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Thursday, November 29, 2018

FRIDAY - The Michael Slate Show: Bob Avakian, "The Five Stops—Why This System Can't Be Reformed"; Tala, Revolution Club LA, Drop the Charges!

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Friday, November 30, 2018
10 - 11 AM - PDT
The Michael Slate Show


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This week's show:
Bob Avakian "The Five Stops—Why This System Can't Be Reformed" Tala, Revolution Club LA, Drop the Charges against the Revolution Club & Refuse Fascism

Bob Avakian, from "Why We Need An Actual Revolution And How We Can Really Make Revolution"

"The Five Stops—Why This System Can't Be Reformed"

In this concise and compelling clip from the film WHY WE NEED AN ACTUAL REVOLUTION AND HOW WE CAN REALLY MAKE REVOLUTION,   Bob Avakian lays out why the things you care most about cannot be solved under this system. 

Bob Avakian (BA) is the Chairman of the Revolutionary Communist Party. He is the architect of a whole new framework of human emancipation, the new synthesis of communism, which is popularly referred to as the "new communism." 







Tala from the Revolution Club, Los Angeles, on the Repression of Revolution Club and Refuse Fascism Members and the Nazification of the University


In Los Angeles, 11 members of Refuse Fascism and the Revolution Club have been criminally charged for engaging in and/or supporting non-violent civil disobedience and political protests which took place from September 2017 through March 2018. These protests included holding banners across the length of the Los Angeles 101 Freeway, with one stating “Trump/Pence Must Go!” and several protests at UCLA campus, including a disruption of Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin. The arrests and subsequent charges for these acts of political protests are unjust and illegitimate. They are occurring during a campaign by reactionary Zionist organizations to outlaw criticism of Israel on campuses nationwide, under the pretext of fighting anti-Semitism, but in reality as part of the Nazification of US universities and colleges.

We'll speak with Tala from the Revolution Club, LA.

Wednesday, November 28, 2018

Thursday at 7pm - Join the Committee to Defend the Freeway 9 and UCLA 5!

Received by email:

Join the Committee to Defend the Freeway 9 and UCLA 5!
Meeting: Thursday, November 29, 2018 at 7 p.m.
Trinity Episcopal Church, 650 N. Berendo, LA CA 90004


LA City Attorney Mike Feuer has criminally charged 11 activists from Refuse Fascism and the Revolution Club for engaging in and/or supporting non-violent civil disobedience and political protests against the Trump Pence regime which took place between September 2017 and March of 2018.

These protests were to sound the alarm against the crimes of the Trump/Pence fascist regime and the need for millions to fill the streets - in the name of humanity - in a nonviolent mass movement aimed at driving this regime from power.

The arrests and the prosecution of criminal charges against these 11 courageous protesters are unjust and illegitimate! It is NOT illegal to shout fire in a crowded theater IF THERE IS A FIRE!  What we are facing, by analogy, is a fire of such extreme proportions that it demands that people go beyond protest as usual!

The prosecution of these courageous protesters comes at a time when millions are both outraged and agonized by the actions and threats of the Trump/Pence regime. This is a time for people to act with courage and conviction, commensurate with the grave danger and existential threat posed to the planet by this regime.

Demanding these criminal charges be dropped is a crucial battle which can contribute to stopping the consolidation of fascism on key fronts, including the tearing up of protected civil and legal rights – especially the constitutionally protected right to political protest.

Will Los Angeles, which has declared itself a sanctuary city, be allowed to violate the basic right of people to dissent and protest, thereby contributing to the overall consolidation of fascism?  For all those who care about the future - you are needed to build support amongst all sections of people who are outraged by the crimes of the Trump Pence regime and their attempts to silence and punish dissent.

Join the Committee to Defend the Freeway 9 and UCLA 5. Whether you have little or no experience, little or lots of time: you are needed!  Be part of getting this out in a big way throughout society! Spread the word in your community, at your church, and among friends and family. Be part of the team to develop flyers, posters, and to get the word out everywhere with this demand: DROP THE CHARGES!

