Will Women Be Regarded as Human Beings or Incubators?

Your Response to the Fascist Assault on Abortion May Well Determine the Answer

by Sunsara Taylor

May 20, 2019 | revcom.us

 

A vicious wave of extreme anti-abortion legislation is being hammered into law across the country. Alabama’s new law bans all abortions—even in cases of rape and incest. Doctors who provide abortions could be sent to prison for life. Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, Missouri, Indiana, Arkansas, and Utah have also passed bans—many at stages in pregnancy before most women even know they are pregnant. (See this article for details on these laws.)

People need to fiercely protest, struggle against, and truly fight to defeat these monstrous measures that represent a misogynistic assault on the people! People must fight for Abortion on Demand and Without Apology!

A Future Far Worse Than the Horrific Past

This assault on women’s most fundamental right to control their own bodies and lives is not merely about slamming women back to the days when abortion was illegal, when thousands bled to death on motel floors or died of sepsis after botched illegal abortions and millions of women had their lives foreclosed by forced motherhood.

As barbaric as all that was, what we are now facing is far worse.

It is worse because those launching this assault are working to legally enshrine fetuses as “persons.” This means that women and those who assist them in getting an abortion—or even many miscarriages—could be prosecuted and punished for “murder” based on this. This has horrific consequences for further criminalization in the age of mass incarceration, and the qualitative reversals of abortion rights represent a violent reassertion of patriarchal chains with momentum currently escalating towards further attacks on women. All of this backed by a fascist regime in power and courts packed by them!

The movement behind this assault has already blown abortion clinics to pieces, assassinated doctors, and hounded and shamed women on their way into clinics in every state of this country for decades. They already have imprisoned women for miscarriages, for attempting suicide while pregnant, and for desperately attempting to induce their own abortions. This violent reassertion of patriarchal enslavement will be a high-tech Dark Ages—a surveillance-state Handmaid’s Tale of forced motherhood, thousands of years of traditions’ chains put on imperialist steroids, and terror and punishment against any woman or person who resists.

This Fascist Move Is Rooted In an Unreformably Patriarchal System

This assault on abortion is part of a worldwide escalation of misogyny bound up with the resurgence of fascism and religious fanaticism in the face of a rapidly changing world. One of these changes in recent decades has been tectonic clashes over the role of women. Driven by determined struggle of women against their oppression as well as by major economic and geopolitical changes, women are drawn into roles that were for thousands of years foreclosed to them, amidst larger changes in gender roles.

But while all this has strained and stretched some traditional patriarchal norms and forms of oppression, none of this has—or could—put an end to women’s oppression. Male supremacy is a critical dimension of the culture and cohering norms of societies around the world, reinforcing the rule and dominance of underlying exploitative systems, now capitalism-imperialism globally. The oppression of women is interwoven into the fabric of these societies in different ways, a historical development that began with and accompanied the earliest forms of exploitation and oppression in human societies. Ending this oppression can only be done through an actual revolution—here and around the world—that overthrows the system of capitalism-imperialism, and works towards abolishing the class and social divisions this oppression is inextricably linked to, as part of a worldwide process.

In the absence of such a revolution, while reforms have been made, the workings of this system have emboldened and given initiative to reactionary offensives to not just “put women in their place,” but to exact vicious revenge aimed at further controlling and subjugating them, including in the personal and intimate sphere. This is part of a larger fascist program driven by a Christian fascist movement that has been built and supported for decades by the Republicans and which the Democrats have refused to ever call out for what it is. (See critical sidebar on the tremendous harm that has been done by the Democratic Party and those who shill for them.)

The Question Yet to Be Determined: The Reinforcement of the Chains of Enslavement or the Shattering of Them?

Years ago, when the contours of this assault were just beginning to take shape, Bob Avakian, the leader of the revolution and the architect of a whole new framework for emancipation, presciently analyzed that:

The whole question of the position and role of women in society is more and more acutely posing itself in today’s extreme circumstances.... It is not conceivable that all this will find any resolution other than in the most radical terms.... The question yet to be determined is: will it be a radical reactionary or a radical revolutionary resolution, will it mean the reinforcing of the chains of enslavement or the shattering of the most decisive links in those chains and the opening up of the possibility of realizing the complete elimination of all forms of such enslavement?

Fight the Power, and Transform the People, for Revolution!

The interests of humanity lie in carrying forward the revolution to emancipate all of humanity, including all forms of gender oppression. Through revolution, it is possible to bring about a world where never again does a woman or girl know what it is to feel shame about her body and sexuality, to feel fear walking alone at night, to have her life curtailed or violently ended simply because she is female, or to be forced to bear a child against her will. It is also possible to bring about a world that puts an end to all oppression based on race, nationality, or language, to put an end to all exploitation everywhere, and to put an end to the catastrophic destruction of the environment.

This is the revolution Bob Avakian (BA) has forged the science and strategy for—and it is the revolution he is actively leading. BA’s new communism represents a radical breakthrough for the emancipation of all of humanity, including theoretical advances in what underlies the oppression of women and what it will take to get beyond it, a different approach than has existed in past communist theory and practice.

But for this revolution to be real—for the huge clash now raging over women’s role to be resolved in a liberating way as opposed to the nightmare we are currently accelerating towards—many more people need to dig into this revolution, spread the word about it, and get organized to make real.

Right now, this includes mounting massive resistance, on a scale unseen for decades (if ever), to these horrendous attacks now coming down and the worse ones surely to come. Again, there is a great need, for people to defiantly fight to defeat these spearheads of horror, these attacks against women, this misogynistic assault on the people!

Sunsara Taylor initiated the Abortion Rights Freedom Rides held in 2013 and 2014 and is now part of the National Revolution Tour, going around the country spreading revolution and organizing people into the movement for an actual revolution.

State Laws Banning/Restricting Abortion

May 20, 2019 | revcom.us

 

State legislatures have enacted at least 1,074 restrictions on abortion since Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973. They’re all designed to completely stop, slow, or impede women’s right to abortion.

In 2019 alone, 304 abortion restrictions have been introduced in state legislatures.

A number of states have passed or are in the process of passing “heartbeat” bills. These in effect ban all abortions—prohibiting abortion after six to eight weeks of pregnancy, when doctors can detect a fetal heartbeat and many times, before a woman even knows she is pregnant. Ohio, Kentucky, Mississippi, Georgia, and Missouri have each signed into law a “heartbeat” bill, and 11 other states have similar bills in the works.

These are only some of the state bills passed just this year, or about to be passed, that are aimed at taking away a woman’s right to choose:

Arkansas: A bill was signed into law in March that bans abortions after 18 weeks of pregnancy, six weeks before the standard set by Roe v. Wade.

Kentucky: Two bills passed in March—one that is a “heartbeat” bill and the other which bans abortion if a woman is seeking it because of a fetal diagnosis.

Mississippi: In March the governor signed a “heartbeat” bill into law. If upheld, this would close the only remaining abortion clinic in the state.

Utah: In March the governor signed a law to ban abortions after 18 weeks.

Indiana: In April the state placed a near-total ban on the most common type of second-trimester abortion.

Ohio: A “heartbeat” bill was signed into law on April 11, with no exception for rape or incest.

Georgia: A “heartbeat” bill that bans abortion at six weeks was signed into law on May 7. This bans abortion before most women know they are pregnant.

Alabama: On May 15 the governor signed the most restrictive state abortion law since abortion was legalized in 1973. The law completely bans all abortions except if it is “necessary in order to prevent a serious health risk” to the woman. There is no exception for rape or incest. The law classifies performing an abortion as a felony punishable with up to 99 years in prison.

Missouri: May 17, a “heartbeat” bill was passed that would ban all abortions after 8 weeks, before many women know they are pregnant.

Louisiana: A “heartbeat” bill is currently speeding through the state legislature, and the Democratic governor has said he will sign it.

Jefferson, Missouri, May 17, 2019. Photo: AP.

What Is an Abortion and Why Women Must Have the Right to Choose

Life Cannot and Should Not Always Be Preserved

By A.S.K. | Reposted with a new introduction March 25, 2019 | Originally posted: January 23, 2005 | revcom.us

 

There is now a wave of reactionary laws that rip away women's rights to control their own bodies. Kentucky and Mississippi are the latest to declare abortion illegal after a fetal heartbeat is detected (which most often occurs after six weeks of pregnancy and long before many women know they are pregnant). This rests on a profoundly anti-woman stance and a profoundly anti-scientific pile of rubbish. In the face of this, we think it very important that our readers get a scientific understanding of what an abortion actually IS and spread this to others.

 

Is it true that a fetus is a form of life? Of course it is. It is made up of live cells, it is growing and processing energy, it has the capacity to mature and reproduce, it has a genetic system and so on.

Will an abortion destroy this form of life? Yes, absolutely.

Well then, isn’t an abortion killing another human being? No, absolutely not.

A fetus is not yet a human being. It is more like a seed or a sprout of a human being. It is "alive," but that is also true of all the other cells in a woman’s body. It has no life of its own yet. It is not yet a separate life from the life of the woman in whose uterus it is.

Just because something has the characteristics of "life" doesn’t mean people should necessarily preserve it. This is an obvious truth. Think about it: People routinely terminate "life" for what is seen as a greater good. We do this every time we eat—all the fruits, vegetables, and meats come from live plants and animals killed for our nourishment. People end "life" every time we cut a tree for firewood, every time we take antibiotics to kill off the live disease organisms which are making us sick, or even every time we kill other human beings in self-defense or to prevent them from causing other human beings to suffer and die.

