Bob Avakian is a long distance runner in the freedom struggle against imperialism, racism and capitalism. His voice and witness are indispensable in our efforts to enhance the wretched of the earth. And his powerful story of commitment is timely.
– Cornel West in 2005
Arturo O’Farrill in 2022, musician, on The Bob Avakian Interviews, 2022.
My parents and grandparents escaped from Nazi Germany and survived the Holocaust. I know what happens when people do not resist fascism. Now is the time to watch, listen and learn from a leader who is showing us the true picture of the Fascism in America and what we must do to stop it. Watch The Trump/Pence Regime Must Go! A Film of a Talk by Bob Avakian.
– David Meyerhof in 2017, educator and poet
Somayeh Kargar in 2023, former political prisoner in Iran. Video in Farsi. Translation below.
Translation by Revcom volunteers:
Greetings
My Name is Somayeh Kargar, follower of the New Synthesis of Communism, an ex political prisoner in Iran.
The world we live in is no longer tolerable. From the killing of courageous women fighters in Iran or Afghanistan by the theocratic fundamentalist governments or the genocide of Palestinian people, Ukrainian people, by the imperialist states or their lackeys and supporters, or the pains and suffering of the children in Africa, the destruction of the environment, or any other oppressions and exploitations in the world, none of these horrors are necessary, but their continued existence calls for the revolution that we need. We need to transform this situation.
If you want to know what is the capitalist-imperialist system and how it functions and what are the root causes of all these horrors in the world—If you want to know how to make a movement for the revolution we need and how to go forward towards building a New Socialist Republic—let’s participate in these important and special screenings of selections from the Bob Avakian Interviews. It makes no difference what part of the world we live in. This system has bound up all of our lives tightly together, and for liberation and emancipation, we must all fight for each other and to be conscious of our international responsibilities. Let’s by our serious presence and participation meet the challenges and bring our questions.
We have a chance to live in a time that a leader like Bob Avakian has put forward the highest level of the understanding of the science of communism, the New Synthesis of Communism, and gives us the possibility by basing ourselves on that science with the real hope of gaining victories. Avakian says to lead a revolution you need science and art.
If borders would have allowed me, I would have participated with joy, to learn and apply this science as much as I can.
Somayeh Kargar
Former political prisoner in Iran
Follower of the New Synthesis of Communism
With America in the midst of a profound sickness evidenced by the continuing slaughter of black people by police recently—it is necessary that a literature be in existence that challenges our assumptions and lets us begin to understand that there is a way out of this suicidal madness. However we eventually get out of this mess it will take a profusion of ideas by fearless thinkers—and Bob Avakian is that.
What I found initially interesting about Avakian was that as someone who was around the Black Panthers, and while recognizing some of the failures of past counterculture movements, he has continued to push forward and create a dynamic synthesis and literature in a scientific way that gives us a basis to critique the roots and structures here that hold us in chains. He never lost the faith.
–Matthew Shipp (2016), jazz pianist and composer, speaking about THE NEW COMMUNISM
Bob Avakian’s book [BAsics, from the talks and writings of Bob Avakian] is soul searching. It is powerful and courageous. If we want to have a better world in the future, we have to face our past, and we have to understand what we are doing in the world today cannot be sustained.
–Dongping Han in 2014, political scientist, author of The Unknown Cultural Revolution
A truly interesting account of Bob Avakian’s life, a humanizing portrait of someone who is often seen only as a hard-line revolutionary. I can understand why Bob Avakian has drawn so many ardent supporters. He speaks to people’s alienation from a warlike and capitalist society, and holds out the possibility for radical change.
– Howard Zinn (deceased) in 2005, on FROM IKE TO MAO and Beyond: My Journey From Mainstream America To Revolutionary Communist
Having gone and listened to a live, public Bob Avakian speech, as I have, is to be exposed to one of the most provocative, serious and controversial social thinkers of our time. He’s an American original who should be heard, debated and critiqued for these dramatic and troubling times.
– James Vrettos in 2013, professor, John Jay College, New York City
Rafael C. Angulo in 2022, Clinical Professor, School of Social Work University of Southern California
Bob Avakian is someone who doesn’t let people’s attention get diverted from the widespread and continual crimes of the capitalist system. He scientifically shows that an oppressor in any shape or form—whether it is of the Islamic Republic rulers or the Taliban or the US, the Russian or the Chinese imperialists—the shape doesn’t matter. They’re all products of the capitalist system.
– Shekib Mosadeq in 2023, revolutionary internationalist artist from Afghanistan
Melvin Ishmael Johnson in 2023, writer, DramaStage Qumran, veterans theatre workshop
Bob Avakian is one of the most important and advanced thinkers of our time. My old mentors taught me about people—they said, when you watch a person that you’ve first met… does their message change? Watch Bob Avakian through the decades: he’s talking about the fall of the capitalist system and putting something new and different in its place for all of humanity. And then the courage of Bob Avakian. When others are afraid to speak up. It takes courage to do what Bob Avakian is doing, and to say what he is saying, speaking the truth about what has happened and what needs to happen.