  • Spread and circulate the Public Statement (read below): We Demand: Drop The Charges Against Members of Refuse Fascism and Revolution Club!
  • Call the LA City Attorney’s office at 213.978.8100 to demand the LA City Attorney Michael Feuer drop ALL the charges against ALL those charged.  Send demand letters by email to the LA City Attorney, mike.n.feuer@lacity.org. (Please send copies of letters to Refuse Fascism LA at socal@RefuseFascism.org.)
  • Pack the courtroom at upcoming court dates.  Call 323-946-1742 for up-to-date info.
  • Set up speaking engagements for the defendants. These are inspiring voices of conscience from Refuse Fascism and the Revolution Club.  Invite them to speak in your classes, at your church, with your union, professional, and social justice organizations.  Plan a gathering with your friends, colleagues, and family.  These engagements can also help raise much needed funds for legal costs and publicity.  Reach out to radio show hosts, journalists and reporters to interview defendants.
  • Design flyers, pamphlets, signs, posters and other creative forms (skits, artwork...) to build support.
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WE DEMAND: Drop The Charges Against Members of Refuse Fascism and Revolution Club!

The Los Angeles City Attorney has criminally charged 11 members of Refuse Fascism for stepping forward to oppose the Trump/Pence regime in acts of conscience. The charges stem from significant public events as follows:
  • Two actions on the 101 Freeway in downtown Los Angeles (unfurling banners demanding that the Trump/Pence Regime Must Go); 
  • A range of protest actions at UCLA, including a controversial public challenge to Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin at UCLA.  
We oppose these unjust and outrageous criminal charges by the LA City Attorney, which represent an effort by the state to silence dissent against the Trump/Pence regime.  They specifically target members of Refuse Fascism – including members of the Revolution Club in LA, an Iraq War vet, a Ph.D student and college instructor, and a noted artist and USC professor – for being unwavering in their pledge not to stand aside while there is still a chance to stop a regime that imperils humanity and the earth itself.  The prosecution of these 11 activists and revolutionaries involves an escalation of the criminalization of political protests and a leap in state repression.

The arrests and subsequent charges for these acts of political protests are unjust and illegitimate. The Trump/Pence regime is tearing up what are supposed to be protected civil and legal rights.  In the face of open terror and violence unleashed and condoned by this regime (including the violent targeting of political demonstrations supposedly protected by the 1st Amendment, such as in Charlottesville), these protests were not just needed, they were right. They include meaningful forms of nonviolent civil disobedience and, on a changing political and legal ground, forms of protected speech.  It is NOT illegal to shout fire in a crowded theater IF THERE IS A FIRE. To say the least, what we are facing is, by analogy, a fire of such extreme proportions, humanity and the earth’s future hang in the balance.
  • Charges associated with the 101 Freeway actions include: “Conspiracy to commit a crime, obstruction of free movement of people, disobeying a police officer, and refusal to disperse." 
  • Charges resulting from actions at UCLA include: “Disturbing the peace, trespassing, resisting arrest, and failure to leave the UCLA campus for 7 days” after being illegally arrested. 
  • Strikingly, the ‘conspiracy’ charge targets just two of the eleven defendants:  Michelle Xai and Perry Hoberman; both leading organizers and spokespeople for Refuse Fascism’s So-Cal chapter.  Even more outrageous (and ominous) is the fact that Xai wasn’t even arrested at the 101 Freeway actions; yet, she's still being charged!  
Further, police reports in these cases reveal the LAPD’s “Major Crimes/Anti-Terrorism Division” involvement, a department which has a history of targeting progressive and radical social movements.  The LAPD admits that they sent in a “confidential informant” to public Refuse Fascism meetings to spy on and secretly record members of Refuse Fascism and the Revolution Club - an egregious violation of people’s constitutionally protected right to assemble and protest.  Police reports also reveal the UC Police have illegally stalked and surveilled defendants while on campus.  All this is taking place at a time in which the legal rights to political protest and speech are being rapidly foreclosed by the Trump/Pence regime which has unleashed a wave of new state laws, gutting basic civil liberties and a movement of storm troopers carrying out mob violence, and violent threats, in order to intimidate and silence people. 

