around criminal neglect after Katrina: "The evidence of the Bush Administration's conscious and deliberate faillings in preventing the foreseeable devastation, including death toll, caused by Hurricane Katrina, particularly in New Orleans, and its failure to respond efficiently and appropriately after the Hurricane was overwhelming. Its failures constitute crimes against humanity."

Text of the indictments and preliminary findings, audio and text files of testimonies, and other information can be found at www.bushcommission.org.

January 9, 2006: "Monday Bloody Monday"

2006-01-15T05:33:00.000-08:00

Photo: World Can't Wait protest in front of the Supreme Court on Bloody Monday. (Photo by: Isis' Imagery http://isisimagery.blogspot.com)

by Joe Veale

The World Can't Wait called for "Bloody Monday" actions around the country on January 9 to "oppose Alito's rubber-stamp approval to the Supreme Court." The following report is about how revolutionary communists took this up in the southeast ghetto section of Washington, D.C.

It's the first day of the hearings to confirm Alito as Supreme Court Justice and while two sides square off in front of the Supreme Court, a few miles away across the bridge in Southeast D.C. -- an area that is virtually all Black -- you got a glimpse of the potential for massive numbers of Black people, especially the youth, to fight for that better future.

Several people go to a transit center in SE to sell the Revolution newspaper and talk to people about the battle. We post up hand-written signs -- Abortion is Not Murder! Fetuses Are Not Babies! Women Are Not Incubators! Drive Out the Bush Regime! Join the Emancipators of Humanity! Women Hold up Half the Sky!

An organizer at a bus stop: "Without the right to abortion, women are slaves! This traditional morality that Alito and the Bush program stands for means death for women. If women can't decide fundamental questions about their own lives, like when to have children, they are reduced to slaves!"

Someone shouts back: "She shouldn't have opened her legs!"

In response to this another woman says: "I used to think that way -- until I needed an abortion. If I ain't got say-so about this then I don't really got much say about a lot of things. It would be a terrible thing if they can stop abortions."

Then some youth gather, from different schools and different neighborhoods. They greet each other joyfully with hugs. They laugh loud, talk shit, clown around, being seen. Ten cop cars are on the scene. The system has a future for these youth: prison and punishment. And the Bush regime has added its own "Christian Fascist" twist, which includes a strong element of genocide.

But these youth have the potential to fight for a different future, and to play a crucial role in changing the whole direction of society -- right now.

One of the organizers selling the Revolution shouts out to the youth about the upcoming demonstrations against the Bush regime in D.C on January 31 and February 4. "Bush has to step down!"

One of the youth, Danny, turns around. "Yeah! He need to! Yeah!" He takes a stack of leaflets and with no discussion steps into the crosswalk, agitating. At first the other youth ridicule Danny, and ask is he getting paid for this. But Danny stands in a crowd of 30 or 40, debating and struggling with them to take up the flyers and posters.

"Bush let the people die in that flood in New Orleans. You saw it! All them people calling for help! You heard 'em! Bush killed them people down there! Bush got to go!"

He runs out into the intersection, and puts posters and flyers on the windshields of the puzzled motorists stopped at the traffic light. Soon two or three other youth join him. He tapes the posters up on the walls. Soon several other youth go into the streets, handing out leaflets, and putting them on the windshields of the cars stopped at the light.

The cops pull up and try to disperse the crowd of 35 kids on the corner. A chant goes up: "Fuck Bush!" Everyone is laughing and chanting: "Fuck Bush!" Then it becomes a rhythmical chant "Fuck Bush!... Fuck Bush!" Another part of the crowd starts up "Fuck the police!" and this chant gets taken up enthusiastically for a few beats until it returns to "Fuck Bush!...Fuck Bush!" The cops are off guard and irrelevant. The cars are honking. The youth have turned it into a march and it's really powerful. They appear to be twice their number and they all head off together and take the intersection, stopping both lines of cars, and the chant turns into "Bush Step Down! Bush Step Down!"

They hold the signs over their heads and look at themselves in amazement. "Bush Step Down!"

They march into the transit center station chanting with their posters held high. People getting off work at first look startled -- and then, electrified. They take posters and flyers and exit the station holding "Bush Step Down" posters over their heads and with wide smiles across their faces.

The atmosphere was now electrified with politics. And with the masses beginning to take matters into their own hands. The actions of the youth had helped push the discussions that had been going on all afternoon about abortion, communism, religion, the liberation of women, the Bush regime and a dozen other things to a whole new level of engagement. And in the flurry of the posters going up and the spirited discussion, you could see and hear an inkling of a different future.

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Statement from Joe Veale, for the Revolutionary Communist Speaking Tour on the Execution of Stanley "Tookie" Williams, December 13, 2005

2005-12-17T05:17:00.000-08:00

Photo: Stanley "Tookie" Williams

Stanley "Tookie" Williams, co-founder of the Crip street gang in Los Angeles, was executed in San Quentin Prison on December 13 just after midnight.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger coldly and callously refused to grant him clemency, saying that "the facts do not justify overturning the court decision." Even though Tookie Williams had changed and became a very outspoken advocate against gang violence and for peace. They showed him no mercy. But it is deeper than this. In a highly political statement, Schwarzenegger also said that Tookie Williams' 1998 book Life In Prison was "dedicated to people like Assata Shakur, Mumia Abu Jamal" and particularly "Black militant George Jackson" which, according to Schwarzenegger, "is a significant indicator that Williams is not reformed and that he still sees violence and lawlessness as legitimate means to address societal problems."

George Jackson and the other prominent Black figures mentioned in Schwarzenegger's statement are heroes to a lot of Black people and people of all races and nationalities because of their revolutionary stance. This is proof that this is a politically motivated execution.

It does not matter to Schwarzenegger and the powers-that-be that Stanley Williams has changed. That he has consistently spoken out against gang violence. Or that the evidence which led to his conviction of four murders in 1981 was circumstantial and that the testimony against him came from people facing felony charges of fraud, rape, murder, and mutilation. Or that he had consistently and repeatedly said that he is innocent.

Since his final appeal was denied, the powers-that-be have put Stanley Williams' execution on a fast track. They moved it up ahead of people who had their final appeals rejected before him.

This represents a leap in the vicious, racist, and genocidal program they have for the masses of people in the inner cities. Many of the youth of the inner city have no jobs and no prospects of ever being employed. The system has no productive use for them. The working of this capitalist systems puts people in desperate situations where crime becomes the only option for many, many of them to live. Then, Black and other oppressed youth are attacked and maligned and "demonized." William Bennett, a former adviser to Ronald Reagan, has said: "If you want to get rid of crime you could abort all Black babies and the crime rate would go down." That's genocide.

The execution of Tookie Williams comes on the heels of Hurricane Katrina, where tens of thousands of Black people were left to die. The Bush regime is making it LOUD AND CLEAR that GENOCIDE is their agenda. Look at what they did. People in New Orleans did not have to die. But the powers that be left thousands of people to suffer and die needlessly, while at the same time "demonizing them" and sending in the National Guard to suppress them. Didn't Bush himself issue an order to "shoot to kill"anyone who was caught "looting," no questions asked? The system's well-oiled propaganda machine spewed out lies about Black people raping babies and robbing and murdering each other. The very clear message was: the masses of Black people in New Orleans were "demons" and deserved to die.

Hundreds and even thousands of people who tried to get into New Orleans to rescue, feed and give medical aid to people were stopped by the army and police and prevented them from helping people. A congressman from Louisiana said they had been trying to get rid of the projects in New Orleans for years and god decided to do them a favor by getting rid of them.

Again the message was that Black people are "bad seeds" who do not deserve to live.

Pat Robertson, one of Bush's Christian Fascist advisors, has called for a "biblical model" for crime and punishment which suggests genocide against the masses of people in the inner cities as well as preparation to use extreme repression and even execution against people who do things which are minor crimes -- or in many cases no crime at all.

What kind of system is this that does these things? It is one that cries out for proletarian revolution..

Although Stanley "Tookie" Williams was not a revolutionary, he dedicated his book Blue Rage, Black Redemption in this way: "To poor people, prisoners, slaves and the disenfranchised everywhere -- through faith and theories put into practice you bend the most oppressive circumstances to your will, to make the impossible possible."

REVOLUTION IS THE SOLUTION

When we make revolution and overthrow this system based on profit and exploitation we can change all this. We can build a new socialist society and give everybody jobs. Feed everybody. Give people good medical care. We will be able to cure people hooked on drugs instead of locking them up. Everybody will be fed on the strength of being a human being. Everybody will be given good medical care. More than that they together with the masses of people will be brought into the process of running society. Deciding the direction that society should go so that it serves the people. Deciding how many schools and hospitals to build. How much food to produce. How much to put aside for natural disasters and how much to send to people around the world fighting for revolutionary change. Not only will people's material needs be met, but their intellectual and "spiritual" needs will be met as well.

The powers-that-be do all they can to prevent people from rising to this potential. One of the ways they do this is by trying to force us to accept the hand that the system deals us from its stacked deck. Trying to be "somebody" and get "respect" on the terms that the system sets is no solution either.

In the world today no one has to go without. No one has to be hungry or living in poverty. No one has to seek "respect" or attempt to "come up" by banging or riding on others.

People have developed enough wealth, knowledge, science, and technology to give everyone on the planet a decent life. To feed and provide housing fit for human beings to everybody. To enrich everyone's life with sports, culture, and art.

The only reason this does not happen is because all this wealth, knowledge, science, and technology that has been created by humans over thousands of years is controlled by a tiny handful at the top of this imperialist system. And they use it to re-produce and enforce this dog eat dog way of life over and over again.

It's gonna take communist-led revolution to lead those on the bottom of society, the employed and the "unemployables." The "disposables." Those with nothing to lose, together with their potential friends from the middle class -- to rise up and take the power of running society out of the hands of those who run this system -- take all this wealth that people have created, build a new system, and put all society's resources in the service of emancipating humanity.

A CHALLENGE:

To all those this system has cast off. To all those this rotten system tries in every way to drag down. To all those this system treats as less than human. Rise up and be "somebody" for real. Rise up and join the communist emancipators of humanity. Rise up and join the grave diggers of this foul and cruel system.

Resist or Die: Why We Must Act on November 2nd

2005-10-12T18:47:00.000-07:00

by Joe Veale, RC4 Speaking Tour

I've been to the Houston Astrodome talking to people who were the victims of Katrina, and then victim's of Bush's genocidal response. People are asking: what the hell is going on? Are they trying to kill all the Black people?

They are on to something.

These are extreme times we are living in. And THESE times demand that on November 2nd we launch a massive, powerful, uncompromising movement to DRIVE OUT THE BUSH REGIME because, as the call puts it -- THE WORLD CAN'T WAIT.

People are asking me -- can we really drive out the Bush Regime? And how? An important part of the answer is the role that the basic people, kept down and on the bottom of this society can and must play on that day.

Lessons from Four Days
We saw a taste of this, something in birth, during 4 days of outrage and protest a couple of weeks ago. From Thursday, September 29 through Sunday, October 2, our Party called on people, especially the basic masses, to protest what this system did -- AND IS CONTINUING TO DO -- to the people of New Orleans. People wore black ribbons. They made banners to send to New Orleans. They put up the "Bush Regime WANTED" poster (see Revolution newspaper www.revcom.us) everywhere. What we saw and learned tells you something about how we can drive out Bush.

More than once, when we took "Wanted Posters" of Bush to people, they were moved to tears of rage. Finally, someone was telling the truth and giving people a way to do something about it. In a Dominican neighborhood in New York City, people marched through the community after church, after a minister asked people to hold up the "Bush Regime Wanted" poster and rally the community to stand with the people of New Orleans against the murderous crimes of the Bush Regime.

In Chicago, in places like car washes and McDonalds, thousands of "Bush Regime WANTED" posters and flyers to drive out the Bush regime were taken around and posted up. People asked - did they leave thousands to suffer and die in New Orleans on purpose? In the Cabrini Green housing projects people made t-shirts out of the "Bush Regime WANTED" poster and then took flyers to drive out Bush to their churches, their jobs, and corner stores to get out to the community.

