Revolutionaries took BA Everywhere to the Grand Slam Finals of Youth Speaks’ Brave New Voices Festival on July 22nd. This electric and inspiring yearly event is a place for emerging spoken word artists from across the country to raise their voices to an enthusiastic audience — the Fox Theater in downtown Oakland was humming with excitement. We distributed 28 copies of CDs of BA’s All Played Out (with music by William Parker) to the poetry teams competing in the festival. 1500+ cards with the quote “No more generations…” (BAsics 1:13) were handed out to the crowd. And outside, before and after the event young people added their statements to the two quotes on internationalism. Some people told us they had read the copies of BAsics that teams were given last year. And one woman, on reading the quotes, said “This is what I’ve been searching for!”
Bay Area: Taking out Basics 1:13 and Justice for Trayvon Martin
In the days going into June 5, The National Day of Justice for Trayvon Martin, we took a banner that had an enlargement of the BAsics 1:13, “No more generations of our youth…” quote and a heading that read: To All the Trayvon Martin’s All Over The World, We Got Your Back!! out to a street corner in front of a favorite coffee spot and crossroads of progressive people of all nationalities from the middle class, cultural forces, college students and some youth from all over the city. Sentiments and conversations started to surface as we opened up with agitation around BAsics 1:13 and the need for everyone to step up step out for June 5. Before we get into all the ways people got involved, here are some statements that were made at that corner:
Bay Area, June 5: Boldly spreading “No more generations of our youth…” on the day of protest for Justice for Trayvon Martin
June 5 was a day of defiance and struggle for those standing up for justice for Trayvon Martin—-beginning at high schools during the day, carrying over to Oscar Grant Plaza at 5 pm and rolling back to the ‘hood’ where people of all ages joined in reading quote 1:13 from BAsics, marching for justice for Trayvon Martin, and finding ways to be part of the day even if they couldn’t stand out on the street corner.
“No more generations of our youth, here and all around the world, whose life is over, whose fate has been sealed, who have been condemned to an early death or a life of misery and brutality, whom the system has destined for oppression and oblivion even before they are born. I say no more of that.”
— Bob Avakian, BAsics 1:13
At the high school
At a high school in the ‘hood’ many students were wearing stickers for the June 5 Day of Justice: We Are All Trayvon Martin! Wear Hoodies Everywhere Day! A young guy came and stood by the banner for Trayvon which he had already signed earlier that week. A revolutionary urged him to step forward. He agreed to hold the banner but was silent. Then some young women students walked up and took charge. In a short time they had the situation under control, leading chants on the bullhorn: “Revolution is what we need, to liberate humanity.” “Justice for Trayvon Martin.” Three young women read the “No More generations” quote from BAsics on the bullhorn. Two other young women posted up in the street in front of the school, thrusting a flier with a picture of Trayvon and a card with BAsics and the quote “no more generations” into the window of every passing car. Soon there was a small protest of a couple dozen students, an adult who worked at the school, and a handful of revolutionaries. The people in the cars liked it.
Build on the momentum of the BAsics Bus Tour — Attend and Build for Report-Back Celebrations in Your Area!
Over the past few weeks, many hundreds of people across the country have stepped forward to make something very important happen… the second leg of the BAsics bus tour which went through parts of the South and delivered a message from those hundreds to the people of Sanford. In accomplishing this,people around the country, the volunteers on the bus and those that the Bus Tour met in the South have been part of cohering a national movement around the mass fundraising campaign to project Bob Avakian’s vision and works into every corner of society, BA Everywhere…Imagine the Difference It Could Make! More than $30,000 has been raised, to pay for this leg of the Tour and for materials and initial seed money for the next leg of the Tour.
Come to the report back in your area or write us so we can put you in touch events in your area or near by. (See below for celebrations in New York, Los Angeles, the Bay Area and Cleveland.) And find out other ways, where ever you are and whether you only have a couple of hours a week or the whole summer (!) to build on the momentum created by the BAscis Bus Tour in the South. Write baeverywhere [AT] gmail.com to volunteer to work with press, social networking, developing a web site and much more! And to let us know of other events.
Snapshots of building support for the BAsics Bus Tour to East Oakland
During the last two weekends we took out the historic BAsics Bus Tour to two neighborhoods in East Oakland. Sometimes we went with a truck that was decorated with displays of the tour and a couple quotes from Bob Avakian (“No more generation…” and the “3-strikes”). Sometimes 4 of us and sometimes the two or three of us just piled into a car and drove through the ‘hoods, stopping at bus stops, street corners, houses, shops, park and Wal-Mart where we found groupings of masses. (We also went to a church on a Sunday but there were very few people.) We would get out of the car and talked to people about the Bus Tour, about revolution and communism that the Tour is spreading to the South through promoting BAsics and BA and the leadership he gives to this movement for revolution. We also spread the word about a Memorial Day BBQ that will be in a park in one of the ‘hoods and that will report back to people the exciting experience from the Bus Tour.
People across the country are supporting — and acting together with — the BAsics Bus Tour… from the Bay Area
We received this from organizers in the Bay Area:
There was an air of excitement in Revolution Books on May 18. Youth just getting introduced to BA and revolution, proletarians and supporters of the bookstore came together to celebrate the launching of the BAsics Bus Tour in Atlanta. A potluck dinner was shared as anticipation grew for finding out about the beginning of this unprecedented trip to the south. A veteran of the pilot Bus Tour that went through California, spoke about what was learned during that first experience and the effect the Tour had on people who came in contact with it. Some rough video clips of that first Tour gave a picture of what it was like when the Tour went into areas where no one was familiar with BA and BAsics. Then the video from the BAsics Bus Tour was played, showing great enthusiasm from people for revolution, for the Bus Tour. Inspired by what they saw, people made plans to go out the following morning to an important festival in Oakland, to take out the Bus Tour to thousands of new people, to involve people in the tour in many new ways, especially in raising urgently needed funds. Plans were made for Tuesday, May 22, showings of new video from the Bus Tour, and a picnic in East Oakland on May 28 was announced.