There are great stakes in these cases.  The 101 Freeway actions and the political challenge to Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin by three brave women have been viewed online by millions of people in the U.S. and around the world.  All these individuals are now facing prosecution for their acts of courage and conscience.  Defendants with multiple charges face fines and penalties of up to 5 years jail time and all defendants could be locked in jail if convicted, meaning that these fellow freedom fighters could be locked up merely for acts of principled resistance, while the true criminals in Washington remain free to continue their dangerous and deadly policies of racism, xenophobia, misogyny, and planetary destruction.    
As longtime activist Isabel Cardenas writes: “If more Germans and Jews in Nazi Germany had done what these defendants have done (and are doing), millions of lives could have been saved.  This country needs people such as those who have been criminally charged so that those who have no voice may have someone with the courage to defend them.  They are striving to save us all from THE TRUMP-PENCE NIGHTMARE so that we - billions of us on the planet earth, including millions of Immigrants who helped to build this country - may stop enduring the madness that goes on in the White House.”
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We encourage you to read the Revolution newspaper article:
Greasing the Skids for Fascism…Ominous and Illegitimate Persecution of 11 Members of Refuse Fascism, LA and the Revolution Club, LA
https://revcom.us/a/562/greasing-the-skids-for-fascism-en.html

Tuesday, November 27, 2018

Send Revolution To The Border

YOUR SUPPORT IS URGENTLY NEEDED:

Hundreds of immigrants from Central America rush the U.S. border at Tijuana, Mexico and were met with riot police, tear gas, and barricades. Migrants come the United States because the U.S. capitalist-imperialists have fucked over other countries even more than they have fucked up this one. And until we actually bring forward a movement to overthrow and replace this system these horrors will only continue.

The movement for revolution urgently needs funds to send a team to the border  to intervene in this horrific situation and make breakthroughs in building a mass movement rising up in opposition to the crimes of this system and organizing for an actual revolution.  
DONATE

Sunday, November 25, 2018

SATURDAY - Revolution Club Fundraiser Potluck

Received from the Revolution Club - LA:


Greetings,

The Revolution Club invites you to come together to break bread --- to be a part of forging revolutionary community --- to be a part of relating to each other in a whole different way rather than the whole dog eat dog culture this system promotes.

In a time when the system of capitalism imperialism has created the intolerable misery and violence that millions of refugees throughout the world now desperately flee...

When fascists rising to power seek to resolve the problems caused by their murderous system by taking already intolerable horrors to disgusting new levels of cruelty and barbarity...

When ruling class liberals, even when under attack, can only cede further ground and help pave the way to a new fascist era...

In the face of all of this the Revolution Clubs are taking the leadership of the Revolutionary Communist Party led by Bob Avakian out to thousands of people who are agonizing about all of this.

They are fighting to breakthrough this situation and bring forward a mass movement for an actual revolution that can inspire and call forth greater and greater numbers of people with the vision of truly liberating and viable society free from all the unnecessary suffering caused by having a system based on exploitation.

Come hang out and join the revolution club for a night of revolutionary community. Come join together with people who care about the state of the world. Come find out about the better world that is possible. Join us from 2-7 PM tomorrow at our organizing center. 2716 S. Vermont Ave. (upstairs)

Thursday, November 22, 2018

This Thanksgiving—Confront the Actual History of this Country: America Was NEVER Great! FRIDAY - The Michael Slate Show on "The Other Slavery"

From revcom.us:
This Thanksgiving—
Confront the Actual History of this Country:
America Was NEVER Great!

November 22, 2017 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us
Bob Avakian recently wrote that one of three things that has “to happen in order for there to be real and lasting change for the better: People have to fully confront the actual history of this country and its role in the world up to today, and the terrible consequences of this.” (See “3 Things that have to happen in order for there to be real and lasting change for the better.”)
In that light, and in that spirit, “American Crime” is a regular feature of revcom.us. Each installment will focus on one of the 100 worst crimes committed by the U.S. rulers—out of countless bloody crimes they have carried out against people around the world, from the founding of the U.S. to the present day.
Below are four installments from this series so far that focus on Native Americans.

