Springfield, Ohio: For two days, a digital billboard drove through the streets of Springfield with a message from revolutionary leader Bob Avakian: “Springfield, Why do people come here from all over the world? Because the U.S. has messed up the rest of the world even worse than what they have done here!”

This was joined by Rafael Kadaris, from THE REVCOM CORPS For The Emancipation Of Humanity, and a team of volunteers from three Midwestern cities.

This was a chance to bring Bob Avakian's voice and revolutionary leadership to the front line of the fascist anti-immigrant attack spread by Trump and Vance. This has garnered national media attention, and we were fighting to inject the hard-hitting truth from Bob Avakian into the center of this. From Revolution #26: Crime and Anti-Immigrant Racism:

Why are these fascists so aggressively spreading racist anti-immigrant hysteria—and why should any decent person get played by this? Who, and what, is really responsible for the terrible situation that people are facing today? Hint: It is not immigrants. It is the system, the ruling class of this system, and the politicians of both ruling class political parties, Democrat as well as Republican.

With just weeks before the election, the anti-immigrant assault by the fascists is part of how they are working to cohere their fascist social base. And the answer of the Democrats is to try to appear more repressive than the fascists. In the midst of this, we were working to project Bob Avakian's urgent call to get organized now for a real revolution:

We can no longer afford to allow these imperialists to dominate the world and to determine the destiny of humanity. They need to be overthrown as quickly as possible. And it is a scientific fact that we do not have to live this way.

The digital billboard and expenses for people to travel to Springfield were funded by donations from people across the country. In Cleveland and Detroit, we texted and called everybody we know, told them the message the truck would be spreading, included a link and asked them to contribute to the national campaign to get @BobAvakianOfficial before millions. Some who had never contributed before donated because they are so sickened by the fascist attacks on immigrants. Others were more focused on the importance of the revolutionary message. Some contributed because they couldn't go themselves, but were very glad this message was being spread.

Springfield is a small town. Over the last few years, over 15,000 Haitian immigrants moved there to find work and the basic ability to survive. While there has been tension in the community, and a lot of racism from people who lived there before, the fascist attacks have ratcheted up into the national arena over the last months. Schools, churches, and community centers that include Haitians have received bomb threats. Fascist gangs marched through the town. One woman we met showed us Nazi flyers that have been thrown all over her neighborhood—more than once!

The digital billboard definitely caused a stir! We encountered a large number of fascists and racists who threatened us, tried tailgating the digital billboard, honking to drown out the sound and yelling vile threats against the Haitians and us. But interestingly, most people we met—Haitian, Black, Latino and white—were welcoming, and appreciative of the message.

The Haitian community center, a Haitian restaurant and a Latino-owned grocery store put out our flyers on their counters. A white server at the donut shop said, “I am totally in support of the Haitians, when the bomb threats came into my son's school we were all so terrified, so it is very good that you are here…” and gave us more than a dozen donuts as a gift.

We took the truck through small strip malls, big shopping areas, a huge medical center, the town’s only high school, a college, and downtown around City Hall, flyering as the truck would either circle around or sit near the doors. Some big businesses, notably Walmart, and the high school ran us off. Some people yelled at us at the high school but others were appreciative, taking out their cell phones and recording the truck. Fascists yelled at us in mall parking lots “get that out of my face” and “America is for Americans!” 

When we were out at City Hall, a teenage woman, who said her dad is a Republican, joined us in chants and flyered as cars passed slowly by and workers were leaving work. A number of people after hearing the truck would roll down their window for a flyer.

Some people who took the time to really listen to BA wanted to go deeper into what kind of revolution Bob Avakian is talking about, and wanted to know more about him. We sold two copies of the Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America (not bringing more was a big mistake!). 

A Haitian man in a shopping plaza said, “This message of revolution is very good, and it is important that you are here." A Black woman we met told us how she's been targeted by the fascists because she keeps speaking in support of the Haitian immigrants. She said the truck was "bringing history right here." An elderly white man and military veteran paused in the middle of working to say “That truck is absolutely right! They HAVE messed up the rest of the wold even worse than they have here." About the need for revolution, he said "Maybe you’re right, maybe you’re right” and took fliers. A white woman, who has been doxxed by the fascists for speaking up in support of Haitian immigrants at the City Commission meetings, said, "Revcom? Is that like revolutionary communist?" When we said yes, she responded, "Now that's cool!"

We signed people up to follow @BobAvakianOfficial on social media, or connected in other ways with people who aren't on social media.

The one place where the majority of people we ran into were fascists was the City Commission meeting. They started lining up to get in an hour and a half before the meeting. The digital billboard circled the block before, during and after the meeting. You could hear its message inside. People driving by took pictures and videos of the truck and the signs. And fascists in trucks gunned engines, followed the billboard, yelled shit. Only Springfield residents were allowed to speak at the meeting. So after one of the fascists spoke claiming the Haitians are invading foreign mercenaries, Rafael interrupted the meeting from the floor and was quickly escorted out by the cops. This was covered in the Springfield News-Sun.

This is just one example of the kinds of creative ways to get @BobAvakianOfficial seen everywhere. We didn't have the national impact we were aiming for, but we had local impact, learned more about the terrain and connected up with people who turned their heads to revolution.

It also tells us something about the urgent importance of reaching people all across the country—including in states with organized fascist forces. There were a lot of people we spoke with who hate these ugly anti-immigrant attacks, but feel isolated. Bob Avakian's voice needs to be reaching nationally—planting a pole and impacting big cities and small towns. That won't be possible without your contribution. Donate to this effort to get @BobAvakianOfficial everywhere.