BA EVERYWHERE...
"There is SO MUCH that we can do!"
November 25, 2012 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us
The following letter, written by a young woman, was read at a dinner to raise funds for the BA Everywhere campaign. It has been lightly edited for publication:
Hello. Hope everyone is having a great time at the dinner tonight. I can’t be there but will just share with everyone how I learned about Bob Avakian and Revolution Books and some of the ways I chose to distribute the palm cards and info, as well as some other ideas I have.
It started when I learned about the band Outernational. I was very moved by their music and truly impressed with all their hard work and dedication. Also just SO, SO happy to see a band out there with a mission to educate the public, to go right to the core of it all, and do all they can to gather people and make some much needed changes. They really touched my heart and they’re pretty nice on the eyes as well… wink wink!
So, I noticed quite a few times they had mentioned Bob Avakian and I was curious. I got a friend to go to Revolution Books with me for the listening to and discussion of the Bob Avakian interview given by Cornel West and there I bought the book BAsics. It was a great experience for both myself and my friend and we left with a lot of information to share as well as a new realization, and that is that we realized, wow, there really is a lot that we can do. A friend once wrote something that expressed how you don’t have to be a giant in the public eye to make a difference in the world and to spread a message. And I think we both went home that night with a very clear understanding of that. We had brainstormed with the others who attended that night and learned a lot.
The next day I began reading BAsics and got a much better understanding of Bob Avakian. Not only has he been at it for decades but he has done the work, done the research, has the clear understanding, and has formulated a new synthesis that will set this world in the direction that it needs for the sake of all of humanity. This is not something that has been done before either, he has researched and studied that, and learned the mistakes that have been made. He knows what has helped and what has harmed. And ultimately what is needed is "a solid core with a lot of elasticity." As you read on in BAsics you will see more of what is meant by that. "A solid core with a lot of elasticity."
A few days later we began to put the ideas into action. I contacted a friend in a band and discussed with him in short what I was learning and the great effect it could have if his band would be willing to leave the information out on their merch table with their CDs and shirts. Also that I’d like to distribute some personally at the show. That weekend they played a show and the palm cards were received very well! On that same weekend the friend who went to Revolution Books with me was in Syracuse where her boyfriend lives. They distributed their palm cards with his pizza deliveries. Each food delivery came with some Bob Avakian flavor! And this is a large college community which is also always a good place to spread the word. The remainder of the cards they brought to a head shop called Exscape on Marshal Street. They even said there were already some BA cards in the windows there!
Another idea I have and would like to approach is tattoo parlors. I know some tattoo artists in NY and NJ who I will soon be contacting to see if they’ll be open to keeping stuff in the waiting rooms at the tattoo shops. There are always friends or family members there just along for support who would rather read something other than tat mags...even the people getting tattooed! I wouldn’t mind donating some copies of BAsics even once I am in the position to do so.
So really, the point of me sharing this is to say that we easily fall into the thinking that there isn’t really anything we can do. When in reality it is just not so. There is SO MUCH that we can do! Even if you leave only 25 palm cards in the neighborhood deli, salon, mechanic…anywhere! And even if out of those 25 people who take them only half of them do more research and then maybe they go out one day and distribute more. All the little things count. BAsics is a great little book for waiting rooms like the car wash/mechanic, hair or nail salon, tattoo shop… And it’s a great book to bring out when hanging with friends. All the little things count.
Hope you’re all enjoying the dinner!
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