We made a binder at Revolution Books inviting people to give their comments to BAsics quotes. Here's two responses from people who came by. On hearing the quote, “You can’t break all the chains except one…” from BAsics, by Bob Avakian, 3:22.
- "Women are treated badly. There needs to be more jobs for women. Women get abused by their spouses and by the police because of police brutality. Women have been pepper sprayed. Sometimes women get pulled over by the cops and get arrested for no reason at all. Sometimes the cops lie and make up a bogus story. We should have the right to speak our minds as women. We need a real revolution for everybody in America." -- Shorty, an African American woman
- Well , these chains are interchangeable, actually they are all connected. They connect and create our triangular oppression that’s called the kyriarchy, which is neologism that describes how capitalism, sexism and racism interconnect creating this force that oppresses us. So, yes we can’t break the chains of capitalism, sexism, or racism one by one, but we can smash the long f’ed up chain of our kyriarchal system. And we can do this by telling stories and organizing womyn of color who are continually oppressed by the kyriarchy. Our voices and strength will lead the revolution. -- Luz-Del-Dia
“You Can’t Break All the Chains Except One. Unleash the Fury of Women as a Mighty Force for Revolution.” A talk by Sunsara Taylor at Revolution Books on August 9, 2012, on a quotation from Bob Avakian’s book BAsics. This talk was part of “TAKE PATRIARCHY BY STORM!”, ten days of activism in New York City against patriarchy and pornography.
You cannot break all the chains, except one. You cannot say you want to be free of exploitation and oppression, except you want to keep the oppression of women by men. You can’t say you want to liberate humanity yet keep one half of the people enslaved to the other half. The oppression of women is completely bound up with the division of society into masters and slaves, exploiters and exploited, and the ending of all such conditions is impossible without the complete liberation of women. All this is why women have a tremendous role to play not only in making revolution but in making sure there is all-the-way revolution. The fury of women can and must be fully unleashed as a mighty force for proletarian revolution.
BAsics 3:22
Anti-4th of July picnic organized by Revolution Books Honolulu
About 25 people came to the anti-4th of July picnic organized by Revolution Books Honolulu. The day was gorgeous, a tent was set up, the BBQ was lit, a beautiful display of BAsics and the Bus Tour was centerstage, and shouts rang out from the groups competing in friendly games of horseshoes, baci ball and croquet. There were people we hadn’t seen for many years along with some we had met more recently, and many people meeting each other for the first time.
Under the tent and surrounding trees small groups of people talked story. Laid back conversations about pets intermingled with animated debates about the nature of capitalism and human nature, organic farming and sustainability, and whether revolution is really possible. People who had been following the bus tour more closely introduced others to the tour. Several people had undertaken the time-consuming task of canning mango chutney and sold jars of chutney to raise funds for the tour. 16 jars were sold and plans were made to make some more batches to raise money for the tour.
It was a gorgeous day and a team from Revolution Books in Honolulu set up a booth at the June 4th Gay Pride Festival at a local beach park. The Pride Parade had just ended, and the atmosphere was festive. Most of the people with booths were selling clothing, jewelry, and health products. A few promoted political candidates and some represented GLBT organizations. Our tent was decorated with red stars and mobiles with the cover of BAsics, from the Talks and Writings of Bob Avakian mounted on silver posterboard that caught the sun as they turned. We brought a banner BAsics 1:13, the “No more generations…” quote from the book, and laid it down inside the booth and displayed copies of BAsics next to it. People were immediately drawn to the banner, in the pictures above. We’ve had tables at Pride events in the past, but this was the best ever!
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.
