Revolution April 12 Online
April
12
To
all those participating in the drive to get out ½ million
copies of the special issue of Revolution
about Bob Avakian:
|
There has been a lot learned and a lot accomplished in the first week of this drive. We have to build on all this now and take it to another level to achieve our goals, as part of the first phase of really making this leader known to millions of people.
What’s been revealed:
- a tremendous sense among many that these times demand very radical and revolutionary leadership to be out there and heard from, and a real openness to and beginning connection with Bob Avakian and what he’s all about;
- an eagerness among many, many people, from many different walks of life, to both get the word out and begin to get deeply into this;
- a whole host of questions, different among different people, that are spoken to or touched on in the special issue and, with much more depth, in Bob Avakian's works, that have been drawn out and joined with thousands of people in the course of this;
- the importance of the DVD [Revolution: Why It’s Necessary, Why It’s Possible, What It’s All About] in all this – getting deeply into people’s questions and sparking them even more to take this material out – and the importance of getting this out as we are doing the special issue;
- a particularly burning desire to get into all this among immigrants, who are directly under the gun of this system;
- some particular eagerness on the part of radical-minded students to take this out and connect this vision to the people on the bottom of society.
In other words, what’s been even more deeply revealed is the potential for this leader and what he represents to take root much more broadly and deeply in society.
What’s been accomplished:
As of Sunday night, April 8, we had achieved over 1/4 of our goal. The paper had gotten out from New York City to Los Angeles; from Chicago to Salt Lake City, Utah; from Atlanta to Berkeley, California. It’s gotten out among, and been engaged by, immigrant construction workers and people in the projects, among prisoners and their families, and professors and their students, among people in movements for social change, and thousands of everyday people. The special issue has been spread by all kinds of people – teachers and clergy and librarians and bands and tax preparers. There’s been ads in newspapers and slots on the radio. In sum:
- a small, but significant, slice of all the people who would want to get into these politics and hear about – and engage with – Bob Avakian have actually gotten a chance to hear about him for the first time;
- hundreds of people have participated in this, in different kinds of ways, and thousands more have taken papers and expressed an interest or desire to get into this. For many, this is their first time actively promoting revolutionary politics;
- in some areas and campuses, there has begun to be a “saturation” effect achieved. That means a situation where everyone knows about or has heard of Bob Avakian; where there is beginning to be a buzz; and where people are starting to engage with what he’s brought forward.
- some people are beginning to get organized around revolutionary politics.
All this is very important and a good beginning. It provides a basis to reach our goals – if we learn from what we’ve done so far, build on it, and take things to a higher level.
What we have to do now:
- Go all out to saturate key areas, even while going broadly throughout society; as we do this, bring new people forward to join the effort.
- Get back to everyone who took papers to sum up what’s happened, how to understand it, and how to do more so that we can achieve our goals. Call everyone who’s given their names and get them into the effort, including going out with teams so that they can learn how to get this paper out to thousands themselves.
- Get back to all teachers, clergy, owners of small businesses, people who work at community centers and clinics and libraries, etc. Sell these people the DVD to use in their areas and figure out with them how to get the special issue out deeply into their networks and the people they come into contact with every day.
- Get ourselves organized so that when this is over we are able to sum this up and then move forward to build this revolutionary movement in a more organized and powerful way.
- Report back your experience.
Issued by the editors of Revolution
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