Revolutionary Internationalist May Day 2021
The Revcoms Step Out… and People Begin to Step In

May 3, 2021 | revcom.us

 

Saturday, May 1, marked something not seen in a long a time in this country. Over 300 people nationally, in Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago, and a few other cities came together under the banner of revolution to declare that WE ARE HUMAN BEINGS! WE REFUSE TO ACCEPT SLAVERY IN ANY FORM—and to learn about and get organized for an actual revolution to put an end to this system. In Los Angeles, around 100 people, including several carloads from northern California, attended the rally held in the South Central neighborhood, a place where the lives of the basic masses are all too often lives of agony, desperation and hopelessness.

Three weeks before the 1st, the Revcoms published A Declaration, A Call To Get Organized Now For A Real Revolution. The days before May1st were buzzing as the Revcoms and others took out this call to Black and other oppressed neighborhoods, and others elsewhere who are raising their heads and seeking a radical solution in these times. The Declaration and Call addresses:

everyone who can’t stand this world the way it is ... who is sick and tired of so many people being treated as less than human ... who knows that the claim of “liberty and justice for all” is a cruel lie ... who is righteously enraged that injustice and inequality go on, and on, and on, despite false promises and honeyed words from people in power (or those seeking power) ... everyone who agonizes about where things are headed and the fact that to be young now means being denied a decent future, or any future at all ... everyone who has ever dreamed about something much better, or even wondered whether that is possible ... everyone who hungers for a world without oppression, exploitation, poverty, and destruction of the environment ... everyone who has the heart to fight for something that is really worth fighting for: You need to be part of this revolution.

Through this process, May 1st was the “launch pad” for this Declaration and Call, to make real advances in organizing for the REAL revolution.

Over a dozen new people stepped forward in powerful ceremonies in LA and New York City to put on the Revolution—Nothing Less! T-shirts of the Revcoms. They pledged to strive to live by, defend and promote the Points of Attention (POAs) of the Revolution Clubs. In LA, this was followed by a march of 40 people, in formation, through the neighborhood and park, chanting revolutionary slogans.

Welcoming People Into the Revolution

Spirit was high everywhere nationally, and as reports come in, we’ll cover highlights from different cities. Today we’re focusing on the keystone, in Los Angeles, where the National Tour to Get Organized For an Actual Revolution is currently located.

The crowd came from South Central, downtown, and elsewhere in LA, they came from Orange County to the south and the San Francisco Bay Area and Madera from the north, and they ran the gamut from anti-police brutality activists and fighters for Black liberation to environmentalists to people who hunger for a better world and decided to step out, including some who had never been active in political life before. The multinational crowd ran in age from high school youth to seniors, and in background from ex-prisoners to artists to students and professors—but the spirit of all was fresh and live, and unity was built through the three-hour program and mingling that followed.

Michelle Xai, a leader of the Revolution Club in Los Angeles, welcomed the crowd and through the three hours helped unleash dreams and bring forward determination to change the world. Both Noche Diaz and Michelle spoke very powerfully to the need now to get organized for an actual revolution, what an actual revolution is, and the difference in morality between the movement for revolution and the imperialists it is fighting. The revolutionary forces will fight hard when the time comes, he said, but both today and tomorrow they will firmly oppose revenge, wherever it rears its head. Noche explained that the imperialists dehumanize their forces, training them to carry out war against people. And while the revolutionary forces start out smaller and weaker than the imperialists, as people come to see the deep differences in how the two sides fight, the revolution will actually gain support and fighters. Both of them brought to life the leadership of Bob Avakian, the importance and the difference it makes.