Together we all went through the pandemic. People were thinking “could this be the end of humanity?” But we got through it. Now what? The Ukraine, Wars, and the madness in the Middle East—led by all these capitalist powers. A lot of people are getting a reality check. Will humanity be thrust back into the dark ages or will we listen to Bob Avakian? I’ll be honest: I listen to Bob Avakian, but I am also tied up with the spiritual. I’m a supporter but not yet fully into the orbit of the revolutionary communists.
William Parker in 2024, musician
My name is William Parker. Since 1972, I have been making "Black Revolutionary Music." (Playing and writing music to inspire human Revolution change through sound art, poetry, and dance hoping to sweep away this present reality of the individual.)
Eventually, activating the beautiful strength of unity within the Black and Latin communities and acknowledging any legitimate movement devoting one's life to change significant increments or awareness that one of the keys is unity without giving up individuality. Now to Bob Avakian, the theoretician and founder of the Revolutionary Communist Party. I added some music behind his powerfully truthful words in a piece called 'All Played Out.' His words were on point, powerful, and insightful. Bob Avakian has devoted his life to inspiring people, too. He is the real deal, totally committed to the enlightenment of the working class. The message is to Know who your real enemy is. Ultimately, it is the people who most honestly decide. They have to activate their power; a revolution must come; "things have to change," and it will not come from traditional methods. Brothers and Sisters, Know your enemy. It is not Avakian. Don't participate in your execution.
Bob Avakian has made trenchant observations and brought insightful analyses to a host of problems confronting contemporary society. He is genuinely concerned about the plight of the masses and has given much critical thought regarding proposed solutions for their uplift.
– Norm R. Allen, Jr. in 2016, author and founder of African Americans for Humanism
In posing the question, “Which is more important: order or justice?” Bob Avakian addresses a key impediment to an overwhelming outpouring of nonviolent resistance to the Trump/Pence regime. Namely, do we quietly acquiesce to this administration’s offence upon offence against our republic specifically, and humanity generally, due to a need for the opioid-like calm of order; or, do we insist upon an application of justice that holds the administration accountable for its tyrannical, inhuman, and felonious conduct, but disrupts and upsets that same precious order people nurture and desire? Obviously, Avakian encourages us toward the latter, to be courageous, and take action now before everyone, even those who remain dedicated to the current order, is impacted by the true horrors of this administration. There is no better time for non-violent resistance than now. Through the application of justice, it is time to forge a new order: The Trump/Pence Regime Must Go!
– David Gunn Jr. in 2017, son of Dr. David Gunn, the first abortion doctor to be assassinated by antiabortion extremists
David Zeiger in 2023, filmmaker
Coco Das in 2023, writer
Ardea Skybreak in 2014, a scientist with professional training in ecology and evolutionary biology, and an advocate of the new synthesis of communism brought forward by Bob Avakian.
Oh god (!), it was really great to be at this Dialogue [Revolution & Religion: The Fight for Emancipation and the Role of Religion, A Dialogue Between Cornel West and Bob Avakian]. I’m so glad I was able to be there in person, and I’m also so glad that the livestream is available for anybody who wasn’t able to be there. I would encourage people to go to the revcom.us website, and you can access it right there and experience the whole thing. And I am really excited that a high-quality film is being made of the Dialogue, which will soon be available as well.
I don’t even know where to start. It was like there was magic in the air. It was one of the most hopeful things that I’ve seen in a very long time. I think it was historic in many different dimensions: in terms of the topic that was approached; the people who were involved in it, the two speakers; the moment in time. I felt like I was able to see a great demonstration of morality and conscience applied to dealing with the problems of humanity—that both speakers stood out this way. Read more
In Defense of Bob Avakian and the Revcoms
by Paul Street in 2024
This three part series originally appeared at The Paul Street Report starting January 25, 2024. We thank the author for letting us repost the series here.
• In Defense of Bob Avakian and the Revcoms, Part 1 of 3
• Part 2: Against Neo-McCarthyism and More
• Part 3: Against More Left Slander and Stupidity
Isabel Cardenas in 2018, an American-Salvadoran U.S. citizen activist since 1960
BA is very contentious and conscious of what has happened in this country. BA knows WHY these things are happening—what is behind it all. BA is not a man to be fooled—he can see what’s going on and what is behind everything. BA has it figured out: what has to be done, what Revolution will entail, and the steps that must be taken to get there. I am beginning to think like he does. At my age, I got from BA’s talk a new awareness—BA thinks something has to be done and thinks Revolution is the solution. It could happen, all empires fall.
