The Revolutionary Communist Party IS ORGANIZING NOW TO OVERTHROW THIS SYSTEM AT THE SOONEST POSSIBLE TIME. Preparing to lead an actual revolution to bring about a radically new and better society: the New Socialist Republic in North America.
Taking the Message from the Central Committee of the RCP to “Time to Unite: United Hood + Gang Nation”
July 19, 2016 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us
From members of the Revolution Club, L.A.
On Sunday, July 17, a significant event took place in South Central Los Angeles, “Time to Unite: United Hood + Gang Nation.” The Game, a popular rapper from Compton put out a call via social media “to all CRIPS, BLOODS, ESE’S & all other gang members, major figures & GANG LEADERS…” to come to this meeting. Hundreds from Los Angeles and surrounding areas such as Long Beach attended this event that was also organized by the Nation of Islam and rapper Snoop Dogg. Two members of the Revolution Club went to reach out and spread the RCP Central Committee message, “It’s Time to Get Organized for an ACTUAL Revolution.” We went to unite with the message of unity among the different gangs and hoods and sets and nationalities but we also went to challenge everyone that we DO NOT need unity to be good “house slaves” and we DO NOT need unity to be “respectable” and “acceptable” to the system and to go along with the crimes of this system… but instead to unite to overthrow this system at the soonest possible time.
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Broadly among people, including among the OG’s in the audience there was a strong desire for unity. Some were influenced by the solutions put forward from the speakers from the stage but there were others who were looking for more and feeling it was going to take more to really make all this go somewhere good.
There was receptivity to the RCP Central Committee message. Over 200 copies were distributed and copies of Revolution newspaper also got out. There was also a sound truck with a TV mounted on the back, that parked not far from where people were exiting the event, that played the recent excerpts posted on revcom from Bob Avakian’s dialogue with Cornel West and other clips. An OG passing by the truck which had a banner displaying the title of the RCP Central Committee message, “Time To Get Organized for an ACTUAL Revolution” stopped for a moment and said, “Damn, they’re saying they’re communists straight up.” He talked about all the bullshit in the past he’d dealt with because of the “three strikes law” and how this was affecting him today. He appreciated the RCP Message and we challenged him to spread this everywhere and he took a small stack for friends and family he interacts with. There were several others that did the same, taking larger stacks to distribute on their way home or on the bus and apartment complexes.
The front cover of the Revolution newspaper also attracted attention, “American Was NEVER Great! We Need to OVERTHROW This System!” One young Latina woman came up and asked what we were getting out. We read from the Message and she agreed that we needed change at the soonest possible time. She said she came to the event to talk about what happened to her nephew who was killed at a young age by a rival gang and she wanted to contribute to putting this senseless violence to an end. She had a baby girl with her that was no more than two years old and was expressing the horror of what life would be like for her if things don’t change. Violence among the people was a frequent topic of discussion among those we were connecting with and we challenged people on the real roots of that violence and what really is needed to finally put an end to it. Others also talked about the murders by the police. Some in the crowd expressed frustration with the youth who are caught up in the gang life and we spoke to this, although we summed up we could have done better, including by using the “Points of Attention for the Revolution”, in particular #4 to address this.
One young Black man who is not affiliated with a gang but grew up in a poor neighborhood talked about the need for more Black-owned businesses and for Black people being able to produce their own things and control the wealth that comes from that. He said a collective spirit is needed also where those who are doing better could help out those who are not doing too well economically. He mentioned agreeing with what a representative of the Nation of Islam had put forward earlier from the stage that Black people need to buy South Central and have it benefit Black people (among other similar proposals). So we got into how this system of capitalism actually works and why there cannot be any fundamental change for the better until this system is overthrown. We walked him through the RCP Message and he was open to what it said about communism as the goal and was interested in learning more about Bob Avakian. We set up a follow up meeting with him.
There was interest among some in learning more about who Bob Avakian was. A few had heard of his name but most people we encountered had not. One person was interested in learning more after we told him about his history and how he became a revolutionary and a communist. And we would highlight to people the section in the RCP Central Committee message where it speaks to the leadership of Bob Avakian.
In some cases it was important to persevere in getting clear with people on what we meant by revolution. One person for example who had initially agreed, “yeah, we need revolution” went on to change his mind once he actually understood that we are talking about “overthrowing this system at the soonest possible time.” He said that would not be possible. We challenged him but still he felt they are too powerful. We told him he had no evidence to say that this system of capitalism-imperialism cannot be defeated. He said he would go online and actually look at the documents “On the Strategy for Revolution” and “On the Possibility of Revolution.”
A Latino former gang member liked the front cover of Revolution newspaper and said he agreed we needed to get rid of capitalism because that same system has also fucked over his country of origin.
We also ran into some people who live in some of the areas in South Central where the RCP Central Committee Message has been posted up on fences, light posts, and many other places on the streets. One person pointing to a copy of the Message said, “I’ve seen that when I get off the freeway near my house.” He also said he’s seen the Revolution Club out spreading the revolution on the corners of South Central near his home.
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