In other words, we kill life to preserve and enrich other life . So what about the life of the woman?

The life of a woman who is forced to continue an unwanted pregnancy is endangered. She might have to resort to a risky back-alley abortion. And if she is forced to go on with the pregnancy, her life is weakened and degraded. She will be robbed of pride and self-respect because she has been told by society that she is essentially worthless—even an undeveloped bunch of cells that isn’t even a whole baby yet gets more respect and has more value than this woman! Because she is not allowed to control her own body, her own reproduction, not allowed to decide whether or not or when to become a mother, she has no more freedom than a slave.

If a woman doesn’t want to continue a pregnancy all the way (for whatever reason), she should have the freedom to end it, safely and easily. This is for the greater good—for the health and overall well-being of that woman, whose life we should value and cherish more than that of a partially formed fetus. And for the greater good of humanity. After all, isn’t it in the greater interests of all of humanity that women not be slaves?

The "right-to-life" people don’t see it that way at all. They have made it crystal clear that to them the life of the fetus is more important and has more value than the life of the woman in whose uterus it is. From a social point of view, these people who want to forcibly take away a woman’s right to abortion are nothing but vicious, rabid dogs.

But from a scientific point of view, they are also ignorant fools or calculating liars.

A Fetus Is Not a Baby—It is Part of a Woman’s Body

Have you seen the pictures they use? Check them out. These pictures are very often blown-up pictures of fetuses almost ready to be born (but the truth is that more than 90 percent of abortions in the U.S. are done in the first three months of pregnancy). These pictures are designed to make you feel like the fetuses women are aborting are just like cute little babies, ready to be held in someone’s arms and cuddled and burped. But they’re not! Far from it.

And have you noticed how the fetuses are conveniently pictured floating around all by themselves, as if they weren’t still inside a woman’s body? Where is the woman in all this? Even in most school textbooks they show you drawings or photographs of a fetus inside a uterus, but they don’t show you the woman it is part of! It sort of makes you forget the woman is even there!

One of the things the Operation Rescue types are doing is taking advantage of the ignorance many people are kept in concerning their own bodies—what happens inside a body, how a pregnancy develops, and so on. Let’s have a look at what the truth is about how a fetus develops.

The truth is that pregnancy is a process which takes some time. And it is not some mysterious event guided by outside forces either. It is part of the normal processes of the woman’s body. Not the man’s, who has nothing to do with it except for providing the sperm. Not the church, not the government, not any other person. It all takes place inside the woman.

The egg changes and develops into a fetus, and keeps on changing for nine months, only because the woman’s physiology (the way her body works) is making these changes happen .

Let’s review what happens in the first trimester of a pregnancy (1 to 13 weeks since the woman’s last menstrual period):

It all starts with an egg cell and a sperm cell. Each egg cell and sperm cell is alive.

Over a period of about 30 years a woman releases one or more of these live egg cells from her ovaries every single month. That’s a lot of egg cells over a lifetime! Every time a man ejaculates, he releases between 200 and 400 MILLION LIVE SPERM CELLS! And that’s definitely a lot of live cells! Of course most of the time they just all die. Funny, isn’t it, that even though eggs and sperm are "life" too, the right-to-lifers aren’t trying to "save" every one of them!

If even just one of those sperm cells released in a woman’s vagina swims into the uterus and out into one or the other of the two Fallopian "tubes" (on each side of the uterus), and runs into a ripe egg cell, fertilization can take place. That means that the egg and sperm have fused and the result is called a fertilized egg.

The fertilized egg gets pushed down the tube. The egg started off as one cell, but soon divides into two cells, then four cells, and so on. By the time it gets back to the uterus (a muscular sack only about the size of a small pear) the egg is still much smaller than the period at the end of this sentence.

For the pregnancy to keep going, this tiny egg has to stick to the sides of the uterus. If it doesn’t stick (implant), it will simply be flushed out of the uterus with the menstrual blood during the woman’s next period. When this happens—a form of "spontaneous abortion"—the woman doesn’t know it, because the size of the fertilized egg is so tiny.

If the egg does stick to the woman’s uterus, this triggers hormonal changes which will keep the woman’s next period from coming on. The way pregnancy tests work is that they measure these hormones in the woman’s blood or urine to tell if she’s pregnant.

The implanted egg is now called an embryo, and its shape starts to change as the cells start to move around to different positions. The cells are beginning to "differentiate." That means they are starting to take on different functions and form different kinds of tissues which will later become different parts of the body. Instead of all being the same, some cells will become skin cells or heart cells or eye cells, for instance.

Three weeks into the pregnancy, the whole embryo is still only about 2mm (2 millimeters) long, or about the size of the letter "o."

The placenta gets formed from a combination of some of the tissues of the woman’s uterus and of the woman’s embryo. It is a mass of tissue rich in blood vessels, which connects the embryo to the woman’s blood circulation system. During the whole pregnancy the fetus will remain attached to the placenta through the umbilical cord .

The placenta helps show how the embryo or fetus is very much part of the woman’s body for the whole pregnancy. The embryo cannot get food on its own, clear out its own wastes, or even breathe on its own. It gets oxygen and dissolved food nutrients (and sometimes toxic substances) from the woman’s blood through the placenta and umbilical cord. It gets rid of its wastes the same way, releasing carbon dioxide and urea into the woman’s bloodstream for disposal.

Just as a single live cell cannot survive independently of a body, the embryo cannot survive independently of a woman’s body because it is truly part of her.

After four weeks of pregnancy the embryo looks a little like a tadpole. It even has gill slits like a fish, and a bony tail! These are features shared by embryos of many different species of animals and reflect our common evolutionary history. The embryo is now about 5mm long, smaller than this: ooo.

By the third month of pregnancy the embryo, now called a fetus, starts to look a little more "human" as it grows arms, legs, sex organs, fingers, and toes. It is undergoing a lot of changes, but inside, its internal organs, muscles, skeleton, and nervous system are still very undeveloped. The whole thing is still only about 25mm long, or about this long: oooooooooooooo

ABORTION IN THE FIRST TRIMESTER (1 through 13 weeks since last menstrual period)

More than 90 percent of abortions done in the U.S. are done in these first three months of pregnancy.

This is the best time to do it. It is the easiest, safest, and cheapest time to do it. It does not need to be done in a hospital but can be done in a walk-in clinic. You don’t have to be put to sleep.

The way it is done is that a flexible tube the size of a straw is inserted up the vagina and into the uterus. This tube is connected to a bottle with a suction pump. When the pump is turned on, it acts like a small vacuum cleaner and sucks out the contents of the uterus. What comes out looks mainly like blood, since the embryo or fetus is still so small. The abortion is usually not very painful. The woman may feel "cramps" in her uterus similar to having an IUD put in. The whole thing lasts only about 5 to 15 minutes and then it’s over. The woman rests for a while, and then she can go home.

There is no doubt that if a woman is pregnant and doesn’t want to be, she should do everything possible to go to a clinic and get an abortion within the first three months since her last period. The sooner the better.¹

SECOND TRIMESTER: (14 through 24 weeks since last period)

This is a time when the fetus grows a lot. Starting around the fifth month, the woman is able to feel it kicking, even though it is still only about eight inches long. It may suck its thumb, simply because of a genetically programmed sucking reflex which facilitates nursing after birth. Its internal organs, bones, and muscles continue to develop. In the sixth month it grows rapidly, to around a foot in length.

But it is important to realize that it is still not "complete" and that a whole lot of development still has to go on. Even at the end of this trimester it cannot survive outside the woman’s uterus without special medical measures.Its brain is still very unformed. Its lungs are not ready to take in air. It is still very much a part of the woman’s body and completely dependent on her bodily processes.

Abortion in the second trimester can still be done. But it can be hard for a woman to find a doctor or hospital to do it. Because the uterus is softer and the fetus is bigger, there is a greater possibility of medical complications, such as a torn or "perforated" uterus or infections. It is important to get good medical care for these second- trimester abortions.

There are different ways of doing these later abortions. Sometimes a doctor will inject a saline solution into the woman’s uterus. This kills the fetus and makes the woman’s body go into labor, and the fetus is expelled like a live baby would be. Sometimes a doctor will give the injection and then leave the woman alone, or with just a nurse, to "deliver" the dead fetus. This is cruel and difficult for all concerned and it is totally unnecessary. There are other methods.

The best procedure for second trimester abortions involves a combination of dilation, curettage and evacuation (it’s called a D and E). The entrance to the uterus is stretched open (dilation), and the uterus is scraped with a metal loop (curettage) and emptied out (evacuation) by suction. This is a much better procedure: much safer, and less upsetting for the woman and medical staff than the "induction" abortions which cause the woman to go into labor. D and E abortions can be done from 12 to about 16 to 24 weeks of pregnancy.

Since abortion is so much easier (physically and emotionally), safer, and cheaper, in the first three months of pregnancy, why does any woman ever get one later than that? The answer is that sometimes errors are made with pregnancy tests, or a woman gets pregnant while taking pills, or with an IUD, and doesn’t realize she is pregnant right away. Sometimes she has to fight off the pressures of men or family members who object to the abortion out of their own backwardness. Sometimes she has to struggle through her own ignorance, fears, and lack of information before knowing what to do. Most often the delay is caused—and this is a real crime—by a lack of money. Increasingly, state laws that impose waiting periods and the lack of abortion facilities in rural areas will force more women to have abortions in the second trimester.

