Barefoot Doctors at the Edge of a Highway in a Black and Latino Neighborhood

April 16, 2018 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us

Two of us went out for an hour to broadly distribute the palm cards of the BA talk, THE TRUMP/PENCE REGIME MUST GO! In the Name of Humanity, We REFUSE To Accept a Fascist America. A Better World IS Possible. We set up on a busy freeway off-ramp that leads into a predominantly Black and Latino proletarian neighborhood that has a long history of resistance. We put up oversized poster displays of the BA talk, the “The Biggest, Ugliest Shithole” meme from revcom.us, and the meme of ICE handcuffing immigrants with the Spanish caption “With Fascists you cannot wait and see...” We got out 500 cards, 76 copies of Revolution newspaper, and collected $48 in donations. People coming off the freeway saw our displays and had their hands out the window to get the materials, some had their dollar bills ready to put in our donation buckets.

People were angry—a common expression was, “I can’t stand Trump—we gotta get that motherfucker out!” We only had a minute before the light at the bottom of the ramp changed. We told people, “This is an EMERGENCY! It’s suicide to expect the Democrats and elections to stop this fascist regime. The most important thing you can do is watch this film online, and tell others in your neighborhoods, workplaces, schools, churches to watch it too—and get organized and resist! This revolutionary Bob Avakian talks about why this is happening and what we have to do to stop it. Take extras of these cards and get them out.”

When we had more time we told people, “You need to know this most radical revolutionary, BA, who gets into how we got here and how humanity can get out of this nightmare.” And, “There are no saviors, not the Democrats, not Mueller... Only the people can stop this nightmare and we need you.”

Some people took up stacks of cards. One was a young woman who works at a science museum and really feels the urgency of resisting the assault on the environment. Another was a young guy going to a university who said, “I’m feeling I have to hurry up and get my degree... but you’re right, I can’t ignore what they are doing, or wait to act.” He took 25 cards to get out.

Forty-five of the 76 copies of Revolution distributed were to immigrants from Mexico and Central America. We could see them studying the display, “You cannot 'wait and see' with fascists—They will do what they promise to do....” Even though the cards are in English, many took the paper in Spanish and a few cards for family and neighbors. Many cars had passengers and the cards got passed out among them. I stressed, “You can watch this talk on your phone”—this is the main way many immigrants connect with the internet.

Many took extra cards and thanked us for being out there. But we put it back on them: “You have a role to play, help get the word out on this film.”

We summed up from this experience that many people in this neighborhood find this situation intolerable and are looking for ways to act. It was significant that so many eagerly took extra cards to distribute and it underscores the real potential for a social movement around the film to take root. Thousands watching this film today and spreading it can truly make a difference, a way for people to act in meaningful ways that can lead to a better future for humanity. We decided we should make a suggestion to do a screening in this community so people can engage BA at a higher level.

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