Revolution Club Gets Out With Nov 4 in Chicago
Over the past week, the Revolution Club has been out at high schools, colleges, hubs, neighborhoods, protests and events... to reach thousands of people with the message: This Nightmare Must End, The Trump/Pence Regime MUST GO! Nov 4: It Begins, and to organize people to become organizers. The more we have grounded ourselves in the REALITY of the urgency to drive out this regime—the danger for humanity it poses and the potential powerful upsurge of millions who want to see it go—the more we have been able to compellingly make the case to others and call people forward to take this up themselves. We have put straight forward that America was never great and the Revolution Club is working for revolution to overthrow this whole system, and right now we have to get rid of the Trump/Pence Regime. We have called on people to step forward to help get the word out to millions NOW, and almost everywhere we’ve been, people have done that. We’ve worked to give people a vision of how the regime can be driven from power and struggled with people where necessary about acting in the interests of humanity and how people like themselves acting now can be felt throughout society and draw forward thousands and millions more. And we’ve worked to bring forward people in the face of and in response to repression on various levels. As we’ve gone along, we’ve more and more promoted the new talk and Q & A from BA, hosting some collective showings and doing some showings with individuals.
Scene at a Chicago High School
One high school we went to had a diverse mix of students, a history of gang conflicts and a sizeable number of students who are from, or have relatives in, Puerto Rico. We went in the morning, a rainy morning, and got out some stickers and cards to students.
When we went back in the afternoon, students came out of the school wearing the stickers, including one guy who had made a design on his shirt out of all the different styles of stickers we had distributed. We had a really big sign for Nov 4 and stood in a spot where everyone could hear us on the bullhorn. We talked over the bullhorn about the nature of this regime in power, getting into more deeply what that means. And this led to more substance in people’s responses. People took out their phones and were recording and when the person on the bullhorn would pause, they would say, “Keep going!” We called on people to get with the movement to drive out Trump/Pence, enlist yourself in making Nov 4 happen. People were raising fists and saying, “Yea get with the movement.” Students got on the bullhorn—and while there was some silliness, there was also some real substance, including about Trump’s attacks on LGBTQ people.
Students wanted posters, asked if they could take some cards, they were listening to the agitation, they pulled out their phones to get connected on social media. People that gave numbers answered right away so they could lock us in. A guy who said he got it in the morning, for the walkouts, texted later he’s in support of the student strike. He said he would watch the BA film and get back to us. When we went back the next day we worked out getting together with him and watched some of the film together.
The principal had tried to run us off but we didn’t go. In a follow-up phone call with one of the students, we learned that the next morning the principal followed this up by making a long announcement over the sound system to the entire school saying, “Don’t listen to these political people.” Students weren’t having it. Many of them were saying to each other that this was bullshit, that Trump is a racist and the principal is probably for Trump.
The Revolution Club has decided to go back this week with a challenge to the principal to meet us after school for a debate on whether youth have a role to play in what future they get or if they should just be told to accept a fascist America.
The student who told us about what the principal did has been passing out stickers and cards for Nov 4: It Begins. She was talking about Puerto Rico and how pissed off she gets about Trump not helping, golfing while Puerto Rican people need help after the hurricane. “He’s not doing anything about it because he’s racist and trying to change things in a way it’s becoming clear he’s not for the people.” We talked to her about fascism. She’s heard of it only as an insult, so we got into what it means, the direction and momentum it has. We talked about Hitler and I asked her if she learned about that. She said “yea they separated people and that’s what they’re doing now and it’s serious, they’re causing problems, war, putting fear in people.” The flyers she got, she said she got them all around school and told them it’s for people to march. She also got them out at her church on Thursday and telling them we need more people. She got it out at two other high schools. She told me about a nearby alternative school and said we should go there—she has a woman in mind who does a program there. We made plans to hook up and arrange a connection with this woman.
At a South Side high school where police attempted to intimidate students away from finding out about and participating in Nov 4: It Begins, the movement to drive the Trump/Pence Regime from power, students sign a banner that says, “Hey Trump, from those you like to demonize: You and your GANG in the White House are the REAL thugs and threat to humanity. In the name of humanity, WE WILL DRIVE YOUR ASS OUT!”
Students getting organized in front of a South Side high school to be part of getting the word out to millions about This Nightmare Must End, The Trump/Pence Regime MUST GO, Nov 4: It Begins - taking stacks of stickers to distribute and get out all over school.
Watching the New Bob Avakian Talk with High School Students and Getting Organized for Nov 4
We met a student at a protest on the anniversary of the police murder of Laquan McDonald. When we got back together with her we watched the one-hour speech by BA. She liked it and asked questions throughout. During the part about Obama she said, "oh, people take that wrong about we’re hoping for success.” We said, well he did say “we’re all on same team,” normalizing fascism. Then she was like, oh, ok, she hadn’t thought of it that way. She said early on this is really good, but some of this stuff I already know, not new to me. But at the end she said I was thinking about all he’s going through, things I think are common knowledge but not. The question she asked right after the film, after we drive out Trump and Pence, what’s going to happen next? We answered it but also told her it’s answered in the Q&A for BA’s filmed talk.