A high proportion of the women who are forced to get later abortions are young, poor, or women of color. This is another example of how women of color suffer a double oppression. And when laws are passed to force under-age women to get a parent’s permission before getting an abortion, more delays and more "late" abortions are certainly the cruel consequence.

While first-trimester abortions should be encouraged, and everything done to facilitate them, it is important to uphold the right of women to terminate an unwanted pregnancy at any time, and to provide women with the safest and the least physically and emotionally demanding abortions available at that time.

THIRD TRIMESTER (25 weeks or more since last period)

Abortions are rarely done in the third trimester except in emergencies to save the life of a woman. In such cases the doctor has to cut open the uterus and remove the fetus and placenta, and this would be considered major surgery.

The fetus still has a lot of development to undergo in these last three months of pregnancy. It grows a lot. But in the seventh month the fetus still only has a small chance of surviving if it is born prematurely because its internal organs are still not developed enough. In such cases doctors have to take special measures to try to finish incubating the fetus.

Final organ formation takes place in the eighth and ninth months. This is when the lungs finish developing. Until the lungs are finished the fetus would not be able to breathe air independently outside the uterus.

Also during this time lots of new brain cells are formed and major nerve tracks develop in the brain. In human beings a lot of the brain development continues to take place in the six months or so after birth . But by the end of the nine months of pregnancy the fetus is developed enough to be born and the woman’s body needs to expel the fetus before it gets too big to get past her pelvic bones! The woman’s body now goes into labor, contracting the muscles of the uterus, and finally pushing out the fully formed fetus.

As soon as the umbilical cord connecting the fetus to the woman’s body is cut, the supply of oxygen from the woman to the fetus is cut off and the newborn takes its first independent breath. This is its first act as an independent human being. It is now really a "baby." For the first time it is a truly separate life entity, and a separate social entity as well. From this moment it is really a separate human being, and should be treated as such.

A.S.K., the author of "Life Cannot and Should Not Always Be Preserved," is a contributing writer to the Revolutionary Worker with experience in the struggle for scientific experimentation as well as the revolutionary struggle.

Footnote:

1. Note from RW editors: The drug RU-486 is another method of abortion. Called the abortion pill, it causes the embryo to "unhook" and the menstrual period to start, flushing the embryo out of the uterus. It can only be used at the very beginning of a pregnancy. Anti-abortion forces are attacking this method, spreading misinformation and hysteria about its safety.

Another area that the right wingers have attacked is emergency contraception, or "Plan B," a pill that is taken within the first three days after sex. Plan B is not an abortion pill—it is basically a high dosage of ordinary birth control pills that works by either stopping the egg from fertilizing, delaying ovulation, or preventing a fertilized egg from becoming implanted in the uterus, depending on when the pill is taken in relation to the woman’s menstrual period and when the woman had sex. Right wingers have blocked women from being able to get this pill at pharmacies without a prescription so they can get access to it in time, and have spawned a movement of hospitals and pharmacies that refuse to offer the pill to rape victims, even though they are legally obligated to. [back]

You Think You Are Woke...
But You Are Sleepwalking Through A Nightmare

Get Organized for An ACTUAL Revolution to Emancipate All Humanity

Updated November 10, 2019 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us

 

 

 

 

Noche Diaz Presenting the Lifetime Fire Extinguisher Award to Al Sharpton at the Sacramento, CA State Capitol.

 

Thousands Raised...Many Thousands to Go...
Donors speak out about why they gave to The Get Organized for an ACTUAL Revolution Tour

Includes new statements posted as of May 27, 2019 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us

 

The Get Organized for an ACTUAL Revolution Tour has started in Los Angeles, as the start of a national Tour going across this country. There have been events in different cities to kick off the Tour that raised funds, and send-off parties for volunteers heading to Los Angeles, where funds were raised. The call to donate financial support for the Tour has already brought some significant donations that indicate the real, if beginning, potential for very broad support for this Tour. This includes people who have given matching donations—one for $2,000 if others would match it—and a number who agreed to sustain the Tour on a monthly basis. There are others who have agreed to donate food for the volunteers going on the Tour, and some who have made things to be sold to generate funds for the Tour.

The many thousands of dollars raised so far is just a very small portion of what is going to be needed to support this Tour, and sustain and grow the movement for revolution, organizing thousands now and impacting the whole society that this Tour is setting out to do.

Here is the basic truth. Bob Avakian (BA) emphasizes in Why We Need An Actual Revolution And How We Can Really Make Revolution, “Networks of people, working together to spread the word about and organize people into the revolution, need to be built, and expanded, in all parts of the country—and linked together.” Very importantly, this includes building up financial support now for the Tour as part of that process. There can be no revolution without financial support. There will be no revolution without organization of people of all strata, networks of people who are an essential part of the strategy for an actual revolution.

Many thousands donating now—including many people who are just hearing about the need and possibility for an actual revolution for the first time—will make it possible for this Tour to shake things up at this crucial moment in history, when so much hangs in the balance for humanity.

The statements on this page from donors give a living sense of the different ways people are seeing the importance of contributing by donating to the Tour, and calling on others to join them in this historic effort.

"I felt inspired to give today because humanity is suffering and needs this tour. I heard the statement from a donor and I matched it."https://t.co/XtAzVOkhZE pic.twitter.com/35WmvIm0JM

— NYC Revolution Club (@NYCRevClub) March 8, 2019

What People Are Saying about the Tour

Updated May 13, 2019 | revcom.us

 

Opening Up Debate About Reform vs. Revolution in Extreme Times... The Need to Really Organize for Revolution

May 20, 2019 | revcom.us

 

The National Get Organized for an ACTUAL Revolution Tour has been “disturbing the air” with revolution—at community colleges, the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), on local radio and nationally, with an important interview on The Young Turks, now viewed by hundreds of thousands.

We have made important advances in appreciating and representing both the sharpness and the whole of what we need to be stepping with, impacting broadly with the reality that this system can’t be reformed and must be overthrown, up against the reformist dead ends and mental shackles... and organizing people on that basis. The simplicity of the approach captured by 5-2-6, the 5 Stops, the 2 choices that these horrors continue on and on or we MAKE revolution, and the 6 Points of Attention, has been helpful with messaging and very attractive and accessible broadly. 

We are also learning more about the need and potential for a genuine societal debate about reform vs. revolution. Because of the extreme acuteness in the situation, many people are deeply agonizing, but have never heard a radical revolutionary answer and want to hear this and discuss and debate it, with us and with each other. Posed sharply before us now: work to do, and real problems to solve with those who have stepped forward, on how people get organized – in particular into Revolution Clubs on the basis of the Six Points of Attention for the Revolution.

Word of the Tour reached hundreds of thousands of people through an interview by Cenk Uygur of The Young Turks with Andy Zee, a member of the Tour and also spokesperson for Revolution Books and co-initiator of Refuse Fascism. The sharpness of message and content—exchanges and struggle between Zee and Uygur on whether revolution is needed, whether Trump is a product of the system or outside it—was provocative and polarizing. Within a few days, over 200,000 people watched this excerpted clip online, further intrigued by the title provided by the show, “The End of Trump.”

More than a few supported the idea of revolution in the comments section, some giving thumbs up to Zee’s comments, with many arguing that revolution goes too far, that we should work to reform the system, but also seeing the limits of what’s being done in response to Trump. Concern about Trump was more widely felt and expressed. At the same time, indicating this touched a nerve: Alex Jones, a fascist provocateur with a wide broadcast audience and backing from powerful forces, hosted 20 minutes of what could only be called a semi-lunatic rant including slander and misinformation, attacking this exchange, and both Uygur and Zee. In the face of such attacks, it is critical to advance the goals of the revolution, bringing forward new forces and defending those who represent for the revolution and lead.

At UCLA and community colleges throughout the city, along with the 5-2-6, we’ve made announcements in classrooms and cafeterias, challenging people to come debate and discuss the question of reform vs. revolution, centered around this quote from Bob Avakian (BA):

There is nothing more unrealistic than the idea of reforming this system into something that would come anywhere near being in the interests of the great majority of people and ultimately of humanity as a whole. 

Centered around this and other quotes from BAsics, from the talks and writings of Bob Avakian, we’ve had several mass debates where students have been struggling with each other over reform and revolution, bringing in the actual history of the U.S., and the horrors that billions on the planet suffer from because of this system: the brutal exploitation, the wars for empire, destruction of the planet, and now, deep concern about the looming loss of the right to abortion. There’s been polarization and beginning transformation with people stepping into debate who by the end have said, “I’m arguing for things I didn’t even know I thought.” 

On Saturday, Part II of the film of BA’s speech, Why We Need An Actual Revolution And How We Can Really Make Revolution, will be shown near where Nipsey Hussle was killed, in South Central LA, being built city-wide, including the colleges. On Monday, May 20, there is an event of the Tour at UCLA titled “You Think You’re Woke, But You’re Sleepwalking Through a Nightmare... This System Cannot Be Reformed, It Must Be Overthrown!” which is being built for throughout the city as part of the Tour. All these represent the metaphorical “crossing of the tracks” where people from the neighborhoods of the oppressed and community colleges come to and join with those from an elite campus, to engage and interact with the tour, and vice versa.

Promoting this was an interview that aired on The Michael Slate Show with Lenny Wolff and Tala Deloria. Telling her story of transforming her thinking and life journey, from wanting to be a stockbroker to becoming a revolutionary, Deloria, a student at UCLA and a member of the Tour, was compelling on choices confronting young people and why she made the choice she did. In conjunction with Wolff, who cast these choices in a wider sweep and also told his own story, they posed questions that touched the soul in an almost “existential” dimension, what is one’s life to be, when a radically different world is urgently necessary and possible, and what those choices and journeys look like.

