Summer 2014

BA Everywhere... Imagine the Difference It Could Make!

June 30, 2014 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us

This summer the BA Everywhere campaign is planning to make big advances in impacting society—changing how people think about the world—why it is the way it is, and how it could be radically transformed through revolution—with crucial steps towards millions of people knowing that there is a way out of the horror and madness of today. This summer, hundreds and then thousands of people need to become a part of raising the big funds necessary so that this is known in every corner of society.

Taking out the "1000 Years-$1000" challenge to relatives of prisoners and ex-prisoners. Photos: Special to Revolution

Look around... talk to people... check out the news... the world is in great turmoil... people agonize about the state of their lives, the state of the world, even the planet’s survival. Lives are stolen by the millions—in wars, in people fleeing desperately across militarized borders, in the prisons. Dreams are thwarted and crushed. People’s anger at the brutality, degradation, and profound alienation that so many feel, gets taken out against each other and themselves. There is profound discontent that seethes beneath the surface.

Yet, people don’t understand the root cause of why the world is the way it is, and that a radically different way the world could be is possible. They have deep questions—questions they often haven’t even allowed themselves to ask. When confronted with what is to be done about the state of the world, people hit an ideological block. This can, and must, change.

The BA Everywhere campaign is about making that change. People need to know about the revolutionary leader Bob Avakian (BA) and engage the work he has done. Nobody speaks to the questions confronting humanity like BA. He has analyzed in a more scientific way the problem humanity confronts in the capitalist-imperialist system, he’s broken this down so people can understand this and work with the framework he has developed. Even more fundamentally, he has charted the way forward, forging a viable vision and framework for a radically better world. BA has developed a new synthesis of communism that provides a deep scientific understanding of the methods, goals, strategy, and plan for making revolution and creating a far better society, leading to the emancipation of humanity. And he leads a party, the RCP, USA, that is building a movement for revolution here and now.

This must be a summer and accelerating into the fall when BA and what he has brought forward becomes known by millions of people. A time when thousands, then tens of thousands, not only hear about BA, but engage his work: reading, watching, discussing, debating, and going out to friends, relatives and colleagues with what they learn. A time when, as people talk about how bad things are, others will say: “Have you checked out BA and the Party and movement for revolution he leads?” A time when throughout the country, people are familiar with who BA is and have a basic sense of what he stands for—and this becomes a reference point when people talk about what is to be done about the big questions of the state of the world. And, as a part of this, a growing section of people is connecting with the Party and the movement for revolution.

For this to really be—to make BA known on a huge scale—requires serious money, and that takes lots of people raising funds from thousands more people. Raising funds is being serious, and it’s making a difference—by those who do the asking and by those who donate.

The campaign kicks into a higher gear at picnics across the country on the July 4th weekend with the words of the escaped slave and freedom fighter Frederick Douglass: “What To a Slave Is Your Fourth Of July?” And, answers with a theme for the summer: “We Refuse to Accept Slavery in Any Form!”

The BA Everywhere campaign is crucial, as the leading edge of a whole ensemble of revolutionary work, to changing blocs of people’s thinking to where the possibility of ending all forms of slavery would be possible. Breaking through the ways that people’s thinking is trapped within the confines of what is—that this dog-eat-dog system is the best and only way the world could be... and consciously or unconsciously accepting the verdict from those who rule or defend this capitalist-imperialist system that the communist revolutions of the 20th century were a failure.

The BA Everywhere campaign is bringing something different: a deep understanding of why the world is the way it is—the problem; and that there is another way the world could be through revolution as concentrated in the new synthesis of communism developed by BA—the solution. Bob Avakian and the BA Everywhere campaign are about this: problem and solution—nothing less. If this is made known in all corners of society, that would change the face of everything—with the biggest questions and biggest dreams for the future being debated and setting terms.

To get to that point means lots of people joining the campaign. Summer 2014 must see the BA Everywhere campaign going out to the people in a bold, mass way, stirring things up—as the leading edge of a whole ensemble of revolutionary work that’s “Fighting the Power, and Transforming the People, for Revolution,” inviting and involving people in spreading BA and raising funds to do so on an ever greater scale and unleashing a society-wide ideological struggle over what’s the problem and the revolutionary solution. BA Everywhere committees should be growing: canvassing, reaching out and raising funds, building community in the parks, housing projects, summer festivals. To realize the ambitious vision for this summer and fall will mean working with people... having lots of entry-level ways that many people can join... providing people with a vision and plan—an approach that revolutionaries call “Grasp Revolution, Promote Production”^*—and breaking down the ways for people to be a part of making this real. The campaign should be out among the people – raising sights and giving them the opportunity to learn about and contribute to something that could make a tremendous difference for humanity.

Running through everything this summer is the film BA Speaks: REVOLUTION—NOTHING LESS! This mind-blowing talk is 6+ hours that can change how people see the world and what they do with the rest of their lives.

In the fall of 2012, Bob Avakian gave a series of talks in different cities. This is a film of one of these talks.

