From the Front Lines With the Revolution Club—Chicago
The Revolution Club is on a mission to make a major advance in organizing forces for an actual revolution, impacting all of society by people getting out of killing each other, changing what they are living and fighting for, taking up the leadership of Bob Avakian, and getting organized for a real revolution.
To do this, the club is out there most every day, doing all kinds of different things, trying to learn as much as we can so we can transform more, so we can learn more and transform better, so we can learn still more... and on and on... till we make a breakthrough... and then go further still. We’re struggling with people’s ideas, straight-up... and we’re leading them to struggle against the enemy. We’re fighting to get to a situation where millions can be led to go for revolution, all-out, with a real chance to win.
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November-December 2017
Showing the BA Film at the Revolution Club Organizing Center in Chicago
November 26, 2017
From the Revolution Club Chicago:
At the Revolution Club Organizing Center in Chicago, people gathered Sunday, November 26 for a showing of the film of the speech and full Q&A from Bob Avakian, THE TRUMP/PENCE REGIME MUST GO! In The Name of Humanity, We REFUSE to Accept a Fascist America, A Better World IS Possible. About half of the people there were Revolution Club members and the other half were people at various levels of getting involved with the Revolution Club and/or the struggle to drive out the Trump/Pence Regime.
Everybody was into the film. People were hungry to hear what BA was talking about. People came in at different points, some were there for the whole thing, some came during the Q&A, but once they were there, they were inside the film. People responded vocally throughout, but there was also a real resonance in the middle of the Q&A when BA was talking about the situation in Chicago: the individualism of people saying “I’m good” and looking out for themselves while they and millions of others are being oppressed by this system… the role Obama played in the destruction of public housing in Chicago and how that was part of creating some of the madness happening now among the youth… the way “religious freedom” is being used by the Christian fascists to carry out their program and didn’t count for shit when it came to Jeff Fort and the El Rukns.
After the film, a number of people recorded video messages of their response to it, speaking to what stood out to them and why they would recommend the film to others. The responses were very meaningful and insightful.
An activist who has been very involved in the protests to drive out the Trump/Pence regime had seen the speech from BA before, but this was his first time watching the Q&A. He was very moved by it. When asked what stood out to him about it, he said, “He … points out that we have to be willing to sacrifice some things, that’s the key things that he pointed out, to me. In order for you to do a revolution, you got to be willing to go through some stuff and sacrifice some things, in order to fight, not only to have your rights in store and other people’s rights in store, but to also drive out this regime to keep them from hurting and taking away the rights of other people.”
A student who attended the Nov 18 protest watched the whole Q&A. When asked why he would recommend the film to others, he spoke specifically of recommending it to people who are caught up in the conditions BA spoke about when he talked about Chicago, “…so they will help open up their eyes to understand yes this is the war that’s going on outside of you, not the war — what Bob was talking in the video, as far as territory, gangs, things that’s going on in your city or state. Yeah, that’s the war you’re fighting, but that’s not the right war that you should be in. This is the big war that’s going on around you that you have no idea it exists because you’re not educated about this, no one’s telling you this, your parents, they don’t know.”
A member of the Revolution Club who has seen the talk a number of times said he gets more out of it every time and one of the things that stood out to him this time was the description of the Vietnamese girl running naked burning from napalm and imagining his own loved ones being subjected to that. He talked about how Trump has his finger on the nuclear button and this is a danger to the planet and humanity and everyone should be involving themselves in the struggle to drive out this regime.
After making the video messages, people stayed around talking to each other and then left with stacks of Refuse Fascism palm cards to distribute, with some also getting material about Bob Avakian and the Revolution Club. We invited everyone to next Sunday’s Refuse Fascism potluck and told people about the upcoming showing of the film on a local public access station so they could watch with friends.
JUSTICE FOR QUONO!
by Noche Diaz and Revolution Club, Chicago
December 4, 2017
Revolution Club Chicago - Justice For Aquoness Cathery
On November 30, the Revolution Club Chicago attended the vigil of Aquoness Cathery, who was murdered by the police. At the vigil the police dared to show up to intimidate those who were at the vigil. The Revolution Club is getting organized for an actual revolution.
Aquoness Cathery was murdered by the police on Wednesday, November 29, on the South Side of Chicago. He was 24 years old and the father of a young daughter. He was known as “Quono” and was an aspiring rapper. The pigs responded to a “shots fired” call and claimed Quono had a gun, which they don’t even claim he fired. Multiple witnesses, including family members, say he was shot in the back while he was running away. He was taken to the hospital in critical condition and died the next morning.
Quono’s beloved auntie described him as a “fine, fine man.” She said it was bullshit to say he was in a better place because he should be here alive today. One man said Quono was his little brother, he loved him and the police took a whole human being, took a whole soul. Like too many young people born with darker skin are treated in this country, Quono’s humanity meant nothing to the system that kills people like him every day and lets its murderous cops walk free.