In Detroit, artists made beautiful banners of people in New Orleans, wading through hip-high water with all their possessions in a bag, saying "Stand with the People of New Orleans - don?t let the system get away with murders." They took them out on the street corners and the people of Detroit wrote messages to send to New Orleans.

At DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx, students wore black in solidarity with the call to resist, and sent a banner to New Orleans saying "From the BX to the New O - A Call 2 Resist." Dozens of students wrote messages including "Stay strong, New Orleans!," "Keep ya head up," and "We Can't Let Bush Stay in Office."

In Oakland, students at Laney College made black protest ribbons, and wore them in class. One Black woman student wrote on a banner to send to New Orleans, "this government doesn't care but we in Oakland do." Oakland High students put up "Bush Regime WANTED" posters, and their bus driver told them, "We need another '60s." At a flea market in Oakland, victims of Katrina were telling their stories of being driven out of New Orleans by state troopers, national guard and police, and how so-called "hoodlums" had saved people's lives.

In Watts, dozens of people from the projects and elsewhere gathered to protest and speak out on a basketball court. One woman said,

"It's unacceptable to sit back while this president stole not one election, but two. It's unacceptable for us to succumb to these types of circumstances. What has happened here is pure and blatant discrimination. And what about this radio commentator [Bennett] that talked about killing all the Black babies. That's just another example of what we face in this society... This country was built by slaves! So how is it okay that there are those who are saying we can contribute nothing but crime."

And she said,

"Look at Mrs. Bush's comments, 'They're better off now than they were before.' What kind of response is that to make, for this woman who used to be a First Lady? How can she say that about people who are in a dome... that they are better off now than they were before?"

A Black man from the projects said,

"Now people are really starting to realize what Bush's mission is. They have a whole plan and they're moving ahead with it. This is waking up the masses. Their plan is genocide... I've seen these types of things and I know that this system has never gave a fuck about me. That is nothing new to me. It didn't take the blood down there [in New Orleans] for me to realize that the system doesn't give a fuck about me. But it took all that for a lot of other people to recognize that this is how it is."

School kids in Watts brought out a sign that said "Bush Must Go," and said,

"We were walking around the projects passing out flyers because we think that he has to go. He's letting people [in New Orleans] drown and not giving people food or something to drink. He needs to go because a lot of people are dying because of him."

In another school, students passed around a book where they wrote messages to the people in New Orleans. One Latino student wrote,

"President George Bush is a bad president, he shouldn't be representing USA. I say this because instead of sending food supplies and clean water he is just sending military troops and that's wrong."

Revolutionaries took a banner out to Harvard Square in Boston, where all kinds of people hang out on a Saturday. Not just basic people took a stand with the people in New Orleans. A Black student from Harvard Business School (HBS) signed the banner saying "HBS is With You." Tourists and people from other countries signed the banner. One middle class person signed the banner,

"You're not being ignored any more! And Bush's depraved indifference has cost him tremendously politically. Hang in there. You have the country's support!!"

What Time Is It?
These stories give you a little taste of what is different about right now. Think about the person in Harvard Square who wrote, "Hang in there. You have the country?s support!!" People all over the world and in this country from every part of society have been jolted awake by Hurricane Katrina. How it showed the cruel and cold impoverishment that large numbers of Black people are subjected to every day under this system, and the brutal racism they experience daily. It showed something else they always try to keep hidden. That there is one America for the rich and powerful at the top and another for the poor and powerless at the bottom. It showed everyone that this capitalist democracy with its "free markets" that they love to brag about is an unjust, oppressive, and murderous social order.

What this means is that other people in society are listening right now in a way they usually don't and they need to and want to hear from the people who are the most victimized by this unjust social order. It gives others hope. Inspiration. And fires them with determination to carry the fight all the way through.

Why is this? Because people at the base of society -- the have nots -- the propertyless class of proletarians -- have the potential -- once they begin to act as a class -- to re-make and organize society in a whole new way. To usher in a whole different future for humanity.

In issue #15 of Revolution, we made this key point:

"It's not like normal times, when people on the bottom are demonized and isolated. Now is a chance to break down that isolation, and find allies. Think about it. People all over the world and in this country, from every walk of life, have been jerked awake by the hurricane. They are thinking about what is wrong with society, in a big way. But they badly need to know how people at the very bedrock of society see this outrage in New Orleans. They need to hear the voices of the people who are usually ignored, or told to shut up, putting out their views on the problem. They need to see just how angry people are, just how intolerable this is, and they need to see people on the bottom acting. At times like this, struggle coming from the people on the bottom can change the thinking of people all through society, and it can compel them to act in a positive way.

"But moments like this don't last forever. The media works on people's minds, there is repression, there is the daily grind, and pretty soon things don't just go back --they get worse. Unless...unless all that is contested and fought (and ultimately made part of a larger movement). And that is what we are calling for."

We Have to Do This
We must not allow the Bush Regime to get away with this mass murder. We must hold them accountable. They must be made to pay for this crime. They must be made to feel people's anger. Even before Hurricane Katrina everything the Bush gang is doing had millions of people thinking about what is wrong with society and what can be done about it. Now this has intensified.

What's needed is: RESISTANCE. If we don't resist it will say the rulers can do these things to the masses and suffer no consequences.

It's like when the police beat up Rodney King. If the people had let that stand it would have made things a lot worse for people in so many ways. The police would have gone on even worse rampages than they did, and people would have felt powerless and degraded. But people DID resist and because of that not only did those cops have to do time but there was a whole new attitude amongst the people, a new spirit of resistance that spread throughout society and even around the world.

It's like taking on a bully. You can decide to do it. Knowing there is no guarantee that you are going to win. But, knowing that most everyone else hates a bully too, and if you do the right thing, that?s the basis for others to step out and bring down the bully. Or you can play it safe and hope the nightmare the bully is causing you will go away. But it does not go away. Instead it gets worse and worse. There are no guarantees that we will win. But we must understand the historical moment we are acting on. A moment when the actions of thousands can call forth the actions of millions.

Look at what the actions of Cindy Sheehan touched off. One woman camped out in front of Bush's ranch in Texas after her son died in in the army in Iraq. And millions of people rallied to her side. That is just a taste of what is possible.

When you look out there trying to see this movement, it cannot be seen -- not all together in one piece, and not yet. That's because we are creating something that does not yet exist. But you can see sparks of it in what I was describing during the Four Days of Protest around the country. And, building on that, we change the terms of things by what we do. We have to get out in front, in that scary place that has no guarantees.

What we have is the masses of people in their millions and millions who hate the direction the Bush Regime and the Christian fascists grouped around them are taking society - but who don?t yet see a BOLD, AUDACIOUS, STRONG ALTERNATIVE representing a different way.

We got to be that alternative. If we get out there and act, take on this giant with feet of clay, other's will FEEL WHAT WE BRING TO THIS and have the chance to join us. It is in their interest to come. If we don?t act others will not have a chance to act and we will never know.

Again as REVOLUTION #15 says about November 2nd:

"This plan is visionary. It is bold. It is audacious. But here's the main thing: it actually corresponds to the danger we face; and nothing else can unlock the potential energy among literally tens of millions of people that still remains dammed up. It can make a difference. Thus, in its boldness and audacity lies its strength."

What if We Do This?
What if we succeed, all of us who see what is going on, in driving out the Bush Regime? Trip on that for a minute. Think about it...

If we bring forward a powerful movement and drive this regime out, we would be living in a changed situation. We would be in a situation where there?s an aroused population prepared and able to deal with whatever the system brings against the people, instead of people who are passive and playing it safe. We will still be up against a vicious system, but it won't be that easy for the rulers of society to come in and exact revenge.

The atmosphere in society will be one where people are debating and discussing what future is possible. The separation and isolation of different sections of people will be broken down, and people will be discussing what kind of future we should be going for and how to make it real with others who before they've never discussed anything with! Communism and revolution will much more powerfully be part of that mix. If we drive out this regime, the possibilities of revolution will start to look much more realistic. A new society will be more in our reach than what it is now. And if revolutionary possibilities open up, we'll be in a much better position to seize them.

If we move in this moment, there are no guarantees of driving out Bush, but WE WILL HAVE A CHANCE. If we do nothing, there is a guarantee - that the masses of people are going to go through hell, on a whole other level than anything we've seen in our lives. The future of humanity is in our hands and we must seize the moment.

Let's go all out and bust our hearts and put all our energies into this. Into winning.

We MUST and WE CAN drive out the Bush Regime. We can because millions and millions desire it.

From the RC4: Report from Houston and Baton Rouge

2005-09-19T20:32:00.000-07:00

Photo: Katrina evacuees at the Houston Astrodome (Final Call photo)

This is Joe Veale of the Revolutionary Communist 4. I was recently in Baton Rouge and the Houston Astrodome, talking with people who had been evacuated from the hurricane and flooding of New Orleans.

At the Astrodome, we passed out the special Hurricane Katrina issue of Revolution, which includes the RCP statement and demands and the "Wanted" poster that calls out the Bush regime as mass murderers. People grabbed up the paper, and some people took copies inside to pass to others, under the eyes of the tight prison-like security.

The government plans to move everyone from the Astrodome by the 17th of September. Who knows where? From talking with the people, I was able to get a real sense not only of the horror of the hurricane and the flooding but of the cold-blooded response of the government and its suppression of people who are trying to deal with this desperate situation that the government created in the first place, with its failure to act. The picture I got was one of people in a situation of extreme desperation, and the seizing on this by authorities as an opportunity to kill and viciously repress people who their system has no use for anyway. A situation made more desperate because the government left the people with no way out from the hurricane and the flood that followed--left them to find their own way out if they could. On top of this, they sicced their dogs--police, right-wing vigilantes, mercenaries from Iraq, National Guard--to repress and murder people.

One young woman with six kids told me that the only reason she and her kids were able to make it out alive is because others she did not know had broken into stores and provided them with food and water. She told me that the situation was so extreme, so desperate, that some people lost their minds. She watched some people jump from a bridge in New Orleans.

I could not help thinking about that old-time slavery--when African slaves jumped the ships to their deaths into the ocean instead of being packed on those ships like sardines, not knowing where they were going, or if they were going to live or die.

Virtually all the Black people from New Orleans that I spoke with made comparisons between what they experienced and what is happening in Iraq, under military occupation. People talked about National Guards walking the streets with their weapons pointed at them, kicking in doors, yelling at them, shooting them.

People tried to break through this vicious repression, to help those trapped in this life-and-death situation. Veterans for Peace and Justice loaded up trucks full of food and water to get to people. But at every turn, they were turned around by the National Guard and prevented from getting these supplies to the people.

I heard a story about 94 school bus drivers from Houston who paid for gas themselves and drove to New Orleans to get people out. They were held up for 30 hours by the National Guard and made to turn around and go back to Houston without rescuing anyone.

Before going to Baton Rouge, I had read about some Naval helicopter pilots who were given a mission to take supplies to the National Guard. On their return, some of them decided to go into New Orleans, to see if they could rescue people from the roofs of their homes. They were able to rescue about 100 people.

But once back at their base, the pilots were in trouble. They were told they were wrong for rescuing people, that they had lost their focus and violated their orders. They received a disciplinary reprimand for violating orders. After that, a number of the pilots pulled the patches off their jackets in protest. The patches read, "Rescue and Saving Lives."

The people did not have to die. The Bush regime is wanted for mass murder.

NEW ORLEANS: A CALL TO RESIST!

2005-09-09T19:51:00.000-07:00

New Orleans: A Call to Resist! P.O. Box 941 Knickerbocker Station, New York NY 10002
Telephone: 866-482-2539 * Email: atimetoresist@hotmail.com

September 9, 2005

Dear Friend,

We are writing to ask you to add your name to the signatories of the statement below and circulate it to others and encourage them to sign and circulate it.

The actions and inactions of the Bush regime have been criminal. They are responsible for the many lives that have been lost and the suffering that 100,000's of people have been subjected to in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. To add insult to injury, the very officials whose actions put peoples' lives at risk
demonized people as "looters" and "thugs" when they took it upon themselves to get the food, water and medicine they needed to survive. People are rightly angry at all this.

