Bay Area Revolution Club New Members Celebration and Picnic!

November 5, 2018 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us

 

On a beautiful day at Lake Merritt in Oakland, California, the Revolution Club had a picnic to celebrate new people stepping forward to become official members. We hung out, ate good food that people brought, read and discussed the Points of Attention for the Revolution, and then people stepped forward to get their membership patches and say why they were joining the Club. Other people who were there to support also spoke. Here is some of what new Club members and others said at the celebration.

X: new member

Hi, I feel kind of emotional about this. So, I’m really excited that we’re having this event, and that there’s people who are willing to step forward and take responsibility for the people of the world and the planet. And I’m joining the Revolution Club because I love people so much, I love all peoples. I care about every child, in every country, in a cage, children who are starving to death from a famine, migrants who are forced to cross borders and are attacked. I care about all peoples and I care about all species, and I recognize that it doesn’t have to be this way. We don’t have to live under this bone-crushing, spirit-crushing, murderous regime. We have the resources, and the people, and the understanding. We have leadership. We have Bob Avakian and the new synthesis. We have organization. There’s Revolution Clubs and revolutionaries all over the country that can organize people to change this. And so I believe that for me, it’s a responsibility to step up. I feel like I’m here because of previous generations’ sacrificing, in some cases everything, from slave revolts on through today. I’ve always believed that we all have to step forward, and we have to take our place in the future, and I want to be part of that. I want my life to be about something. And more than that, I believe that we can actually transform the world. If we can do that, and people like me can join, and other people can join, then we can make a start of this. I’m excited. I thought I was already in the ... Revolution Club (laughs)... but I do recognize that getting the patch is a step, and I appreciate this ceremony. And I agree that it’s a challenge to constantly be striving to put the highest interests of humanity first, but I think that’s something to shoot for. Revolutionaries, people who’ve dedicated their lives to this, are precious to the people of the world, more now than ever, and we have to defend the revolutionaries that are being attacked, in LA and Chicago, all over, and we also have to be a part of the movement overall. So gimme my patch! (laughs)

A: new member

So, I’m the young person, hi. So, things aren’t looking good. Like none of us think the world is going to get any better, at least not under this system. And if there is anything I can do to contribute to overthrowing this capitalist-imperialist nightmare and contribute to a better socialist and communist world where our relations aren’t mediated through commodities and through this oppressive system, then I’m all for it, and I’ll contribute, I’ll do whatever. Because we need people fighting for the same cause, and I’m here to help.

J: new member

I just wanna be the one that’s fighting. I don’t care about being seen, putting me out there in pictures. I don’t care about none of that. I want to be the one that be in the Revolution Club and be for what’s right, be about Bob Avakian. You know, I got love for Cornel West because of his spiritual side, like my mother’s side. But I wanna fight this thing so we can win, because it’s too dirty and it’s been going on too long, and it’s just too dirty. If there’s something you can do, there’s always something you can do. So you know, whatever people can do, to help with the Club, it’s highly appreciated from me. I don’t be specific, like this and that, whatever you can do to help us, I appreciate it. I’m with y’all for being with it!

L: new member

I joined, first of all, because I don’t believe in being selfish, and because I know that if we really put our mind to it we could actually make a change. And I know that I want to be a part of it. I want to be a part of even the smallest thing that could turn into something bigger. And I want to experience this with all of you guys that have the same mind-set, you know. And it’s actually amazing to be part of this because not too many people think like this, you know, it’s like, we let ourselves adjust to this system, and that’s what I don’t want to do, I don’t want to adjust to this system, I want to change the system. And I want to speak out for other people, and I want to do something bigger with my life, and if it did involve all of you guys, then I’m really thankful for that, and I just want to learn and grow with you guys and that is why I joined.

S: new member

For future generations we do have to think about the world we leave them. An important part is, in the first place, is humanity going to be able to exist? You know, there is a new article in the New York Times talking about in 2040 people are going to have to be fleeing rainforests. There is not going to be no more coral reefs. Today, 50 percent of all coral reefs in the world are gone.

And not only that, how are women going to be treated? How are people that are fleeing these horrific conditions caused by the environment going to be accepted? The world is constantly getting worse and if we don’t do anything about this, then the future of humanity is that there won’t be a future for humanity. So I think there’s a lot of responsibility. There is a lot we can do. We need to get our heads together. This film, this new film by Bob Avakian, it really puts forward that we have to get all our heads together, you know, we have to be part of thinking, what kind of world do we want to live in and how are we are going to get there. I’ve listened to a lot of talks by him, and the interview he did with Cornel West spoke volumes about in 30 years do I want to live in a world like this? And still today, that’s still present in my mind. And I think that it’s great that we’re growing these clubs in different cities and to all the youngsters out there that don’t want to live in a world where they don’t matter at all, where they’re just stepped on, it’s necessary for you to join forces with the Revolution Club if you really do want a world without borders, and if you want a world where there is beauty and there’s love, then this is urgent and you have to be a part of this, and we welcome you.

M: supporter

It’s always been volatile for individuals to be involved in a bigger vision. And it’s very rare that you have a visionary like Bob Avakian, that is able to so eloquently put into words how fucked up the system is and what we can do to change it. You know, I’m not as active as I used to be. I definitely want to, it’s necessary for me to get back into that. I’ve always been very self-conscious about what my family thinks, because they think I’m crazy, or individuals think I’m crazy. It’s been a process. A big thing for me was just letting go of all that shit and just realizing what’s happening at deportation centers, what’s happening in the Middle East, what’s happening to the rainforest, and what’s happening to all these things, and you have to join forces and fight the system which is capitalist imperialism, and now more than ever we have to rise and do some shit.

G: new supporter

I have felt passionately, in my own head space, about revolution and what ideas I want to bring forward to change the world in all the ways it is messed up, and I found a space where there are actually people who see that. So that’s really important to me. And I’ve stated to my family, but it’s hard to express yourself to people who don’t understand, or don’t see, but I’ve expressed that I would totally give my life for something like this. It’s so important to me and I don’t feel that I want to be living just for myself. And that’s pretty much it.