In Something Terrible, Or Something Truly Emancipating: Profound Crisis, Deepening Divisions, The Looming Possibility Of Civil War—And The Revolution That Is Urgently Needed, A Necessary Foundation, A Basic Roadmap For This Revolution, the revolutionary leader Bob Avakian says:

…as “the normal way” society has been ruled is failing to hold things together—and society is increasingly being ripped apart—this can shake people’s belief that “the way things have always been” is the only way things can be. It can make people more open to questioning—in a real sense it can force people to question—the way things have been, and whether they have to stay that way. And this is all the more likely to happen if the revolutionary forces are out among the people shining a light on the deeper reality of what is happening, and why, and bringing out that there IS an alternative to living this way.

This needs to go on in a big societal way, reaching blocs of people among every strata. For the last couple of months, I've been working with a team to outreach and have broad impact among more middle class people—lawyers, academics, artists, etc.—with The Bob Avakian Interviews on The RNL—Revolution, Nothing Less!—Show. While many of these folks are putting their head in the sand, just focused on themselves, caught up in a lot of American chauvinism, or desperately clinging to the “normal political channels” to resolve the crisis in society, there is also a deep agonizing and discomfort with many open to engaging a radical, emancipating solution—and feeling that this is the discussion and debate that needs to go on throughout society. All that needs to be surfaced through real struggle.

At the same time as the revcoms are out to build organized forces among those catching the most hell under this system, we also recognize there will not be a revolution, and we will not bring forward the necessary support for this revolution, without forging mass support among the broad middle strata. This fund drive to raise $100,000 provides a real opportunity—and great need—to do that.

In the last couple of months, we've experimented with different things and want to share some ideas and orientation on this:

** We've emailed hundreds of professors at a few different campuses asking them to have the revcoms speak in their classes, and asking them to make a contribution to the $100,000 fund drive. So far, we've gotten the most response at a school where the revcoms had a big impact last fall. One professor wrote back right away that we should speak in their class this semester; a couple said they'd be interested in the future; one wants to have us come speak in a “Race, Class, Gender” class where they spend a few weeks on Marxism; one put us in touch with a student group they work with... We also had a few professors email us back with differences about the “focus on one leader,” but opening up this discussion of revolution vs. reform. We are following up to get with all these professors—scheduling the class discussions and making the argument for them to engage the BA Interviews, and make a financial contribution for this to reach millions.

One of the arguments we've made is that the need and possibility for the urgently necessary revolutionary change is considered off the table—and this needs to change, opening up real discussion and debate about this throughout society, and among their students. We've honed in especially on the need to challenge the “woke identity politics” that predominates among progressive students with a revolutionary answer—which they've also never had the opportunity to really hear, engage and debate. We have found that there are many professors who are hungry to see this taken on—even as they themselves have been scared to challenge this for fear of “being canceled.”

(Note: A lot of professors would be open to bringing someone in via Zoom. If you want to do this outreach, but would like someone from the National Tour to Get Organized for an ACTUAL Revolution to do the class presentation, email us at getorganizedforrevolutiontour@gmail.com.)

** We've experimented with going out to different neighborhoods, and want to do more. There are places where we know we'll find people who work in tech or the film industry. We've set up a table at a farmer's market in a neighborhood with a lot of artists and filmmakers—here we also set up a TV on a rolling stand with a speaker so we could directly play clips of the BA Interviews. In one instance, we were able to gather a small group of people who watched a clip. One person gave a donation on the spot because he was appreciative that we were putting revolution out so boldly and said, “no one else is talking about this.”

There are also areas where people go out for lunch at food trucks... or food courts where all these people gather. You can experiment with creative ways of having an impact—postering an area ahead of time, distributing materials, just going up to lunch tables or groups to talk to people, or if you have more freedom, playing a clip from BA on a speaker or tablet and opening up a discussion.

