Letter from a Prisoner

On Getting into The New Communism by Bob Avakian and Dialectical Materialism

February 21, 2022

Editors’ note: We at revcom.us periodically publish letters from prisoners on revolutionary theory and struggle, as well as other aspects of human experience and thought, including conditions and struggle within the prisons themselves. We appreciate and learn from all correspondence from the prisons. The opinions in the letters we publish are those of the writers and not necessarily those of revcom.us.

From a prisoner in Missouri:

Hey, what’s up!? I got your second package of the “New Communism.” So far, I have pages 37-95. Thank you! And I await the rest. (Ed.—The prison would not allow the prisoner to receive the book The New Communism, by Bob Avakian, so he is getting it printed out in “chunks” from the manuscript available at revcom.us.)

Thus far I’ve read (and re-read) the first package (of pgs. 37-56) you sent me. Now I finally got a understanding of “Dialectical Materialism.” In fact, once BA broke it down I kinda felt stupid that I couldn’t figure it out on my own. The way he (BA) broke it down and the way my dictionary (American Heritage College) defined it are completely different. Do you think I should buy a different dictionary? If so, what kind?

I’ve always liked American Heritage and Oxford English dictionaries. What do you/y’all think of them?