Last month, the National Campaign to Get @BobAvakianOfficial Everywhere ran an experiment getting dramatic posters up in New York City and DC. Check out this video for a sense of what this opened up:

This whole national campaign is based on a recognition that, as it has said on revcom.us, "We will never succeed in having a real revolution in this country—certainly not one really worth having and that is truly emancipating for the vast majority of people—unless and until millions of people are won to become conscious followers of Bob Avakian and the new communism he has developed as the pathway and blueprint for the emancipation of all of humanity."

As part of the new communism and strategic approach to an actual revolution, Bob Avakian is providing real-time and urgent leadership to understand what we're facing with Trump/MAGA fascism and what's needed to defeat this fascism. 

All this is regularly being brought alive through his social media, @BobAvakianOfficial.

Right now, the wide scale, societal engagement with Bob Avakian's work is key in changing the debate about what kind of better world is possible—and what's worth putting it on the line for.

An Experiment with High-Impact Posters

As a part of this campaign, hundreds of these large-scale dramatic provocative posters went up in a few neighborhoods in NY and DC—aimed at driving people to find out about Bob Avakian (BA). We were planning to do this in several cities, but did a pilot project in just two cities to start. 

As we wrote at the time:

There needs to be a leap in people recognizing that this is a voice they need to be hearing regularly. BA is not a political pundit with "hot takes." He's a revolutionary communist leader providing urgent analysis and direction—cutting through the noise and distraction with a scientific understanding and providing you the tools to apply that scientific method to the many complex questions of the day, to understand things as they actually are and to act in the interests of humanity in this truly crucial time.

We are aiming to change the dynamic where people go from, "oh, wow, that's really interesting” and then getting overwhelmed as they get lost in scrolling from site to site. One way we think we can break through this is by reinforcing this by what people encounter “IRL”—in real life.

This was very good to try, and as you can see from the video, when we were there—engaging people on the spot with the content of the posters, and having them scan the QR code and sign up for BA's social media—this had an exciting, and serious impact. In that sense, there was a "proof of concept" for this experiment.

We were tapping into the fact that people are hungry for serious answers, analysis and a vision. But they aren't spontaneously going to find out about the leadership Bob Avakian is providing, and there are a lot of obstacles to them finding out about this (more on this below).

And, as it turned out, when we weren't there, the posters didn't have the same effect. They often got torn down very quickly, either by fascists or by people who really hate communism... or just quickly pasted over by other advertisers competing for space. And when they were up, they seemed to become part of the background. 

We were very glad to be able to run this experiment, but unless we can do it at a much, much bigger scale, we don't think going at it this way will achieve what's needed.

What we can learn and build off this experiment is the need and potential for a real back-and-forth dynamic that has to go on between ongoing social media advertising, and dramatic provocations on the walls. We have had national impact with this before—and want to start that up again. With even more provocative slogans, and in a nationally coordinated way.

Check out these posters, AND GET THEM UP. Do this in a concentrated way, and go out with a video camera—maximize the impact you're able to have on the ground, and project it via social media.

Going on the Offensive Against the Attacks on Bob Avakian

Over the last weeks, Bob Avakian has been going on the offensive against unprincipled attacks on him, the revcoms and Refuse Fascism. These attacks, and the whole approach they're part of, are undermining the broad unity urgently needed in the fight to defeat Trump/MAGA fascism. They spread poisonous anti-communist lies. And they do extreme harm in the fight for a better world. BA's most recent message, REVOLUTION #129: "Irresponsible opportunist distortions should not be allowed to sabotage the unity of the millions needed to drive out the Trump fascist regime" is a model of calling out the extreme harm these attacks are doing: "Whatever those making these attacks think they are doing, what they are objectively doing is 'dirty work' that serves the Trump fascist regime"

Recognizing the urgent need, BA is taking the opportunity to speak frontally to what he's actually about—in the face of the straight-up lies and distortion. He lays out the visionary and expansive understanding of what the socialist transition to communism needs to look like, as envisioned in the Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America, which he's authored. 

He also did this in the series, Opposing the enemy within the fight to defeat Trump/MAGA fascism: this putrid culture, lies & slander.

These messages need to get out—and be fought for—in a big way! These attacks are a very negative part of the terrain right now. They contribute to lowering people's sights. They make use of and reinforce what BA calls "the putrid culture that still prevails way too much and too often." BA breaks down what he means by this "putrid culture":

An eager indulgence in snark, gossip, slander, accusation and cancellation (whether the accusation is fabricated or true—something that is effectively irrelevant to those caught up in this).

A culture that is defined by a preference for the subjective and superficial, as opposed to substance and a serious, scientifically-grounded engagement with important objective reality in order to come to a reasoned evidence-based understanding of what is actually true and what must be done to bring about positive change.

In these messages, BA takes all this apart—forces people to really confront how bad this shit is that is otherwise so common, and gets a pass. And he contrasts that to what's really needed—going for the evidence, with broadness of mind and generosity of spirit. 

In these messages, BA is providing tools to impact—and radically change—a seriously negative part of the terrain right now. And do not underestimate the impact and transformation this courageous critique from BA can have—right now.

While not directly related, we note the response from someone who is part of the movement fighting against Trump/MAGA fascism. He said he knew of BA and wanted to make known that "the situation we face is too fucking serious for tossing around 'cult' bullshit." He said he wanted to read what BA has to say and talk. 

Dig into these with others. And take these out in a mass way. Go up against all this ugly bullshit dragging people down into the sewer mode of thinking. This can contribute to people raising their sights to a scientific approach—a different way of thinking and relating to each other, to setting standards in the fight to defeat Trump/MAGA fascism and breaking open serious engagement with the questions concentrated in Bob Avakian's work, questions about the whole emancipating future that is possible.

The more this ugliness is surfaced, and fought out in a more mass way—held up against a much more positive approach, the more this can inspire people to act on their positive aspirations with some backbone and determination.

We Are in a Different Time

Finally, as we wrote last week: "we are in a different time—full of extreme danger but also new possibility. People are being shaken to their core by the extreme and rapid escalation of fascism. This has given rise to a palpable openness and eagerness to get into the questions that Bob Avakian is digging into in his work—like no one else!"

In this situation, Volume 2 of the pamphlet from The Bob Avakian Institute, TRUMP/MAGA FASCISM What We’re Really Facing, Why and What Must Be Done to Defeat It Before It’s Too Late, needs to get out all over. Just this weekend, a team went to a concert that lasted three nights. They raised over $1,100 and distribute 1,200 of these pamphlets. One person on the team wrote, "While there is this broader normalization (and incredible danger associated with that—if it hardens), it’s not cemented or permanent in the sense that the thousands even in this crowd could be moved. And many of these people urgently and seriously wanted to understand what we're facing, why and what we need to do."

We Want to Hear From YOU

Finally, we are fighting through on this serious mission to get @BobAvakianOfficial Everywhere. And we want to hear from you! Please send your ideas—big and small. Send in proposals, experience, critiques and questions to info@BobAvakianOfficialEverywhere.org.