Potluck for Revolution

We received this correspondence:

I wanted to let Revolution readers know about a successful potluck dinner held in the Bay Area. With nine weeks left in the drive we needed to kick things into high gear to meet our goals. About 30 people attended: high school students and teachers, college students, an actor/director/professor, people who had stepped out against police brutality on October 22, immigrants, political activists, different nationalities. It was a unique and diverse gathering pulled together by Revolution.

High school students spoke about how they use Revolution to understand and change the world, and about their own plans to raise money for Revolution. It was an inspiration and a challenge.

A revolutionary communist youth said, “The world cries out for revolution. This isn’t just a regular fund drive, this is something that is trying to expand the task of preparing for revolution.”

Another student started reading the newspaper after her friend was killed by police. She spoke about using the paper in her school. She volunteered to raise $100 for Revolution by doing a bake sale at her high school.

A young woman student who had organized protests in support of the Jena 6 at her school, which is overwhelmingly Latino, sent a taped message that said, in part, “I try and get people to read Revolution. Reading the newspaper is going to get people aware of everything that’s going on. It’s going to get people to act on things that shouldn’t be happening such as Jena 6, police brutality... The immigration raids. That shouldn’t be going on.”

One student pledged to raise $100 at her school by selling pizza and challenged others to join a $100 team: “I read the paper with one of my closest friends. With the help of the paper we both have realized how fucked up the system is and that a whole different world is possible.… With the help of the paper many people at my school learned who the Jena 6 were and they were so outraged that they attended the rally in San Francisco. It’s so important for the newspaper to get into the hands of youth.”

A Latino immigrant gave a statement in Spanish about all that he learns from the paper each week.

A veteran revolutionary told people about a graduate student in social anthropology who couldn’t be there but pledged $1200—$100 a month for the next year. He said that he would get Revolution out to people in the Tenderloin, a very poor neighborhood in San Francisco, and that Revolution is invaluable to him because it gives a framework to what he studies that he can’t get anywhere else.

Hal Perry came to the potluck. He was a star player, along with Bill Russell and K.C. Jones, for the 1955-1956 USF Dons—one of the all-time great college basketball teams. He submitted a statement of support: “Revolution newspaper is important to educate, inform and make people aware of the truth that is happening in America and the rest of the world….I’ve read articles in Revolution about the Jena 6, the communists’ program and Bob Avakian’s articles, which are all very important. This is why I support the paper.”

An African-American actor/director/professor, who has been active with the Engage! Committee to Protect and Project the Voice of Bob Avakian, made an announcement about the Engage! statement being published in the New York Review of Books. He talked about the importance of the writings of Bob Avakian printed in Revolution.

Almost everyone at the potluck joined a $100 team. An activist said he would put his fundraising skills toward Revolution and pledged $500. Some teachers have said they have been selling reproductions of Revolution back page posters to other teachers to raise money. People wanted to do everything they could to help ensure that the $500,000 fund drive meets its goal.

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