Insights from the Grassroots about BA: "A Sneak Peek on the Future"

January 27, 2014 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us

**Middle-school girl about BAsics: “I told my teacher I’m giving her a sneak peek on the future.”**

Bob Avakian is a hero. It just shows that you don’t have to be a certain skin color to want to fight for other people’s rights, to stand up for others. That quote from the book [BAsics 1:13], it’s really breathtaking, I didn’t really have words to describe it at the time [when she first heard it some months ago]. It’s really astonishing that people really cared about us, cared about me, what my future will be. Because the children are the future.

[On BA's New Year’s message]: I just hope that one day I’ll get to meet him, get to talk to him.... I liked what he said about how they treat us like animals, like we’re nothing, I like that most of all. And we’re beaten and battered and abused, by this economy and this country, because of the color of our skin or the way we look.

I got my teacher a copy of the book [BAsics] and I’m going to ask her to come to DC with me [to oppose the anti-abortion protest]. I’m telling her I’m doing revolution on that day, I’m going to change the world. She said what is it. And I told her it’s the future, I’m giving her a sneak peek on the future. I’m still reading it myself, because every time I read a quote I stop and think about it and write a reflection, and then I go on, so I’m only on page 49. It’s like when you chew a piece of gum and you want to get all the flavor out of it you can. So this book is like my piece of gum, I don’t want to finish it until there’s no more flavor in it, it’s a never-ending flow of different flavors, it’s the most long-lasting book of my life.

My teacher cares about women’s rights, she’s not afraid. She speaks out in class, she’s not afraid of losing her job. She lets the young women in my class know that you’re more than what this society puts in front of you, you’re more than a piece of meat on a platter given to the men of America. You are more than that, you are more to the world. Cause if you were put into their shoes and they in yours, and you totally trash-talked them, called them baby murderers and worse, treated them like sex toys, how would they feel if you were doing that? So that’s how I feel.

**Black woman artist about BA and BAsics: “My spirit tells me, ‘That’s the truth.’”**

I’m here to support the truth, 'cause I know it when I hear it... Every time BA speaks, my spirit tells me, "That’s the truth." I bought BAsics for my 94-year-old grandmother, and she came back the next day and said, "I love that book." That book is the truth.

But it’s one thing to talk, and it’s another thing to actually build a movement, and to have a map, a course as to what we can actually do to have our children’s future be brighter. So I really respect him for that, because he did the homework, he’s the valedictorian of the class when it comes to it. So I have to support him with everything that I have, my body, my spirit, my mind.

[Discussing the slogan “Mass Incarceration + Silence = Genocide]: That shook my spirit, because that means that I cannot just watch and talk behind the backs of what’s going on with the government, the powers that be. Because if I don’t do something, then I’m a part of genocide. So I have to do something.

Woman on Harlem-Bronx BA Everywhere team: “He’s a leader to be reckoned with. He’s the leader that stands on his principles as well as his word...We need BA.”

I decided to become involved because I’m one of those people that BA says is downgraded. And I love the fact that BA has faith, he has faith in the people. I love that he uplifts people with his speeches. And not only that, he’s a funny white boy! [laughs]

He’s the kind of guy that tells you what’s on his mind. He looks at the world and he’s not only talking, he investigates it, he researches it, and then he puts it out. And that’s what I like, it’s not like it’s someone just yakking, it’s someone that does their homework and their research and they come back and say “here.” And on top of that, he puts it in your face, he makes you think. Because mind you, the stuff that he talks about is right in your face. We’re the type of people that go about our everyday business and don’t think about that, and then when he mentions it, it’s like “oh,” and that light bulb goes off. And he challenges you and you go “hmmmm.”

With BA, you see the effects that he’s saying, you feel it. It’s not just a vision, it’s something in process, something that’s gonna be, and something that’s real. That’s the difference. This is the only leader that I’ve ever come across, there’s only one BA. He’s a leader to be reckoned with. He’s the leader that stands on his principles as well as his word. 'Cause if you notice, the politicians have lied to us and look at the state that we’re all in now, look at the world. And I believe that we need BA—we’ve been needing BA, but we need him more. Because the youth are supposed to be our future, and this society is literally telling the youth to kiss their ass, that they don’t care about them, and the youth are feeling that. And I feel that the youth have no future...

So that’s why it’s so important for people to come together, so people know there is hope. But as everyone knows, we need money, can’t do anything without money.

