The air was filled with defiance and joy last Sunday afternoon at the Revolution Books benefit party as more than 65 people gathered, celebrated and gave life to the slogans:

In the Name of Humanity, We REFUSE to Accept a Fascist America!

We Need and We Demand: A Whole New Way to Live, a Fundamentally Different System!

Old friends of Revolution Books, brand new ones, people from various parts of the globe—with different backgrounds, all ages—came together to support Revolution Books, for an afternoon of being in a whole new world filled with defiant and uplifting culture, a vision of how humanity could live based on the new communism of Bob Avakian, and a stirring challenge issued by Andy Zee to step in to defeat this fascism and into the revolution. There was a spirit in the room of wanting to be, needing to be, in Revolution Books at this moment when the MAGA fascism of Trump is poised to take power. This was reflected in the performances and the urgent conversations at the tables as people enjoyed the wonderful food donated for the evening. 

The culture represented the people of the world: three singers of Colombian heritage, "Las Lloronas of Gaza" ("The Weeping Women of Gaza"), carried swaddling representing the murdered babies of Gaza and performed in dramatic makeup and costumes, turning mourning into resistance. Poet Mahogany Browne read from her new book, A Bird in the Air Means We Can Still Breathe, "If the rich feed on the work of the poor, then how will the poor eat? I say, burn it all down—begin again. One nation, one table. Let no one leave the kitchen hungry!"

Brad Waldron dramatically performed his poem, "How to Describe a Slave Ship in Three Minutes or Less: all the drinks are vinegar and virgin sweetened with loads of cane sugar and cotton..."

Jamel Mims, an African-American hip hop artist, began his performance by reading the poem "If I Must Die," by Palestinian poet Refaat Alareer who was killed in the ongoing Israeli/U.S. genocide in Gaza. Jamel then rapped in English and Mandarin Chinese by performing his bilingual rap, "Say U Dunno."

Andy Zee, a host of The RNL—Revolution, Nothing Less!—Show, a spokesperson for Revolution Books, and a follower of Bob Avakian (BA), raised the whole evening up to another level. Andy talked about the revolutionary leadership we have: "Bob Avakian's work and leadership—which Revolution Books is based on—makes it possible to understand the situation we face and how we could get free..."

Andy spoke of the moment and the urgent need to defeat the Trump MAGA fascism and at the same time be getting organized for revolution: "'This whole system is rotten and illegitimate—we need and we demand: a whole new way to live, a fundamentally different system!' With the deeper, more scientific understanding of the new communism Bob Avakian has developed, we have what we need to stop the world careening off a cliff and free humanity here and all over the world. THIS is the cold, liberating truth that comes from the warmth of the heart that wants to free ourselves and all of humanity."

This was followed by a clip from the Bob Avakian Interviews where he answered the question of "Why if you don't have a poetic spirit would it be very dangerous to lead a Marxist movement or a socialist state?" Bob Avakian spoke of the reality that "human beings have a need for beauty.… It comes in nature, it comes in music, it comes in poetry.... The kind of world we're aiming for is not one where that kind of beauty is discounted or suppressed, but one where the human being's need for that is given much fuller expression." This gave a vision of the new society we are fighting for based on the new communism and a sense of BA, the person with humor, wit and insight—heart and soul and hard-core for revolution. 

Incredible food was donated by neighborhood restaurants and supporters of Revolution Books. Spirited and deep conversations, and learning about each other and the revolution, characterized the whole afternoon. Over $1,000 was raised by meeting a $500 match challenge during the course of the afternoon to contribute to the year-end $25,000 Revolution Books fund drive.