Think of the difference it will make if thousands of people who have histories of fighting against the oppression of Black people and other injustices people have been forced to endure here in the US and around the world join together to condemn the criminal actions of Bush & Co. And if they're joined by many other people who burn with hatred at the actions of the Bush regime.

So sign this statement. And get it to others and encourage them to sign it, circulate it more broadly and promote it in any and every way they can. Many, many people in the devastated areas are still at risk. One of the things they need is broad condemnation and massive resistance to the crimes of Bush & Co.

Signed:

Carl Dix, National Spokesperson, Revolutionary Communist Party
New York, New York

Nicholas Heyward Sr., Nicholas Naquan Heyward Jr. Foundation
Father of Nicholas Heyward, Jr. -- killed by NYPD, September 1994
Brooklyn, New York

Yuri Kochiyama, Long Time Political and Social Activist
Oakland, California

Rev. Lawrence Lucas, Our Lady of Lourdes RC Church*
New York, New York

Efia Nwangaza, Nat'l Co-Chairperson of the Jericho Movement to Free U.S. Political Prisoners
Greenville, South Carolina

Juanita Young, October 22nd Coalition to Stop Police Brutality (New York Committee)*
Mother of Malcolm Ferguson -- killed by NYPD, March 2000
Bronx, New York

* for identification purposes only.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
NEW ORLEANS: A CALL TO RESIST!

The actions of the Bush regime in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast amount to mass murder, whether by incompetence or design. This is an urgent situation, calling out for urgent action.

We remind all people that this regime illegitimately came to power in the first place through the disfranchisement of hundreds of thousands of Black voters. We remind all people that this regime contains highly placed officials and
influential supporters with histories and viewpoints that are not only racist, but in some cases downright genocidal.

What happened in New Orleans indeed calls into question the whole history and nature of America and the national debate on this needs to rage. At the same time, New Orleans is also an extreme example of what the Bush regime in particular has meant for the masses of Black people in this country. None of this can be tolerated any longer. There can not be three more years of what happened in New Orleans. There cannot be one more day. WE CANNOT WAIT!

The initiative of ordinary people in rescuing and supporting people at risk has been heroic. The outpouring of support from all walks of life shows where people's hearts are. But we also need, very badly, RESISTANCE.

Therefore, we call on people to mount a massive movement to politically drive out the illegitimate Bush regime. We call on people everywhere to bring this demand out wherever you go, to build and support all actions aiming to do this, and in this way to not only defend the people from even worse horrors but to begin to build a movement that can change the course of history.

At the same time, we call on all people to support and mount actions around the following demands on the government in the current crisis:
1) Intensify the rescue operations. Stop the repression of those volunteers who are attempting to rescue people.
2) Immediate and safe evacuation for all who want it. Provide support for all those wishing to remain in New Orleans. Stop the forced dispersal of people from the New Orleans area and provide assistance to people who wish to return.
3) Stop the killing and shooting of people attempting to meet their basic needs. Stop the demonization of Black people as "looters." Stop the aggressive actions of the National Guard and Police. NOW. And an immediate apology from Bush for
his "zero tolerance for 'looters'" remark which lent force to all this repression.
4) Stop the censorship of the people of the affected areas. Bring out the full truth of what is happening, what did happen and how this came to be. And hold those responsible for this criminally accountable.
5) Immediately end the racist slander coming out from politicians and the media.

-end-

____ Add my name to "New Orleans: A Time to Resist!"

____ Contact me immediately, I can help get this initiative out there.

Name ______________________________ Address ____________________________
City ________________________________ State _______________
Zip ____________
Email _______________________________ Phone/Fax __________________________

New Orleans: A Time to Resist! P.O. Box 941 Knickerbocker Station, New York NY 10002
Telephone: 866-482-2539 * Email: atimetoresist@hotmail.com

* * *
The initial signers of this statement are:
Carl Dix, Nat'l Spokesperson,Revolutionary Communist Party; Robin D.G. Kelley, Columbia University; Yuri Kochiyama, long-time political activist; Rev. Dr. Earl Kooperkamp, Pastor, St. Mary's Episcopal Church; Father Lawrence Lucas, Our Lady of Lourdes Church*; Efia Nwangaza, Nat'l Co-Chairperson of the Jericho Movement to Free U.S. Political Prisoners; Rev. George W. Webber, Professor Emeritus, New York
Theological Seminary*, Cornel West, Princeton University; Juanita Young, mother of Malcolm Ferguson, killed by NYPD; Nicholas Heyward Sr, father of Nicholas Heyward Jr, killed by NYPD; Rev. Luis Barrios, St. Mary's Episcopal Church.

Hurricane Katrina: The People Did Not -- and Do Not -- Have to Die

2005-09-03T09:35:00.000-07:00

Statement issued by the Revolutionary Communist 4 -- September 2, 2005

Introduction: The Revolutionary Communist 4 (RC4) are releasing this statement in the wake of Hurricane Katrina which has left tens of thousands of Black people (and others) without homes, food, water, shelter and medical care. The disaster in New Orleans is of grave proportions and thousands are stranded and could die --and they don't have to die -- if the government is not forced to take urgent and immediate measures to organize massive and systematic evacuation! Meanwhile, President Bush threatens people who are taking food, water, and other necessities with attacks from the National Guard and the police.

The Revolutionary Communist 4 have been hitting the road over the summer, spreading revolution and communism to Black people and others at the bottom of society. They are scheduled to appear next in Chicago, New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.

* * *
There was no way to stop Hurricane Katrina, but the chaos, suffering and death that resulted from this storm WAS preventable. Why didn't the government organize massive and systematic evacuation? Why weren't the levees maintained? Why were so many people left to fend for themselves?

This government has spent hundreds of billions for the war in Iraq -- but didn't evacuate a city facing a devastating storm that had been predicted for days. They got all kinds of helicopters and transport plans in Iraq but in New Orleans people were trapped in the city and stuffed into the sports stadium.

People, from all walks of life, are suffering because preventive measures that could have lessened the effects of the hurricane are not profitable. People were forced into an "every-man-for-himself" situation, so millions were left to try and survive on their own. Over 100,000 people were left in New Orleans -- often because they didn't have a car, gas or cash.

This disaster revealed the unequal and oppressive relations of this system. People live in conditions where when a disaster hits, they are left in severe and needless danger of death. On TV, we've seen the many thousands of Black people trapped in New Orleans and other dangerous places. We see the results of slavery, segregation, Jim Crow and the present-day effects of this oppressive history in sharp relief.

Before the storm even hit, Louisiana's governor Blanco gave authorities the power to suspend civil liberties. Federal Homeland Security officials have declared a national emergency. In the media, people desperately trying to survive are being demonized as "dangerous armed gangs of looters." Meanwhile, the governor is sending in troops. All this cannot be good for the people.

Louisiana's governor called for a day of prayer. And while individuals can pray if they want, the government should be meeting the needs of the people, mobilizing others to help, not telling people to pray.

The new developing dangers are caused by the way that society is set up, NOT by nature. New suffering must be prevented. The disaster that looms is not inevitable IF HUMAN BEINGS ARE MOBILIZED TO PREVENT IT. If people are NOT mobilized in this way, if the government is NOT forced to take URGENT measures right away, then hundreds and possibly thousands more will needlessly die from disease and/or not being rescued.

WE DEMAND:
* At the government's expense: People must be housed and cared for until they can safely return to their homes; hotels, convention centers, and other buildings must be provided to people in need of shelter; there must be free communication for people to contact relatives. Immediately, there must be emergency medical care and measures to prevent massive epidemics and needless dying. There must be no arrests for so-called looting. There must be emergency relief -- people must be immediately provided with water, food, medicines, and other basic needs FREE OF CHARGE.
* The needs of all must be met, with first priority to those most urgently in need. There must be immediate, orderly, and safe evacuation. If necessary, events in nearby cities must be canceled to accommodate people. People must not be evacuated into situations which are going to reproduce disease and danger.
* There must be intense search and rescue efforts in all areas. People must NOT be allowed to die. All necessary resources, including mobilizing volunteers, must be brought to bear on this. The government must not repress people who volunteer or prevent them from helping, but instead, must assist these efforts.
* There must be no profiteering and speculation off people's misery by the sharks of insurance companies, oil monopolies, real estate developers, etc.

Carl Dix, national spokesperson for the Revolutionary Communist Party, is available to speak to the press, and can be contacted c/o Revolution Books, 9 West 19th St., New York, NY 10011, or call 866-841-9139 x 2670, or email at comradecarl@hotmail.com

You can contact the RC4 at P.O. Box 941, Knickerbocker Station, New York, NY 10002-0900; Email: rc_speaks@yahoo.com Phone/Fax: 866-841-9139 x 2670 Website: www.rc4tour.info

The RC are:

CARL DIX: RCP National Spokesperson. In 1970 Carl was one of six active duty GI's at Ft. Lewis who refused orders to Vietnam. A veteran revolutionary activist, Carl was formerly with the Black Workers' Congress and the African Liberation Day Support Committee. He represented the RCP, USA, at the founding press conference for the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement in London in 1984. And he is a co-founder of the October 22nd Coalition to Stop Police Brutality in 1996.

CLYDE YOUNG: In 1990, the Revolutionary Worker published a lengthy interview with Clyde Young, referring to him as Comrade X in that interview. As a teenager, he served time in juvenile 'correctional institutions' and while serving a lengthy prison sentence he became a revolutionary -- leading prison rebellions and other political activity. He was influenced by the revolutionary leaders and movements of the 1960s, including Malcolm X, George Jackson and the Black Panther Party. He was also greatly influenced by Mao and the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution in China. Upon his release from prison, Clyde Young met Bob Avakian and recognized in him unique and special qualities as a leader and also his enormous sense of humor. Clyde Young's writings for the revolutionary press range from essays on Martin Luther King and the Vietnam War, Muhammad Ali and boxing to a major analysis of demographic changes, "Since the '60s: Trends of Impoverishment, Oppression, and Class Polarization in the Black Nation."

JOE VEALE: Joe Veale is the spokesperson for the Los Angeles branch of the RCP. Joe arrived in L.A. during the '92 Rebellion determined to link up with the courageous fighters there and fuse their determination to confront injustice with the science of MLM and the cause of communist revolution. Joe is a veteran of the Black Panther Party.

Support from the Heart

2005-08-21T11:32:00.000-07:00

Proletarians Dig Deep to Support RC4 Tour

Sunday afternoon, somewhere in the neighborhood of Boyle Heights in East L.A., 20 immigrant proletarians--men and women--sat in metal folding chairs lined up in front of a small card table. They came to meet and talk with members of the Revolutionary Communist 4 tour. Some came to become organizers for the tour and others came just to check out what the communists had to say. After a brief presentation on the tour, people were encouraged to raise their questions and comments.

A slim young man wearing a T-shirt and baseball cap nervously stood up on the edge of the crowd. He began to talk about how he had attended the RC4's first speaking engagement in L.A. and came home really excited. He spent hours talking with his wife about all he learned from the tour. He said he was so enthusiastic about what he heard about revolution, socialism and communism that his wife asked him if this was paradise. He said he had to stop and think about this and wanted to know what the RC4 thought he should tell her. After some discussion about the nature of socialism and communism, the young man smiled and sat back down. Suddenly he stood up again, pushed his hat back on his head and spoke much louder than he had before. "I know we are fucked. I work 6 days a week when I work. If I miss one day then everything falls apart; things like the rent don't get paid. I have only worked two days this month and so I am in big trouble. I borrowed $100 last week so my wife and I can survive. Now I am down to $30. I know we are fucked, we are just fucked living like this. So I want to support this, I want give you something that I don't have. I want to give you $10 to show my support for this tour."

The brother smiled as he carefully counted out ten one dollar bills. He passed them to the card table in front and sat down to listen to the rest of the questions and discussion--throwing in a few more of his own ideas about how to build the tour and some of the questions people ask him when he tells them about it. When he left a few hours later, he and many others at the meeting carried organizing packets for the tour under their arms.