We talked to her about revolution, she doesn’t think working within the system works. She was talking about police and said she doesn't think they’re trained to kill, but trained to make it OK. Wanted to know that if we drive out Trump and Pence will we stop there, because white supremacy won’t end after Trump and Pence are out. Talked to her about revolution which she was in agreement with and was interested in joining the Revolution Club, but also that driving out Trump and Pence is what the revolution has to go through right now because they are a threat to humanity. She’s very insightful, knowledgeable. Her boyfriend was studying things not taught in school like slavery and then she got into doing her own research. She told her grandma about planning to walk out of school. Her grandma is very religious, but hates Trump and is in favor of walkout. Last time she was in a walkout she didn’t tell grandma but she saw her on the news. The first walkout was re: Trump, she asked the principal and didn’t get permission, but did it anyway. She will ask, but committed. Asked for more materials to get to friends, she knows friends who go to another school, she understands this needs to get out there, people need to know about Nov 4 and see the BA film.
Another student we met at the Oct 22 Take A Knee protest at the Bears game. When she met us she was really worried about healthcare. We sent her the trailer for the BA film that day and she said she couldn’t wait to watch the whole thing. When we got together we watched the full hour together. She had passed out the stickers, her friends were wearing the sticker and asking her what it was. What she said about people she’s been talking to is they don’t see the possibility. She told her school about it, her family about it.
After the film, she was talking about the history she got from it, about Brown people, she’s Latina and when Trump was nominated she was in Texas and she and her aunt were getting verbal attacks. She talked about Brown people and the oppression that has happened until now. About North Korea, she said she didn’t think about it that way that the reason they have nukes is because of the U.S.
We talked about organizing a walkout from school and asked her what if school doesn’t allow you to do it? She said will do it anyway and her family is supportive. She asked for a lot of materials and we gave her as much as possible. Told her when students wear the stickers to take video of people wearing it. She was also talking about reaching out to other schools. She’s on a group text. When I told her let’s make a meet-up to show it to group, she texted right away—friends from other schools. She agrees that people need to watch this. She also was interested in revolution and we talked about the future for children all over the world. She said driving out the Trump/Pence regime is more important than her education right now. Told her I would follow up with her in a couple days to see how things are going.
Bob Avakian:
The Trump/Pence Regime Must GO!
To view the full speech, click 'Play' above. The film and all video clips are also available for download HERE
Transportation Hub Becomes Organizing Center for Nov 4
Since Monday, the Revolution Club has been going to a transportation hub on the South Side that thousands of people, including lots of high school students, pass through. In the course of the week, it is becoming like an organizing center for Nov 4 with people taking materials in the morning and reporting back in the afternoon, then getting more for later. We go out with a big sign and have one person speak loudly to the crowds passing by about the urgency of getting rid of the Trump/Pence regime and the plan Refuse Fascism has for how to do that, which they are needed to step into doing RIGHT NOW because nobody at the top of this country (founded on slavery and genocide) is going to do this for us. When people stop for a flyer we tell them don’t take one, take a hundred and pass them out on the train....
ORGANIZING PEOPLE: We tried to do this systematic thing of getting out bundles of fliers and stickers and then pointing people to the person who had the sign up sheet. And they would go walk over to do that. We said, ‘Put down your contact info so we’ll have a way to reach you and we’ll be back at 3.’ We told people our return at 3 pm is for reporting back and that we’re getting organized this way.
People have taken this up, and are starting to report back to us at the transit hub. For example, one woman came up to tell us she got out all the fliers at work and needed more. One high school student reported that after getting out the stickers at school, he got the rest of his flyers and stickers out at an intersection after school. People were asking him,”Who’s Pence ?” He said “He’s the vice-president." He’s telling people “they’re trying to get thousands in the streets to grow to millions to drive out the Trump/Pence Regime.”
We also try to call people the same day they give us their number. People who have been picking up phone calls have said they got materials all out. We told people about more plans for this week and how they and others can get connected, get organized for Nov 4. Some people said they will come to the film showing of the BA talk at our organizing center this Sunday or will watch the film tonight or tomorrow.
One club member reported, “I talked on the phone to a woman from the transportation hub. She stuck around and was passing out flyers with us for like an hour, so on the phone I asked her what she thought about it. She said she never did anything like that before but felt something, in her spirit when she saw us, and she thought about Trump and what he’s doing. I told her how important it is what she did. She came across this movement and it gave her a way to be part of it and she participated in creative ways, she made up her own chant— get em out, get em out. This is what November 4 needs to be, a sustained thing. She’s interested in coming Sunday, but something is holding her back. I asked her what it is, she said taking care of her kids. What unleashed her too, she thought about her kids and the future of her kids. I talked to her about kids around the world and humanity. I told her someone here could look after her kids while she’s watching the film and participating in the planning.”
When our team was big enough, we also had someone going more deeply with people who are more interested. There were people we showed the trailer to BA’s new film and we showed part of the Q&A to one man who stopped after hearing our agitation. He was like, “Ok ok.” Then asked, “But what do you replace it with?” He watched the whole question and answer BA does on this. At first, he didn’t like how BA started off answering it, that we don’t know what will come next. He asked, “Is this like jumping off a sinking boat into an ocean when you don’t know what’s in it?” He kept interrupting with questions and changing what he thought. When BA started talking about Harriet Tubman and slavery, he said, “What does he know about slavery?” But then listened and felt what BA was saying. By the end, he changed what he didn’t like from what he said at the beginning. When BA was talking about different forces in the field, he said “I like how he frames this.” Asked what he thought about the point at end about being in better position to fight forward vs. near-certainty of disaster, he nodded.
He wanted to know more about revolution. The club member made the point that driving out Trump was a phase the revolution had to go through and is different than making revolution. She showed him the Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America for the plan for after the revolution. He asked, “What do you think about Farrakhan?” and agreed with what we said about him being a Black capitalist. He is planning to watch the whole talk by BA online.