In mid-July, the BAsics Bus Tour kicked off in New York City, rolling through the streets of the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Philadelphia. Two RV’s filled with volunteers — women and men of different nationalities, ages and backgrounds have taken out Bob Avakian’s communist vision and works and are organizing people into building a movement for revolution.
The BAsics Bus Tour… meeting the volunteers and week one
by Annie Day
It was a hot and humid Sunday morning in the Bronx. Two dozen volunteers piled into a social club without air conditioning but still full of energy. This was the orientation day for the BAsics Bus Tour volunteers. People in their 20s, 40s and 60s all meeting each other for the first time. As we gathered in a circle, the person leading the orientation asked everyone to look around at each other – these are the faces of the people who have come here on a mission, and each person here represents the contributions of people all across the country – the musicians in the midwest who played their music to raise funds, the youth on the west coast who pulled together for yard sales and picnics, the professors and professionals who contributed, and the dozens in Harlem who pooled together their penny jars to raise over $400 and counting. We were gathered in this room because of all their efforts. And we also represent the hopes and interests of people all over the world, the people groaning under the brutality and misery brought by this system. We are here representing the future.
The BAsics Bus Tour is on the ground in NYC!
The BAsics Bus Tour is on the ground in NYC! Two buses, with over 2 dozen volunteers, are in the Bronx and Brooklyn as you read this, already meeting and getting with many people about the revolutionary leadership of Bob Avakian – lifting sights to a different and liberating world and the many ways thousands can be involved in this movement for revolution starting now.
Going deep into the ground zero neighborhoods of the NYPD’s ugly stop and frisk assault on hundreds of thousands of youth, thevolunteers were hosted on one of their first nights here for dinner by families of victims of police murder. They describe an evening none will forget, with heartfelt pain and humor, wonderful food and deep exchange about what people face under this system and how to get out of it. (See http://www.basicsbustour.tumblr.com/ and http://www.revcom.us/)
For the next 10 days, the BAsics bus tour travels through the Bronx, Brooklyn and nearby cities, reaching out to and involving thousands and changing people’s ideas of the possiblity of real change – making a movement for revolution real.
YOU can be part of pushing this bus and you are needed:
CALL: 718.664.4164EMAIL: ba.everywhereny@yahoo.com
Voices from the BAsics Bus Tour: Day 2, Dinner in the Bronx!
Our BA Everywhere crew had been out in the streets and around some projects of the Bronx on a summer afternoon – taking out BAsics, distributing palm cards, working to bring people into the movement for revolution. We were soaked with sweat and a little tired, but excited about the beginnings of our work in the Bronx and looking forward to a very special night to cap it off.
Our BAsics van didn’t have a difficult time finding the house we were looking for as we drove it down a quiet, tidy street in the Bronx. One of its brick sides is painted in black, with portraits of two young men murdered by NYPD superimposed on the background. A few words under the portrait on the left side had their names followed by the word “EXECUTED.”
The front of the house is painted blue. It contains the names of about 40 people – Anthony Rosario, Hilton Vega, Malcolm Ferguson, Frankie Arzuega, Leonard Lantin, Jose L. Zarete, Patrick (Hessy) Phelan, William Whitehead, Amadou Diallo – above them all the words “in memory of.” A tombstone placed in front of the house said, “In our grieving hearts we acknowledge police brutality and Racial Injustice, ‘Thou shalt not kill’ said the lord.”
Everyone named on this wall was murdered by the NYPD. The BAsics Bus Tour was being welcomed to a dinner by two of the mothers fighting police brutality and murder for a night of warm companionship, stimulating discussions, and heartfelt exchanges about future possibilities that were deep and sprinkled with humor. Ample quantities of delicious food had been prepared. These parents and some other members of their families mingled late into the cool of the evening, along with the BA everywhere crew that had come from throughout the country and other parts of the city. No one who was there will forget this night in the Bronx.
One of the BA Everywhere volunteers said after the event, “there’s a lot of things rattling around in my head. All the people killed. All the people whose names haven’t been recognized here in this city and all around the world would fill up this whole neighborhood and beyond”.
Watch and spread this video everywhere! It paints a compelling picture of how the movement for revolution is developing, growing and cohering through the BAsics Bus Tour. Hear from people who met the tour and hear Carl Dix, Sunsara Taylor and Clyde Young. The film captures the hope people feel when they find out that there could be a radically different and far better future by encountering the vision and works of Bob Avakian, the revolutionary leader who has developed a new synthesis of communism. BAsics, from the talks and writings of Bob Avakian concentrates all this and is at the heart of the Tour. It needs to be seen by thousands of people today, which can make a big difference in involving people in the movement for revolution.
We highly recommend that it be used for fundraising shown not only at events and collective efforts, but also to individuals who are able to contribute larger sums. Send the intro above and the link to the film (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsBxMETRSio) to everyone you know, especially people just finding out about all this. Ask people to spread it widely, post it online, and share via their social networks. Make copies of the film by downloading it from Vimeo (http://vimeo.com/45323963) and get these copies everywhere so people can show them on the streets, on portable dvd players and with individuals.
The BAsics Bus Tour is arriving in NYC area this Saturday!
Join in welcoming, supporting and celebrating.
Saturday, July 14th.
Welcome the volunteers arriving, people of different ages, nationalities and backgrounds, from all around the country – here for the BAsics Bus Tour.
Brook Park, 141st and Brook Avenue, South Bronx. Food, music, and more.
(take 6 train to Brook Avenue, then north 3 block on Brook Avenue, park on left/West side of Brook Avenue) Volunteer to make it happen.
Preparing for the BAsics Bus Tour coming to the Bronx: Going to Soundview
Photo: At the door where Amadou Diallo was shot and killed by NYPD. Neighbors hold up Revolution posters (PDF|JPG).
This week, as we have gone to community centers and people we have met in the Bronx to prepare places for the tour volunteers to stay and more, we went to the Soundview area and to the block where Amadou Diallo was shot 41 times by NYC police in the alcove of his apartment building in 1999.
