Vision for July 4th picnics—
What to the Slave is Your Fourth of July?
We Refuse to Accept Slavery In Any Form!
July 1, 2014 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us
The BA Everywhere Campaign solicited this correpondence as a the guide to tenor and tone, as well as to give a sense of the basic content of the Anti-July 4th Picnics it is sponsoring around the country.
I'm real excited about the upcoming anti-July 4th picnics and wanted to share some further thinking about the character of the picnics themselves.
First, we really shouldn't underestimate who we should be reaching out to to let them know this picnic is happening. The theme for the picnics: “What to the Slave is Your Fourth of July? We refuse to accept slavery in any form ” can attract a wide range of people who want to come together with others but bristle at all the patriotic, my-country-first bullshit that is bound up in what is celebrated on July 4th. I was just talking with an prominent person in the entertainment industry and invited them, they said, “oh, I was wondering what I was going to do on July 4th.” I don't want to repeat the previous articles about who should come to this except to underscore the wide, wide potential to bring people together around this theme—introducing people to BA Everywhere and the whole movement for revolution.
In terms of the day itself, this should have all the defiance and all of the joy of the revolution we are fighting to bring into being. This revolution is about overturning everything degrading and decrepit, exploitative and oppressive about how people are forced to live today... it's about bringing into being a radically different, and far better, world. There's joy in understanding the problem that is behind all the misery people are forced to live today and there is joy in engaging and finding out about the solution in revolution and the new synthesis of communism that has been brought forward by Bob Avakian. I don't want to make light of the seriousness of this revolution... but there is also great joy in contributing to the emancipation of humanity. Even if you're not all convinced of the need or possibility of revolution... there is joy in the engagement.
Download PDF of leaflet for July 4th.
The centerpiece of the day will be a clip from Avakian's 2003 talk, Revolution: Why It's Necessary, Why It's Possible, What It's All About that quotes the famous Frederick Douglass speech, “What to the slave is your Fourth of July?” and we also want to show a clip from BA's more recent speech, BA Speaks: REVOLUTION—Nothing Less! The picnic is being hosted by the BA Everywhere Committee and we really want to involve people in this incredibly important campaign—both on the spot, but also leaving inspired to take this up themselves. Someone is going to give a brief rap on what this campaign is and some of the different elements of it.
We're going to have a couple people read one or two of the letters from prisoners about the 1,000 years/$1,000 for BA Everywhere campaign along with a reading of BAsics 3:16 and talk briefly about what this is and how people there can take part—matching the funds being donated by prisoners, ex-prisoners and their loved ones but also working to reach many others, their friends and family, their churches, legal associations etc. This is something that should be involving many, many hundreds and reaching tens of thousands through the summer and how we break this down at this picnic could be really key in people seeing what difference this can make, and the role they have to play.
Also, we're going to ask someone to talk about this t-shirt campaign—why they wear the shirt, and why funds should be raised to get this shirt worn as a symbol of defiance all over and then coming together at key junctures throughout this summer. We're also working now to get someone to film testimonials that were called for in Revolution newspaper at the picnic. We are talking with people we want to ask to make these statements to come with some thinking ahead of time of what they want to say.
We are also going to ask some folks active with the movement to stop mass incarceration to speak briefly about the October Month of Resistance and what people can do for this to really reverberate throughout all of society... starting now. And we're asking someone else to talk about the movement to end pornography and patriarchy: the enslavement and degradation of women and in particular, their call for a Texas Abor tion Rights Freedom Ride through August and early September. People from all across the country need to get down to Texas to fight the emergency situation around abortion and for those who can't go, there are many things people can do to be part of this life or death struggle, including spreading the word and raising the demand: Abortion on Demand and Without Apology! At the J-4 picnic, the MC might also read BAsics 3:22 and let people know about the plans for a “You Can’t Break All the Chains, but One” Day in early August as part of BA Everywhere.
The day may also include someone reading a poem or performing their music, but in any case, we want the program to be tight and lively—really giving people a feel for the significance of Avakian's voice and what difference it can make for this to be known and engaged throughout society AND all the ways they can be part of this even as they're working through a process of engagement themselves. (Or you could play a clip from Stepping Into the Future... Abiodun Oyewole's poem, “America is a Terrorist” is very fitting for the day.)
I know there's going to be great food—as part of building for the day, organizers are asking people from different parts of the world to make a dish from where they're from and we are reaching out to restaurants to donate food. There will of course be a grill and hoping to count on a few expert barbecuers. Someone else is making a mix of upbeat music from all over the world—new and old—that is part of fostering to a radical culture of revolt against this revolting culture. We also want to leave a lot of time for people to hang out and get into the big questions in addition to playing games. We're bringing a couple decks of cards, a basketball and a soccer ball along with kids’ games like red light/green light or tag.
Along with a simple Revolution Books table, we want to have a whole bunch of palm cards with BAsics quotes for people to leave with—to be spreading around wherever they go as part of influencing and changing the terrain. We're also working now to bring some empty “revolutionary change” jars so people can leave there with simple forms of mass fundraising for BA Everywhere they can be part of. And we're sure there are other simple things people will want to do like house parties or bake sales if we let them know why they matter and what they're a part of changing.
Revolution Books is putting together a simple flyer with a calendar of key nodal points for the rest of July including the screenings of Revolution—Nothing Less! and other times and places people can connect up with the revolution (weekly hook-up times in a neighborhood, farmers’ market or in front of the local jail), and a BA Everywhere committee dinner at the end of the month (the Committee just announced they're going to have these dinners monthly instead of meetings, they're a much more fun way to bring people together and get organized).
From my experience, these kinds of social gatherings have a big impact on people—where they get to hear from and meet all different kinds of people and break down barriers among different nationalities or break down the isolation that so many in our society feel. And as it put it in the original flyer for this event: “...you will be able to actively engage with why we need a revolution, with what BA has brought forward in relation to that, and with how we actually prepare the ground, prepare the people and prepare the vanguard TO get ready for the time when millions can be led to go for revolution, all-out, with a real chance to win.”
They are incredibly fun, exciting and inspiring. Inspiring because people get to lift their heads and in this kind of social way, feel the possibility of a whole different world, see others from different backgrounds and perspectives getting serious about this revolution... and being inspired and challenged to do the same. And it can make a big difference for this summer of Revolution In the City if we have lots of simple ways for people to contribute to the revolution in the weeks ahead.
The more we think about what the day itself needs to look like... the more we should be fueled to really go all out now to get the word out to everyone we can to be there. The many who have met this revolution before... and the many, many who haven't but need to.
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