"Yes, this is a film, but that is not its essence. This is a daring, substantive, scientific summoning to revolution. 6+ hours that can change how you see the world and what you do with the rest of your life."

–From one of the filmmakers

 

© 2013 The Bob Avakian Institute.
All rights reserved
Producer: The Bob Avakian Institute
RCP Publications is a licensed distributor

3 DVD set. $15 (+ $3 shipping charge)
Total running time: 6 Hours, 18 Minutes

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BA says in the film, “Those this system has cast off, those it has treated as less than human, can be the backbone and driving force of a fight to not only end their own oppression, but to finally end all oppression, and emancipate all of humanity.” This speaks to a big part of the heart of another theme for this summer, “Revolution in the City”—reaching out to and challenging especially the youth in the crosshairs of this system. Making this a summer where BA Everywhere is the leading edge of the whole ensemble of work that is preparing today for revolution. Where, when people are organizing for the October Month of Resistance against mass incarceration and fighting back against this, they are finding out about BA Everywhere. Where, when people are organizing for the Abortion Rights Freedom Ride and fighting back against the attacks on women, they are finding out about BA Everywhere. Where, when people are organizing for the massive Climate March at the UN in New York on September 20-21, 2014, and fighting back to save the environment, they are finding out about BA Everywhere. Where, when people come together at concerts and festivals that inspire and bring people together, they are finding out about BA Everywhere.

In the context of the overall BA Everywhere campaign, there are several focuses. Each of these focuses should serve to project BA and the campaign as a whole far and wide, and should raise significant funds for the projects themselves, and for the campaign as a whole.

• 1000 Years–$1000 for BA Everywhere is a call to prisoners, ex-prisoners, families and friends of individuals locked up in the massive penitentiaries of America, along with people from all walks of life who feel that this is immoral and intolerable. Already, way over 1,000 years of prison sentences have been accumulated with a dollar raised for each year served by those who have pledged their own, or a loved one’s or friend’s years. And this has begun to be multiplied several times over by many others donating matching and multiplying funds. The potential of this campaign is huge. By the Month of Resistance in October, “1000 Years–$1000” should aim to raise tens of thousands of dollars. And this should be expressed in a national day of major determined action that involves hundreds of people in early October as a part of the Month of Resistance.
• Second is a project to fund “BA Speaks: REVOLUTION—NOTHING LESS!” T-shirts and BA image T-shirts to create a growing sense that BA and the movement for revolution is spreading. The shirts should become a statement of defiance. Wearing the shirt represents standing with a leader who is about getting rid of this criminal system and bringing about a world fit for human beings. Youth and others should be getting sponsorships for their shirts, and joining with the BA Everywhere campaign to raise big funds to subsidize many more shirts so that as these are worn at coordinated times, and especially in the heat of sharp struggles, they create an impact reverberating throughout society. The campaign should be raising thousands of dollars to make this possible, inspiring donors to donate way more than the cost of the shirts themselves.
• The BA Everywhere campaign is calling for a “You Can’t Break All the Chains, but One” Day in early August, that is focused on BAsics 3:22. A day of determination to end the oppression of women and of celebration of the publication of the Break ALL the Chains! Bob Avakian on the Emancipation of Women and the Communist Revolution. The whole summer should see massive distribution of the Sampler Edition of this seminal work by BA on the liberation of women. The week leading up to this day could involve screenings at bookstores, street theater, and going out to actions and speak-outs supporting the Abortion Rights Freedom Ride which will be just getting underway in Texas. This day should bring together all kinds of people who want to end slavery in all its forms—an occasion to share experiences, marshal forces, and raise funds.
• In late August the BA Everywhere campaign is calling for nationally coordinated screenings of BA Speaks: REVOLUTION—NOTHING LESS! We will show about 75-90 minutes of the film and have a short program. These events will cap off the summer and be a pivot towards fall—culminating the summer outreach and fundraising and reaching out to and involving even more people to make an even bigger impact as school starts.

An important objective and focus of the BA Everywhere campaign, especially in August, should be inspiring and organizing people of all strata to join in taking BA Everywhere out to the campuses at the start of the semester. And there should be a special focus on organizing a significant Revolution—Nothing Less! Contingent—with scores of people, especially youth wearing the T-shirts—at the September 20-21 “A Call to Arms: An Invitation to Demand Action on Climate Change” demonstration in NYC coinciding with the UN Climate Summit 2014. Indeed, throughout August the campaign should be bringing to people why and how only revolution could begin to really tackle the problem of a sustainable planet.

Each of these component focuses should serve to strengthen the whole of the BA Everywhere campaign—getting out broadly; going deeply into problem and solution with people and sparking lively debate; and involving many people, getting them organized into committees and with the national campaign to raise the big funds that are necessary to make a big impact with BA on the whole of the country.

* See Bob Avakian’s “Grasp Revolution, Promote Production—Questions of Outlook and Method, Some Points on the New Situation.” [back]

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