I had been waiting in tremendous anticipation (and some concern) for days, once I heard that the Revolution Club in Chicago had issued a call to call out that fascist wannabe thug Jason Aldean right out in front of the concert arena where he was bringing his lynch mob shit show to Tinley Park, outside Chicago. I scoured social media (and traditional media) immediately afterwards for news of the action. As I read and watched the footage of the action outside the concert, watched the bloody red, white and blue rag torn and burned, listened to the chants and the powerful commentary from Rafael Kadaris and others, I just pounded the table in front of me, YES! YES! YES! It literally brought tears of joy to my eyes. 

And when I saw that this tremendous action, along with those of the comrade who boldly went into the MAGA mob concert itself to call out Aldean, was making news internationally, I got an even deeper appreciation of what potential lies in putting revolution on the map in 2023, here in the belly of the beast, and what it will take.

It needs to be firmly grasped that in taking this stand, the sisters and brothers were acting in the interests of literally billions of people around the planet, trapped in, ground up and discarded by a capitalist-imperialist system that has pushed this planet to the brink of potential extinction on more than one front. This is not hype. The reality of this has been repeatedly exposed and documented on the RNL—Revolution, Nothing Less!—Show, revcom.us and elsewhere. And wherever they may be in the world, when people hear of this action, they will take great heart.

But as dire as the situation is, this great action wasn’t just about what the protesters were against (this All-American fascist and his lynching song) but what they were and are fighting FOR. As they were calling out this fascist wannabe thug and the whole toxic capitalist-imperialist system that spawns the Jason Aldeans of the world, the revcoms were also challenging all of us to step up and be part of the movement for a revolution, taking our leadership from BA, at a rare time in history where there exists the possibility for an actual revolution to get rid of this system and replace it with something fundamentally different and better—a new society based on the Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America with the goal of the emancipation of all humanity. What more can we ask for than a shot at this.

With all of that roiling around in my head, I am submitting a $1,000 matching pledge. I wish it could be more, but I hope and anticipate that as more people hear about this action, and the potential it reveals for a far better future, this can be matched many times over.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
A Postscript

A cautionary note to Jason Aldean and other fascist wannabes. I grew up in a small town, where the Black and Chicano population lived, literally, on the “other side” of the railroad tracks, and where the Mexican immigrants who worked in the surrounding fields lived with their families in barracks on the farms where they worked. When I left for college (far away in a big city), I had no intention of going back for any longer than the time it took to raise the money to stay in school and stay away.

A year after I left, I came back to work over the summer. I drove by the local police station with some friends, where a massive evergreen had stood out in front. Every winter the tree was decorated in Christmas lights and ornaments with an official lighting attended by local officials, including the chief of police—a racist goon by any standard. But this year, the tree stood roped off, blackened and burned. One of my friends turned to me and said “yah, that got burned down last year.” 

It turned out a local (Vietnam era) antiwar protest that had not started very large (in this small town) had escalated after having been attacked by local pigs. It had grown into a much larger protest made up of what were then known as “beatniks and hippies” (alienated white youth), Black and Latino youth and many others, with a pent-up rage that had culminated in the burning of the tree outside the pig station. Christmas wasn’t the same for many years after.

I am for burning American flags, not trees—and this was many years ago, but my point is simply don’t ever underestimate the potential—even in these small towns—for the fire of revolution to burst onto the scene in unexpected and uplifting ways and to burn bright. And, with the leadership of BA and the foundation he has laid, with the New Communism, we should never underestimate the possibility of actually winning and wrenching a whole different future into being.

¡Presente!