An Internationalist Benefit Dinner for the Revolution Tour

May 20, 2019 | revcom.us

From a reader:

Over $1,400 was raised at the “Celebrate Internationalism” benefit dinner for the Get Organized for an ACTUAL Revolution Tour. $1,200 came from the event on May 11 and the rest from donations and new sustainers. About 30 people came, including some new people recently met during the 12-day effort in spreading the Points of Attention (POAs). The food was delicious and international—Afghan, Iranian, Palestinian, and Mexican restaurant owners contributed food in addition to food brought by supporters of the movement for revolution. Three languages were spoken—Farsi, Spanish, and English.

At the short program, we listened to Bob Avakian’s New Year’s Message and watched Noche Diaz at the April 28 LA picnic for the tour. A Revolution Club member spoke about what the 5-2-6 is. This was followed by comments and some questions from the audience.

An immigrant from India had heard about the dinner at the Bay Area Book Festival the weekend before. He said these points (POAs), which he liked, talked about different political questions. But what about the economic foundations? How do you see that? This led to a round of enthusiastic discussion.

An environmental activist, who was recently met during the 5-2-6 push, spoke with urgency about the emergency situation facing the planet and humanity. She cited the UN report that there are only 12 years left to prevent irreversible damage from climate change and that report came out last year, so there are only 11 years left! This brought alive “Stop Capitalism-Imperialism from Destroying Our Planet!”—one of the 5 STOPS. She also talked about the urgent need for a radical change and not relying on the government and the system, which is the cause of this and all other problems.

An immigrant talked passionately about one of the six Points of Attention and raised an idea of fundraising in the next period for the Tour. She said:

“I think that women can organize a fundraising picnic in the Mission District of SF (an immigrant neighborhood) to raise funds for the Tour to Get Organized for an ACTUAL Revolution, by making the food, getting donations of food, and spreading the word. I think the theme of this picnic should be a ‘World Without Borders,’ based on POA #3. This is more important than ever, when you have the head of the country whipping up belligerent, intense hatred against immigrants, sending more military to the border, and calling for building the wall, and the fear among the immigrants is intensifying. But we need to overcome this fear, and ‘ganar la liberated’ (win liberty), because the only things we have to lose is our chains. We need a fundamental change (cambia profundo), we need revolution and it won’t be easy (no es facil).”

Then there was this comment from the father of a young Latino man killed by the police in the Bay Area:

“I liked the fact that (POA #1) mentions the highest interests of people. When the system says justice for all, they don’t really mean it. They profile you just for walking in the wrong neighborhood. Some people are just out for personal gain. Law enforcement only want to make themselves look good. And some people use revolution for personal gain and then turn around and run for mayor. I like that this is about fighting for equality of all languages and cultures (POA #3), and not just about fighting for only your own people. This is one way the system can divide the people up when we should be fighting for each other.”

People coming to the dinner were very unleashed by the ethos expressed by the POAs and the comments and the discussions. Many stayed after the program, and hung out. More donations were made. Some talked more about the fundraising projects suggested for the next period, like the picnic in the Mission on the third weekend of June and the garage sale on May 26. Others participated in lively discussion in groups. All this continued into the night.

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