April 12, 2015
Editorial:
Fighting Through to Retake the Offensive Against Police Murder
April 12, 2015 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us
There is a question that poses itself to every revolutionary as we go into April 14:
ARE WE, OR ARE WE NOT, GOING TO REALIZE THE VERY REAL POTENTIAL THAT IS THERE—ARE WE, OR ARE WE NOT, GOING TO PROVIDE THE MASSES OF PEOPLE WHO DO FEEL SO STRONGLY ABOUT THIS OUTRAGE, THE MEANS AND THE VEHICLE TO GIVE POWERFUL EXPRESSION TO THEIR OUTRAGE ON APRIL 14, AND WILL THIS BE DONE IN A WAY THAT WILL CONSTITUTE A CRITICAL, AND URGENTLY NEEDED, ADVANCE IN THE STRUGGLE AGAINST THIS PARTICULAR OUTRAGE, BUT ALSO, IN AN EVEN LARGER SENSE, AN ADVANCE TOWARD THE ACTUAL REVOLUTION THAT IS NEEDED TO FINALLY PUT AN END TO THIS, AND THE MANY OTHER OUTRAGES, PERPETRATED BY THIS SYSTEM?
In the course of rising to this challenge, and as this system has continued with its drumbeat of police murder, things have polarized. And they have polarized, or divided out, in two ways. There is a polarization, a dividing out, between, on the one hand, those who feel that this is outrageous—and, on the other hand, those who either remain indifferent to it, or defend it. Within that, among those who oppose these outrages, things polarize once again. There is a polarization between two orientations, often finding expression between different forces and individuals, and/or even within a force or person: on the one hand, an orientation of truly feeling this is intolerable and therefore a fierce determination to stop this, and an urgent desire to see people in the streets once again, standing up and compelling all to deal with this... vs. an orientation of half-stepping, of conciliation with those in power.
Both of these polarizations are in flux, and not static; they are subject to change based on struggle, fierce struggle (as well as developments independent of us). And the struggle through, on, and in the wake of, April 14 must in fact change the current polarization, in which the urgency of stopping this—even as it bubbles up and boils over now here, now there—is overall being smothered.
April 14 itself, in order to fulfill both elements of the goal put forth above, must constitute, in actual fact and qualitatively, a retaking of the offensive, an actual bursting of the pall that has settled on the struggle. This means in the days and hours leading up to it continuing to imbue people with the urgency of taking the streets and finding forms through which masses very broadly can be part of that and in other significant ways support it. It means encouraging and reinforcing some, and struggling with others, to bring out the best in them. And it means on the day itself, actions which convey a sense of determination and break through to millions.
Find out more and get involvedIt is impossible now to predict who will come out and in what numbers on the 14th, in what mood different people who come may be, and what can potentially unfold. There have been positive developments and real progress of late: some of the programs in the past week or so, including April 6... some of the media coverage... some of the statements from people of conscience... some developments (though this is very contested) among groups concerned with this question... some positive motion among students. Some of these developments have been very significant; while none will in and of themselves “turn out the people,” they each tell us something very significant about how different forces and individuals (including political and literary representatives of different classes/strata) are seeing things. Each of these steps forward provides an opening for further transformations—again, with struggle. Further: There has grown and been tempered a core of people with the general orientation of stopping this, as well as a smaller core that sees this as part of carrying forward revolutionary struggle. Each and every one of these elements must go further in the time remaining. The biggest mistake would be to underestimate the potential significance of any of this.
On the 14th itself, no matter how many people initially turn out, it must be clear to all that there is a force determined in this next period to actually mount massive determined struggle in the streets against this outrage, with the aim, as Carl Dix put it on April 6, not of mitigating this murder and outrage, not of modifying this, but of STOPPING this.
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Keep in mind that the large exhibits of the Stolen Lives poster that have been made provide a very direct expression of the outrage being protested and a powerful symbolic expression of the right that is on the side of the protesters. The police have no right, moral or legal, to suppress their manifestation of this truth right in the public square. Making these installations the centerpiece of what everyone has to relate to that day can be one expression of retaking the offensive. The broad power of these installations has been shown by the front page of La Opinion, displayed on this website.
The relatives of the police murder victims have further forged themselves as a powerful social force over the past months, and this must find further expression around April 14. The recent videos by these parents and relatives should be viewed and used widely in the lead-up to A14.
The Revolution Clubs have been and will continue to be a backbone force in all this. They will need to be ready for all kinds of responsibility, but at the same time there should be times when the clubs come together and show who they are, projecting the need for revolution and that there are people organized to bring that revolution into being. (How about adapting that high school cheerleading chant to ring out, “We are the revcoms, the mighty, mighty revcoms, everywhere we go, people want to know, who we are... so we tell ’em... we are the revcoms...” etc.? That lets people know that there is a FORCE that they can join.) And even as the clubs are playing a backbone, multifaceted role, they should be recruiting on the spot—bringing people in, giving them the basic card on the clubs’ mission and have some T-shirts there ready for new people.
There should be, in the short time leading up to the 14th, reaching out once again to ALL forces professing concern on this, working on the polarization within groups and people—bringing out the best in people, even if that means sharp struggle at times. To give a sense of the potential right now in doing this, one of the people struggled with in our article two weeks ago, “Wanted: People of Conscience,” when she saw the criticism got back with us and said, “You know what? You’re absolutely right.” So let all people and social forces know that as they come into this, they should make and bring banners, homemade signs, etc. saying where they are from or, if they are with a group, giving expression to that.
As a major part of this, both on the streets and in talking with people one-on-one, fundraising has to be a major task. All-out mobilizations like this have already cost money and will cost much more—people understand this, and supporting this with money is something very important that everyone can do.
On the day itself (as well as the time leading up to it), people should be getting palm cards for the new DVD of the Dialogue between Bob Avakian and Cornel West, REVOLUTION AND RELIGION: The Fight for Emancipation and the Role of Religion (and be backpacking the DVD itself), as well as Revolution newspaper. The fact that there is a way out... that revolution could deal with this and IS, in fact, possible... needs to be made known to people, and the ways to find out more opened up to them.
The demonstrations on the 14th should take all the freedom that they can, both in terms of the righteousness of their actions and fighting through—carrying this forward into the evening and, if possible, beyond. Anyone who is arrested should be defended. And we should all have the orientation and work toward the possibility of sustaining this past the 14th—that is, it may be possible to bring forward continued actions around this, as happened in the months of November and December.
Finally, everyone at these manifestations must have a way to come very soon to a meeting of the Stop Mass Incarceration Network or a Revolution Club, and a way to be part of these even before there is a meeting—again, these groups should be actively recruiting on the spot. People will want to be able to come together to talk about and sum up what was accomplished and to talk about how to go further, and this should be done while “the iron is hot.”
With all this in mind, we should go transform the world.
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