Joe Veale, a one-time Black Panther and veteran revolutionary new communist, talked about BA’s history from the earliest days Joe knew about him, when BA was the first white revolutionary to call on people to support the Black Panther Party. When the Panthers later got turned back from the road of revolution, Joe got into BA’s writings in prison, and realized he “had never seen this kind of method and approach; the way that Bob Avakian went about analyzing the problem and the solution. It was a real systematic, a real scientific way that he went about things.” On release from prison, one of the first things he was involved in was defending BA from the attacks of the U.S. to put him in prison for more than 200 years. Drawing lessons, he said we have to “do anything and go anywhere to prevent them from taking this revolutionary leadership from us ... This is something that is really precious, this is something that we don’t get all the time in our lives. It doesn’t come around all the time. And when it does come around, not only do we have to protect it, but we have to follow it. We have to take it up and follow it and spread it. And help strengthen it, and build a wall around this leadership so they can’t get to it.”

Going Forward

People were organized to make and have a powerful impact over the next six weeks, culminating in powerful nationwide militant demonstrations for revolution on June 12. These mass demonstrations boldly declaring the need for REVOLUTION—NOTHING LESS! will politically go up against hated symbols of authority, drawing sharp lines for the world to see.

This is not a one-time thing, but part of organizing. Noche also laid out plans that include:

- A major fund-drive, to begin May 8;

-Taking out and connecting the films and writings of Bob Avakian, especially Why We Need An Actual Revolution And How We Can Really Make Revolution, as well as BAsics, the handbook of revolution. This will also include Bob Avakian for the Liberation of Black People and the Emancipation of All Humanity. (It is also worth noting that a significant number of those who came, including those who put on BA Speaks: Revolution—Nothing Less shirts, had been through zoom seminars on Bob Avakian’s New Year’s Statement, A New Year, The Urgent Need For A Radically New World—For The Emancipation Of All Humanity.)

And as a foundation and through-line for this whole period, spreading this Declaration and Call “not just where there are protests and rebellions against oppression and injustice, but everywhere throughout society—spreading the word about revolution and getting people together (in real life and online) to grapple with why an actual revolution is necessary, what such a revolution involves, and what kind of society this is aiming for.”

In this way, spreading revolution and the leadership of BA and bringing forward crucial financial support throughout these next weeks, the June 12 demonstrations can truly represent growing strategic strength and ties of the movement for revolution.

Stepping Up, and Stepping In

There was a spirit of a new beginning throughout, with people making different levels of commitment to get into and support the revolution.

Along with people marching, getting organizing materials and literature, this came through particularly in the T-shirt ceremony in LA, as some of the new and newer club members stepped up before the crowd to put on the Revcom T-shirt, BA Speaks: Revolution—Nothing Less! One young person—someone who began actively organizing in the weeks leading up to the 1st—addressed the crowd when he stepped up in the ceremony to put on his Revolution Club T-shirt: “I'm here, part of this revolution, because like everyone else here, I am tired of the way this system treats us. Ever since I was born, we were born into a system that really tears down men and women, especially minorities, especially poor people. I want to be part of a solution that really uproots all of that and gives everybody an equal chance to grow and to have a better life. So, I want to fight for that and fight for the freedom of everybody who's being oppressed. And I hope everybody else here who feels the same way can join me and join this revolution because it's definitely a good cause and Bob Avakian definitely knows what he's talking about, so please join.”

Another said: “Look, let's be honest: this system is a horror. The police gun down Black people every day. In broad daylight. Almost every day. You know, this world: one in five American women are raped. We need to get to a point where that never happens again! That's what this revolution is about and that's why we need to get organized for an actual revolution right now. And not only are we going for a world where millions and millions of children don't die every year from preventable disease, where there aren't wars of empire that destroy whole countries and kill millions of people. Not only are we going for a world where that never happens, but we're going for a bright and beautiful world filled with art, filled with music, and it's really embodied in the Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America. So, you should get into that, get into the leadership of Bob Avakian and join a Revolution Club near you.”

In the days to come, we will be more fully covering the events of this past weekend. We’ll examine both the advances and the shortcomings, including in concrete organizing and breaking the barriers standing in the way of the people who most need this revolution, to strengthen the needed sharp learning curve among the Revcoms. And we urge you to tune in this Thursday, May 6, 5pm PT, 8pm ET, to Episode 51 of The RNL—Revolution, Nothing Less!—Show on YouTube for fuller coverage, including going forward.