* * *

Check out the RC 4 website at www.rc4tour.info.
Tax-deductible contributions over $100 should be made out to:
"A Gathering of the Tribes d/b/a RC4 Speaking Tour."Non-tax-deductible contributions under $100 should be made out to:
"RC4 Speaking Tour"

Send contributions to:
RC4 Speaking Tour
P.O. Box 941, Knickerbocker Station
New York, New York 10002-0900

The Watts Rebellion -- From a Revolutionary Perspective

2005-08-16T13:23:00.000-07:00

by the Revolutionary Communist 4

What are the lessons of the Watts rebellion? First, when Black people rise up against their oppression, people around the world are impacted. When Watts erupted in righteous rebellion in 1965, it sent shock waves around the world. People from Germany to South Africa know of this small place in Los Angeles because of the rebellion.

Second, when Black people rise up against the hell this system puts them thru it inspires many other sections of people to join in the fight against oppression and injustice. And it gives a harder edge to the resistance already being waged. The rebellion in Watts played an important part in the transformation of the movement among Black people in the 1960's from civil rights to Black liberation. When people like Martin Luther King came to Watts in '65 to try to get people to cool out, he got shouted down and run out of town. Watts contributed to the development of revolutionary resistance among many different sections of people in the '60s? women, Latinos, people opposed to the war in Vietnam.

The rebellion in 1992 in Los Angeles underscored these lessons. It jumped off first among Black people enraged at the acquittal of the cops who beat Rodney King. And it quickly spread like wild fire among our Latino brothers and sisters who also face impoverishment and discrimination. Graffiti appeared that spoke directly to the spirit of unity: "Bloods, Crips and Mexicans united. April 29th 1992." White people also directly participated in this rebellion.

What's changed in the 40 years since Watts? When people were asked why they rebelled in 1965, many answered that it was because there were no jobs, the education Black people got was second rate and the police beat and even killed people and got away scot free. Isn't all this still in effect today? Doesn't the murder of Devin Brown, a 14 year old kid gunned down in cold blood in 2005 bring to mind the murder of 14 year old Emmitt Till in Money, Mississippi in 1955? Only this is South Central LA and Devin Brown was murdered by the police while Emmitt Till was murdered by the KKK. In both cases those who are responsible are still walking around.

What has changed for the great mass of Black people over these years? Not a damn thing! Black people are still catching mo' hell than a little bit!

How long will all this continue to go on? Until Black people get with a movement rooted among people locked on the bottom of this society of all nationalities that's aiming to end the oppression this system inflicts on Black people and all the other problems people face today.

Our nationwide tour, the Revolutionary Communist Speaking Tour, hits LA on August 20th, at the Crenshaw United Methodist Church at 3740 Don Felipe Drive, and we will bring a challenge to Black people, other oppressed people and everybody who hates the many foul things this system does to people--there is a different possible future than the one Bush and the Christian fundamentalists around him have in store for the country and the world.

A future where people consciously learn about and transform the world, and are not imprisoned in the chains of tradition and ignorance. A world without racism and without borders. A vibrant place, where people together debate and decide how to develop society. A world where people no longer wonder where their next meal will come from, or if they will be homeless, or abandoned or sick in their old age?a world of abundance, where people together hold all of society's resources in common. A world where people not only work to produce the necessities of life, but get into art and culture and science?and have fun doing it! A world without the domination of women by men, where people interact with each other based on mutual respect, concern and love for humanity. A world that looks out for and takes care of the environment.

That is the communist world envisioned by Bob Avakian, Chairman of the Revolutionary Communist Party. We will bring out that people need to get with this revolution and this leader. And we will challenge people to get out of the things that stand in the way of them realizing their revolutionary potential: Viewing preachers as the spokespeople for Black people, even as some Black preachers hang out with Bush and his crowd. Buying into Bill Cosby's line that Black people are responsible for their own oppression. Disrespecting women, thinking hip-hop capitalism is the answer to our problems when it's really the source of them. Getting caught up in "pimpin' and playin'" and "bangin' and slangin.'"

It's Way Past Time to Throw Off the Chains of Oppression and Get With the Emancipators of Humanity!

* * *

The Revolutionary Communist Tour are Clyde Young, Joe Veale, Carl Dix. They say: "We are revolutionary communists who have lived thru the hell this system forces Black people to endure. We do not believe in gods or saviors. We look reality in the face, and we are passionate about changing the world."

They are currently on a nationwide speaking tour and will speak in LA on Saturday, August 20th, at 2 PM at the Crenshaw United Methodist Church at 3740 Don Felipe Drive. For more information you can contact the RC 4 at (213) 804-7710 or via email at rc4tourlosangeles@yahoo.com.

Revolutionary Communist 4 (RC4) On Air

2005-08-08T12:40:00.000-07:00

Revolutionary Communist 4 (RC4) On Air

Bob Avakian Knows the Way Out of This System

In July the RC4 tour hit Los Angeles with the first public speaking event. (See Revolution #10 at revcom.us.) The day before the speaking event Comrades Clyde Young and Carl Dix appeared on KPFK radio with host Jerry Quickley and immediately got into some of the hottest questions on the tour.

Jerry: I've spoken to other revolutionary communists about this. I have my own opinions, my own concerns about how revolutionary it is to have an older white man from middle class, upper middle class economic background leading a revolutionary organization. What does that say and what does that mean? Is this person so unique that you can't imagine anyone else doing it? What's your take on that, Clyde?

Clyde: I think that's a very important question and I think you've gotten right to the heart of it, because this individual that we're talking about is a very rare individual. I think leaders come along at different times.

Jerry: Our listeners should know that we're discussing Bob Avakian, who is the leader of the Revolutionary Communist Party.

Clyde: I think really when you want to explore this question you have to explore it from the standpoint of line. What is the position of the person? It's not a question of how old they are.. the question is, 'What is their line and do they know the way out?'

If you look around and survey the leaders that are on the scene today, there's none of them that know the way out. There was a brother that called in the other day and he was asking, 'well, what about Elijah Muhammad and Louis Farrakhan?' Well, I'm sorry. They don't know the way out. Bob Avakian knows the way out. That's why I've chosen to have him as my leader and that's why I follow Bob Avakian, because he knows the way out of this system. And ultimately that way out of this system is communist revolution. When you're talking about communist revolution you're not just talking about Black people. You are indeed talking about Black people, but you're talking about people throughout the whole world. You're talking about hundreds of millions and ultimately billions of people throughout the whole world.

Clyde dug into this question again during the event itself:

"Let me address head on and not duck or in any way be defensive about a white leader, the fact that Bob Avakian is white. I think the crucial question here is not that he is a white leader but that he is a communist leader. He said that himself and I think that's a very important point to be emphasizing. I think what I said on the radio show yesterday is an important point. When a person comes forward who knows the way out of this, who knows the way out of this mess then I think it is important for people to come forward and learn as much as they can from that person, to become followers of that person.

"But to come back to this question once again. I think sometimes what's involved is that people are defining the struggle in ways that are not contributing to ultimately where we need to go, but are defining the struggle in ways that are more limited in terms of where history needs to go, where the masses of people need to go, and ultimately I'm talking about where our class, the proletariat, needs to go. In other words, our ideology, our revolution is an international revolution. It's an internationalist and an international revolution. It is not a Black revolution. It is not a revolution of any particular nationality. We're approaching this from the standpoint of the people at the bottom of society whose interests lie with eliminating all oppression, all inequalities and all the things that exist under capitalism and when we get power will be inherited from capitalism. It's moving away from all that.

"So I think that having a leader like this (and having the dictatorship of the proletariat of the proletariat)--as much as it has been attacked and maligned and slandered--having a leader like this is a wonderful thing, not a bad thing. It's something that if people really want to get out of this, if they really want to get beyond this, if they really want to see another world--and we desperately need another world-- then they are able to see the importance of having a leader like this. Those of us who are followers of Bob Avakian and those who are supportive of his work in various ways and what he's doing and who ultimately become part of that revolutionary process that he is leading have to recognize the importance of what exists in our chair."

The Revolutionary Communist 4 will be appearing at a second major speaking engagement in Los Angeles
Saturday, August 20
Crenshaw United Methodist Church
3740 Don Felipe Drive
(off of Stocker, 3 blocks west of Crenshaw Blvd.)

A $5 donation is requested.
For more information contact the:
LA Committee to Support the RC4 Tour
(213) 804-7710 or
e-mail at rc4tourlosangeles@yahoo.com.

Check out the RC 4 website at www.rc4tour.info.
Tax-deductible contributions over $100 should be made out to:
"A Gathering of the Tribes d/b/a RC4 Speaking Tour."

Non-tax-deductible contributions under $100 should be made out to:
"RC4 Speaking Tour"

Send contributions to:
P.O. Box 941
Knickerbocker Station
New York, New York 10002-0900

Word from the RC4 on the LAPD Massacre of Raul Pena and His 18-Month-Old Daughter Suzie

2005-07-17T16:36:00.000-07:00

Murdering Enforcers Have No Right to Rule

On July 10 an LAPD SWAT team steamrolled into Watts and savagely butchered Raúl Peña and his 18-month-old baby Suzie.

These murdering enforcers have no right to rule the world! The brutal, blood-sucking capitalist system they are sworn to serve and protect has been in effect over us for too damn long. It's got to stop. Every day in many different ways we see the brutality and misery their rule brings down on the world. And on July 10, in Los Angeles, the LAPD hammered it home again.

One hundred cops took over a neighborhood and surrounded a scared, desperate, and mentally ill man and his baby daughter. Then they cut them into ribbons by firing more than 60 gunshots into an office no bigger than a closet. No one could've survived their murderous assault.

They say they came to help, to save lives and protect the people. They even say they wanted to save the baby. This is a cold lie. But it is more than a lie. These are the words of enforcers who think they have the right to gun down the masses of people and walk away to do it again?and again?and again.

We're sick of their lies and we know what happened. It was cold-blooded murder, plain and simple.

All kinds of people saw what happened. Family members and friends tried to stop it. When Lorraine Lopez tried to plead for the life of her baby daughter and Raúl, who is her life partner, the police drove her away from the scene.

They had no interest in anyone doing anything to try to resolve this situation. Their only interest was in blowing him away. They even put a gun to the head of another woman who tried to help by talking to Raúl.

Piling insults on top of lies they turned around and blamed Raúl for his daughter's death. At first they said Raúl had shot Suzie. Then they said he tried to use Suzie as a human shield. Lies on top of lies.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the L.A. County Coroner found that there were three bullets in Suzie's body -- three bullets from police assault rifles. Suzie died from a police bullet in her brain.

The biggest lie was when the police chief said some of his cops were so shaken by what happened that they wished they could trade places with the baby. No!

Why do these police kill like this? It is because they are trained to shoot first and defend their actions later. They are trained to look at the masses of people as "the enemy" and they are trained to think that people like Raúl and Suzie are disposable and dispensable. They are trained to terrorize the people who the system they protect rules over.

And they are trained to make it very clear that if anyone dares to defend themselves against their murdering fire -- whether they are in a state of mental upset, as Raúl was, or whether they are just defending themselves -- that the only ones who have the right to use armed force over the masses of people are the enforcers of this system.

What kind of society would allow an atrocity like this to happen? What kind of system would endorse its enforcers committing a foul murder like this? A bloodsucking capitalist/imperialist society. They do this to keep the oppressed masses and the proletariat in a situation where the capitalist system can exploit them -- and if they can't exploit them today, then they want to make sure they can exploit them tomorrow!

How can anyone look at the murders of Raúl and Suzie and think this system has any legitimacy at all!

These cops had a choice and they chose to kill Raúl and Suzie.

Look, people go off sometimes, they get sick and go off, especially living under all the pressures this society puts people under. That's what happened to Raúl. We want a new world, a world where people are free from all oppression and their lives matter.

How would we handle something like this in a society where power was in the hands of the proletariat? We've seen how this system handled it -- they blew Raúl and Suzie away. In a revolutionary society, we would handle a situation like this completely different. Instead of holding a gun on people who wanted to help, we would mobilize the neighborhood to figure out how to handle the situation. Our people's police would sooner put themselves in danger than kill an innocent person, especially a little child. This is the way the proletariat has handled this kind of thing in the past when it's been in power and it's how we will handle that in a future revolutionary society right here in the belly of the beast.

