We are still in the early stages of the Campaign to Make @BobAvakianOfficial Reach Everywhere.
This is a campaign aimed at raising tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars... garnering tens and hundreds of thousands of followers... working to reach millions with Bob Avakian's revolutionary leadership.
Bob Avakian is the only leader in this country even talking about making a real revolution.
And this needs to reach millions quickly. One of the most dynamic ways to do that is through online advertising combined with creative, grassroots on-the-ground impact.
We've already had important reach, going up against what the powers-that-be want people to know—in the funds raised, online advertising and in a big shitstorm of controversy that was kicked off in Chicago and online wielding BA's social media message, Revolution #73: Black people hating on immigrants. Nonsense, and worse, from people who should know better.
Watch episode 212 of The RNL—Revolution, Nothing Less!—Show to hear about this directly.
** Announcing an $8,000 push for 10 days, for Revolution #81: Why I Am Not Running for President.
As the danger of nuclear war intensifies, and as the planet burns, think about the choices being put before this society: An outright FASCIST maniac with a movement of millions promising a "bloodbath" if he doesn't win the next election. And on the other side, a mass murderer and mass incarcerator.
These are the leaders this system has on offer! And what are they vying for? In Revolution #81, Bob Avakian makes it plain: The "actual 'job description' of President of this country—head of this American empire of exploitation, degradation, oppression, and massive destruction."
But these are not our only choices.
In this sharpening situation, Bob Avakian is pointing the way forward to the need and potential for a radically different system. Bob Avakian has developed a strategy for an actual revolution to overthrow this system of capitalism-imperialism and a vision for a whole different, liberating way to organize society. Bob Avakian is sounding the alarm on the extreme danger that too many people are trying to ignore, and even more, the heightened positive potential for revolutionary change if there is a force getting organized for this. He is breaking all this down, and bringing it alive, regularly via his social media messages.
As he says himself in #81, he is "Working everyday, with everything I have, to provide the leadership that is necessary for this truly emancipating revolution, to bring about this fundamentally different and much better system."
As the next nodal point within this campaign, we are calling for a concentrated push with Revolution #81: $8,000—raised by September 26—will fund a targeted push on YouTube in combination with a concerted postering campaign. For more on what $8,000 can do, see the side bar.
The on-the-ground postering and the online advertising combined can contribute to creating a stir. If you can give $20, this could result in Revolution #81 being put in front of about 6,000 people with about 200 people watching it in part or in full—200 people who are looking around on YouTube agonized... looking stuff up about the elections, about climate change, about capitalism... and they encounter Bob Avakian speaking the truth like no one else! Reaching people who hate what this system is doing but never really stepped back to question its actual nature and what that means the job of the President really is... challenging those who are deluding themselves or hyped up around Kamala even though they hate what's happening in Gaza. And reaching the broad numbers of people who are right now going along with things but who need to be shaken awake... to have their sights lifted to the need and possibility of a whole different way the world can be.
Key in this will mean reaching broadly with this specific message and asking people to donate themselves to getting this in front of others—reach out online or on the street, through phone calling and mass emailing. Ask people very broadly to get this truth in front of millions.
** As long as we're fighting for revolution—and not some short-term goal:
As we've said before, this campaign to make @BobAvakianOfficial known everywhere is controversial—and we welcome that controversy because the fight for people to get into what BA is doing on his social media is a fight that concentrates the big questions of the revolution. Who should people be looking to? Who should they be following? How you answer that depends on what you think is needed and what people should be fighting for!
If you want to see a real revolution, in this time, and not something short of that, then it shouldn't be difficult to find all kinds of creative and dynamic ways to fight for BA. Because BA is about—and he concentrates what is required—to make that revolution, and have that be a revolution that is not about revenge but about emancipating all humanity.
This goes against the tide—and that is a very good thing. Because "the tide" is going along with the vicious and daily exploitation and oppression brought down by this system... "the tide" is legitimizing the genocidal slaughter in Gaza, white supremacist terror of this system, the mass deportation of immigrants, the constant sexual assault and degradation of women and the dangerous destruction of our environment.
In launching this campaign, some people made a "suggestion" that we should "put forward other people," rather than BA. What this "suggestion" reflects is that there is no getting around, or watering down, what Bob Avakian is actually all about: a real revolution to overthrow this system, and bring into being a whole different world. Whereas if you avoid putting forward BA, with his actual “heft” and historical significance, then you can more easily “slide around” what this is all about and you can fall into tailing “what’s out there,” letting all the reformism, lowered sights and identity politics set the terms. If you avoid really fighting for BA, then you can “tailor” what you put forward to fit into what people are already thinking (thinking that is shaped by the system). But if you really "center" and fight for BA, that means you have to challenge and fiercely struggle against all the bullshit out there, including among better people.
To put it sharply: If you are seeking, and want to put forward, something different and less than an actual revolution, and a communist world, then BA does get in the way.
The fact is that there is simply no one else like Bob Avakian in the world—no one even near the same level—no one else even attempting to lead in the way he is, with the same orientation and methods, toward the tremendously emancipating goals his leadership represents. And this needs to be said to people, straight up. On this basis, there are all kinds of people who will be moved and inspired by BA but are working their way through big questions and differences, who may not all agree with the revolution he's fighting for. If that describes you, there's a place for you in this campaign—engaging BA's work, spreading this social media, contributing funds and raising your questions and differences while we go out together to change the terms in society.
** Finally, we want to hear from you!
This campaign is going to lean into the controversy, so let us know what controversy you're encountering, and we can help answer from the revcoms social media or on The RNL—Revolution Nothing Less!—Show.
What creative ideas do you have to spread Revolution #81, and @BobAvakianOfficial overall? What sections of people do you think we should be reaching? And what are their cultural interests? (This helps in being able to reach them via advertising.)
Stay tuned to this page to learn how we're doing across the country, and what we're learning!
What $8,000 can do
$8,000 could put Revolution #81 in front of about two million people and garner almost 80,000 views (people who watch the video in part or in full). From our experience so far, we could reach almost 5,000 subscribers to BA's YouTube channel. That means 5,000 people getting a notification when BA posts a new message... 5,000 new people hearing directly from BA with revolutionary leadership applied to the breaking events in society. To break this down even further, $20 could get this message in front of about 6,000 people, with at least 200 of those watching and this could garner about 12 subscribers (these are rough estimates but should give you a sense).
As part of this, $500 would go to print 3,000 posters for volunteers around the country to put up. Depending on where these go up, they could reach 30,000 people or up to 100,000 people. If done as genuine "saturation," making the poster unignorable, this can provoke people to want to find out: why is someone NOT running for President? In one area, they got up 500 posters in a few concentrated areas and got 50 scans of the QR code.