Revolution #228, April 3, 2011
On the Occasion of the Publication of BAsics
A Celebration of Revolution and the Vision of a New World
Monday, April 11, Harlem Stage, NYC
Additional Host Statements...
During these distressing times of capitalism-gone-berzerk, and all out war on children, women, the elderly, the sick, families and anyone with a dissenting voice, we MUST be able to hear the voice of the people—not the terrorist voice presented as the only option by Fox News et al, but the voice of international solidarity that celebrates and defends social justice and human rights for ALL—a united, harmonious voice that prioritizes the well being of the earth and its inhabitants WAY ahead of greed and profit. We cannot hand over our lives and those of our descendants to the poor souls who have sold out and/or bought into the profit at any cost concept that is rapidly causing the deterioration and destruction of life on earth. Nor can we continue to allow the often blissful ignorance of colonial mentality to dominate society. We simply cannot afford to keep supporting slavery, genocide and widespread abuse of every imaginable kind, by remaining quiet, consumed by the very products and fears of the rotten, abusive system.
As we witness the death throes of this type of super-abusive capitalism, it becomes quite important that we give voice to those who truly seek universal peace, liberty and dignity. The April 11th, 2011 event at the Harlem Stage in New York entitled, 'On the Occasion of the Publication of BAsics: A Celebration of Revolution and the Vision of a New World,' will be a major step towards the free and open exchange of ideas and real alternatives that merit the consideration of the greater international community of working class citizens and those of conscience who know that a systemic change is necessary and long overdue. It is ironic that we have been made to believe that we are revolutionaries because we are pro-art, pro-truth, and pro-human rights. But revolutionaries we are, and we should wear it on our sleeves as we stand together against ineffectual, incapable, insensitive, and deceitful politicians and the money they represent, as they falsely lead us further into darkness in the name of freedom, patriotism and religion. In the name of real freedom fighters, past, present, and future, long live the voices of equality and justice—the voice of love!!!
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from Nicholas Heyward Sr., father of Nicholas Jr. who was murdered by a NY city cop in 1994
Just this past Friday, March 18, a young man in Brooklyn named Jonathan Smith was brutally beaten by a mob of NYC cops. These cops had already shackled his legs and cuffed his hands behind his back, and still they started to beat him and kept beating him till he was dead. His mother and his son, along with many other people, stood and watched, begging the cops to stop beating him, but they wouldn't stop till they had beaten all the life out of his body.
In 1994, when a cop killed my 13 year old son, Nicholas Jr as he and other children played, no one could tell me that this cop wasn't going to go to jail. Not only did the system let this cop go without any punishment, cops across the country have brutalized and murdered people and continue to brutalize and murder people and almost never go to jail. With all this happening I can't understand how all the politicians all over the world still tell the people how great this country is; and that so many people continue to listen to them.
I remember hearing Bob Avakian talking about Revolution and speaking up for poor people. And I love how he speaks the truth about what's going on and backs it up with facts, and mixes in a little humor. In today's fucked up world, I need what Bob Avakian brings to the situation—the whole world does.
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