The police terrorize people with murders like this. This time it backfired. In fact, things are cracking open. People are taking to the streets in outrage, and they're dealing with big questions. People are talking about unity between Blacks and Latinos. People are talking about changing the world, and they're looking for leadership.

We, the Revolutionary Communist 4, know this. We're in Los Angeles to speak to people about what needs to be done and how to do it. We're going to be dealing with people's hardest questions about why the world is the way it is and what needs to be done to totally transform it. It's going to take millions of people rising up in revolution and a communist understanding of the world to get beyond the misery and degradation this system brings down on people and create an entirely different future.

We're going to bring to people the leadership we have to realize this future?Bob Avakian, the leader of the Revolutionary Communist Party. And we're going to challenge people to break with the things that stand in the way of them becoming emancipators of humanity.

IT'S WAY PAST TIME TO THROW OFF THE CHAINS OF OPPRESSION AND GET WITH THE EMANCIPATORS OF HUMANITY!
COME TO THE RC4 TOUR
Saturday, July 23, at Cal State, Dominguez Hills
1000 E. Victoria St. in Carson, California at 2 p.m.

Directions: http://www.csudh.edu/areamap.htm

BE THERE and bring everyone you know who hates the way we have to live.

Revolutionary Communist 4 Speaking Tour Is Coming to Your Area: Funds Are Needed!

2005-07-07T05:54:00.000-07:00

IT'S TIME TO THROW OFF THE CHAINS OF OPPRESSION AND GET WITH THE EMANCIPATORS OF HUMANITY!

In these dangerous times, Revolutionary Communist Speaking Tour is set to hit the road, spreading revolution and communism and challenging those at the bottom of society to step forward and become emancipators of humanity.

Is revolution really possible? What does it mean to emancipate all of humanity and what does that have to do with Black people's experience of slavery and oppression which continues down to today? Why is communism the answer and what does it mean for people to be communists and to get involved in a communist movement?

What kind of leadership do we need? How do you judge revolutionary leadership? Is it based on nationality or should it be based on a vision of where we need to go and what we need to do to get out of this nightmare and bring into reality our dreams of a better world?

Is communism a European ideology? Are Black people too much into religion to be attracted to communism? What about spirituality: is it true that communism is cold and devoid of soul?

What future does the Bush team have for the youth in the ghettos and barrios. Prisons and jails, military uniforms and Bibles -- calling on the youth to pray to a non-existent god while fighting, dying, and killing others like themselves for empire.

Can we really rise up and actually get our freedom?

These are all big questions. And this tour is coming your way to get into all this and more -- with no holds barred.

If we are going to be liberators of humanity, we must have a revolutionary, scientific way of looking at the world and approaching all questions. We need the leadership of Bob Avakian, the Chairman of the Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP). We say straight up that Bob Avakian is a visionary and creative revolutionary communist thinker and leader who is serious about leading a revolution in this country. Listen to the love for and profound confidence he has in the people:

"One of the things that I see, something that I haven't lost sight of, is this: I see all the strength of the ruling class, but I also see all the way through all this shit, all the contradictions in society -- I actually see a force in this society that, if it were developed into a revolutionary people, actually could have a go at it, could have a real chance of making revolution, of being the backbone force for revolution, when the conditions were ripe. I see a force of millions and millions and millions -- youth and others--for whom this system is a horror."

This tour is aiming to connect that potential and creativity with revolutionary science -- a powerful combination that could actually mean that we would have a fighting chance to really change things.

We are revolutionary communists, and we do not believe in gods or saviors. We look reality in the face, and we are passionate about changing the world. We are:

CARL DIX: RCP National Spokesperson. In 1970 Carl was one of six active duty GI's at Ft. Lewis who refused orders to Vietnam. A veteran revolutionary activist, Carl was formerly with the Black Workers' Congress and the African Liberation Day Support Committee. He represented the RCP, USA, at the founding press conference for the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement in London in 1984. And he is a co-founder of the October 22nd Coalition to Stop Police Brutality in 1996.

CLYDE YOUNG: In 1990, the Revolutionary Worker published a lengthy interview with Clyde Young, referring to him as Comrade X in that interview. As a teenager, he served time in juvenile "correctional institutions" and while serving a lengthy prison sentence he became a revolutionary -- leading prison rebellions and other political activity. He was influenced by the revolutionary leaders and movements of the 1960s, including Malcolm X, George Jackson and the Black Panther Party. He was also greatly influenced by Mao and the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution in China. Upon his release from prison, Clyde Young met Bob Avakian and recognized in him unique and special qualities as a leader and also his enormous sense of humor. Clyde Young's writings for the revolutionary press range from essays on Martin Luther King and the Vietnam War, Muhammad Ali and boxing to a major analysis of demographic changes, "Since the 60s: Trends of Impoverishment, Oppression, and Class Polarization in the Black Nation."

JOE VEALE: Joe Veale is the spokesperson for the Los Angeles branch of the RCP. Joe arrived in L.A. during the '92 Rebellion determined to link up with the courageous fighters there and fuse their determination to confront injustice with the science of MLM and the cause of communist revolution. Joe is a veteran of the Black Panther Party.
*****

On the tour we will also be dealing with some things that are really vexing for people : for example, what's up with all those crucifixes -- gold and otherwise -- that are so popular? Why is the "Preacherman" speaking for and representing Black people, including some preachers who are hanging out with the Christian Fascists and the Bush crowd, skinning and grinning and spreading that poison among Black people? And what about Bill Cosby's recent (and on-going) tirade about personal responsibility and why is he playing the role of a bootlicker and a flunkey for the ruling class (the powers-that-be) with all that drivel?
What about all that dissin' and disrespectin' the sisters and all that "manhood" shit?

And why do so many young women with so much creativity and revolutionary potential think that the only thing they can do in life is to "make babies?"

What about all that hip-hop capitalism and entrepreneurialism? How can the masses change the world if they, the very people who need revolution the most, are caught up in all that "bling-bling" and "gettin' paid and gettin' rich" and "pimpin' and playin'" and "bangin' and slangin'"?

People of all nationalities who are brutally oppressed at the bottom of society need to start "fighting the powers that be" and start being revolutionaries and communists and emancipators of humanity!

This tour is right on time. We are restless, we are passionate and we are ready to hit the road. So look out, here we come, dropping science as we travel from one end of the country to another.

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We need big funds right away to make this important speaking tour a reality. We call on everyone--masses in the ghettos and barrios, youth and students, and revolutionary-minded people in the arts, sciences, sports, hip hop, the Black media, teachers, lawyers, doctors--to donate generously to make it possible for this speaking tour to happen. Get in touch. Help us spread the word. And invite us to your town.

Make checks and money orders to: "RC4 Speaking Tour" and send to:

RC4 Speaking Tour
P.O. Box 941, Knickerbocker Station
New York, New York 10002-0900
Call us at: 866-841-9139 x2670
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See below for the "challenge letters" issued by proletarians in Los Angeles for the RC4 Speaking Tour!

A Challenge from South Central, Los Angeles: Raise Money for the RC4 Speaking Tour!

2005-07-07T05:53:00.000-07:00

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

The RC4 is coming! These four brothers have a message that people need to hear. They will let people know that there's somebody out here who can break down how to make revolution against this capitalist system and make a future that is way different and better than anything America could ever, ever be. That somebody is Bob Avakian, and that future world is a communist world. People like us need to know this and the RC4 is going to kick off a big conversation on this.

Let's don't bullshit ourselves. To Bush and the capitalists, millions of people, black people and others, living in these ghettoes and housing projects are a liability. They got nothing for us - no jobs - no decent education - no nothing except maybe the military and killing people like us in Iraq or someplace else. We don't fit into their economy. We don't fit into their way of life. We don't fit into the future they are trying to make. If Bush and these people in power get as far as they want to get, or even close to it, it's going to mean lock up and lock down like never before - and maybe straight up genocidal stuff. And all in the name of God. These people are moving against the world fast and our side of the fight has to get out there quick.

The RC4 is going to let people, black people especially, know that Bob Avakian has a vision of the future that is totally opposite of George Bush's.

He says that these youth hanging on the block can be the makers of history. He says we don't have to settle for these scraps and live with a big empty spot in our lives. He envisions a communist world where people will one day look back on this one in disbelief.

The "bling-blingism" -- the "gangsterism" -- the "going to go to heaven when I die -- waiting around -- the "me and mine - black people first - or men first" way of looking at things gets in the way. That stuff is stopping these black youth and others from being emancipators of humanity and taking this planet and the future away from Bush and the class of people he represents. The RC4 are going to speak on this and tell us what we need to hear. We got to turn that into a communist movement among black people that can be a part of making everybody stronger in the
fight against this system and for a world we want to live in.

We believe without a doubt we can do this! We are counting on you to stand with us!

Who We Are
We are black proletarians who grew up in the housing projects and neighborhoods of South Central, Los Angeles. We have been listening to Chairman Avakian's talks on DVD and CDs, and reading Revolution newspaper (formerly known as the Revolutionary Worker). We have come to realize how much people have been cheated - black people down in these neighborhoods have been told for years to vote and they'd have some say so. But they never have had say so about anything and never will under this system. We have been cheated on the truth about capitalism and communism. We have been cheated on history, but we have learned more from Chairman Avakian than in all the history we ever had in school. And religion? That has been one of the biggest rip-offs of all.

We Pledge
We pledge to make sure that the RC4 tour reaches millions. We pledge to raise $1,000 in South Central to support the tour. We are starting with each one of us who works donating a day's wages and the ones who don't work giving a day's worth of whatever money they live on. We are proud to do this. We challenge you to get organized now and support this tour too. Organize a crew to spread the word and bring lots of people to the big events. Raise money! If we raise $1,000, how much will your crew raise?

There are lots of good people in society who have way more money than we do and they will do their part if we fight for them to see what this is all about. These are the people who are going to help us change the world.

Talk to us. We will keep you up on how we are doing.

Down- in South Central

A Response to the Challenges from South Central, Los Angeles

2005-07-07T05:52:00.001-07:00
Dear Sisters and Brothers,

There is nothing I love more than to read, to hear, and to dialogue with Sisters and Brothers who recognize what is really happening to the proletariat and are willing to take an active and participating role in doing something about it. The RC4 is doing it, you are doing it, and I am convinced that others will soon follow suit.

My story is very different, but like the four of you, I know that there is no other alternative than for us to take our freedom. I grew up in Compton in a family that prayed daily, worked hard for what we had, and saw formal education as the only way out of poverty. I recently read Akil's "Losing My Religion" and was immediately reminded of my own upbringing. Like Akil, I too grew up under the influence of a deeply religious, pentecostal mother who made sure that I attended church every Sunday. It was second nature to see members of my congregation "get happy," have "demons" cast out of them, and exhaust precious energy on praying to their peculiarly unresponsive god for life's bare necessities.

My mother spent anywhere between 300 and 400 dollars a month for 14 years to send me to private christian schools. I am sure she saw this as fool-proof method of insuring that I "served the lord" in my adult years, but the fact that I am not religious and have not been since the age of twelve or thirteen lets me know that she, in a way, paid for my ability to discern fact from fiction (although she may not see it that way). It was at the age of twelve or thirteen that I began to notice that religion, with all its dogmatic guidelines and ritualistic customs, was merely a social construct designed to train folks to remain oppressed in this capitalistic system.

The problem is this: WE ARE NOT THINKING! We are not thinking about the prevalent issues that should concern us like why everyone isn't provided food, shelter, and clothing; and why, in this rich economy, there is such a disparity between those who have and those who don't. These social issues are often poorly rationalized under the cloak of religion. They tell us that anything that happens to our physical bodies is unimportant. We are told not to worry about the present, that what will come in heaven will be worth the struggle. We are told that if we receive what they consider to be formal education, then we will reach their pinnacle of "success." But we are failing to realize that those people who are instilling in us a fear of a god in the sky are the same ones instilling in us a respect for their educational system, and we're falling for it.

