A Great Weekend: Berkeley Library Showing of Revolution—Nothing Less! and Picnic for BA Everywhere
September 23, 2013 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us
From readers:
A fitting culmination of the BA Everywhere Campaign this summer in the S.F. Bay Area unfolded on the weekend of August 24-25. On Saturday, August 24, 70 people came to watch the film BA Speaks: REVOLUTION—NOTHING LESS! Bob Avakian Live at the Berkeley Central Library. The next day, a picnic/barbeque brought 50 people together to celebrate the summer's work of spreading BA's work and vision everywhere to thousands of people and to raise big funds to do this.
On Saturday afternoon, the library's community room drew an unusual mix of people of all ages and nationalities, many of whom had just heard of BA or the film. In the mix were Black teenagers, Latino and African immigrants, homeless people, older white activists, students, and revolutionaries. Some had just heard about the film that day. Others learned about it from the Revolution—Nothing Less! Van Tour, which traveled throughout the Bay Area in the week leading up to the showing.
Many people were compelled to come because of the film's theme that revolution and nothing less is what's needed. Events in the world—like the Zimmerman acquittal in the Trayvon Martin murder, the U.S. threats against Syria, the protests in Egypt, and the attacks on abortion—have made a lot of people more deeply think about and question why things are the way they are, what it would take to change them, and what needs to be done now.
The film was projected on a very wide screen, and the sound was of high quality, contributing to the audience getting the maximum impact from the screening. There were periods of quiet listening that were punctuated repeatedly by people speaking up and applauding, laughing, and agreeing with certain parts.
The film inspired but also challenged and shook up what some people thought about things. After the film, a young white woman, an ex-prisoner, expressed the feelings of many when she said, "This really resonated with me." She said she was "impatient" and wanting to know HOW a revolution could be made.
There was some intense struggle over religion. A Black woman from a shelter in East Oakland walked out early in the screening saying, "I don't like what he's saying about god. I'm a child of god. He's my father." She was really torn—she agreed with other things BA had to say, but was so bothered by his comments on religion that she felt she could not stay. After some discussion, she went back in and stayed for the whole showing—by the end of the movie she said she could see better why BA would say religion is harmful, though she still disagreed about god.
Some took beginning steps into the movement for revolution after seeing the film. A Black guy who goes to community college said he liked what BA said about slavery and what happened afterwards. He wanted to be part of the movement for revolution and took all our posters with BA's "Three Strikes" statement and a stack of palm cards with BA quotes to get out.
The following day, a BBQ marked the culmination of the summer's work of reaching out to, influencing, and drawing in new people into this campaign. All summer we've gotten into big questions about the direction of society, what kind of revolution is needed, how such a revolution could come about, and what we would replace it with. Questions about revolution vs. reform, human nature, religion, and leadership have been debated while we've raised funds to get out BA Everywhere. Thousands of people now know who Bob Avakian is and that there is a beginning movement for revolution. People were in a celebratory mood, coming off all that and the successful film showing the day before. There was a welcoming atmosphere of people being part of a community, where new and old people were mixing and getting into it.
We held a short program. The emcee opened with: "All summer we've been talking to hundreds of people, getting out thousands of cards for the film, to people from the bottom of society to middle class people at concerts, to festivals, from Art Murmur (a monthly street festival) to Art and Soul (music and art event in Oakland), from the Tenderloin (a neighborhood in S.F. with many oppressed people) to an opera concert at Stern Grove in S.F., to resort areas in the south and north of S.F. We've introduced BA to people who have never heard of him or about this movement for revolution. We've met people who are drawn to this movement and want to know more about it."
Speakers, music, and spoken word made up the rest of the program. One speaker had spent the last month on the Abortion Rights Freedom Ride and had just returned. She talked about the need to take on the attacks on abortion, which are aimed at keeping women down by forcing them into motherhood. She and another woman did a spoken word piece on the oppression of women, written that day.
A revolutionary spoke about the California prisoners' hunger strike, which at that point was in its 49th day, and how the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation decided that people can be force-fed, which is torture on top of torture. He called on everyone to support the heroic struggle the prisoners are waging to stop the torture of solitary confinement.
Some of the people who contributed cultural performances had just stepped into the movement for revolution this summer. The audience applauded and cheered for a duo that performed Nina Simone's song "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free." Three people performed poems or raps. A graffiti artist did three raps with themes of the destruction of the environment and Occupy. A Revolution Club member performed a piece on Trayvon Martin.
After the cultural presentations, loud and funky music played by a deejay brought kids and older people to their feet, moving and grooving to the beat. It was really entertaining and a lot of fun.
New shoots that have been developing through the summer were evident at the picnic. There were very new people who came. Some people who came to the March premiere of BA Speaks: REVOLUTION—NOTHING LESS! have developed politically in these few short months through getting involved in taking out BA Everywhere in the midst of the highly charged struggle after the not guilty verdict came down in the murder of Trayvon Martin.
There was a lot of time to talk to different kinds of people from varying perspectives and get to know each other. The topics of conversation ranged widely, including big questions about the kind of society we live in and what kind of real choices people have under this system, especially those who are cast off and treated as if they are problems, and how could we really go up against the might of the system and win.
Some people were eager to share what they thought of the film. A 21-year-old Black man said, "The film was very interesting because I related to a lot of things, for example, the U.S. wouldn't be the U.S. without slavery... It [the film] brings out the truth. He was real. He was saying it from his heart. I can tell when people are just talking. I agree with what he said about police murder. The talk came from him and he wants me to think. He's a brave person for saying this."
This and other heartfelt comments were an indication of how deeply this film connects with people and how at the same time people bring all kinds of ideas and outlooks with them as they are drawn to the film. Just think what a difference it would make if thousands of people were to watch this film and spread it everywhere, and society were filled with engagement with BA.
When the sky got dark enough, we projected the end of the BA film onto a large outdoor screen. People quietly and intently listened to BA talk about why what he said in this talk can't be regarded as just words, but must be taken out to others so we can change the world. We ended the event with a call for people to answer this challenge and by emphasizing that everyone there was needed to spread this everywhere to even more people.
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