The block where Quono was killed is one of the neighborhoods where over the summer and since then the Revolution Club has led people to blow whistles on the police and has been working to bring forward a revolutionary force and pole. At the end of the summer, a couple members of the Revolution Club had met and talked with Quono, along with a number of other guys in the neighborhood. Quono stood out to them as someone who was capable of taking a larger view of things than just what is happening in the neighborhood. One of the Revolution Club members described him as a sweet guy, very knowledgeable, and described how Quono had been trying to convince the Revolution Club members that they were wasting their time talking to the people there about getting into the revolution because they weren’t able to see anything beyond what’s happening right here in front of them. Instead of convincing us we were wasting our time, he ended up further convincing us we were in the right place.
The Saga of a Banner
November 26, 2017
A couple of us in the Revolution Club recently met up with two students at Columbia College and showed them the front page of their own campus newspaper, The Columbia Chronicle. “Do you see that banner? It says ‘Hey Trump, From those you like to Demonize: You and Your GANG in the White House Are the REAL Thugs and THREAT to Humanity. In The Name of Humanity We Will DRIVE YOUR ASS OUT!’ But look closer. Do you see the signatures? Those are from some of the people demonized, on the South Side and in the high schools, who put their name on the banner.” One of the students’ eyes swelled with emotion when she realized what she was looking at and as we told them the story of the banner. Read more.
Speaking to an African-American History Class
When students at a predominantly Black community college arrived at their African-American History class last week, the professor announced there would be a guest speaker. A member of the Revolution Club introduced herself and began to talk about why the Trump/Pence regime must go.
It was a small class, not more than 20 students. The professor asked the speaker, a Black woman, to talk about what this has to do with the history of white supremacy in this country. She brought to bear some of that history, and how the Trump/Pence regime is now establishing open white supremacist rule and also other aspects of what the regime means for humanity, that we have to act to drive it out, not just for ourselves or for one people, but in the interests of humanity.
The Revolution Club member was soon joined by her comrade, who talked about the movement of protests that began Nov 4 to drive the Trump/Pence regime from power, and the urgent need to join into this movement, including coming and spreading the word about the upcoming protest on Nov 18, “Break the Silence—Bring the Noise!” A student asked for more information about Nov 4 and what is this movement of protests. We described 4,000 people in 24 cities coming out into the streets to demand Trump and Pence Must Go. Then, we highlighted how brave people were to do this, the threats flooding the internet they had to go up against; places where people had to march in the face of armed white supremacist fascists; the people who came by themselves even though they couldn’t get any friends to come with them. We connected this to what happened in Charlottesville, and what it means that a violent fascist movement is being unleashed and why this makes it even more urgent to step forward NOW before it is too late. Read more.
Running with the Revolution Club, Refusing Fascism
November 26, 2017
The Revolution Club in Chicago has been throwing all in with the movement of protests to drive out the Trump/Pence regime, moving with the urgency of stopping the consolidation of fascist rule. We have been part of all the major protests and events called by RefuseFascism.org, contributing to the organization and spirit of the marches, and organizing people from the oppressed neighborhoods as well as college students to come to these protests, with some running with the Revolution Club and wearing the REVOLUTION, NOTHING LESS! T-shirts. Read more.
Chicago, November 4.
The weather won’t stop us from bringing the noise #TrumpPenceMustGo #Chicago pic.twitter.com/J4lNnQwP6Q
— RefuseFascismCh (@RefuseFascismCH) November 18, 2017
Then, in the freezing rain on Nov. 18, we were part of the raucous, joyous BREAK THE SILENCE, BRING THE NOISE! march to break through the atmosphere of people normalizing a NOT NORMAL regime.
Then They Came For Me.
November 26, 2017
Whole families packed liked sardines into the trains to be shipped off to the camps, with only what they could carry. Not knowing where they were going. Not knowing when or if they would ever come back. Their property taken or sold off for next to nothing. Humiliated, demonized, and ordered to report for “relocation.” No, I’m not talking about Jewish People in Nazi Germany.
Twice in the course of a week about 10 people with the Revolution Club went to the Alphawood Gallery exhibit in Chicago about the internment of Japanese Americans titled “Then They Came For Me,” drawing from (and featuring in large letters at the entry way) the poem from Pastor Niemöller.
In the center space of the gallery there are suitcases piled up with photographs along the walls of people having to leave their homes, taking only what they could carry. “Only what we could carry was the rule, so we carried Strength, Dignity, and Soul (Lawson Fusao Inada)” appears along the top of some of these photos. A Black artist in our crew broke into tears. Seeing all these people, who had built their whole lives, they had homes and neighbors and they were just picked up, uprooted and sent off. “The photographs brought you there,” another person with us said, “and you were in it, you could smell it, you could feel it.” Read more.