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Friday, November 23, 2018
10 - 11 AM - PDT
The Michael Slate Show


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This week's show:
Thanksgiving Special: The Uncovered Story of Indian Enslavement in America, a Conversation with Andres Resendez, author of The Other Slavery 

Special Thanksgiving edition. This is a time when we're called on to celebrate the so-called "promise of America"  --  of America's greatness. The truth is, it's a perfect day to remember the genocide and enslavement of Native peoples, yet another example of why  America was never great.

The whole show is going to be an interview I did with historian and author Andres Resendez, on his book, The Other Slavery, The Uncovered Story of Indian Enslavement in America. Andres Resendez tells the little-known story of the enslavement of countless native people in the Americas, including the US. This slavery lasted into the 20th Century, and was particularly brutal in California, where whole peoples were enslaved. The impact of these barbaric practices continues today, as Native peoples remain among the most oppressed groups in America.

The forced labor of native people helped provide the foundation for the US economy. This is an essential part of the history of the development of capitalism, and a history that has been unknown, or relegated to a few scattered scholarly papers, accessible to only a few.

Andres Resendez is a professor of history at the University of California, Davis.

Sunday, November 18, 2018

SUNDAY: Watch Bob Avakian - "Why We Need An Actual Revolution"; THURSDAY: Potluck/Party

The Revolution Club - Los Angeles invites you to a screening of
Why We Need an Actual Revolution
and How We Can Really Make Revolution

a speech by Bob Avakian
Sunday, November 18th from 3 - 7 PM
2716 S. Vermont Ave., upstairs in #8

(just south of Adams Blvd.)
“...we have two choices: either, live with all this—and condemn future generations to the same, or worse, if they have a future at all—or, make revolution!” —Bob Avakian

Join the Revolution Club Los Angeles to watch this important talk. Followed by a discussion on the big questions this film gets into.

This Film can Change Everything…

If you have agonized about the horrors of this society, but did not know why we face all this and thought there was no way out… this filmed speech will reveal why those outrages go on and how they can be changed.

If you have thought that even if people could get together on it, revolution was not really possible up against the powerful repressive machinery we face… this filmed speech will challenge you.

If you have hungered for fundamental change, but did not know where to begin… this filmed speech will give you the map you need and the way to connect.

There has never been a speech like this on this topic before. This summer in several cities Bob Avakian gave a two-part speech on which we can build a movement to change everything. In the first part, “Only an Actual Revolution Can Bring About the Fundamental Change That Is Needed,” Bob Avakian (BA) concisely and powerfully laid out WHY we need a revolution, going deeply into why this system cannot be reformed but must be overthrown. He did this with penetrating science and with real heart, concretely walking through the most excruciating outrages and abuses we face, laying bare their roots in capitalism-imperialism, and showing why reform would not and, more than that, could not work.

In part two, “How We Can Really Make Revolution,” BA began with one of the biggest questions facing those who want a radically different, a revolutionary, society: Could the repressive power of the current capitalist-imperialist system actually be defeated—even if times radically changed and millions were ready and organized to put everything on the line for revolution? BA laid out the basics of a strategy and took the audience with him to grapple with some of the thorny and complex questions involved. For instance, how would a revolutionary force deal with the attempts of the imperialist state to encircle and suppress it in the major cities and hammer the revolution, and the people supporting it, with relentless blows? How would the challenges of the attempts by the established power to decapitate leadership be dealt with? In dealing with these and other questions, BA led the audience to grapple with those problems, scientifically, continually showing and seeking pathways to deal with those contradictions.

