American Flag Burns at DNC! Carl Dix, Joey Johnson, Revolution Club Declare: "AMERICAN LIVES ARE NOT MORE IMPORTANT THAN OTHER PEOPLE'S LIVES"
July 28, 2016 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us
American Flag Burns at DNC! Carl Dix, Joey Johnson, Revolution Club Declare: "AMERICAN LIVES ARE NOT MORE IMPORTANT THAN OTHER PEOPLE'S LIVES" Photo: Nicholas Isabella
At 6 pm tonight, notorious flag burner Joey Johnson, revolutionary communist leader Carl Dix, and the Revolution Club marched in formation and chanted up to Broad St. & Pattison Ave., right outside Philadelphia's Wells Fargo Convention Center, on the final night of the Democratic National Convention (DNC). Rain had drenched Philadelphia earlier in the day, but the rev coms had pledged that after burning an American flag at the RNC in Cleveland, they were going to burn one here in Philadelphia at the DNC—"come rain or shine."
The Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America (Draft Proposal) from the RCP is written with the future in mind. It is intended to set forth a basic model, and fundamental principles and guidelines, for the nature and functioning of a vastly different society and government than now exists: the New Socialist Republic in North America, a socialist state which would embody, institutionalize and promote radically different relations and values among people; a socialist state whose final and fundamental aim would be to achieve, together with the revolutionary struggle throughout the world, the emancipation of humanity as a whole and the opening of a whole new epoch in human history–communism–with the final abolition of all exploitative and oppressive relations among human beings and the destructive antagonistic conflicts to which these relations give rise.
Read the entire Constitution For The New Socialist Republic In North America (Draft Proposal) from the RCP at revcom.us/rcp.
Before a crowd of over 100 activists, journalists, reactionaries and others, they spoke powerfully about how this flag embodies towering crimes of empire: "America Was NEVER Great." They spoke to the reality that both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are "criminal choices of a criminal system that must be overthrown." They declared, as Bob Avakian, the leader of the revolution, says, "AMERICAN LIVES ARE NOT MORE IMPORTANT THAN OTHER PEOPLE'S LIVES." One Revolution Club member said: "We aren't here to fix this system, we need to overthrow it, and we're followers of the most radical revolutionary leader on the planet today—Bob Avakian."
Then after their short rally, with the Revolution Club forming a perimeter, they lit the American flag. As flames shot up, cheers and furious chants went up: "Burn the rag, burn the rag, burn the rag!" Soon the flag was tattered, shriveled, and burned. It was a raucous scene, with the revolutionaries continuing to agitate and maintain their ranks in the face of pushing and shoving by media to get pictures—and some reactionaries trying to disrupt the protest. Carl Dix led the Revolution Club and others in chants and call-and-response, including "It's time, it's time, to get organized, for an actual revolution!" After the action, the Revolution Club marched again, chanting and in formation, holding up the remains of the American rag.
Then they got down and talked with those who had gathered to bear witness and support, making connections and getting into what a real revolution is.
Revolution Club at the RNC & DNC
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