...I just want to challenge people—I’m part of the Harlem BA Everywhere Team—and I want to challenge people to think about the conditions here, because we really live in a hellhole. And think about what options do we have. And I would like you to open your hearts as well as your pockets, and join us, because we need all the people in the revolution.

10-year-old kid gets a “BA Speaks: REVOLUTION—NOTHING LESS!” button for his friend. “It shows who I am.”

I was walking down the stairs and my [BA Speaks: REVOLUTION—NOTHING LESS!] button fell off, and my friend picked it up and said could he have it? And I said, “Well, I kind of need the button because it shows who I am.” He said “I want the button because it makes sense and I understand it—could you get me one?” So I said yes, and I got him one.

Statement from donor who matched $700 raised by Harlem & Bronx BA Everywhere Team Bake Sale:

It's really inspiring when people living on the desperate edge use their energy to struggle for a better future for humanity like these people did who did the bake sale and those who did last year's penny jar collection on the streets of Harlem, both for BA Everywhere.

Last year, to challenge them, I pledged to donate 3 times what they raised. Now I'm answering their challenge, matching the $700 they raised [so far] in the bake sale.

As BA says in his “Appeal to Those the System Has Cast Off”:

Here I am speaking not only to prisoners but to those whose life is lived on the desperate edge, whether or not they find some work; to those without work or even homes; to all those the system and its enforcers treat as so much human waste material.

Raise your sights above the degradation and madness, the muck and demoralization, above the individual battle to survive and to “be somebody” on the terms of the imperialists—of fouler, more monstrous criminals than mythology has ever invented or jails ever held. Become a part of the human saviors of humanity: the gravediggers of this system and the bearers of the future communist society.

This is not just talk or an attempt to make poetry here: there are great tasks to be fulfilled, great struggles to be carried out, and yes great sacrifices to be made to accomplish all this. But there is a world to save—and to win—and in that process those the system has counted as nothing can count for a great deal. They represent a great reserve force that must become an active force for the proletarian revolution. (BAsics 3:16)

Excerpts of statement read at the NYC New Year's party from Harlem-Bronx BA Everywhere Team member:

“The money we need is to make sure that BA is heard all over the world and that people can raise up from the forces that have paralyzed them. A new world is possible and can be obtained.”

The Harlem-Bronx team would like to thank everyone who helped make the bake sale a success. We also would like everyone to know that even though the bake sale was a success we need to raise a lot more money as part of working towards the goal of making sure the world knows of BA.

Everyone sees that the world is getting worse with each passing day... The message our youth are getting is that society doesn’t care about them. Our kids are being harassed and killed by police... Stop-and-frisk is an everyday occurrence for youth who are Black or Hispanic... Our kids, who are supposed to be our future, are being killed or end up in prison.

Women are treated with disrespect—men are dictating what women can or cannot do with their own bodies and women have almost lost the right to abortion.

Men and women are living in inhuman conditions in America’s prison system. Poor people are struggling every day just to survive another day. The system has cut millions of people’s food stamps, rent everywhere is too damn high, and many people are being forced out of their homes and into the streets. Millions are unemployed and don’t know where their next meal is coming from and have no means to provide for themselves and family.

Around the world people are starving and drinking dirty water. Everywhere the U.S. goes it takes the minerals and resources and makes war like in Afghanistan and Pakistan. As BA says: "American Lives Are Not More Important Than Other People’s Lives."

This is the society we are living in. All this is the reason it is so important that we do all we can to make sure the world knows about BA. BA is the Chairman of the Revolutionary Communist Party. He gives hope to those who are feeling helpless, defeated and feel there is nothing they can do to stop the oppression.

Many people of various cultures, ethnic groups, both genders have heard about BA and choose to do something about the oppression that society has everyone in. They took up the challenge and are currently involved in various projects to make sure everyone knows who BA is and what he stands for.

A revolution is needed in order to build a society where everyone is respected, treated like human beings and has a part in a positive society. In order to obtain a revolution requires everyone’s involvement. It also costs money. The money we need is to make sure that BA is heard all over the world and that people can raise up from the forces that have paralyzed them. A new world is possible and can be obtained.

We are challenging everyone to match the $1,000 being raised by the Harlem-Bronx team. Instead of watching things get worse, be a part of the revolution that changes the world.

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