Then, finally, and in many ways the central focus of the film: How do we work now, urgently, to win over and organize those millions? For that is the central challenge of the present: how we start, to quote the speech, “building up the ranks of the revolution—first, in the thousands and then, as things develop toward the decisive point, millions—as an organized force, and learning to become leaders of this revolution who can enable those millions to be in a position to fight, all-out, with a real chance to win, when the time comes.” Here, too, concisely and scientifically, Bob Avakian went into the obstacles, but much more than that, he charted a course that can enable us—all of us—to go to work to meet the “monumental challenges” and realize the objective of moving to a world based on the emancipation of humanity.

Again, this was an unprecedented speech, focused on the U.S. but with a method, approach, and insights that apply universally. Now this speech is a film—one that can be seen by thousands, and then millions, and make a huge difference in how people view what is possible and what they will do.

DONATE: tinyurl.com/FundTheRevolution
For more information, contact the Revolution Club-LA at 323.424.6687 orrevclub_LA@yahoo.com

SAVE THE DATE:

Thursday, November 22 @ Noon
Potluck/Party, hosted by the Revolution Club-LA
2716 S. Vermont Ave., #8 (upstairs)

Thursday, November 15, 2018

Michael Slate Show with David Palumbo-Liuon Trump's Nationalist Declaration; BA on Fighting Spirit vs Fascists; Plus, "Radiant Vermin"

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Friday, November 16, 2018
10 - 11 AM - PDT
The Michael Slate Show


KPFK 90.7 FM  |  Listen Live
Website 
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This week's show:
David Palumbo-Liu, Trump's Nationalist Declaration; BA on Fighting Spirit vs Fascism; and "Radiant Vermin" at the Odyssey Theatre


Trump’s Embrace of “Nationalist” Label Is Final Link to Dangerous Pattern

David Palumbo-Liu, the Louise Hewlett Nixon Professor at Stanford University. He's a Professor of Comparative Literature and English. He recently wrote about  Trump’s calling himself a "nationalist." He noted, "By calling himself a 'nationalist,' Trump has made it clear who gets to be a part of his 'nation.'" 


Radiant Vermin at Odyssey Theatre

The Los Angeles premiere of an outrageous comedy with a killer heart by acclaimed British playwright and provocateur Philip Ridley. In this viciously funny satire flecked with horror, Ollie and Jill want to tell you about their dream home. But some of the things they did to get it… well, you might find them kind of shocking.

Director Tim True and Actors Britt HarrisKapil Talwalkar and Laura Faye Smith will join us. 

Bob Avakian, the Chairman of the Revolutionary Communist Party, on How to spread the fighting spirit confronting fascists despite what the Democrats tell people? This is from the Q&A that followed a speech he gave this summer, Why We Need An Actual Revolution And How We Can Really Make Revolution.

Tuesday, November 13, 2018

SATURDAY Nov 10 at 2 pm in Los Angeles ~ Trump/Pence Must Go!

Received in an email from Refuse Fascism

For immediate release
[RefuseFascism.org
Los Angeles Protest Rally and March: 7th and Alvarado (MacArthur Park Metro)
Day/Date/Time:  Saturday, Nov 10 at 2 pm
Refuse Fascism Los Angeles: 323-946-1742 * National: 917 407 1286