There is no better time than now for the RC4 to speak on these and other prevalent issues concerning the proletariat. It seemed that during the time of clinton, many people paid less attention to the atrocities committed by those in power; people even claimed clinton was a president "for the people." The wool was pulled over many of our eyes. But because bush and his regime are so openly grotesque in their tactics, the disparities between their words and their actions cannot be ignored.

We hear the bush religious right claiming that the path to god is the only answer, and that if we don't believe in god and adhere to the bible's teachings, we'll all be damned forever in hell. Well, if the god bush talks about is the same one that is referred to in the bible, then bush and all his people are creating one fucked up track record for their god's consistency. They say thou shall not kill, but they are murdering thousands of innocent men, women, and children everyday all over the world. Where is their hellfire? I say we bring it to them!

I cannot pretend that I am not critical of aspects about the RCP. There are several issues that I still struggle with, and have not come to definite conclusions about. But I do understand that to agree with something completely without having had any real criticism or without questioning important issues is just as detrimental and toxic as surrendering to an invisible god. This is why I am so much in support of the RC4 tour. They are not only addressing the issues concerning Black people, but they are providing an open forum for people to talk about these issues; and it is only through the dialectical process that truth and answers can be found.

I am pledging one day's wages towards the RC4 tour. I am looking forward to seeing these four Brothers speak on these and more issues during the tour; but more importantly, I am looking forward to those Brothers and Sisters becoming more interested in the information that will ultimately set us free, and the effect that this tour will have on communities around the country.

Peace!

A Sister from Compton

We Accept the Challenge from "Down- in South Central"

2005-07-07T05:52:00.000-07:00
We Will Stand With You!

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

We were happy to see the challenge from South Central, Los Angeles about the RC4 Tour. Those people are sick of what this system does to people, just like we are. We were already down with this, but their letter made us feel like, "Yeah - more people like us."

We have been getting into Bob Avakian and the RCP for about two months, but we have been thinking about how to fight back for a long time. We were even thinking about trying to start our own group but it looked useless.

We are like the people in the Challenge from South Central; but we grew up Mexican in these projects in the ghettoes of South Central. We know about the discrimination and being treated like you nothing. And we did every kind of bad shit. Robbing people and that kind of stuff that hurt the people. But we always questioned how things worked - we knew something wasn't right.

You will probably think this is bullshit, but we always wanted to help humanity. And when we first ran into the RCP - it was like, "Wow! This is some good shit!" It was like a light - something worthwhile doing. After watching the Revolution DVD, and listening to Bob Avakian talks on CD, it's like he gives you all this information, and it gives you energy to tell the world - "Hey come and see. We have a plan for a better future for all humanity."

We have learned that the capitalist system is really, really fucked up. Bush and his people are holding back the world.

What we like about Bob Avakian is he tells you the truth - the good and the bad. He lets you know about everything that has been done - with history - with everything. He puts it all down. He traces it all in. And he really explains the solution and how it's all going to go. How it?s going to go from socialism to communism, and how the army is still going to be there, and there will be lots of struggles. No holding back - the truth.

The system puts chains on people's minds and makes them think they can't do shit. We are not supposed to be smart enough or brave enough. But with this - we can do something about it, which is fight back. We can be dreamers, and thinkers, and fight for what we believe. And when we talk about what we can do, we are smarter than them and you don't even feel fear. We can free humanity!

The RC4 Tour is going to take all this feeling to black people in a lot of cities and we are with that 100 percent. These are our brothers and sisters and we want them to know how we can do this. We pledge $500 to support the tour - half by July 1 and the other half by July 15. We are with you.

Two more Dreamers, Thinkers and Fighters for Humanity
South Central, Los Angeles

From Immigrant Proletarians in LA: "We pledge to raise $1000 too!"

2005-07-07T05:51:00.000-07:00
We read the letter from the communist comrades from South Central with great happiness and interest. It is very motivational to read and hear from others who are also in the battle to change this fucking dirty society (in Spanish society is close to the word for dirty - sociedad - suciedad) that we live in. We understand that it is the strength of our communist ideology that is motivating us to keep on fighting for the better world that we all dream about. We feel this strength deep down in our bones, our blood and our heart. This strength didn't accidentally enter our bodies, it came to us by dedicating ourselves to struggle with the masses everyday. The truth woke us up from the deep bad dream we were living in before. To understand the enemy (the Capitalist, Imperialist, Fascist Genocidal System) makes us feel many things: anger, resentment but it also makes us strong and useful to serve the people.

We are fed up with this fucking system that is suffocating us and oppresses us more every day, we have to stop it with this fury and strength that conscious men have.

The national tour of the 4 revolutionary communists will bring about a huge leap in the revolutionary interest of the masses. We communists have to work very hard in our neighborhoods and outside of them too. We have to bring hundreds or even thousands of proletarians to the tour - why not? The conditions are demanding it, with all the garbage that the fucking asshole cowboy and his gang are doing.

We are 6 revolutionary communists who came from different parts of the planet and we are working in South Central, Pico Union, East LA and Orange County. To collect money for this tour we gave a days wages. We also have a number of ideas, like selling tamales, having a raffle and we are going to have a get-together on July 3 with immigrant proletarians from Mexico and Central America whom we have been struggling with for awhile. We pledge to raise $1000 like you have for these comrades' national tour.

We were really glad to read your letters and learn from your ideas that you are contributing to revolution. We hope to have more contact with you by letter or by other means of communication. Until next time.

Sincerely,

Communists!

From Immigrant Proletarians in LA: (Spanish Language Version)

2005-07-07T05:50:00.000-07:00
6/25/05

Leimos lo que escribieron los camaradas comunistas de sur central con mucha alegria e interes. Es bien motivante leer o escuchar que otros tambien esten en la lucha por cambiar este pinche SUCIEDAD en que vivimos. Entendemos que es la fuerza de nuestra ideologia comunista que not motiva para sequir luchando para crear ese mundo que todos sonamos. Esta fuerza nos penetra los huesos, la sangre y el corazon de nuestros curepos, esta fuerza no entro a nuestro cuerpo por casualidad, entro por dedicacion de nuestra lucha, que tenemos con las masas todos los dias. La verdad nos desperto de ese mal sueno profundo en que viviamos antes. El conocer a nuestro enemigo (que es el sistema Capitalista, Imperialista, Fascista, Genocidal) nos hace sentir muchas cosas, coraje, desprecio, pero nos hace fuertes y utiles al servicio de las masas.

Ya estamos hartos de este pinche sistema que nos sofoca y nos oprime cada dia mas, tenemos que pararlos con sea furia y fuerza que los hombres con conciencia poseen.

La gira de los 4 comunistas revolucionarios a nivel nacional va hacer un gran salto para despertar el interes revolucionario de las masas. Tenemos que trabajar muy fuerte todos los comunistas en nuestros barrios y afuera de estos tambien. Tenemos que llevar a cientos de proletarios o miles - por que no? Las condiciones lo estan pidiendo a gritos con todas las porquerias que anda haciendo este pinche pendejo del "cowboy" y sus amigotes.

Somos 6 comunistas revolucionarios de diferentes partes del planeta que estamos trabajando en Sur Central, Pico Union, el Este de Los Angeles y el Condado Orange. Para recaudar fondos para esa gira nosotros hicimos lo mismo que ustedes de cooperar un dia de nuestro salario. Tambien tenemos varios ideas como hacer tamales, una rifa, y una reunion el 3 de Julio con los proletarios inmigrantes de Mexico y Centroamerica con quien hemos luchado por un tiempo. Nosotros nos compremetemos a recaudar $1000 como ustedes para la gira de nuestros camaradas por todo el pais.

Nos dio mucho gusto leer sus cartas y aprender de sus ideas que estan aportando a la revolucion. Esperamos tener mas contact por medio de cartas o otros medios de comunicacion.

Hasta la proxima.

Sinceramente,

Comunistas!

Down for Revolution, an Interview with Clyde Young [formerly Comrade X]

2005-06-21T11:28:00.000-07:00

An Interview Reprinted from the Revolutionary Worker (now renamed Revolution)

In this interview, the RW talks with Clyde Young [formerly known as "Comrade X"], a leading comrade in the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA. His life journey - as a Black street youth coming up in the early 1960's, through two prison rebellions, and up to the present - is of definite interest to all sisters and brothers who are looking for a way out of this racist and downpressing system. The interview originally appeared in RW issues #569-573.
Part 1
Coming Up: Fried, Dyed and Laid to the Side

RW: You spent a lot of time in prison when you were coming up and you became a revolutionary in prison - and a revolutionary leader. So we'd like to get down on that whole story. And we know that your experience can shed some light for the brothers and sisters - who are right now up against some heavy fire from the powers-that-be - on why they should become revolutionaries.
There's some lines in the rap by Public Enemy "Don't Believe the Hype" that typify the situation for Black youth today:
"About the gun...
I wasn't licensed to have one
The minute they see me, fear me
I'm the epitome - a public enemy
used, abused without clues
I refused to blow a fuse
they even had it on the news
Don't believe the hype."

How does this song relate to your situation when you were coming up in the 1960's?

Comrade X: A lot of what's captured there speaks to what it is for Black youth and other oppressed youth coming up in this society, not just now, but when I was coming up too. One of the main differences is that now the shit is a lot sharper. Public Enemy has this picture on the front of their album - a Black youth with a target on his chest. And a lot of what characterizes the situation today is that the powers are tightening up their whole state apparatus and in the name of the war on drugs actually conducting a war on the people and the youth. That's the character of it.
Malcolm X used to talk about that there was a minimum security and maximum security. He'd be talking and be saying he had been in prison and he'd tell people, "Well don't be surprised, you're in prison too - it's a question of maximum versus minimum security prison." But increasingly from what I can see, the distinctions are getting blurred. I mean, when you have people getting stopped like these youth stopped in Boston and strip-searched out in public and shit - and housing projects being turned almost literally into prisons - some of the distinctions between the maximum and the minimum is beginning to get blurred.
So things are a lot sharper. And even in terms of the reaction of the youth I think, as is somewhat captured in the lyrics of Public Enemy and some of the other rap groups, there is a rough edge or a hard edge that didn't exist quite in the same way when I was coming up. But there's a lot that's similar in terms of going up against the other side. Like that point from Mao about how the oppressed fight back and in fighting back they search out for philosophy and I think that speaks in a lot of ways to what my life was like.
I can remember when I was arrested for the first time was when I was nine years old. It was a situation where I was in a five and ten cent store - I don't they even have those anymore. I stole something. At this time I can't even remember what it was but it was something really petty. And I was arrested and taken downtown and put in jail. I was in a cell by myself, but I was actually in the jail for men - when I was nine years old. And they held me down there and tried to intimidate me - and succeeded, at that age - until my parents came and got me. This is the kind of thing that happens growing up Black in this country. Had I been white it probably would have been resolved a lot differently, just by either taking me home or telling me not to do it anymore. But in my case, right from the beginning, it was resolved in a very harsh fashion.
From the time before I was a teenager up until I was a grown man way into my twenties, I was repeatedly involved in various contradictions with the state and being put into prison. And if you put together the crimes supposedly that precipitated that, they were all very, very minor. But I'll try to get into some of that as we go along.
The first time that I was really convicted of something was a very minor and petty offense - I stole a pound of hamburger. At the time when I was coming up we were very poor, so I had a scheme that I would work. My mother would send me to the store with a dollar or two, and I would steal what she wanted me to buy, and then I would keep the money to have some spending money. And this one Saturday - I can remember it very vividly - I went in to do that and I got busted. And once again, right away they took me downtown. But this time it wasn't even a question of my parents coming to get me. They put me in a juvenile detention center for a couple
of months and then I was put on probation. This was when I was 12 years old.
By the time I reached 13 I had been arrested again for shoplifting and riding in a stolen car, or stealing a car, which was a violation of my probation of the previous incident of stealing the hamburger. So I was sentenced to the reform school (or boys school) for a period of time. Actually the way they did it at that time was they sent you there indefinitely until you were 18 years old.
At that time I was not really conscious of how to understand all this. There were some ways I knew that this shit wasn't right, some things were wrong, and I had some sense of how Blacks were oppressed. But it wasn't any kind of put-together understanding that I had at that time. So I went off to reform school for nearly a year, and I would say that through all of this I was beginning more and more to get an understanding of some things.

