BA Speaks: REVOLUTION—NOTHING LESS!
After the Premieres...the Challenge Now
March 21, 2013 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us
Last weekend marked an important beginning, a launch of something new into the world. New... and quite remarkable as well. A filmed speech of Bob Avakian, Chairman of the Revolutionary Communist Party, powerfully makes the case for revolution—nothing less! Over 600 people around the country gathered together to watch the new film, entitled, quite fittingly, BA Speaks: REVOLUTION—NOTHING LESS! Diverse audiences—including significant numbers of youth and a significant turnout from the most oppressed communities—got deeply into it. They listened as Bob Avakian, in six hours, gave them a whole different framework with which to understand the world... and transform it. Periods of intense attention were punctuated by outbursts of laughter, talkback to the screen, and strong applause. The accounts we are publishing of the different premieres, along with the interviews, give a sense of the response and the spirit at these events, and of the connections that were made. It was, as the publicity promised, a journey—and in another sense, the beginning of a new phase of the larger journey... to revolution!
The challenge now is to go from leap to leap in "spreading the message." Many who came to the premieres bought DVDs of the film for themselves and more than a few bought multiple copies. But those who came forward need collectivity—they need to be part of a movement, where what they are able to do can be knitted together into a larger whole. The movement for revolution needs to nurture potential "cores" of people—working with people to organize smaller showings in schools and neighborhoods where the premiere was known about, and going out much more broadly into society with this. Those who learned about this movement and then helped to build the premiere, along with those who came to the premiere as the very first thing they have done, all need to be a big part of this—and in a variety of ways, suited to the many different circumstances and positions people find themselves in. The movement for revolution is going to need to listen well and learn deeply in order to lead well, building on people's understanding and ideas and leading people to work together to change the world. The movement for revolution is going to need to walk together with people, learning and wrangling, as they move again through this film, multiple times.
This effort with BA Speaks: REVOLUTION—NOTHING LESS! can and must play a dynamic and central role in pushing forward the whole movement for revolution, even as other important elements of the movement—including the battles to really build massive movements against mass incarceration, and the degradation and enslavement of women through pornography and the attacks on the rights to abortion and birth control—make important strides forward.
This past weekend of premieres provided plenty of material to build from—so let's do it!
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