SAT: Nationwide Protests Demand Trump/Pence Must Go

RefuseFascism.org has called protests demanding "Trump/Pence Must Go!" on Saturday in New York City, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Honolulu, Houston, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Seattle. The organization said today:
"The most defining thing about these recent elections is that the fascist program of the Trump/Pence regime became more consolidated and its fascist social base was more fully unleashed. Pipe bombs sent to leading Democrats and CNN. A hideous antisemitic massacre. Racist murders of African-Americans. Vicious anti-immigrant lies of an “invading caravan” to be met by US Troops who Trump said should shoot if the refugees throw rocks. Trump whipping up his rallies – Nuremberg style. On top of two years of the regime eviscerating what are supposed to be civil and legal rights, banning Muslims, locking in a majority fascist Supreme Court, stoking violent white supremacy and xenophobia, hateful misogyny, and ripping up international alliances and ramping up the threats of war.
The Trump/Pence regime and the forces within it have said they view this presidency as the “last chance” to secure their vision for this country. This will continue and grow worse – with Trump now firing Sessions, attacking reporters, doubling down on his racist nationalism – unless and until it is stopped by the masses of people acting in fierce and sustained opposition outside the confines of politics as usual.
The Democrats winning a majority in the House did not change this. The Democratic opposition throughout the elections and Nancy Pelosi’s post-election speech, refused to confront Trump’s fascism, but instead normalized, accommodated, and then promised to collaborate with the regime that is bringing an American fascism. About the Democrats, it could be said:“ First they came for the Muslims, and I protested once and then let it happen… Then they came for the immigrants, and I voted for healthcare and stayed mum.” They are determined to maintain order – even if that is the order of fascism – rather than risk the instability that it would take to confront and drive out the fascist regime and the nightmare they are hammering into place.
The people who hate and fear this whole fascist nightmare and direction must now ACT with great determination in the streets – while organizing to move tens of thousands and soon millions to join them in the streets – with sustained determination until we drive this fascist regime from power in the name of humanity. This is why we are out here today and are calling on people to be in the streets with us on Saturday across this country to say: In the Name of Humanity, The Trump/Pence Regime Must Go!"
Protests on Saturday November 10:
New York City 1:00 pm Washington Square @ The Arch
Atlanta 1:00 pm MLK Jr. National Historic Park 450 Auburn Avenue NE
Boston 12:00 pm Park Street T Stop at the Boston Commons on Tremont Street
Chicago 1:00 pm Federal Center and Plaza, 219 South Dearborn Street
Cleveland 1:00 pm Cleveland Public Square
Detroit 1:00 pm Corner of 9 Mile and Woodward, Ferndale
Honolulu 4:00 pm Atkinson/Ala Moana F
Houston 4:00 pm Market Square Park 301 Milam
Los Angeles 2:00 pm MacArthur Park, 7th and Alvarado
Philadelphia 2:00 pm Independence Mall, 525 Market St
San Francisco 1:00 pm Embarcadero Plaza in San Francisco
Seattle 1:00 pm Cal Anderson Park
Organizers available for interview: So Cal: 323-946-174; National  917 407 1286

Thursday, November 8, 2018

Friday - The Michael Slate Show: After the Elections -- Regime Still Consolidating Fascism; Attack on Students for Justice in Palestine at UCLA

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Friday, November 9, 2018
10 - 11 AM - PDT
The Michael Slate Show


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Website 
Twitter,  Facebook

Political Attack on Upcoming National Students for Justice in Palestine Conference at UCLA

The National Students for Justice in Palestine Conference scheduled for November 16-18, 2018 in Los Angeles, California, has been attacked by the Los Angeles City Council, which passed a unanimous resolution calling on the University administration to cancel the conference, whose theme will be, "Radical Hope: Resistance in the Face of Adversity." This is one of a number of attacks on Palestinian rights organizations and the BDS -- Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions -- movement in the wake of the Anti-Semitic massacre of 11 people at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh. Pro-Zionist groups have attempted to connect Anti-Zionism, or just criticizing Israel, with Anti-Semitism. We'll hear fromRaphael Eissa, from the National Students for Justice in Palestine about this.


After the Elections -- The Trump/Pence Regime is Still Pushing Forward to Consolidate Fascism

The election is over, and things have not changed. The Trump/Pence regime, and the fascist section of rulers they represent, are pushing forward. The Democrats are accommodating and collaborating.

At this time, people need to understand what's happening, and they need to act.

We're going to replay an interview with Andy Zee, spokesperson for Revolution Books, NYC and a co-initiator of Refuse Fascism, which we did last week before the election.

Then, we'll hear a piece by Bob Avakian, the leader of the revolution and the architect of a new framework for revolution, the new synthesis of communism. It's from the Q&A from the recent talk, Why We Need An Actual Revolution and How We Can Really Make Revolution. This clip is, What would be the next step if the Trump/Pence regime consolidates power?