From a reader and promoter of Revolution,
On two days last weekend, a crew of us got out about 300 copies of the “REAL Texas Values” quiz in the Montrose, an area of Houston that is one of the livelier and more youthful parts of town, and long a center of the LGBTQ population. There also tends to be more foot traffic here than in other parts of this car-centric city. The team also took out A Declaration, A Call To Get Organized Now For A Real Revolution and the Break the Chains T-shirts. We were trying to figure out different ways of contributing to the process concentrated in the passage from the Declaration cited below, and spoken to and elaborated on in the “Field Notes and Wranglings” on the revcom.us site. Our main goal within this has been to spread the word about revolution and connect people to the revcoms via social media (@TheRevComs), The RNL Show, and the revcom.us website.
From A Declaration, A Call To Get Organized Now For A Real Revolution:
Organizing people into this revolution means reaching out to all sorts of people—not just where there are protests and rebellions against oppression and injustice, but everywhere throughout society—spreading the word about revolution and getting people together (in real life and online) to grapple with why an actual revolution is necessary, what such a revolution involves, and what kind of society this is aiming for. This will enable people who are new to the revolution to themselves become organizers for this revolution and to recruit more and more people to do the same. On this basis, and through the growing ranks of the revolution acting together as an increasingly powerful force, it will be possible to attract and organize the necessary numbers, and build up the necessary strength, to be in the position to do what needs to be done.
The first day, there wasn’t a lot of foot traffic, so we got quizzes out to drivers stopped at a busy intersection. On the second day, we were able to set up on a busy street with a big display of the “REAL Texas Values” quiz and the Break the Chains shirt. As we got out Declarations and quizzes, a number of people stopped to begin to take the quiz. Most of them were young—teens and 20s. And most of them did not get the answers right, including the first one on the Alamo. Some people who consider themselves "woke" couldn't answer many of the questions. For example, a Black man who said he knows all about history couldn’t answer question 4, on La Matanza.
Many people were glad to see the quiz, glad to learn that something like this is being done. Quite a few people, including some who said they are teachers, were shocked at how many they got wrong, even the first one (about the Alamo). Some teachers took extra copies to get to other teachers, and a few high school students and some people who work at the stores in the Montrose also took extras. A couple of teachers who took extras commented that this is exactly what they can’t talk about in their classes with the “Critical Race Theory” law in effect. A Texas state representative (a Democrat) driving down the street took one and thanked the person who provided him the quiz. One Chicano guy answered A to the first question on the Alamo, but said he thought it should be B (see quiz for significance of this). People have been taught the answer they're "supposed to give," rather than going with what they think is true and correct.
In a few instances small groups of people took the quiz together, and in one instance one group going over the quiz interacted with another group to take it. Mainly though, it was one on one, and we need to work on transforming that. The group activity as people engage with and are challenged by the quiz is a positive aspect of the project.
The quiz is fun and challenging for people. A question that came up several times—what does this have to do with now, or with me? Reading out the questions in the introduction helped people get into the whole process. Several people who took the quiz started following the revcoms on Instagram on the spot. Some put the Tik Toks on their phones right away, and were enjoying them while standing there.
Three young women got the Break the Chains shirts and were beyond angry at the Texas Abortion Ban law. One woman went on and on about how terrible it is in Texas, but hadn't seen what the law means both for women in general, and the rule of law overall. She convinced her friend who has spent the last few years following lawsuits and court cases to get a shirt too, and they started making plans for when and where they're going to wear the shirts. One of them said that they need to start making a statement.
The people who took the quiz or bought the shirts had big questions of how things can change, and many of them wanted to find out about revolution and the revcoms. They all got copies of the Declaration. It seemed as people took up the challenge from the revcoms by taking the quiz, or got the Break the Chains T-shirts, combined with getting copies of the Declaration, that beginning pathways to revolution were being formed.