Press Conference at Cal Campus Announces:
Bob Avakian to Speak at UC Berkeley April 2018 About Freedom of Expression and Communist Revolution
September 21, 2017 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us
Thursday, September 21—A very significant press conference was held today on the steps of Sproul Plaza at the University of California ("Cal") at Berkeley to announce that Bob Avakian, the most radical revolutionary alive, Chairman of the Revolutionary Communist Party, author of the Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America, former student at Cal and an active participant in the Free Speech Movement, will be coming to speak on the UC Berkeley campus in April 2018 about freedom of expression and communist revolution.
The press conference was led off by Sunsara Taylor, an advocate of Bob Avakian’s new communism, writer for Revcom.us, and co-initiator of Refuse Fascism. Then a UC Berkeley professor and an undergrad and a grad student working with Refuse Fascism spoke from their own perspectives about the importance of and why they support Bob Avakian being able to speak at UC Berkeley about freedom of expression and communist revolution, the dangers of the fascist onslaught against the University in the guise of “free speech,” and why it would be the height of hypocrisy, and do still further damage to the actual exercise of freedom of expression, if the UC administration were to be involved in any way in suppressing or placing obstacles in the way of Bob Avakian speaking on campus. Statements from two other UC Berkeley students as well as Berkeley City Council member Kriss Worthington and SF State Professor Eric Mar were read, and another UC Berkeley professor came out to support the announcement that Bob Avakian will be speaking at UC. The press conference was attended by significant national and local media.
It was a quiet afternoon on campus, but the fascist assault and the intense political atmosphere on campus were apparent: a right-wing lunatic with a Pepe the Frog flag (the symbol of the Nazi “alt-right”) planted himself 20-25 feet or so behind the press conference and was soon joined by College Republicans and others. Meanwhile, groups of passersby were stopping to hear what was being said at the press conference.
Revcom.us will be posting further updates.
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