We hit the streets of South Central to start taking the Bob Avakian interviews directly to the people. We had a team with a TV in a pickup truck. At one stop, we showed a clip about five minutes long from part 2 of the interview where he talks about how for people who catch the worst hell under this system, who are told they’re worthless, and lash out violently at each other, “there’s this whole notion that if you aren’t fucking over somebody else, you’re weak.” And he goes on to say, “I mean, some people will even talk about how if you’re in this life, out on the streets and whatever, in these communities and neighborhoods where all this is so intense, you can’t even laugh, at least not in public. You can’t even laugh because it makes you look weak.”
A man in his thirties stopped to watch this clip and came over to talk about it. He said when he saw BA’s image on the TV screen, he thought this looked like somebody who has never stepped a foot in the hood a day in his life. But when he heard him speak, he was astonished by how deeply he understands what is going on there. He told us a young friend had just been killed the day before, and he described how his friend was someone who used to laugh all the time, he didn’t care what people thought. It was clear he meant this laughing went up against the code you are ”supposed” to follow.
When one of the revcoms told him a little about BA’s history, mentioning he worked with the Black Panther Party back in the day, this person was glad to learn this and said anyone who has a history with the original Black Panthers has his respect, because they went through hell. Then he went on to say: but this man has my respect a million times more for what I heard him saying. The guy said he would watch the interview when he got home, spread it to others, and invite people to come with him to the in-person showing of part 3 on Saturday.