This country and this world are in turmoil. What Bob Avakian says about having a revolution in Why We Need An Actual Revolution And How We Can Really Make Revolution ~ this may be the only answer. This country is preying on people who are not white. They are hunting human beings. Something has to happen. What stands out to me about BA: he has been an activist since he was a young man ~ BA could see the future is inhuman. Since then, BA has really, always, been on top of what is going on in this country and in this world. In his speech, he talks about the 1960s. There was persecution then, of Blacks, Latinos and others ~ it’s been going on since the time of slaves. Today, Trump says “Make America Great Again”—but America was never great, it began by persecuting slaves and they took this land by massacring people. ...[T]he Trump/Pence regime is trying to control the entire world, like Hitler. This is an example of dictatorship—a fascist dictatorship. Fascism is consolidating all around us—spreading like dominos all over the world. There needs to be work with the masses, which is what BA is talking about. All of us, it we truly want to be freedom fighters, we have to follow what BA is telling us, and my god the people of this country and all over the planet need this!
Letter from a Prisoner in 2018
Comrades, I just finished watching the new film by Bob Avakian, the architect of the new synthesis of communism: Why We Need An Actual Revolution And How We Can Really Make Revolution...
Society is at a tipping point. Bob Avakian, passionately speaks about the outrages happening with the killings of brown and black people mainly youth by police that serve only to protect the interests of the ruling class. BA, lays out the science behind the approach to go for revolution with a real chance to win. Read more.
...[T]he work that Bob Avakian and the revcoms are doing in scientifically analyzing our current oppressive conditions is important and needs to be put center stage of discussions about what is happening in this country and this world. Too much of what is provided by commercial media and traditional or patriotic institutions, including schools, is more a matter of covering up government misdeeds and oppressions than they are about clarifying them and being part of a solution to improve them. Bob Avakian, and revcom, have proved to be clear eyed in doing a lot of that good work, it needs to be widely disseminated, debated and discussed.
– Dr. Reynaldo F. Macías in 2023, faculty member and founding Chair of the UCLA César E. Chávez Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies
Rev. Robert B. Coleman in 2013, pastor, Glendale United Methodist Church, Nashville, Tennessee
My conversation with Bob Avakian and my reading of his strategic plans for revolution have been challenging to say the least. To begin the conversation with focused attention on the poor and the marginalized fits my religious and biblical sensibilities. To give voice to the voiceless; to empower the powerless… these things speak to my heart as an ordained pastor and theologian.
We may diverge on the various strategies employed to achieve a more just society. We may be identified by our disconnect when it comes to religion in general and Christianity in particular. But, there is great benefit in engaging in the dialogue, listening to Avakian’s critique and proposal for change, and discerning your place in the ordering of society as we move into the twenty-first century. Go, listen and learn. Engage in the dialogue and critical synthesis yet unfolding. The uncritical support of any public figure or philosophy is folly. And the test of effective strategy shall not come without intense interaction and dialogue.
What I liked most about the interview with Bob Avakian was the warmth, humor, and directness of the real human being... Watching the interview also sparked my memory of having appeared as a lawyer in Spurgeon Avakian’s courtroom. I have gained greatly from both son and father.
– Steven Rood in 2023, Oakland lawyer
During a recent event at Revolution Books in Harlem a patron presented reservations about a revolution, citing Malcolm X and that it would be bloody. This is an issue that Bob Avakian, as always, meets head on without equivocation in his latest book The New Communism. “You don’t make a revolution without tremendous sacrifice,” Avakian writes. This is a reality, he continued, “…you have to go through to get to a better world.” In this book, Avakian honestly and perceptively handles a number of questions about the difficulties of bringing about a total change in an oppressive system. It is a valuable addition to his corpus of work; a splendid exegesis of revolutionary potential.
– Herb Boyd in 2016, author of the forthcoming Black Detroit—A People’s Struggle for Self-Determination (Amistad Press, 2017)
Dr. Cornel West in 2016, speaking about THE NEW COMMUNISM at the launch for the book
I love it when he talks about my people being all people…. My people across the board—I don’t care who they are…. he always puts the struggle against white supremacy at the center…. Second, the centrality of the issue of gender, the vicious forms of patriarchy inseparable from that white supremacy. Third....
Third, empire—invasions, dominations…. And the fourth, the planet—not just global warming. It’s ecological catastrophe that is impinging every day primarily owing to corporate greed and the elites who are in the driver’s seat of a capitalist civilization that cuts across national boundaries—that’s what you find in this text. And last but not least, the concern about our precious immigrant brothers and sisters and the vicious scapegoating that’s going on, the deportations under neo-liberal presidents, no matter what color they are. The attempt to [not] lose sight of their humanity. How do you bring these together in such a way that you have a united front? And that’s in part what he’s calling for, and I as a revolutionary Christian in the name of Jesus will be part of that united front, even given the disagreements that we might have. That’s why I like this text. That’s why it’s important.
Father Luis Barrios in 2017, Holyrood Church/Iglesia Santa Cruz, New York City
Hello my name is Father Luis Barrios, priest in charge of Holyrood Church, Iglesia Santa Cruz. In this film that I am very strong recommending, Bob Avakian, my brother, in a prophetic way he highlights real issues that are happening in the U.S. When I say in a prophetic way, it is because I am trying to use the religious language, that a prophet is the one with the capacity to first identify problems; second have the capacity and the courage to denounce the problem. But more important, to change that reality of oppression into a liberating experience.