RW: A lot of times the youth are caught up in it but they don't see that it's the whole system coming down on them.

Comrade X: Of course I can see it much more clearly now looking back. At that time when I was growing up in the South, people still had to sit in the back of the bus and were subjected to all kinds of Jim Crow shit. And that was not only true in the South but also in the North. In fact, Malcolm X made the statement at one point that the South began at the border of Canada. In other words, it was the whole country, because in the North some of the same stuff went on, but it was more disguised. 'Cause I can remember even where I lived which was in the North, some
of the drug stores and restaurants, Blacks couldn't sit at the counter - the same way it was in the South. But the whole system, the whole penal system and the whole state apparatus, was set up in sucha way so that everything was aimed back at the oppressed people. And this is the same kind of thing that you see coming down on the youth today in a lot of ways.
You'd go in to see your probation officer or the social worker, and the interviews a lot of times would consist of, "Were you fed well, did your parents abuse you?" Here was a situation where we were very poor and a lot of times it was a question of not having anything to eat of having fuel or coal. I would have to go out and find wood so we could stay warm and eat sugar sandwiches and shit like that. In other words, we didn't have shit. This was before there was a lot of openings in the 60's where people began to get into better paying jobs. And instead of that being looked at as the source of the problem, the authorities, the social workers and such, would ask you, "Well, do you think you're a kleptomaniac?"
And ultimately I came to see it as a bigger problem - that capitalism and imperialism was the source of this and the whole character and nature of the oppression of Black people in this country, having been brought here as slaves, forced into slavery, and then even after slavery being forced into a state of virtual slavery in the South. And all of this had everything to do with the
contradictions that I was facing as I was coming up as a kid.

RW: What happened when you went to boys school?

Comrade X: When I went to boys school it was a very regimented type of situation. The boys were in cottages which were like small houses. But first they kept you in what they called "quarantine" where they oriented you to the rules and basically began the process of breaking your spirit, which is what it was all about. I can remember being in quarantine. The floors were just spotless, you could almost eat off of them. And largely what we spent our time doing was mopping and waxing the floors and walking around with pieces of cloth under our feet so we wouldn't scratch the floors. We couldn't wear shoes or anything.
It was also very segregated. The Blacks were in certain cottages and the whites were in certain cottages. And the whites, to the extent that this could be the case, had more privileges than the Blacks. When I got out of quarantine I went into this cottage - and everybody was going into what we called the scullery - I guess it's some English word for the kitchen - and I was the last to go in. As I walked past the cottage supervisor he said something to me and I said, "No," and all hell broke loose. He knocked me down, threw a chair on top of me, and hit me with a
chair, pulled out a whip and whipped me, and all of this was because I didn't say, "Yes SIR."
They only let you wear your hair so long, so in order to keep your hair long you had to put on a woman's stocking. You'd take it and put it on your hair so that it would be pressed down and it wouldn't be too long. Otherwise they'd make you get it cut off, because when you first go in there it's just like the army. They cut your hair off, it's very regimental, very humiliating. They make you march in formation and say the Lord's prayer and pledge allegiance to the flag and all this kind of regimentation and strict control over everything you did. There were certain areas in the cottage where you could talk and where you couldn't talk and if you were caught talking, there were snitches and whatnot that would write your name down. And if your name came on the list then you would get the strap. For all this talk about child abuse, they would make you lean over a chair and make you pull your pants down and beat you with a razor strap. For talking in the dining room you'd get ten licks - but if you let go of the chair before the cottage supervisor got to ten then you had to start all over again, so this could go on for quite a long time. It was just very fascistic in that kind of way. And that was not all that inconsistent with the atmosphere in the country in the '50s and early '60s - that was the way things were carried out. Later on when I got out and got a little older and came back, I rebelled against some of that - including challenging the cottage supervisor himself.

RW: Where were most of the guys from, what kind of background?

Comrade X: Overwhelmingly proletarians. A lot of the people I met in reform school - and these people came from all throughout the state - later, when I was older and went to prison, there was the same people. This was the track you were on and the people you met there were frequently the same people you met when you got to prison later on in life.

RW: Some people treat the whole question of crime in the inner cities and youth gangs like it never existed before, when in reality the oppressed people have always been in a situation where it was allowable to brutalize each other but crossing that line to fight the system was something different.

Comrade X: That's definitely true. In fact that was a point the Chairman made in the interview about the Black Panther Party. Where I grew up it wasn't like there was organized gangs as such, but it was more that there was turfs, which is more or less the same. It was the East side versus the West and the North side versus the South. If you went on the wrong side of town then it was your ass. Of it you went to a party on the wrong side of town and you stepped on somebody's shoe or something, these minor kind of things like this, it very often went over to violence. And in some other places like Chicago, not only did they have gangs, but they were like empires. Thousands of people were in them and in fact you were forced into them. So it is definitely the case that this has existed for a long time.
And also, too, this whole point of it being "allowable" in a certain sense if you are doing it to one another. It is different than if you even step out and start committing violence and violent crimes against whites, to say nothing if you begin to go over to become a revolutionary and start attacking the system. Then there is a whole different ballgame.

RW: Getting back to your story. Clearly when you were in the boys school and they ran this whole discipline trip on you, it did not work. It did not achieve the results that they desired.

Comrade X: No, it did not. I would have to say before I began to take up revolutionary ideas and especially before I began to take up Marxism-Leninism-Maoism that they could confuse you. They never really succeeded in breaking me and a lot of the people that I grew up with, but they could confuse you in terms of your understanding. I used to think, "Why am I getting into this shit all the time. I don't want to get busted all the time but here I am. I made a promise to myself
that I wasn't going to get into this situation again, but here I am again." In other words, there was a whole thing of making you think it was really you that was the problem rather than that there's a whole system and the whole setup. Like when I was young and used to shoot dice, they used to have different kinds of fake dice they could put in on you. And that's the way this system is: the dice are loaded. They are shooting loaded dice against you.
It wasn't like I really had it all together in terms of why all this shit was happening this way. But like a lot of youth, I not only had dreams but I also thought about why shit was this way and why it was that people over here were poor and people over there were just born rich. Where I lived, on this street and this whole area was all Blacks and extremely poor, but then not far away from where we lived it was like a whole rich section of town. And you'd think about these things. Why was it that way? Why was it that people had to go hungry and go without the basic essentials of what it takes to live? And on the other hand they were mocked and surrounded by all this wealth. That was a thing I did ponder when I was a kid before I came to understand fully what this was all about.

RW: Who were your heroes?

Comrade X: As I grew older I wanted to be a hustler, I wanted to live by my wits and I wanted to be in the streets. I didn't see much of a future in working like a slave eight hours a day like I'd seen my parents do and other people around me. It just didn't seem to be heading anywhere. It didn't have any attraction to me. What attracted me was this other kind of life, where you are more in the streets and living by your wits and hustling. And that's the sort of thing I got into.
When I was coming up a lot of the people that I admired were the older "brave elements" - the brothers who stood on the corners and wore their pants high up. They used to have a style where you wore your pants all the way up to your chest. And they wore their Kadies and they had their switchblades. It was just a certain style of going up against things, not in a conscious way, but there was a certain style in opposition. And it was what it meant to be a youth at that time. Those were a lot of the people that I admired and later ended up in prison with - the
"Brother Russells."
Brother Russell, who himself is dead now, was one of the people that I admired and looked to as a "role model" as opposed to somebody like King. I was reading recently this tale about Staggerlee, and he reminded me of Brother Russell. He was one of the "brave elements" that hung out on the corner. Brother Russell got into prison because he was involved in a crap game and somebody made the mistake of slapping him and he ended up in prison for murder. Brother Russell was not the type of person that you'd want to slap, that was like a serious mistake and ended up to be a fatal mistake. So Brother Russell ended up going to prison and ended up in
prison when I was there. By that time I had become a revolutionary and I became a different kind of "role model" for him so it was kind of a switch.
Those were the kinds of people, the people who had their hair fried and dyed and laid to the side, with a part not too wide. Back then, it was like a process. There was a certain edge to that style that was not respectable, that was "in your face." Black people who were respectable or who were in entertainment might wear a process, but to wear your dorag and to have your dorag in your pocket and that sort of thing, there was a certain unrespectable edge to it that sent the other side up the wall.
They were the outlaws. They would wear their outrageous clothes and they would stand on the corner and they would croon and those kinds of things. And that?s who I admired and who I wanted to model myself after. And later it was me that was out there like that.

RW: In opposition to the treatment you received you developed a certain contempt for death which is similar to the attitude in the lyrics of the NWA rap Fuck the Police:
"...They have the authority to kill a minority.
Fuck that shit, cuz I ain't the one
For a punk motherfucker with a badge and a gun
To be beatin' on and thrown in jail."

Comrade X: I think early on a lot of this contempt for death and a lot of the way the stuff came down was against one another. There was this whole thing about who was bad on the corner and you weren't gonna let anyone get the better of you.
But there was also contempt for the pigs. When I first began committing robberies and burglaries, I would go into a place and start burglarizing it and just in terms of the fearlessness I had of the state, I would go in and start cooking myself a meal. Like I figured they had the same thing that I had and I probably had more heart than they did, so if they came I was ready for them. And that was the spirit that I had and in fact a lot of the youth had, and it?s not all that different
than what exists now.
I was just not long ago rereading some of Malcolm X, and he talks about when he was coming up - this whole thing about "face." It's like a street code and also it's a similar type of code in prison. In other words, the way he puts it in his book is that for a hustler in our sidewalk jungle world, "face" and honor were important, no matter. No hustler could have it known that he had been hyped, meaning outsmarted or made a fool of, and worse a hustler could never afford to have it demonstrated that he could be bluffed, that he could be frightened by a threat and that he lacked nerve. It just basically comes down to machoism - that you can't let people do anything that would offend your manhood or offend your face. And if that happened then you had to go down, or you weren't down.
That was a whole part of existing on the street is that you had to have that heart, have that nerve, not be able to be backed down by someone else if it came to a confrontation. That's part of the whole psychology of the streets that goes on, and some people from the '60s who are getting down on the youth today forget that. This is not something that even just existed in the '60s, Malcolm is talking more back in the '40s, that same kind of code of the streets and also something that exists in prison.

RW: Looking back on it you said you see positive and negative things in it. What do you mean by that?

Comrade X: On the negative side, what can I say: that street code of prison code has a lot of individualism mixed up with it - to say nothing of machoism and male chauvinism. I've been there, I know what it is all about. And I've come a long way in breaking with that kind of outlook. That's the Man's way. Our way is: "Brothers rising up with sisters, strong, proud and with equality: that's our way, the way we all get free." The youth today (and here I'm speaking especially of the brothers) have to be struggling over that kind of thing, that kind of macho outlook. The revolutionaries have to have a first-string orientation and all-the-way revolutionary
politics in command, uniting with the anger of the people and striving to direct it in the most powerful way at this cesspool that they call "the greatest system on earth." And we got to make that part of preparing to bring this system down. As we've said: "While we're battling them back, politically like that, we got to make this part of getting ready for The Time - and it can come soon - to wage revolutionary war."
On the positive side, when these youth begin to become more conscious and that same fearlessness and anger and contempt for death begins to be directed and the system and the powers that be, then you have a whole different ballgame. All that is a necessary part of what we have to do in bringing this whole thing down, you need that, you need that spirit. You obviously need a lot more than "heart" but you do need that. So that?s how it divides into two. On the one hand the way it plays itself out in the streets and in prison and all of that is a reflection of
machoism and gangsterism and that sort of thing. But on the other hand, there is the situation that when that attitude gets transformed through the leadership of a party and when people begin to take up the science of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism, it?s not like you lose that same fearlessness and that same hatred - it's just tempered, if you want to put it that way.
I can remember having a lot of hatred, but it was not focused and not directed and oftentimes it would be focused in the wrong way and the wrong direction, but it?s not like I've lost that hatred and anger. I still have a monumental anger and a monumental hatred for imperialism, as the song says, "deep in my heart I still abhor 'em." And after all these years, I still don't fear them. So the question is how do you lead that, how do you have a first-string orientation.
When I was coming up, there wasn't a party, there wasn't a party that was based on Marxism-Leninism-Maoism, that could give some direction. And later as I got into my teens there was the Black Panther Party which played a vanguard role and made a tremendous difference. Today there is a party, our party, that is preparing to make revolution in this country as a component part of the world revolution. There is a party with the line, leadership and battle-plan to lead things all the way this time around.
A whole generation of youth came forward in the '60s who wouldn't be intimidated and weren't too impressed with the power of the state, and we need to bring that forward again and take it all the way this time.