We have put to people from the beginning the fact that they are needed NOW to build this revolution—up against all the other programs and bullshit that fall way short of what’s needed... to change the whole political atmosphere in society, as part of getting closer to the time we can actually make revolution. And that they need to be part of solving the problems of the revolution, wielding what we do have in terms of the strategy for revolution, the leadership in BA, and a concrete plan for how society can be organized after we make revolution. We have begun to more frontally put forth the need for people who agree with the Points of Attention to join the Revolution Clubs.

Over these last few weeks, many people have begun to turn their faces to revolution, with small bunches of people seriously considering joining the Revolution Club. There is urgent work before us, and problems to solve: How do we forge Revolution Clubs on a different footing and of a new type which are envisioned in Bob Avakian’s speech from last summer: Why We Need An Actual Revolution And How We Can Really Make Revolution? How do we cohere the people who have been provoked, challenged and inspired by the National Tour into a force—up against all the bullshit and dead ends in society, even as people are sorting out what they think... and inspiring and attracting others in an overall collective process? How is this whole national movement for revolution led through the digital web presence: the website, revcom.us integrated with social media?

These are the discussions we have been having, formally and informally, among ourselves and increasingly with those stepping forward. This is what needs to be grappled with as we further develop the plan for a real breakthrough in impacting society with revolution and accumulating forces for revolution with the plan for the June 8/9 weekend: a Weekend of Revolution, to put revolution on the map in LA... reverberating to, impacting and inspiring people nationwide.

These are problems all of us are needed to be part of going to work on. Write to us at revolution.reports@yahoo.com with your own questions, reflections and experiences. To give this grappling and process the necessary context, here is an excerpt from BA’s speech, Why We Need An Actual Revolution And How We Can Really Make Revolution:

Spreading the word, particularly as this is done together with others in a planned, systematic way, can be an important step in joining the organized ranks of the revolution and taking part in the process of building the revolution. A crucial next step in making this revolution real is that, “Thousands need to get organized into the ranks of the revolution now, while millions are being influenced in favor of this revolution.” Getting organized into the ranks of the revolution means acting together with others in a unified way, as an organized force, guided by the strategic plan and leadership for the revolution, building the revolution among broader masses of people, while also getting deeper into the principles, methods, and goals of this revolution, the basics of which are concentrated in the “Points of Attention for the Revolution.” A key form of revolutionary organization are the Revolution Clubs, which live by, propagate, and fight for the “Points of Attention.” The core of the Revolution Clubs are people deeply committed to revolution who closely follow the leadership of the Revolutionary Communist Party, which has the basis, in the new communism, to provide overall leadership for the revolution; but the Revolution Clubs also need to reach out to and involve growing numbers of people who are new to the revolution. The Revolution Clubs are a means through which “people can take part in and powerfully represent for the revolution in an organized way, as they learn more about the revolution and advance toward joining the Party.”

Networks of people, working together to spread the word about and organize people into the revolution, need to be built, and expanded, in all parts of the country—and linked together. In areas where the Party and the Revolution Clubs have not yet established an organized presence, or in circumstances where people have not yet come into direct contact with this organized presence of the revolution but have become aware of the core principles and goals of the revolution, they should reach out to and involve others they can draw forward around those core principles and goals; they should link up with the central leadership of the revolution for assistance and direction in organizing a Revolution Club among the people they are bringing into the revolution, on the basis of the “Points of Attention for the Revolution,” which are included in the pamphlet HOW WE CAN WIN, and are posted at revcom.us. A crucial “connecting link” in all this is the Party’s website revcom.us and newspaper Revolution, which “sharply expose the crimes of this system, scientifically analyze why it cannot be reformed, and give guidance and direction for people to work in a unified way for revolution.” In everything we do, it needs to be clearly kept in mind, and boldly put forward to people, that, whatever part of the country we are in, and whatever the size of our forces at any given time, we are doing all this as part of a national movement, together with people in other parts of the country, aiming to impact all of society and building a revolution to overthrow the whole system, with the whole world in mind.

 

Andy Zee interviewed by The Young Turks' Cenk Uygur about organizing for an actual revolution, and the urgency of driving out the Trump/Pence fascist regime

Debate at UCLA on "America Was Never Great"

An Internationalist Benefit Dinner for the Revolution Tour

May 20, 2019 | revcom.us

 

From a reader:

Over $1,400 was raised at the “Celebrate Internationalism” benefit dinner for the Get Organized for an ACTUAL Revolution Tour. $1,200 came from the event on May 11 and the rest from donations and new sustainers. About 30 people came, including some new people recently met during the 12-day effort in spreading the Points of Attention (POAs). The food was delicious and international—Afghan, Iranian, Palestinian, and Mexican restaurant owners contributed food in addition to food brought by supporters of the movement for revolution. Three languages were spoken—Farsi, Spanish, and English.

At the short program, we listened to Bob Avakian’s New Year’s Message and watched Noche Diaz at the April 28 LA picnic for the tour. A Revolution Club member spoke about what the 5-2-6 is. This was followed by comments and some questions from the audience.

An immigrant from India had heard about the dinner at the Bay Area Book Festival the weekend before. He said these points (POAs), which he liked, talked about different political questions. But what about the economic foundations? How do you see that? This led to a round of enthusiastic discussion.

An environmental activist, who was recently met during the 5-2-6 push, spoke with urgency about the emergency situation facing the planet and humanity. She cited the UN report that there are only 12 years left to prevent irreversible damage from climate change and that report came out last year, so there are only 11 years left! This brought alive “Stop Capitalism-Imperialism from Destroying Our Planet!”—one of the 5 STOPS. She also talked about the urgent need for a radical change and not relying on the government and the system, which is the cause of this and all other problems.

An immigrant talked passionately about one of the six Points of Attention and raised an idea of fundraising in the next period for the Tour. She said:

“I think that women can organize a fundraising picnic in the Mission District of SF (an immigrant neighborhood) to raise funds for the Tour to Get Organized for an ACTUAL Revolution, by making the food, getting donations of food, and spreading the word. I think the theme of this picnic should be a ‘World Without Borders,’ based on POA #3. This is more important than ever, when you have the head of the country whipping up belligerent, intense hatred against immigrants, sending more military to the border, and calling for building the wall, and the fear among the immigrants is intensifying. But we need to overcome this fear, and ‘ganar la liberated’ (win liberty), because the only things we have to lose is our chains. We need a fundamental change (cambia profundo), we need revolution and it won’t be easy (no es facil).”

Then there was this comment from the father of a young Latino man killed by the police in the Bay Area:

“I liked the fact that (POA #1) mentions the highest interests of people. When the system says justice for all, they don’t really mean it. They profile you just for walking in the wrong neighborhood. Some people are just out for personal gain. Law enforcement only want to make themselves look good. And some people use revolution for personal gain and then turn around and run for mayor. I like that this is about fighting for equality of all languages and cultures (POA #3), and not just about fighting for only your own people. This is one way the system can divide the people up when we should be fighting for each other.”

People coming to the dinner were very unleashed by the ethos expressed by the POAs and the comments and the discussions. Many stayed after the program, and hung out. More donations were made. Some talked more about the fundraising projects suggested for the next period, like the picnic in the Mission on the third weekend of June and the garage sale on May 26. Others participated in lively discussion in groups. All this continued into the night.

 

 

 

Stoop Sale Fundraising for the National Get Organized for an ACTUAL Revolution Tour

May 20, 2019 | revcom.us

 

From a reader:

Last weekend, some of us organized a stoop sale in response to the National Get Organized for An ACTUAL Revolution Tour call for fundraising. (Stoops are the stairs outside a house.) We’re counting on this stoop sale to spur you and others like you to raise funds for the national tour.

We would like to make two challenges:

1. Match our $1,000 by Sunday, May 26. Of the $1,349 we raised at the sale, we decided to put $1,000 toward a matching donation to challenge others to contribute and double the funds for the Tour. (The rest of the money will go towards promotion and other expenses.)
2. Organize a garage sale or flea market. Set a goal and raise money to meet the Tour’s May goal of $20,000!

Here’s what we did:

The sale was in a progressive, middle class neighborhood near a farmer’s market—a place with lots of foot traffic.

Initially, we put out a call to people we know to donate items, and in the last two weeks really strived to get a lot of used items to sell. Lots of friends, and friends of friends, donated items. We posted brightly colored flyers in the neighborhood the week before the stoop sale and about 15 shopkeepers let us post the flyer inside and/or outside their stores. Some people baked cookies. We also advertised it on Craig’s List and a couple of neighborhood websites that list stoop sales to get the word out as broadly as possible. The day of the sale, one person went to the farmers’ market on the corner with leaflets to invite people to the stoop sale.

We set up books donated by Revolution Books on half of the stoop and eight tables in the front yard and along the sidewalk packed with donated items: kitchenware, glassware, jewelry, meat grinder (vintage from the 1950s, which sold!), and other small appliances, African masks, children’s toys, clothes, electronics, shoes (including three pairs of tap shoes), hats, knickknacks, plus tons of clothing in boxes and hanging on two clothing racks.

We had a palm card with the Points of Attention for the Revolution, to live by and fight for now, to distribute and they were a great resource. It gave people a doorway through which to learn more about this revolution, and to actually take a step through that door.