So the film is like a wake-up call, but more important than a wake-up call, it’s a call to action, that we need to get together, people who believe in God, people who do not believe in God, using the common denominator—justice. So we come together, so we can fight, resist, organize, mobilize against this fascist regime that we have in the U.S. This combination of Trump/Pence can’t stay. We need to get rid of this.
I want to close with this: The movie when you look at this on my invitation not only to see the movie but also to follow the invitation Bob is giving us, the parallels of Bob and Saint Oscar Romero―I was thinking about this when I was watching the movie―and it is: Oscar Romero always said, and of course that was the reason why they killed him: “The main source of my sermon is that I care about people. I care about humanity.” And that is the big message that Bob is giving us in this film. God bless.
The Trump/Pence Regime Must Go! In The Name Of Humanity, We REFUSE to Accept a Fascist America. A Better World IS Possible!
I have struggled for years with issues of faith. As an agnostic I recognize the power and perils of belief. Bob Avakian and Cornel West are to be lauded for their efforts to bring struggle and faith together to defeat oppression and foster freedom and dignity.
“Revolution and Religion” a dialogue between West and Avakian at the historic Riverside Church, New York City, on November 15, 2014, demands our support.
– Jed Stone in 2014, criminal defense attorney
If humanity is to survive and thrive we all know that there must be radical and fundamental change. The rule of avarice and violence is destroying the lives of myriads and indeed the very planetary basis for life. Two forces for this fundamental transformation are revolutionary Marxism and radical Christianity. The dialogue [Revolution & Religion: The Fight for Emancipation and the Role of Religion, A Dialogue Between Cornel West and Bob Avakian] between Bob Avakian and Cornel West is a great occasion to explore how these movements may find common ground in articulating the hope for transformation and organizing to bring it about.
–Ted Jennings in 2014, professor, Chicago Theological Seminary
The talk [THE TRUMP/PENCE REGIME MUST GO! In the Name of Humanity, We REFUSE To Accept a Fascist America, A Better World IS Possible] given by Bob Avakian was spot on in recognizing the grave danger we have put ourselves in by normalizing the ‘presidency’ of one of the biggest con artists to come from the cesspool of New York real estate/show business. His incompetence is topped only by his evil and unmistakable grab for fascism to the benefit of he and his billionaire cronies. The solution is clear, mass disobedience and ultimately a dismantling of this administration brought about by the will of the people. Mr. Avakian’s message is clear and very inspiring.
– Arturo O’Farrill in 2017, Grammy-winning musician
An “angry slave” in 2014 in a California prison
Greetings Comrades! It has been 12 years for me [in prison]. I’m pleased that my thoughts are so welcome here! And thanks for the recent reading material…
I believe it is important to get BA into the prisons as well as into the hands of the public. Not only are the prisoners oppressed but the public (or damn near all of it) is just a ½ a heartbeat away from oppression and most are in denial about that fact…
BA helped me come to the terms that my “systematic oppression” was not a mere happenstance of “luck.” That there is a system in place, mostly directed against Black and Latino males (among others), which essentially criminalizes Life, and creates a “slave labor force” and that me and other Blacks like me never really escaped slavery. We just had a choice of who “master” would be and a selection of “scraps which fall from the master’s table.” I mean the dynamics of slavery changed, not the slave, not the master.
I no longer have those choices. But I got B.A. which gives me vision. I got Bob Avakian teaching me that I am not what makes this system bad, it’s this system that makes me and everybody else who’s Black, Latino, poor or female a “criminal” for its financial gain. BA is a masterpiece. Spread it everywhere. I will help, until we overcome.
An Angry Slave, seeking guidance
May 8, 2014
Bob Avakian is a fearless revolutionary fighter for the poor and oppressed people throughout the world. From what I see of him throughout my years in the struggle, Avakian has dedicated his life to addressing everything that stands in the way of people getting free, and this book is a product of all that work. Anybody who looks at the world and sees police getting away with murder or people driven from their homes in countries around the world by wars and wonders what, if anything, can be done to stop things like this from happening again and again needs to read The New Communism.
– Nicholas Heyward (deceased) in 2016, father of Nicholas Heyward, Jr.—murdered by New York Police Dept. in 1994
Barney Bush in 2013, Writer/Teacher/Native community chairman/Father/Grandfather and Activist in the honor of our homelands and the next seven plus generations
I am aware that we are at the crossroads where we are unable to recover any of the thousands of species destroyed by industrialization within just the last five years… Read more… (about two hundred a day, so I hear). Having said that, we are already outside the realm of quick fixes for recovering the earth, air and water.