On the Wrong Side for Humanity --- Again! Jesse Jackson -- And the Schiavo Case (Carl Dix)

2005-06-21T07:10:00.000-07:00

by Carl Dix

"Antiabortion conservative Randall Terry emerged from a session with Jackson in tears, saying the former Democratic presidential candidate discussed Jesus Christ's resurrection with Terri Schiavo's parents before hitting the phones.

"'I just had one of the more profound moments in my life in that room,' said Terry, who has become a spokesman for the Schindler family and has long been known for confrontational tactics at abortion clinic protests. 'May God bless Jesse Jackson.' "

from the Boston Globe, March 30, 2005

Jesse Jackson swooped into Florida near the end of March to stand beside the parents of Terri Schiavo. He came because he said that keeping Terri alive was "one of the profound moral issues of our time." He also said this was a transcendent moment and an opportunity in which conservatives and liberals could find common ground.

And a voice said: HERE HE GOES AGAIN--JESSE JACKSON ON THE WRONG SIDE FOR HUMANITY--SERVING THE MASTER ONCE MORE!

And Jesse, I have to say that after this latest performance in Florida, the hours you would have to spend doing self-criticism for the crimes you have perpetrated on the masses just went into triple overtime!

And here is a newsflash: The people you are trying to find common ground with are none other than extreme right-wing fundamentalist forces who aim to do nothing less than impose a Dark Ages morality and world view on U.S.society. They didn't care about the medical facts of this case?that Terri Schiavo's brain was virtually liquid, or that she was incapable of thought or emotion and without hope of recovery. It didn't matter to them what Terri or her husband, Michael, wanted, or what most people in the country thought about this case. To them Terri Schiavo was just an opportunity to step up their drive to impose their brand of fundamentalist religion as the law of the land. One that they seized on big time.

There is no finding common ground with this.

Face it, Jesse, the only reason you were given the limelight in this case was to help disarm people to the reactionary thrust of the politics being advanced. Just like in the 1980s when you declared yourself a "general" in the system's war on drugs, which was really a war on the people.

Now your mission in this holy crusade seems to be to fly into the bible belt?which just also happens to be the lynching belt?and lull people to sleep about what the Christian fascists have in store for the people. And what morality is that? People deprived of scientific knowledge about how the world really is, people enslaved by ignorance and superstition, women abused by husbands and fathers who think they have a god-given right to dominate, women thinking that their value to society is to be making babies, more punishment, prisons and executions, more deaths from AIDS because of a cruel "abstinence-only" approach to sex, people blaming themselves for how the system forces them to live.

Jesse, to put it plainly, you and those Black preachers who are linking up with the CF's to spread a lot of poisonous nonsense against gay marriage and abortion are just scouting out the road to the death camps.

And I want to shout out to all the thinking people who are still expecting people like Jesse Jackson to represent them?everyone has to WAKE UP!

Where do our interests lie?

Not with the people who want to take science away from the masses.

And not with Jesse Jackson.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: For more materials by Carl Dix, please go to his blog at http://comradecarl.blogspot.com

Still Carrying the Red Book: Reflections on the Black Panther Party (Joe Veale)

2005-06-21T07:04:00.000-07:00

October 2001 marked 35 years since the Black Panther Party (BPP) appeared on the scene in Oakland, California. This occasion prompted me to reflect on those intense and wild times. 1 hope to shed some light on the legacy of the BPP and its lessons for a new generation of rebels and revolutionaries today, as we face the challenges of building a powerful movement against the current "open ended" war and police state measures, such as the round-ups of Arabs, Muslims and South Asians.

For a few sweet years in the late '60s and early '70s, the BPP flipped the script on the system. Instead of the system getting away with putting people up against the wall and making us assume the position -the BPP led the people to put the whole white racist power structure up against the wall. The Panthers had taken this vanguard responsibility during a time when the eruption of-the Black Liberation Movement had sent 100 U. S. cities up in flames! It was a time when massive street fighting, rebellion, and a revolutionary movement swept through the ghettoes, barrios, and co11ege campuses.

People were fighting the system and searching for philosophy to guide this fight. In my opinion, the most important thing the BPP picked up in this regard was the little Red Book of Quotations from Mao Tsetung. This book was so popular during the '60s that it outsold the bible around the world! During its revolutionary days, the BPP had - said Mao was the baddest muthafucka on the planet earth. This was the spirit of the times.

The BPP challenged people to face reality that this capitalist-imperialist system cannot be reformed, that it would take an armed revolution to get rid of it. I remember a poster of a BPP rally that a lot of people had on their walls ---it was a picture of clench-fisted Black youth captioned with a quote from Mao that read: "The revolutionary war is a war of the masses. It can only be waged by relying on the masses and mobilizing them." We challenged people to realize that no force is more powerful than the revolutionary spirit of the people. We saw rice farmers in Vietnam ---with straw sandals and a rifle ---kick the ass of the mightiest military power in the world.

"The spirit of the people is greater than the man's technology" was what Huey Newton had said. Panther members went about the work of unlocking and directing this revolutionary spirit.

The BPP boldly and proudly took responsibility to unite the struggles of people in this country with the struggles of our brothers and sisters around the world to "defeat U.S. imperialism and their running dogs!" We felt that Black and other oppressed people were inside the belly of a giant octopus that had its tentacles around the world sucking the blood of people everywhere. To US, for Black people to be free -from being robbed by the capitalists, from racism, from police brutality, from miseducation and unemployment, from being railroaded to prisons -it would take nothing less than a revolution. We argued against those who thought putting some, Black faces in higher places could bring liberation for the people.

The world was in flames and the BPP was on the frontlines trying to fan those flames into a raging revolutionary fire. This inspired thousands of Black youth from the inner cities like myself to become revolutionaries, along with many Puerto Rican, Chicano, Asian, Native American, and white youth.

I recall early discussions and arguments I had with some rank and file Panther members, people I'd known since childhood. They would sit on the steps of my grandmother's house and talk about why I needed to devote my life to revolution, to serve the people. Some time during 1968, they told me I was drafted into the BPP. I moved in with them before making the leap to joining in 1969. Joining meant that I was given a purpose in life for the very first time. Instead of just accepting the hand (from the stacked deck) the system had dealt me, which meant poverty, unemployment, discrimination, hustling on the streets or prison, I had something to live and die for. I could make a difference for oppressed people here and around the world." ~ This was the kind of effect we had on hundreds of thousands of people from all walks of life across the U.S. We even touched the hearts and brought out the best in middle class people -- artists like Richard Pryor, MarIon Brando, and Jean Seaberg supported our struggle. All this threatened the status quo and all those who had a stake in stopping the growing revolutionary movement.

This was why the FBI's COINTELPRO (counter-intelligence program) along with local police forces were sent to murder Chicago Panther leaders Fred Hampton and Mark Clark. It was why they vamped 500 deep on the L.A. chapter. It was why they set up, tortured, and jailed the New York Panther 21. It was why they had a disinformation campaign to sow lies, distrust, and dissension in the ranks of the BPP and the whole revolutionary movement. They murdered over 28 Panthers, jailed many, many more. Many of these political prisoners are still in prison today, while others are still forced to live outside this country in exile.

It is important to recognize that while we were out front taking political responsibility, we didn't fully understand all that was involved in doing this. This is not surprising. We were just starting out and needed time to sort out the things that would lead us to genuine liberation versus things that would lead us away from it. The ruling class did not give us time. As soon as we stepped out there, they came down on us and came down hard. This is expected. After all, they are oppressors. But this meant the BPP legacy had two sides -- finished and unfinished business.

The BPP not only talked the talk, but walked the walk of revolution. This influenced millions in the same direction, capturing the imagination of a whole generation not just here but around the world. We popularized the need for studying revolutionary theory, like Mao's little Red Book. Some of us began to look to the science of revolution that Mao applied in China -the science we call today Marxism-Leninism-Maoism. This is the revolutionary side of the BPP's legacy.

But there is another side to the legacy of the BPP. Continuing to talk the talk and walk the walk required us to develop correct answers to basic questions and analyze new developments for making revolution in the U.S. Questions that the whole revolutionary movement was up against then. What is a winning strategy that could really defeat a powerful enemy as U.S. imperialism? Who would lead the revolution? Would it be Black people, the lumpen, or would it be the proletariat of all nationalities? What ideology will lead to real liberation -nationalism (Black people first) or internationalism (the oppressed of the world first)? What would the future society look like?

These kinds of questions were a source of struggle among radicals and revolution-aries at the time, including inside the BPP. For a number of reasons, all of which I can't get into here, the BPP did not come up with correct answers to these questions before disbanding as a revolutionary organization in the early '70s. These questions confront a new generation today as they develop resistance and consciousness, and many are looking to the BPP's history for insights. These are questions that some '60s people might be thinking about again, especially with the U.S. govern-ment's new war and repression juggernaut, and the need for a new wave of resistance.

A quick glance at today's world of extreme wealth and poverty shows that revolution is still very much needed. Look at the 5,000 Iraqi kids who die every month because of U.S. sanctions. Look at the African orphans who roam the countryside because whole villages are destroyed by the spread of AIDS, as U.S. drug companies hold medications hostage for the sake of higher profits. Look at the Mexican people slaving in U.S. owned sweatshops making TVs and computers but live in shantytowns without electricity or clean water, their children dying of diseases like cholera. Look inside the U.S. where millions are locked in minimum wage jobs, homeless shelters, housing projects, or prisons. Look at the situation today where one third of Black people are worse off then in 1970. Look at how a woman is a victim of rape or attempted rape every 2 minutes. Look at how since September 11, the U.S. has bombed Afghanistan, unleashed a draconian warfare police state, and openly threatens to use nukes against numerous countries!

When the BPP disbanded, I was in turmoil over whether this murderous system was here to stay and whether there was any hope for revolution. I was imprisoned for 5 years at Leavenworth penitentiary. Ironically, like many others, it was in prison where I got into deep study and debate about revolutionary theory. I am forever grateful to one of the Leavenworth Brothers for introducing me to the RCP's literature. I got deeper into Mao and came to see that he was about more than armed struggle, that he had a whole vision of a totally different society and world. I learned that Mao's approach of "uniting all who can be united" to defeat the enemy was a strategy for revolution which had to be applied to the concrete conditions of the U.S. It was this study of the RCP's line and checking out its revolutionary practice that convinced me to make another leap -- from revolutionary nationalism to revolutionary communism -- adopting the ideology of the have-nots of all nationalities, the ideology of all-the-way revolution that Mao stood for.

For the oppressed here and around the world, the BPP left a lasting legacy of a force right here in the belly of the beast that had stood for revolution. I think upholding this legacy means to grapple with the strengths as well as weaknesses of the BPP, and to work and apply those lessons. I've been involved with that process as part of the RCP for the past 22 years as I continue to organize amongst and "serve the people." The RCP has produced a new Draft Programme that proposes answers to the perplexing problems of the revolutionary process in the U.S. that I mentioned above. I invite all those who want to see change and revolution, whether from back in the day or from the new.

All Power to the People!

Joe Veale
RCP Spokesperson, Los Angeles Branch
joeveale48@hotmail.com.
(310) 719-0985

c/o Libros Revolucion
312 W. 8th Street
Los Angeles, CA 90014