Bob Avakian (BA)—Official Biography
This Bob Avakian (BA) Official Biography is published here with the permission of The Bob Avakian Institute.
"...if you don't have a poetic spirit—or at least a poetic side—it is very dangerous for you to lead a Marxist movement or be the leader of a socialist state."
— Bob Avakian
Bob Avakian (BA) is the architect of a whole new framework of human emancipation, the new synthesis of communism, which is popularly referred to as the "new communism."
For Revolution to Break Through,
for Humanity to Be Emancipated,
Communist Leadership Is Necessary, and Indispensable
In “What Humanity Needs: Revolution, and the New Synthesis of Communism, An Interview with Bob Avakian” published in 2012, in response to a question from the interviewer, A. Brooks, Avakian spoke to the necessity of communist leadership if humanity is going to be able to liberate itself.
Listen to BA's "All Played Out"
Listen to BA's "All Played Out"
“All Played Out,”
spoken word by Bob Avakian,
music by William Parker
Prisoners write about Bob Avakian!
From prisoner letters published in Revolution:
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“You wish to see a better world, but won’t follow Bob Avakian because of what!??!”
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Using Bob Avakian's New Year's Statement to Educate Other Prisoners
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“I do swear and attest to Bob Avakian’s impeccable goals & intentions in liberating the masses from the capitalist-imperialist slavery…”
Click here for more letters from prisoners on BA.
Comments and Reviews
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Cornel West, on BA’s memoir:
“Bob Avakian is a long distance runner in the freedom struggle against imperialism, racism and capitalism…” -
Howard Zinn, on BA’s memoir:
“A truly interesting account of Bob Avakian’s life, a humanizing portrait of someone who is often seen only as a hard-line revolutionary…” -
Emory Douglas, Revolutionary Artist, former Minister of Culture, Black Panther Party:
“A salute to Revolutionary Bob Avakian on his book ‘BASICS.’” -
VIDEO: Michelle Xai on growing up in South Central and meeting Bob Avakian
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Excerpts from a discussion with members of the Tour:
Why I Got into BA—and Why You Should Too
“There was a certain point when I started asking questions…”
View Bob Avakian speaking in 1969, 1979, and 2003
Science and Revolution
In the early part of 2015, over a number of days, Revolution conducted a wide-ranging interview with Ardea Skybreak. Ardea Skybreak is a scientist with professional training in ecology and evolutionary biology, and an advocate of the new synthesis of communism brought forward by Bob Avakian.
Start the video at 13:57
I want to get into BA...
Where do I start?
"You can't change the world if you don't know the BAsics." BAsics, from the talks and writings of Bob Avakian is a book of quotations and short essays that speaks powerfully to questions of revolution and human emancipation. Go to the BAsics page.
On the Leadership of Bob Avakian
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On the Revolutionary Road with Chairman Avakian:
A contribution to the conversation on the unique and irreplaceable contributions of our Chairman: a few thoughts on approach and method, by Lenny Wolff -
Learning from Bob Avakian: Understanding the World in Order to Change It, by Raymond Lotta
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From the 1995 Leadership Resolutions on Leaders and Leadership: by the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA, Part II: Some Points on the Question of Revolutionary Leadership and Individual Leaders
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Traveling with Chairman Avakian: A Determined Revolutionary Leader, and a Fired Man, for Decades, by Carl Dix
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Some Thoughts on the Importance of Bob Avakian to Building a Revolutionary Movement, by Sunsara Taylor
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A Thought on Intellectual Courage, by Lenny Wolff
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Reflections on What Humanity Needs: Revolution, and the New Synthesis of Communism:
The Critical Importance of Leadership
by Lenny Wolff