Mining/fracking/drilling/crushing corporations realize that they have been given free rein from the legal system to do as they wish…maybe not exactly free; it’s in exchange for the mining and drug company moneys that elected them to office, and none pretends to hide it. Not enough know yet, to care…. Colonialism, or any of its subsidiaries: democracy, republic, capitalism, Christianity, has done a good job at imprinting all of us, most of us, with criminal views of truth, good health, respect, courage, confidence, creativity, communication, perseverance, prosperity, and the simple organic feeding of one’s family and him/herself. I am coming to Chicago to the premiere of the film, BA Speaks: REVOLUTION—NOTHING LESS! to find connections that, through intellectual and common sense organization, will help us to make the impending disasters survivable.
In this interview what really struck me was just how deep he went into governing, like how would you govern a new society, how would you actually, why it is so important to institutionalize these things so that they support the revolution. And like really going deep into that, like the way that he went into the question of victims’ rights was by starting with what laws are for. Taking it out of the personal realm, like just seeing that methodology and where he began with that, and then you follow and by the end of it, you’re like of course! Then, what does a victim’s right have to do with this like what you’re trying to figure out in this court of law. Yeah so, it also did make me want to look into the Constitution (for the New Socialist Republic in North America) more and really try to understand that.
– Coco Das in 2022, Refuse Fascism Editorial Board
Because I believe in God. A dialogue between two people who have inspired me. Bob Avakian is a revolutionist and I’m always talking about a riot. Cornel is a man of faith, so I just want to see and listen.
–Margarita Rosario in 2014, mother of Anthony Rosario and aunt of Hilton Vega, murdered by the New York Police Department in 1995, on Revolution and Religion, The Fight for Emancipation and the Role of Religion: A Dialogue Between Cornel West & Bob Avakian
Too often, we decide to vote for Democrats because they are the lesser of two evils. But, of course, I am left to wonder when we will finally get to vote for people who are not evil—people whose policies and politics we can wholeheartedly endorse. In this sense, Avakian’s advice that we should not vote for the lesser of two evils because it is evil cuts very close to home. Read more
– Rev. Frank Wulf in 2017, pastor, Echo Park United Methodist Church, Los Angeles
Erin Aubry Kaplan in 2014, journalist and author
I hope he gets number one Amazon.com. We need to get this kind of word, this kind of conversation out into—it needs to be disseminated, it needs to be in the mainstream more. We got to stop thinking that this kind of stuff just belongs at the very, very fringe of society… Everyone should hear it, you don’t have to necessarily agree with it but, my god, it needs a place at the media table…
A lot of say Black people are still vested in integrating into the mainstream, they’re still very trained on that, that’s what they want to do. But I think you just need to introduce to folks—just pass it [BAsics, on the talks and writings of Bob Avakian] out, maybe at the subway, on the street level. And I think BAsics is a great way to do it because it’s like the quotable Bob Avakian. It’s like pieces of stuff but they all add up. And like you could read a little bit at a time, you don’t have to invest the time to read the entire book. But you could actually open the page at any point and get something out of it. I think it’s a great format and good for popular reading. I think it’s actually a really good way to disseminate everything he’s about. So I think it’s an important step.
I received the sampler edition of “BA on the Emancipation of Women and the Communist Revolution.”
I agree with you “100%.” I learn a whole lot from reading your literature. Reading your literature makes me “think” a lot about that subject….I just wanted to say “thanks to you all.”
A person in prison has plenty of time to study and to learn. I take advantage from this lock up time that I have and a lot of other inmates do as well. I am from the south, Chattanooga, TN and I know how “backward” the state of Texas and the south is on the subject of freedom for all women. I can hardly wait for ALL women to be 100% emancipated.
My personal education is a GED and also HSE GED from prison in 1966, and HSE from another prison in 2006. At least I can write, read and comprehend very, very well. I love to read, study and to learn.
Sincerely and respectfully,
A prisoner in Idaho in 2014
Ernesto de la Loza in 2017, Street Artist ‒ Muralist – “The Ghetto Rooster”
Bob Avakian is a man living in truth. This man doesn’t blink. Avakian’s talk THE TRUMP/PENCE REGIME MUST GO… was so penetrating, convincing and compassionate…. use this talk to deal with the fear factor, the apathy, the propaganda machine, the distraction and dumbing down to the max. Instead, refuse to live on the dark side and be focused on stopping this fascism. There is a rainbow coming through the storm.
He’s clear minded and I see―I feel―his worth. Avakian gives me a lot of hope. And, I can imagine how evil speaks—the powers want to silence him. He shows capitalism is a great deception, reveals the racism and jingoism… and the genocide. This is the 21st century—a crucial time for human existence—yet we live in an Orwellian world and it affects all of us, all of human kind. We have to step it up and it’s not an overnight deal. We need more people who are like-minded, a frontline, no backstep, side by side. It’s good Avakian is reaching out to the people with this talk—he has a gift: everyone can watch the THE TRUMP/PENCE REGIME MUST GO and can comprehend this. It is very clear to the everyday person. Let’s ourselves assume responsibility, and be in alignment, and use this talk to deal with the fear factor, the apathy, the propaganda machine, the distraction and dumbing down to the max. Instead, refuse to live on the dark side and be focused on stopping this fascism. There is a rainbow coming through the storm.
