“These interviews need to be seen in a stadium, auditorium or some place with thousands of seats. We're not quite there yet but we are working on it. If you don't understand why we need a revolution and how that revolution could be possible, then you don't know what you need to know.... Whether you don't know these things, or know them on a certain level, tonight you're in the right place. You're going to learn. You are going to hear the most important revolutionary leader of our time break it down and you're going to meet this leader up close and personal." 

With this powerful declaration, Roosevelt, with the Revolution Club, Chicago, welcomed an eager audience to the evening’s special screening of selections from the Bob Avakian Interviews at the Chatham Cinema Multiplex in the South Side of Chicago on November 16. 

Coming off of two smaller, successful private screenings of selected clips from the BA Interviews earlier this year, the Revolution Club, Chicago made a move to debut this historic film on the big screen with immersive surround sound. This was co-sponsored by The Bob Avakian Institute. Approximately 60 people gathered to experience Bob Avakian, BA, "up close & personal" and to break open some crucial questions with Sunsara Taylor, who helped interview the revolutionary leader Bob Avakian. The film began with an important clip from Bob Avakian's dialogue with Cornel West in 2014 on the question of revenge, which spoke penetratingly to the issues posed today by the U.S.-backed genocide that the state of Israel is currently committing against the Palestinian people trapped in the open-air prison that is Gaza.

The hour that ensued is captured perfectly by the following quote from an article detailing the first theatrical screening of the special selection of the Bob Avakian Interviews at the Hudson Theaters in Los Angeles:

We got to see him reflect on how he transformed from a patriotic youth to a staunch opponent of America's crimes and then the system as a whole. He broke down in clearly understandable ways what it means to be scientific and why this matters so much. He brought alive not only why revolution—the actual overthrow of the system of capitalism-imperialism—is the only way humanity can get free, but also why this revolution is more possible now than it has been in generations even as it does not seem that way on the surface. He took on the poisonous notion that “the ends justify the means” and spoke deeply to why the revolution we need to make must be rooted in emancipation for all of humanity, not revenge. In the final selections, Bob Avakian spoke directly and with incredible heart and confidence in those who are trapped at the bottom of society, catching the hardest hell, and fought hard with them to rise to their potential as emancipators of humanity, and he bared his soul in speaking about why he has never given up on the fight to make a real revolution and emancipate all of humanity. Along the way, Bob Avakian broke into song more than once, had the audience breaking out in laughter, and—by the end—had the theater erupting in applause.

After the applause ceased, Lapis from the Revolution Club, Chicago made a call to raise much needed funds for the revolution and Roosevelt passionately exclaimed to the audience, “We just heard the BA Interviews, I've heard them a lot of times, but what got me at the end—WHAT SUSTAINS HIM! BA's been in this fight since the ’60s. Sustaining oneself though all the BS this system has thrown at him. And he never wavered from jumping in with both feet on the deep end for humanity.”

With that, the Revolution Club, Chicago members introduced veteran revolutionary Lenny Wolff who, after a brief introduction to the Q&A and special guest Sunsara Taylor, posed two questions to initiate the discussion. These questions were:

• What does it mean to struggle deeply with the youth who are catching the worst hell?     
• How would  you actually defeat these imperialist monsters?

Then others joined in:

• What is the relationship between heart for the people and science?
• How would you explain the difference between the old and the new communism very simply?
• Why couldn’t we win the fight to keep the right to abortion?  Can’t we win just once?

People spoke bitterness around what they and others have experienced, and expressed heartfelt love and respect for BA. The above only scratched the surface of what transpired in the Q&A, which was captured in a comment by a Revolution Club, Chicago member characterizing the event as "off the chain." The questions posed were very good, with Sunsara providing deep insights, taking people to a whole different realm in her responses. On that note, The RNL—Revolution, Nothing Less!—Show recently announced that Patreons to the show will get the opportunity to watch some of the fantastic Q&A session; this is an opportunity not to be missed, so sign up and donate generously! 

The Revolution Club, Chicago took responsibility for the entirety of the event, building for it broadly, emceeing, fundraising and making sure that the evening came and went smoothly and successfully, representing as a real revolutionary force as a result and through the process. Club members were disappointed that not more of the people among the Black masses, including some who had participated in the earlier private showings, came to the theater, and we are striving in Chicago to understand more fully why that was the case and how to make breakthroughs moving forward. Meanwhile, the Club is working to more deeply connect these timely interviews with people from all walks of life, with a special emphasis on the masses of Black people, as well as the people now awakened to political life by Palestine. Over the next month the Club is planning to set up collective showings and discussions on the one-hour special selection in different forms—in people's homes, at our center and at other venues. As Lenny Wolff said, echoing Roosevelt at the opening of the Q&A, “These interviews need to be seen by thousands.” 

So to all those reading this, newbies and veterans alike, there is a little over a month left to put this revolution on the map in 2023—it must be our mission to connect the masses of oppressed people with BA's tremendous leadership, millions and tens of millions need to engage and debate these historic Interviews throughout society, repolarizing the terrain and establishing BA and the revcoms as an alternate authority. So let's get out there and get it done, human emancipation awaits.