The Saturday of the stoop sale was a bright, sunny day. Many people were out and about and came over. Others came from the farmers’ market or from having seen the posters or an online listing. They bought several items or one item. Some paid for items, browsed some more, paid for a second batch of stuff, browsed some more. With each sale, we explained this was fundraising for the Tour and gave them a Points of Attention palm card. At times the sidewalk was blocked with people examining items on each table and picking clothes out of two boxes. There was a general positive attitude toward talking about revolution. People were pleasantly surprised when they realized that this wasn’t a few people doing a moving sale or some individual private thing, but a group of people doing a fundraiser for a tour getting people organized into the revolution, a real revolution. “This is cool!” While there is usually a lot of haggling at stoop sales to lower the price for an item, there was a lot less of it when people understood what this fundraiser was for. One person gave an extra $5, another $10.

Having various political buttons and T-shirts and patches also contributed to “not your ordinary” stoop sale. Some youths were excited about the political T-shirts and a Latino man bought patches in both Spanish and English against the oppression of women.

There were two hip 20-something white women (one called the other to come to the stoop sale for her opinion on clothes and they spent a long time trying things on. Good thing we had a mirror!) She said, “This sounds really interesting... but it’s not some kind of cult is it?” We showed her the POA card, and she asked about the election. She was relentless about “Well, then if not any of these—Bernie or AOC or Warren or ??? who are you voting for?” and was really intrigued by the #BEB broadsheet. She wouldn’t give her contact info but said to her friend, “This is really different and interesting. I’m going to check this out” and promised to go online to view BA film, Why We Need An Actual Revolution And How We Can Really Make Revolution.

A mother with her child checked out every table. She was intrigued by conversations she heard around her about “revolution,” disturbed by the current state of events with Trump/Pence and very upset that even her friends were “afraid to talk” about things, “uncomfortable things,” especially racism. She said that if we don’t talk about it, how are people going to learn and change/grow. She said she speaks up when something happens that she thinks is racist, but that her friends don’t, and don’t think she should either because she is white. She thought that was very wrong and started reading the POAs and was glad to be able to talk.

Our goal was $1,000 for the weekend and we greatly exceeded that.

We have a van full of used items and are going forward. We are looking for another stoop for a second sale, preferably somewhere with another good location and lots of foot traffic. Next time we will reach out more broadly to work with more people new to the revolution. Our experience this time shows that is possible.

We hope our experience will inspire others. So, meet our challenge! Donate toward our $1,000 match by May 26 and turn it into $2,000 for the Tour. Have your own sale to raise even more funds or find other creative ways to raise money and promote the Tour. We pledge to do this as well!

Will our skills be put in the service of ourselves or our people, keeping the world fundamentally as it is, or will it serve the revolution and the interests of humanity?

May 20, 2019 | revcom.us

 

This is an op-ed that was sent in to the Daily Bruin, student newspaper at the University of California, Los Angeles, by Tala Deloria, a member of the Revolution Club, student at UCLA, and one of the #UCLA 5.

I’ve been in this institution for 6 years. Now that my journey is coming to an end, I face many of the same anxieties (excitement?) my peers and those in previous generations faced about the uncertainty of the future and our place within it. The basic question is the same: what am I going to do with my life?

Some of us have it more figured out than others. Some of us feel like we lack agency in determining the outcome given the perilous nature of being outside of the “norm” of whiteness, maleness, heterosexuality, etc. Some of us wonder if the question is even worth asking given the looming doom of climate change. For some it’s all the above.

I came to this institution with a lot of illusions about why I got here and what I was going to do with the opportunity. I was never explicitly gung-ho about the American dream, but I thought that I was special because I “made it” when many of those around me fell by the wayside. I recognized institutional oppression but only in the liberal sense where I saw “my people” as “lacking equal opportunity.” I was set on advancing my career to give back to my community. I was going to be a stockbroker... and I ended up a revolutionary communist.

That didn’t happen overnight. It was a process where the things I learned in the classroom came together with my engagement with Bob Avakian’s works and with protesting and organizing with other revolutionaries. I learned about the real brutal history of this country and came to yearn for a world without America. I got a glimpse of what it’s like to live under the boot of this system and its merciless police. I cried every time we had to bury another Black youth and I felt that beautiful, electric rage of people fighting back politically in the streets. I came to understand the deeper dynamics of why the world is the way it is. All of this changed me. I read and debated. I challenged others and they challenged me.

Through this process I grew a fighting spirit as I felt the intolerability and unnecessariness of living this way, and I came to understand we have two choices: either we live with the world as it is, with all the horror that means for humanity, or we make revolution to overthrow the system that’s at the root of this and build something radically better on its ashes.

For years I walked through this place with a deep sense of alienation because I saw too much serenity and apathy in response to this chaotic, violent world. People without a way out dig their noses in what is, especially at an elite institution like this. Many of us are just looking to pursue our own advancement, or maybe trying to help “our people,” however we may define that, or maybe getting funneled into one reformist program or another. All of which amounts to us settling into the world as it is and accepting this as the best we can do. I don’t mean to knock Doctors without Borders or any other good-hearted attempt at changing the world, but...

My journey began years before Trump. Before Charlottesville, before the Muslim Ban, before #MeToo, before we felt the looming threat of nuclear apocalypse, of “fire and fury like the world has never seen,” even before we were told we have 10 years to save the planet. Now we look at the world we have inherited, with fascism consolidating throughout the world, with the horrors accelerating, and the choices pose themselves even more sharply.

Revolution IS our only way out, and we have a real shot to win. So for those who refuse to believe there is no alternative to the world as it is, here’s a question for you, with all the skills you’ve accumulated in this place: will this be put in the service of ourselves or our people, keeping the world fundamentally as it is, or will it serve the revolution and the interests of humanity?

The road is not easy. The stakes are nothing less than the future of the 7 billion people on this planet, and I know there are questions about violence, and how the new society will be run, about the strategy to do this, and about whether we can really defeat this imperialist giant. Don’t set these questions on the shelf. Come hear the argument for revolution you won’t get anywhere else at the speaking event Monday, May 20th: “You Think You’re Woke but... You’re Sleepwalking Through a Nightmare. This system can’t be reformed it must be overthrown,” 7 pm, Haines 118 and bring your questions. Let’s unite, debate, challenge each other. Then make your choice.

 

Tala Deloria and Lenny Wolff talk about The National Get Organized for an ACTUAL Revolution Tour, and about the May 20 speaking event at UCLA on The Michael Slate Show

A Speaking Event by the National Revolution Tour
UCLA May 20, 7 PM

Updated May 20, 2019 | revcom.us

 

 

 

Download PDF for printing fliers: FRONT | BACK

 

Tala Deloria and Lenny Wolff talk about The National Get Organized for an ACTUAL Revolution Tour, and about the May 20 speaking event at UCLA on The Michael Slate Show

Field Reports From The National Revolution Tour

Updated April 23, 2020 | revcom.us

 

Tala Deloria and Lenny Wolff talk about The National Get Organized for an ACTUAL Revolution Tour, and about the May 20 speaking event at UCLA on The Michael Slate Show

---

Andy Zee and Michelle Xai "Grand Experiment... As Serious As Your Life"

On The Michael Slate Show

LISTEN HERE

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Noche Diaz Presenting the Lifetime Fire Extinguisher Award to Al Sharpton at the Sacramento, CA State Capitol.

Revolution Club at the State Capitol in Sacramento

 

“...you're talking about the whole world...”

Struggle Over the REALITY of Society, and the Need for Revolution

May 20, 2019 | revcom.us

 

Editor's Note: Following is a lightly edited excerpt of a “field” report from the National Tour

We had an important struggle at a community college with someone we met last week. This was someone who first came to a debate about whether the American Dream is humanity's nightmare and wanted to defend the “American Dream.” But through that discussion, he changed some of his thinking, in part hearing people debate about what the U.S. has done to the world and then reading a couple BA quotes about this.

He had read the flyers we gave him last week and this time was trying to make an argument on how we actually could reform this system. He was arguing in particular about how to stop police brutality, basically how to make these horrors a little less horrific and he was making an argument about using the system against them.

In getting into this, I stepped back to the point that we're not just talking about the people in America or just the oppression of Black people, but actually all of humanity. I started from BAsics 3:2: “There is nothing more unrealistic than the idea of reforming this system into something that would come anywhere near being in the interests of the great majority of people and ultimately of humanity as a whole.” I walked through what we mean when we say system, talking about the mode of production and went a little deeper into the global system of capitalism/imperialism. Everything that is produced and sold for profit is basically on the backs of millions of people all over the world. I used the example of the basic needs of human beings to live being water, food, shelter, clothes, and culture. How can we actually get all those things without any exploitation of any kind? In order to get these basic needs, people have to sell their ability to work to get paid this commodity money that we use to go trade this for food, clothes, rent etc. I walked through briefly why fundamentally we cannot just reform this system in the interest of the vast majority of humanity.

His first response was “you're talking about the whole world.” He said from the first discussion he had he was thinking about what we were talking about just in terms of America. This gave him a different understanding of what we're actually talking about.

One of his questions was what would replace the old system. We talked about the Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America. He had a lot of questions but was also very excited to hear that there was such a Constitution. One of his questions was will there be a government under that new society and how do we make sure that the leadership of the new society will not go in a different direction. I didn't go after every single question but I did point to the fact that these questions were very important and the need for him to actually do the work, to dig into the Constitution, to dig into Bob Avakian, in the fight to actually keep that leadership on the right road, and the argument that BA makes about everyone's responsibility in that.