…I particularly enjoyed how BA stated the new constitution is constructed in such a way that you have to repeatedly win the masses of people to stay on the socialist road and ultimately communism. The very last sentence is an in-depth dialogue in its own right, continually winning people over to take up all manner of contradictions, including ones that the dogs put in your way to turn people against you.
I was likewise struck by the way BA issued the challenge that more people should be grappling with the new constitution to show what kind of society we’re fighting for of course. But also to convey how heavy all this is.
– Excerpt from letter from a California prisoner in 2016, on reading a pre-publication copy of THE NEW COMMUNISM
This is a needed, needed dialogue—the religious impulse has been responsible for a lot of altruistic acts through the ages that have fostered compassion and hence an attempt to live a life of real social justice and meantime organized religion has also been used as a tool to brainwash and control the minds of the masses and quite frankly has been one of the most evil forces in the modern world fostering violence and intolerance to people who don’t think like them. Should be interesting to see what these two great thinkers come up with as to religion’s role in restructuring society.
– Matthew Shipp in 2014, musician and composer, on Revolution and Religion, The Fight for Emancipation and the Role of Religion: A Dialogue Between Cornel West & Bob Avakian
“I had to wake up and deal with cold reality when I met up with BA and the Revolutionary Communist Party. I also learned that there is a way out of this madness.” Written in 2014.
My grandson was fourteen years old when he entered the most dangerous prison in Texas. My grandson was put into prison with adult men. He was scared and put up a brave front. He was often involved in fights and one time he was cut from his ear to his throat. He received no visitors because his family resides across the country.
We, his family reacted like most families when he went to prison. We thought if he did the crime he must serve the time. How wrong we were.
My relationship with my grandson is practically non-existing. I feel very hurt and feel that I was robbed of my relationship with my grandson.
He was robbed of his childhood, his teen years, and now it looks like his adult years. I miss him. My grandson is bitter and angry.
I am here today, because I have three more grandsons and six granddaughters that I am fighting for. But I’m also fighting for the children of the world, and especially the children crossing the border from Central America. I now realized that our babies are suffering, and have no future unless we step up and say NO MORE! NO MAS!
All our babies are our future and in this system that is broken, they have no future. They are being killed off, kidnapped, set up and they are targets. The educational system is failing them, there is no jobs for our youth, there is very few recreation for our youth.
With each day the situation with our youth is getting worse. When they gather they are called gang bangers and drug dealers.
Our kids are like sitting ducks, this society is taking their lives. Like a spider that forms a web that traps its prey.
Having a loved one incarcerated is hard on their family. Money is needed for their cigarettes, hygiene, etc., money for calls that is really expensive, traveling back and forth to and from prison. Our loved ones have to fight for their life in order to survive, they are angry about the conditions they suffer in. Sometimes they are given nasty tasting food, showering in cold water, their health declines, they are often depressed and have mental health issues. They are placed in the hole, isolated.
We need to wake up and realize that we live in a society that don’t care about women, the poor, the middle class, people of color and especially children. That is why we need to get the word out globally that there is a movement that calls for change. In order to stop the suffering, the abuse, racism, attacks on our people, we need to face reality.
I had to wake up and deal with cold reality when I met up with BA (Bob Avakian) and the Revolutionary Communist Party. I also learned that there is a way out of this madness. That as BA says: “those the system has counted as nothing can count for a great deal.”
I encourage each and everyone to listen to BA speeches, to watch his videos, to read his books, to talk to the members of the Revolutionary Communist Party. To open up your minds as well as your eyes. We can play a part in changing this society. We can start by contributing to the 1000 Years–$1000 for BA Everywhere campaign.
The money being raised is to get the word out into the world that there is a leader that is willing to stand up for the people and to create a positive society where people can live a better life. The money is being raised to teach our children to be leaders, to give hope to those that have no hope.
BA needs to be heard throughout the world in order to start changing a broken society that doesn’t care about its people. We are calling for everyone to help spread the word. All genders, all ethnic groups, the young and the old and people from all walks of life.
There are seven links in this piece of the chain. Each one of the links represents a year that my eldest grandson has served time in prison.
“Stepping Into the Future: On the Occasion of the Publication of Basics: A Celebration of Revolution and the Vision of a New World.” (2013 Documentary—presented by The RNL—Revolution, Nothing Less!—Show)
The Dialogue between Cornel West and Bob Avakian of the Revolutionary Communist Party [Revolution and Religion, The Fight for Emancipation and the Role of Religion] will hold anyone of care in fascination and examination. My initial probing is to ask BA, a man of sensitivity, courage, and caring, what he explicitly means by “revolution.” I agree that we must “rise up and fight back” but feel strongly in the road of Ghandi, Nelson Mandela, and Martin Luther King. I also share both Cornel West’s and Bob Avakian’s thoughts on the need to have a face off on questions such as prison or police brutality, such as women’s struggle for equality, but the question remains: while Avakian has masterfully given description, I part ways with him on the prescription. I do look forward to the results of this Dialogue on questions of such vital importance to humanity.