** We've gone to a whole range of events—from concerts, to film showings and panels—with materials about the fund drive and the BA Interviews. At a campus, or in any city, you'll find these events where people are getting into big questions confronting humanity. We've distributed materials before and after the event, engaging the questions on the floor and asking people to really think about where all the horrors are coming from in this system of capitalism-imperialism and the need and basis for a revolution to overthrow this system, and replace it with a radically different society on the road to real emancipation. Sometimes this has meant asking people to confront the actual crimes of the American empire and why people need to break with the idea that the U.S. is a force for good in the world; sometimes this has meant engaging the struggle over “woke identity politics” vs. the scientific understanding based in the new communism... with the point that this is all spoken to powerfully by BA in these Interviews. (It's good to have Interview clips queued up on your phone to show people on the spot.) Through this, we've had some broad impact and found people who want to talk more seriously about fundamental, revolutionary change.

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We've also thought about—and tried to work on—various synergies between different questions and sections of people. For example, when the Revolution Club acted in relation to the crisis around Juvenile Halls, we specifically tried to reach professors, journalists, lawyers and activists who we know pay attention to this question. Or right now, we are making plans to reach out very broadly with the powerful segment on The RNL Show with Noche Diaz and Michelle Xai on this recent wave of police murders. Acting on the basis of these roiling contradictions to impact masses of people, revealing the revolutionary answer to these outrages—and then concretely letting people know how the revcoms are working to “repolarize society for revolution.” These provide living examples of why the revcoms need to be supported and funded.

There is also the back-and-forth inspiration going on of some people with less resources doing the 10x10 challenge: one person giving $10, and finding nine other people to match their donation... this inspired a physician to do a 5x500 challenge, where he gave $500 and put out the call for four others to match him.

Finally, don't underestimate how the times are having an impact on people and how that can provide a different basis for struggle... and don't underestimate the potential power of people directly engaging the BA Interviews. In a recent interview on The RNL Show, Dr. Phil Rice correctly emphasized the need to go way beyond the “usual suspects,” i.e., people who are more activist leaning, or go to demonstrations. He talked about the broad audience BA is speaking to in these Interviews, and the openness he's found by reaching very widely.

One person on our team talked to someone who, just a few years ago, thought revolution was too extreme and was opposed to even engaging BA. But over the holidays, he reached out wanting to talk because he said his thinking has changed. He was very affected by what happened on January 6, and has come to confront that the Democrats won't do anything in the interests of the people to oppose these fascists. He said he has come to see that revolution is necessary, but he doesn't think it's possible. He wanted to know why we think a revolution could happen in this country. And had big questions about vanguard leadership which would be necessary for a revolution, but thinks that would cut against what's required to build an emancipatory society. The person on our team waged a real struggle for why they had to break with their preconceived ideas and get into BA and the new communism, which BA brings alive and embodies in these Interviews. He left with big questions, but said he'd seriously watch the Interviews, and think about making a contribution.

In another example, someone who's known about and been supportive of the revolution said he's watched the first half of the Interviews and feels like everything BA is saying makes sense and that he speaks to and answers the questions that he has. At the same time, it's making him confront the fear he's had of jumping in further. But he is reckoning with the fact that there is fear everywhere and he feels like it’s just not right to sit on the sidelines, even as he is still not sure what he thinks about how possible a revolution is. In wrangling over what this means in terms of donating to the fund drive, his partner made the point: the choice we all face is either fascism or revolution. In the end, they made a generous donation.

One more example: an artist we were talking to first threw up their hands, saying “I think revolutions are a thing of the past and that it is inevitable that things will work themselves out.” After a sharp but friendly reality check, about nuclear war, the environmental catastrophe, and the fascists on the march contrasted to the scientific understanding that BA is providing about the possibility of a real revolution to emancipate humanity, they opened up further and asked how and whether a real revolution could have a chance to win, up against all this system's repression. We got into this briefly—mainly with us pointing them to what BA gets into in these Interviews. It's not that they didn't have a lot of illusions but those were also covering over a deeper question that they weren't even letting themselves ask.

Through this, we've been consciously applying and summing up in relation to the process that's described in Organizing for an Actual Revolution: 7 Key Points. And, we're really taking to heart what Dr. Rice said that if you don't ask for funds directly, you won't raise funds! And people won't take you seriously.

Making revolution is a huge undertaking, and having an impact now with this revolution is going up against all the gatekeepers and “predominant wisdom.” That's going to take a lot of resources in order to break through!