Through the whole discussion, we were also putting the problems to him. We talked about the contradictions bound up with organizing thousands of people into the Revolution and what that all takes, including going up against the frameworks that are keeping people locked into the system, needing to break through on this and organize thousands by the end of this year.

We did put to him the need for him to join the Revolution Club and the impact we are fighting to have during this June 8th and 9th weekend. He was very excited and very seriously thinking about this after the discussion.

One interesting thing he said at the end of our discussion was that he wanted to join with the Revolution and accepted the challenge of being one of the first to step into this Revolution. He said he didn't want it to be next year or in the future where there are thousands of people that are with this Revolution and him just kind of standing off to the side, looking at those thousands and not being one of the first. He enthusiastically wanted that responsibility of being one of the first and going to work on bringing forward those thousands.

 

"Either prove us wrong, or join the Revolution Club."
A Mass Debate at a Community College

May 20, 2019 | revcom.us

 

Editor's Note: Following is a lightly edited excerpt of a "field" report from the National Tour

We held a mass debate at a community college. In addition to putting our table and displays in the middle of campus, two of us went around the campus making short announcements to students gathering at tables, in the cafeteria, perched on busy walkways during class changes, and posted in a bathroom.

The content of the provocation to debate involved posing the 5 STOPS and asking people to tell us how any of this is going to be reformed under this system, reading BAsics 3:2: “There is nothing more unrealistic than the idea of reforming this system into something that would come anywhere near being in the interests of the great majority of people and ultimately of humanity as a whole.” We ended with: “Either prove us wrong, or join the Revolution Club.” A couple times, we got a big applause but I feel we could have done more to challenge those applauding to step into the revolution.

We had one person at the table, where some people were stopping to look at the 5 STOPS displays. We were stepping up to people with the debate at 1pm and also that we are building the Revolution Club, which drew interest in the Club. A recurring question was people asking “Is this a club at school?” 

There was contestation around the POA on “jokes” which one woman was trying to frame as a question of censorship. She also wanted to pick a fight on POA #3, that we should fight for a world without borders. This was good, as we were able to get going a scene where people were also speaking to each other. This sharpened up with more intense debate whether America is a force for good, and why people have to leave their homelands in the first place to come to the U.S. to survive. We got into the actual role and history of what the U.S. has done to people all over the world. It got more heated and this drew more people’s interest and excitement.

One woman who played a really good role in the exchange started off from a place of disagreement, saying that we need a revolution of the mind and that people need to change themselves in order to care about others. By seeing the more backwards positions being argued, she transformed through this debate, and at the end said that through the course of the arguments she had to say things and take positions on things she didn’t even know she had (on immigration and borders, on jokes, on the U.S. military and role of the U.S. around the world).

Off of this, we signed up several people who are interested in joining the Revolution Club and took copies of the Points of Attention to distribute.  When we went back to the campus on Thursday, we made a point of setting up in the same place and introducing people we’ve been talking with to each other, to develop more of a sense of people collectively stepping into the revolution and joining the Revolution Club.

The “Get Organized for an Actual Revolution National Tour” & the Revolution Club, LA Present:

A Weekend of Revolution June 8 & 9, 2019

You Think You’re Woke ...
But You’re Sleepwalking Through A Nightmare,
This System CANNOT Be Reformed, It Must Be Overthrown!
A Better World IS Possible!

May 13, 2019 | revcom.us

 

Be A Part of Putting Revolution On The Map In LA – Inspiring People Nationwide.

Save the dates now. Volunteer to help plan a weekend to make the biggest difference.

If you hate what this system does to people here and around the world, join with others who feel like you do – defiant, and who are looking for a whole different way the world could be.

Over the next year the National Revolution Tour is setting out to organize thousands into the revolution – this will give hope to millions. You are needed to make June 8 and 9 a strong opening salvo.

Saturday, June 8: Join Revolution Club Marches & Rallies to Declare:

ENOUGH! / ¡BASTA YA!
We Need an Actual Revolution
A Better World Is Possible
In South Central, East LA and West LA, we will march to announce that there is a new force gathering and getting organized for the time when we could really make a revolution – to emancipate humanity, to save the planet, to create a future worth living for.

Saturday Evening, June 8:

A Night of Revolutionary Celebration
Living and Fighting for a Whole New World!
An evening with a short special film of Bob Avakian, the leader of the revolution, revolutionary culture, a night of celebration and support for a radically new and better world.

Sunday, June 9: Workshops

Getting Organized For Revolution
11:00 AM – 3 PM
What's the revolution all about? How can we really make a revolution? Who is the leader of this Revolution, Bob Avakian and what is the New Communism? How do you join the Revolution Club?

How do you build it in an area or campus where it doesn't yet exist? How do you get started?

 

323.424.6687 • revclub_la@yahoo.com • Social Media: @revclub_la

www.revcom.us • @tuneintorevcom

 

Iran: America Plays Imperialist Roulette in the Gulf
Putting Millions of Lives at Risk

May 20, 2019 | revcom.us

 

Editor's Note: As we go to press, it has come to our attention that Trump has escalated his threats, tweeting Sunday that “If Iran wants to fight, that will be the official end of Iran. Never threaten the United States again!" This represents a significant escalation and potentially implied nuclear threat which should be taken seriously.

Last week we reported¹ that the U.S. ratcheted up its military and economic threats against Iran, including tightening crippling economic sanctions and dispatching an aircraft carrier strike group and four nuclear-capable B-52 bombers to the Persian Gulf. All this raised the specter of U.S. war against Iran.

Since then, there has been a flurry of conflicting U.S. moves and reports. On one hand, according to the New York Times,² the Pentagon has prepared war plans to send 120,000 troops to the region if needed. The U.S. has provocatively blamed Iran (without hard evidence) for damaging four oil tankers in the Persian Gulf and circulated reports that Iran was loading missiles on boats and planning attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq.

Then, later in the week, on Friday, May 17, the New York Times carried a major report that Trump, after previously threatening that Iran would “suffer greatly” if it or its allies attacked U.S. “interests,” had met with his generals and told them he didn’t want war with Iran, and that he wanted to talk with Iran. This was reportedly in sharp contrast to the reported warlike stances of National Security Adviser John Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

These contradictory statements and moves show there are deep divisions among the U.S. rulers—including within the Trump/Pence regime—over how best to maintain their global empire, and dominance in the Middle East, in the face of a host of vexing challenges. In particular, there are grave concerns regarding the consequences of a military attack on Iran, and its potential escalation into a regional war. The Persian Gulf is global capitalism’s oil artery, accounting for a third of world oil shipments.³

Some Basic Points of Orientation

1. These divisions among America’s rulers are like bitter arguments between bloodthirsty vampires over how best to sink their fangs into their intended victims. All factions of the U.S. ruling class understand that dominating the Middle East and the Persian Gulf has been a key pillar of America’s global power and capitalist-imperialist empire, and see Iran’s Islamic Republic as an obstacle, to varying degrees, to U.S. control of the region. But there are sharp divisions over how to deal with Iran and maintain U.S. regional hegemony, while dealing with other global challenges like Russia and China. Spearheaded by Bolton and Pompeo, the Trump/Pence regime has been pursuing a strategy aimed at “regime change,” directly overthrowing the Islamic Republic or forcing its removal through massive economic pressure and political upheaval, if it does not fully capitulate to U.S. demands.⁴

2. Heightened conditions of confrontation remain. Last week we wrote that U.S. moves in the Persian Gulf were an escalation of its “regime change” strategy and an acceleration of the trajectory toward a U.S. confrontation with Iran.

This complex of moves has resulted in a dangerous situation with explosive “trip wires” where accidents and miscalculations can lead to significant escalation towards all-out war.

The U.S. is the world’s most powerful and dangerous imperialist superpower, armed to the teeth with thousands of nukes. It’s threatening Iran—a much less-powerful Third World country with no nukes that is ruled by a reactionary Islamic theocracy.⁵ The Trump/Pence regime’s extremely threatening, bellicose moves against Iran, including designating parts of Iran’s government as “terrorists” and waging economic warfare in the form of sanctions aimed at cutting its oil lifeline, all remain in effect and are threatening the lives of millions of Iranians. Trump hasn’t backed off any of that!

These U.S. actions, threats, and charges against Iran have created a situation that could spark a tit-for-tat escalation that could spiral out of control.

The Wall Street Journal ⁶ reported that because of U.S. moves, Iran’s leaders “believed an attack was coming and prepared possible counterstrikes,” which the U.S. in turn responded to with further threats and escalations.

Now there are reports that the U.S. and Iran may be taking steps to reduce tensions. However, a certain momentum toward confrontation has already been unleashed, and there remains a real danger that miscalculations or accidents could spark a military clash. For example, how will the U.S. react if Iran carries through on its promise—prompted by U.S. aggression—to resume a higher level of uranium enrichment if it doesn’t get economic relief from sanctions?

The situation is further muddied—and made more dangerous—by Trump’s response to reports of divisions within his regime. He tweeted: “Iran can have no idea what is actually going on”—as if all the uncertainty and heightened danger of miscalculation was a good thing! This amounts to literally playing roulette with the lives of millions—and bragging about it!