– Rev. Cecil L. “Chip” Murray (deceased) in 2017, professor, Center for Religion and Civic Culture, University of Southern California; Co-Founder of the Cecil Murray Center for Community Engagement, USC
The following statements were made in the face of slanderous lies and attacks launched by various opportunist forces and media outlets in summer 2022 against Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights, on the role of the Revcoms and Sunsara Taylor in it—and especially targeted against Bob Avakian.
The attack came at a time when the U.S. Supreme Court had overthrown Roe v. Wade and Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights was playing a singular role in mobilizing people to fight back against, rather than meekly submit to, the ripping away of abortion rights. We received the following statements courtesy of revcom.us. For more see: "Behind the Week of Internet Attacks on Bob Avakian and the Revcoms: Imperialist Fear Mongers and Their Servants"
Denis Mueller in 2022, filmmaker
I am a documentary filmmaker who has made several films including about Howard Zinn and author Nelson Algren. I taught at several universities. I am not a fan of The Intercept. My view is that Bob Avakian’s POV (Point of View) is a very well-thought-out condemnation of a broken system.
I found the red baiting by The Intercept to be a reminder that the liberal wing of the Cold War leftovers are the ones who led us to racism and a disastrous war. Their red baiting is what I call the non-thinking Left. I have no idea what they stand for, they don’t have any original thinking and this is one reason why they so often end up on Fox News. Another reason: they are bought. Let me remind these so-called progressives that we need all voices to fight against this tyrannical system. Instead, they seem to define opposition to neoliberalism as a cult. For having a different thought? Which is possibly coming from people (like Bob) who think beyond the emptiness of these so-called progressives?! They are cranks tied to their belief in a broken system. To me, The Intercept and the other attackers seem to be opportunist cranks.
Paul Street in 2022, Writer & Historian
See also by Paul Street, “Why is ‘the Left’ Red-Baiting Rise Up for Abortion Rights on the Eve of Fascist Destruction?”
Gloria Pinex in 2022, fighter for justice and mother of Darius Pinex, killed by Chicago police
I know BA personally. The first time I heard him speak I fell in love with him. And I don’t know why someone wouldn’t want to hear from someone who gets down to earth with things. I don’t know who wouldn’t want the truth. Anything having to do with oppression he touches on it. He touches bases on Police Brutality, oppressed women—yeah—he does a lot. All that gibberish they are talking is absolutely absurd. It’s not Bobby—it’s not his character.
Pam Laskin in 2022, poet, author, editor, lecturer at the City College of New York
[Original posted at Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights]
The following is a copy of the letter Pam Laskin sent to the editor of the hit-piece published at The Intercept attacking Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights, as well as Bob Avakian, Sunsara and the Revcoms.
Dear Ms. Renner,
As an active member of Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights and admirer of the passion, integrity, hard work and commitment of one of its leaders, Sunsara Taylor, I was appalled to read the recent attack waged against Bob Avakian, the revcoms and—in particular—against an institution, Rise-Up, so committed to securing the health and safety of women’s reproductive freedom.
I have been at many of the rallies organized by this group, and their honest and transparent commitment to this cause is to be revered, not bashed. What struck me at one of the earlier rallies—in March, before the Supreme Court came out with their decision, is how willing Sunsara, a spokeswoman, was willing to join forces with all the other organizations marching to defend this sacred right. Though Rise Up has a particular stance (which you naively and disparagingly attacked), she realized that it was critical to inspire revolution as a catalyst to overturn this decision, while also working with any other group after the same goal.
My guess is that you have never even heard her speak or bothered to interview her, because—if you had—you never would have waged a verbal assault on her goals. A new nation of young people are joining forces with this group because they are inspired by her powerful message.
During these awful political times, when truth is a commodity and our current rhetoric is based on lies, wouldn’t you—as a journalist—want to fully investigate your piece, so you are not perpetuating the negativity, lies and danger of our current world?
Shame on you for not doing otherwise.
Signed,
Pamela L. Laskin
Director, Poetry Outreach
Lecturer, The City College of New York
Freddie J. McGee in 2022, father of Freddie Latrice Wilson who was shot 18 times by Chicago Police. This is his statement in response to the attacks on Bob Avakian.
Someone trying to volunteer to help you, trying to save you. And you seem like you don’t care. You have to criticize the person trying to help you. If you want to use a recent example there is Martin Luther King, he was for the righteous. He was trying to support the people. He got murdered because he was trying to tell people the truth, he was trying to get people together. And they killed him for it. We still have someone like Bob Avakian risking his life, taking his time trying to help people.
Stevie Wonder can see this shit—I’m a man, but I see how a woman feels about her rights. You’re damn right a woman has the right to say whether she is going to have a baby. It is so wrong that people have the power to tell people how to live their life. And to have someone strong enough to stand up and support you—there should be more people in the world today out here supporting Bob Avakian and the revolution. Anyone who cares about people.