The U.S. Rulers Have NO Right to Threaten, Bully, or Attack Anyone, Anywhere

The U.S. imperialists have been intervening, threatening, sanctioning, and fomenting attacks on Iran since 1953 when a CIA coup overthrew an Iranian nationalist and installed a hated U.S. puppet, the Shah.⁷ They’ve done even worse to neighboring Iraq, invading, waging war, and imposing crippling sanctions that have led to the deaths of at least four million Iraqis since the 1960s.

And right now, the U.S. is arming, fueling, and facilitating Saudi Arabia’s genocidal war on the people—including children!—of Yemen, which has already taken 233,000 lives in the last four years. According to UNICEF:

Each day, another eight children will be killed, injured or recruited to the fighting. Every 10 minutes, another child will die from a preventable cause. Like a lack of food, with 360,000 children suffering from severe acute malnutrition. In fact, half the children under five years old in Yemen—2.5 million—are stunted. And stunting is irreversible.... Yemen is a test of our humanity. And right now, we are badly failing this test.

Given the blood-soaked track record of enforcing imperialist domination no matter the cost in human life, no one should accept America’s “right” to threaten and strangle a country and gamble with the lives of millions and millions... even if it doesn’t come to all-out war—any more than one should accept the Mafia’s right to murder and extort! Instead, people should be actively speaking out against, protesting, and resisting every manifestation of U.S. aggression against Iran—and anywhere else around the world.

And more fundamentally, why should anyone tolerate a system where wars and crimes against humanity are built into its very functioning and occur over and over and over?

This System Cannot Be Reformed, It Must Be Overthrown!

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1. See “Who Is Actually Threatening Who in the Iran-U.S. Conflict? Six Basic Realities the U.S. Media Downplays, Obscures, or Lies About” and “ U.S. vs. Iran: How the New York Times Twists Reality,” both at revcom.us, May 13, 2019. [back]

2. “White House Reviews Military Plans Against Iran, in Echoes of Iraq War,” New York Times, May 13, 2019. [back]

3. For example, on May 18, the New York Times carried an extensive analysis: “Saudi Oil Infrastructure at Risk as Small Attacks Raise Potential for Big Disruption,” detailing the vulnerability of Saudi Arabia’s oil production system—the world’s main oil spigot—in the event of war. [back]

4. See “Pompeo Issues Ultimatum to Iran: Only America Can Have Troops in Syria, Bully Iraq, Bomb Yemen, Support Reactionary Thugs, Wield Nukes, and Dominate the Middle East!” revcom.us, May 28, 2018. [back]

5. For background on the history of U.S. intervention in Iran, the reactionary nature of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the dynamics of the clash between these “two outmoded” forces, see Bob Avakian’s 2006 talk, Bringing Forward Another Way. [back]

6. Intelligence Suggests U.S., Iran Misread Each Other, Stoking Tensions,” Wall Street Journal, May 16, 2019. [back]

7.  See “American Crime Case #98: 1953 CIA Coup in Iran: Torture and Repression—Made in the U.S.A.,” revcom.us, May 16, 2016. [back]

 

You Can’t Change the World If You Don’t Know the BAsics

May 20, 2019 | revcom.us

 

 

Every week, revcom.us features one quote by Bob Avakian. We encourage Revolution Clubs and other readers, everywhere, to take the time to discuss the quote—the whole quote—and to write us at revolution.reports@yahoo.com with accounts of these discussions, or thoughts provoked in yourself by reading the quote.

 

May 20, 2019 | revcom.us

 

 

 

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Vallejo pigs tase and murder

“...it’s time to wake up!”

May 20, 2019 | revcom.us

 

Willie McCoy’s niece is bringing to light further brutality by the Vallejo, California pigs. Twenty-year-old Deyana Jenkins says she was tased and then taken into custody on April 16, during a traffic stop. The cops admit they did tase Jenkins. Cell phone videos of the incident posted on YouTube don’t show Jenkins getting tased, but do show Jenkins on the pavement outside her car with officers kneeling over her. She can be heard repeatedly screaming, “I did not resist!” Jenkins says she did not have her ID, that she left it in another bag. But she denies the cops’ story that she and the other women in the car made threatening gestures at the cops. They were listening to music on their phones and using social media. Millions of kids do this all the time driving around. But doing this while Black will get you stopped, tased, and arrested.

On May 6, Vallejo police released body cam footage from the February 2018 shooting of a 33-year-old Black man, Ronell Foster. The cop who killed Foster, Ryan McMahon, is one of the cops who killed Willie McCoy. McMahon says he tried to stop Foster because he was riding a bike without a light. Foster continued to ride his bike—apparently a “crime” punishable by death. The bodycam footage shows McMahon chasing Foster and then fatally shooting him in the back and the back of the head. McMahon told the dispatcher, “I have a guy on a bicycle running from me.” About 50 seconds later, Foster is dead.

The pigs continued to say Foster tried to grab the cop’s flashlight in a “threatening manner” and that there was a “violent struggle.” But the video doesn’t corroborate this. Adante Pointer, the lawyer for Foster’s family, told the Guardian, “The video proves that the official police story is nothing but a fraud... Ronell Foster was unarmed, did not present an immediate threat to anyone and was killed for essentially riding his bike.”

The murder of Willie McCoy

On February 9, 2019, Vallejo police took the life of Willie McCoy, a 20-year-old Black man. A firing squad of six cops shot McCoy over 20 times in the head, ear, neck, chest, arms, shoulders, hands, and back. McCoy was seen asleep or passed out in his car in the drive-through lane of a Taco Bell. And someone called the police. Police say when they arrived they found the driver “unresponsive” and allege McCoy had a gun in his lap. Loved ones describe McCoy as a beautiful human, that he loved making music and spending time with his nieces and nephews. He was a rapper in a group called the FBG.

In a video with the audio of the shooting, posted to YouTube a few days after the shooting, police can be heard yelling commands at McCoy and firing at him less than three seconds later. The police video was not made public, but was shown to the McCoy family. David Harrison, McCoy’s cousin who watched the video, said, “They killed him in his sleep. He scratched his arm in his sleep. And they murdered him. There is no justification.” After the McCoy family demanded that the video be made public, it was finally released at the end of March. There is footage from each of the body cams of the six different pigs. It’s horrifying to watch and hear this six times: McCoy appears to move his arm, the pigs yell “show me your hands.” Three seconds later the pigs deliver a horrific barrage of rapid automatic gunfire into the car.

 

Outrage on Top of Outrage: Police Commander Said Murder of Eric Garner Was "Not a Big Deal"

May 17, 2019 | revcom.us

 

After NYPD pig Daniel Pantaleo brought down Eric Garner with a chokehold in 2014 as he cried out “I can’t breathe,” another cop on the scene texted their commander that Garner was “most likely DOA”—and the commander’s response was: “Not a big deal.”^* This was made public for the first time during the NYPD procedural hearing now going on involving Pantaleo.

Eric Garner was 43 years old when he was murdered, married for over 20 years to his wife, Esaw, with a son starting college, five other children, and two grandchildren. He was someone with a big heart and a great deal to give. His friends called him “Big E” and “Teddy Bear,” a generous man who helped settle disputes among the people. One friend remembered, “He had a hug and smile for everybody. He was always trying to keep the peace.” To the pigs, all this was “not a big deal.”

NOT A BIG DEAL!!! These four words totally capture the utter callousness of these pigs and of their entire system, for whom the incarceration of literally millions upon millions of people over the past decades is NOT A BIG DEAL... for whom evictions of hundreds of thousands of women, especially Black and Latino, is NOT A BIG DEAL... for whom the poisoning of countless children by lead—and more than that, the generations of youth that are condemned to oblivion even before they are born—is NOT A BIG DEAL.

As Bob Avakian says in his filmed speech Why We Need An Actual Revolution And How We Can Really Make Revolution, after naming just some of the thousands and thousands, especially Black, Latino and Native American, murdered by the police:

If this were the only thing wrong with this system, it would be more than enough reason to sweep it off the Earth!

 

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* “‘Not a Big Deal,’ Police Commander Said as Eric Garner Died,” New York Times, 5/16/19. [back]

 

 

 

 

 

Bob Avakian: "'Not A Big Deal?!?' Or Reason Enough To Overthrow The Damn System!"

In summer 2018 Bob Avakian spoke about the outrageous murders perpetrated by police in the speech Why We Need An Actual Revolution And How We Can Really Make Revolution.

Hearing for Cop Who Killed Eric Garner: Count the Ways this System Protects Murdering Cops

May 15, 2019 | revcom.us

 

Millions of people saw and heard the video. A bunch of cops bringing a man down for the “crime” of selling loose cigarettes. One administers the chokehold that ended the life of Eric Garner. Garner’s last desperate words, "I'm tired of it. This stops today, I did not sell nothing." And then,  “I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe.”

People took to the streets for many days and in different cities. NBA basketball players and other athletes wore “I can’t breathe” T-shirts to games. People across the country demanded justice. But again, like so many other times, the system only responds with a slap in the face.

A 2015 grand jury refused to bring any charges against Daniel Pantaleo, the chokehold cop. A civil rights investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice has been open for four years with no results. Meanwhile Pantaleo has been on “desk duty” all this time getting $120,000 a year. And now? We are led to believe that at last, Pantaleo is being put on trial. But this is pure bullshit.

This is NOT a trial. What started on May 13 was a department procedure, a disciplinary hearing to determine whether or not this murderer broke “protocol” by using a chokehold that is supposedly banned by the NYPD. The charges against Pantaleo are NOT murder, but the “reckless use of a chokehold and intentional restriction of breathing.” And there’s a good chance Pantaleo won’t even be found “guilty” of this.

This hearing is a result of charges being brought about from a Civilian Complaint Review Board. And it must be asked: What does it mean that this hearing has people demanding and hoping Pantaleo will lose his job. When real justice would mean this murderer is behind bars?

The medical examiner’s office ruled this a homicide and that the cause of Garner's death was "compression of neck (choke hold), compression of chest and prone positioning during physical restraint by police.” But Pantaleo’s lawyers are arguing that Eric Garner is to blame for his own death because he was overweight and out of shape. And they say Pantaleo used a “seatbelt maneuver,” not a chokehold. The very terms of this whole “hearing” are fucking outrageous. But this is the way this system works to defend murdering cops.

And there’s more. Pantaleo cannot be found guilty if the hearing only establishes that he violated the ban on chokeholds. A city law requires charges be filed within 18 months of the alleged violation. So since this didn’t happen Pantaleo can only be found guilty of the violation if he committed a crime—either third-degree assault or second-degree strangulation. And a grand jury has already refused to bring such charges against Pantaleo.

And there’s still more. Even if Pantaleo is found “guilty” in this hearing, the most he can get is the loss of some vacation time or be fired. But this might not happen either. The hearing judge can only make a recommendation to the police commissioner, who will then decide to uphold, modify or vacate the ruling.

So many ways to let a murdering cop walk free.

2014 was the year the cops killed Eric Garner. It was the year 18-year-old Michael Brown was killed by a cop in Ferguson. It was the year a cop killed 12-year-old Tamir Rice in Cleveland. And the cops have murdered so many more since then. And time after time after time, the system delivers a verdict of “justifiable homicide.”

In Amerikkka it is perfectly legal for a cop to murder a Black man for no reason at all—in cold blood. This is a system that works to ensure these cops get away with murder. A system of white supremacy and police brutality. A system that needs to be overthrown.

 

 

 

                                                                                                           

Video of cop using chokehold to kill Eric Garner

Bob Avakian, "Yes there's a conspiracy, to get the cops off."

Baytown, Texas

The Police Execution of Pamela Turner

May 15, 2019 | revcom.us

 

Late on the night of May 13, a cop shot and killed 44-year-old Pamela Turner, a Black woman, in the parking lot of the Brixton Apartments in Baytown, Texas.

Turner was walking toward her apartment when a Baytown pig confronted her. On a video of the encounter she is heard saying “you’re actually harassing me” as she tries to walk away from the cop. Turner shouted that she was pregnant. But this pig tased her and threw her to the ground. He put his foot on her. Standing right above her, he quickly fired five shots, hitting her at least once. Pamela Turner lay on the asphalt, dying. A white man who witnessed the murder angrily told a TV station, “For a cop to do that... she was shot in cold blood.”

A Litany of Lies

An official with the Baytown police told reporters that the killer cop was “forced” to shoot Pamela Turner. This pig poured bullets at point-blank range into a woman lying on the pavement, but somehow he felt “threatened”?!? Or did he decide to end her life because he knew he could, and wanted to drive home that message.

Baytown police said this cop had “dealt with [Pamela Turner] before and knew she had outstanding warrants.” They claimed that the apartment manager had previously tried to present Turner with an eviction notice. They also claimed that a relative of Turner’s told them she was not pregnant. All these were cheap attempts to justify the murder of Pamela Turner, and portray her as somehow the aggressor in this confrontation.

Pamela’s sister, Antoinette, told KPRC in Houston that she didn’t know if Pamela was pregnant or not, but that she did have two children, and three grandchildren. Antoinette also said that Pamela had previously told her that the cop who killed her (still unnamed as of this writing) had been harassing her.

“Everything Went Wrong”

Neighbors described Pamela Turner as known to just about everyone in the apartments. One woman said, “We talk to her every day. She’s always out walking her dog. She brings little gifts here and there to the kiddos.” A man told a reporter, “That could have been one of our grandmas. I feel like everything went wrong.”

Neighbors knew that Pamela Turner struggled with mental illness, and tried to help her. One woman told a reporter, “She wasn’t mentally competent. We always tried to look after her. She would walk outside at all hours of the night. I would tell the office management she should not be left alone.”

The police knew Turner as well. And as one man from the apartments told a reporter, “If you know she has mental illness, why not ask for backup first before you try and detain her? ... [S]he was barely getting up off the ground and he shot her like a dog. That’s wrong. And he needs to pay for it.”

This Cannot Continue

A man who lives in the Brixton Apartments told a reporter, “This is just giving me more reason not to trust them” [the police]. Definitely, the police should not be trusted. But the problem goes much deeper than that.

The police enforce a system that treats a Black woman with a mental illness as a threat, rather than someone whose life should be cherished and who should receive proper medical care. The police enforce a system that allows them to brutalize and kill a Black woman in front of numerous witnesses, and walk away from it. They enforce a system with laws that allow them to throw people out on the street with no place to go. The police are protected by a system that allows them to kill people, claim they felt “threatened,” and get away with murder time after time after bloody time.

How long will we allow this system to go on? How many more Pamela Turners will die at the hands of this system’s pig enforcers before people get organized to make revolution and end this madness for good? Will we be mourning more Pamela Turners 10, 20, 50 years from now? Or will we get with the revolution and work now to put an end to this madness, at the soonest possible time?

 

A 21st Century Lynching

Suppressed Sandra Bland Video Comes to Light

May 8, 2019 | revcom.us

 

On July 13, 2015, Sandra Bland, a 28-year-old Black woman, was found hanging in a jail cell in Waller County, Texas.

On May 7 – almost four years after Sandra’s death – a long-suppressed video Sandra took with her phone as she was arrested has finally come to light. An investigative reporter with WFAA in Dallas recently obtained the video and showed it separately to her sisters and to the family lawyer. It is a key piece of evidence that none of them had seen before. For three-and-a-half years it was in the hands of the Texas Department of Public Safety.

A 21st Century Lynching

Sandra Bland graduated from Prairie View A&M University, a historically Black institution in Waller County. She was returning there from her home in Chicago. She was happy about going back to reunite with old friends and take up a new job.

But after she turned onto the drive leading to the campus, she was pulled over by a Texas state trooper, Brian Encinia. He claimed she hadn’t used a turn signal to change lanes. Within moments, Encinia brutalized and mocked Sandra Bland. He threatened her with his Taser and snarled, “Get out of the car! I will light you up! Get out! Now!” He dragged her out of her car and threw her on the ground. He arrested her and charged her with felony assault on an officer.

From the beginning, police and prosecutors worked feverishly to cover up the truth about Sandra Bland’s arrest, time in their custody, and the circumstances of her death. They charged her with being the aggressor. They released an obviously tampered video of the jail cell they held her in. They declared the cell to be a “crime scene,” but then allowed reporters to trample through it. They claimed Sandra was “suicidal,” but did nothing to provide medical attention. No testimony of what were claimed to be interviews of jail personnel was ever released to Sandra Bland’s lawyers. Her friends and family, with whom she had been in steady communication, were not called to testify to the grand jury investigating the case. Her DNA was not found on the cloth around her neck. Jail logs were falsified. As Shante Needham, one of her sisters, said, “...they have an extremely, extremely good cover-up system.”

Say Her Name: Sandra Bland

The authorities claimed Sandra had committed suicide. But her family, many Prairie View students, and thousands of people across the country fighting to end murder by cop refused to accept the official story. The fight for Justice for Sandra Bland became a cornerstone of the fight to end murder and brutality of Black people by the police.

Encinia was investigated for perjury. He claimed Sandra put his “safety in jeopardy, at more than one time,” and this is why he brutalized and arrested her. But the perjury case never went to trial. A cash settlement was paid to Sandra Bland’s family, and Encinia was barred from being employed in law enforcement.

When Waller County prosecutors dismissed the charge against Encinia, the lawyer for Sandra’s family, Cannon Lambert, told reporters the family was “completely blindsided.” He said Sandra’s mother and sisters had told Texas prosecutors they wanted to go ahead with the trial, and prosecutors told them they would.

The System at Work

But the cover-up and kangaroo court went even deeper.

The video Sandra Bland courageously took shows Encinia harassing and assaulting her with a torrent of physical and verbal abuse. If Sandra’s video had been available to the family and their lawyers, they would have insisted that the prosecution of Encinia go forward. But prosecutors and the Texas state police concealed and suppressed the recording, and lied to Sandra’s family. Shante Needham said, “This [Sandra’s video] not only shows that he [Encinia] lied, but that he really had no business even stopping her. Period. And at the end of the day, he needs to go to jail.”

The video shows that Encinia was in no way threatened by Sandra Bland, that she was holding a cell phone in plain view, and was in fact recording him as he assailed her. He lied, and his lies were covered up by the Texas Department of Public Safety and the office of the Texas Attorney General, which defended him.

From a routine traffic stop to a young woman hanging in a county jail; from a lying cop who walks free, to brutal prison guards; to a racist district attorney’s office; to state police who oversee suppression of evidence, put a video of the arrest in deep storage for years, and a Christian Fascist attorney general who oversees the entire cover-up.

This is the system at work. This is a system in which white supremacy and police brutality are integral components. A system which has no legitimacy and no right to exist.

Sandra Bland recorded her arrest. The video has been suppressed for almost four years by Texas authorities.

Sandra Bland

Bob Avakian: "How Long?! How Many More Times Do the Tears Have to Flow?"

Bob Avakian: "The direct line from the Confederacy to the fascists of today"