Carol Downer (deceased) in 2022, Executive Director of the Feminist Women’s Health Centers and Life-Long Fierce Advocate for Reproductive Rights
[Original posted at Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights]
“…Before you seek to defame and cast out Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights on serious (but unproven) charges of being a cult and a pyramid scheme which diverts money from social and racial justice movements, you need to seek out the experiences of non-communist feminists who have worked with the Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP), such as myself. As an anti-racist activist since 1965, and a feminist pro-abortion activist since 1969, I have first-hand experience with the RCP since the 1970’s which refute these charges….”
WITNESS
To: 23 grassroots pro-abortion organizers who denounce Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights.
I am making this statement as an individual. My accounts of the work that the Federation of Feminist Women’s Health Centers (FWHC) have done with the RCP are given solely for the purpose of giving an eyewitness account to give you a fuller picture of the RCP and to directly refute many, if not all, of the charges you made.
Before you seek to defame and cast out Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights on serious (but unproven) charges of being a cult and a pyramid scheme which diverts money from social and racial justice movements, you need to seek out the experiences of non-communist feminists who have worked with the Revolutionary Communist Party, (RCP), such as myself. As an anti-racist activist since 1965, and a feminist pro-abortion activist since 1969, I have first-hand experience with the RCP since the 1970’s which refute these charges. As the Executive Director of the Feminist Women’s Health Centers (FWHC), we have worked with the RCP and with its various ad hoc committees on many occasions and on many social justice issues.
I’ve observed that the RCP often establishes ad hoc grassroots groups to fight on various issues, such as police abuse, abortion rights, and suppression of opponents to the Iranian regime. Non-communists are welcomed to work within or work closely with these groups. The RCP shares its literature and encourages discussion, but there is no pressure to adopt communism or Bob Avakian’s teachings. I have read many of Bob Avakian’s writings, heard him speak and watched his filmed talks. I find them interesting and thoughtful.
The FWHCs, which were founded in the early 70’s, also incorporated issues that were not directly related to the running of our women’s health centers. No one accused us of “glomming on” to these issues, such as home birth, forced sterilization, police abuse, and anti-Muslim violence. And, as regards being a pyramid scheme, RCP-sponsored Refuse and Resist for many years who escorted abortion clients through heavy weekly picket lines at the Eve’s Clinic in El Monte, California and later at the FPA clinic on Westmoreland Avenue. This clearly did not have their bottom line increased.
In 1979, I was a member of the Committee to Send Back the Shah. I, and Rebecca Chalker, also of the FWHC, travelled with the Committee to Iran. The FWHC’s also worked with RCP committees who fought against police abuse, and escorted at abortion clinics. The activities of these ad-hoc groups were mostly funded by donations from the sale of the RCP newspaper. I saw no evidence of large donations from anyone. After our Los Angeles health center closed, I joined Sunsara Taylor in Texas on the Stop Patriarchy tour. We slept on the motel floor and cooked our own meals.
Bob Avakian believes that a communist revolution is needed and that their dedicated efforts will make it possible. RCP members accordingly devote every minute after work hours to make it happen. I believe that females working together can eventually achieve equality, and the resulting egalitarian society will revolutionize the world.
I have personally known many RCP members for years. They definitely do not behave like someone belonging to a cult. They are educated, thinking political activists that are working toward establishing a communist society, and they like Avakian’s approach. They take on various issues because they feel strongly about the rights of the poor and the working class, and the rights of women, and they believe that working on the specific issues builds toward a revolution. They don’t “glom on” to these issues because they are popular or to exploit them.
Stop trying to keep people from associating with Rise Up, because you disagree with tactics you consider “theatrical” that alarm people about abortion. I have always believed that it is counter-productive to use coat-hanger imagery, however, many abortion rights advocates find the specter of “back-alley abortions” to be a strong argument for keeping abortion legal. If we threw out everybody who comes to a demonstration or starts a pro-abortion group on such debatable differences, we’d have a very small movement.
Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights has indisputably attracted a great deal of public attention. Their focus on their outrage may make some people uncomfortable, but remember that bold action can be part of successful protest and even the seizing of power.
You may be respectful of the rights of free speech, however there are many in our country who are not. Many equate “communism” with “un-American” and want to persecute and outlaw communists. Your ill-founded attack has enabled opportunistic so-called reporters to build a firestorm of criticism against the RCP and Rise Up4 Abortion Rights. Could it be that you’re concerned that wealthy philanthropists who financially support grassroots efforts such as yours will be scared to associate with a movement that includes communist groups?
The string of decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court in June, 2022 heralds a trend toward outright fascism in this country. Those decisions reveal the ruling class’ overall plan to maintain Western white supremacy and rampant industrialization by destroying sexual and reproductive rights, by doing away with federal regulation on fossil fuels, by unleashing gun violence and by encouraging police abuse on those who protest, especially poor people and people of color. I urge you to keep up your own valuable work and to be inclusive of all who are working for the common goal of protecting our environment, our sexual and reproductive rights and a more equal society.
Carol Downer
Life-Long Fierce Advocate for Reproductive Rights