Revolution Books Chicago

Monday, March 12, 2012

Sunday, March 25 at 4pm

The Cultural Revolution in China...Art & Culture...Dissent & Ferment

...and Carrying Forward the Revolution Toward Communism

Join us for the second discussion of an article by Bob Avakian, Chairman of the Revolutionary Communist Party on the Cultural Revolution in China (which lasted from the mid 60s to the mid 70s when China was a genuine socialist country). This article, based on an interview of Avakian by Michael Slate, goes deeply into the complex situation and problems which were facing the Chinese Revolution, and how by launching the Cultural Revolution Mao broke with the Soviet model in order to address these challenges. The article takes up the aims, methods and contradictions of this cultural revolution including on questions of the role of art and artists, as well as the struggle in society in general during the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution.
Read the article here

Read in Spanish
Or listen to the interview here

DATE CHANGED TO TUESDAY MARCH 27, 7pm
Join us at Revolution Books, 1103 N. Ashland

~~Monday, March 26, 7 pm~~

to build for the April 19 National Day of Action to

Stop Mass Incarceration

Revolution Books received the following announcement:

RAISING THE FIGHT TO STOP MASS INCARCERATION TO A NEW LEVEL

April 19 National Day of Action

P.O. Box 941 Knickerbocker Station, New York, New York 10002 * 866-841-9139 x2670 email: stopmassincarceration@ymail.com

Friends,

The past months have seen important advances to develop resistance to mass incarceration. There has been further work done to expose the horrific injustice that mass incarceration inflicts on so many in society. Organizations fighting this battle have come into existence and some of those that already existed have grown and developed. It is important to note the activity that has developed among students around mass incarceration. And there have been important examples of determined mass resistance to this problem. Especially important have been the several hunger strikes by prisoners in California's Special Housing Units (and the statements of support for the strikers issued by prominent voices of conscience) and the civil disobedience campaign in New York aimed at stopping "stop & frisk."

But much more needs to be done. When it comes to mass incarceration, the reality in U.S. society remains horrific:

More than 2.4 million people, most of them Black or Latino, remain warehoused in prisons across the country;
Black and Latino youth are treated like criminals by the police and the criminal justice system, guilty until proven innocent, if they can survive their encounters with police to prove their innocence;
Former prisoners wear badges of shame and dishonor even after they serve their sentences-discriminated against when applying for jobs, denied access to government assistance, not allowed in public housing, denied the right to vote.

On top of this is the plain fact that many people in the country still don't know about this ugly reality and most of those who do know about it feel it is the result of criminal activity by those in prison and that it helps to keep them safe from crime.

THIS IS NOT TRUE! MASS INCARCERATION RESULTS FROM THE SYSTEM HAVING CRIMINALIZED GENERATIONS OF YOUTH! WE HAVE THE FACTS TO MAKE THE CASE ON THIS. AND WE MUST STEP UP OUR EFFORTS TO DO THAT!

There is great urgency to do this. As the presidential election approaches and the terms of debate around what issues are to be discussed in determining the future direction of the country get set, mass incarceration isn't being mentioned as a problem by any of the major candidates-not by Obama and not by any of the Republicans vying to challenge him. On the contrary, we are getting the kind of ugly racism that goes with and reinforces the whole program of mass incarceration... and conciliation with that racism. This must be transformed. Mass incarceration, what leads to it and its consequences have to become something that people across the country are aware of and feel compelled to take a stand against. And many more of them need to join the resistance to it. Only our efforts can make that happen!

To advance our efforts to do just this, we propose:

A day of national action in April. On this day, demonstrations, rallies, teach-ins, and other actions would be held focusing on bringing out the reality of mass incarceration and calling on people to join the resistance to it would be held in cities across the U.S. These actions need to draw in many different institutions-especially schools and churches-and different sections of people in society. A special focus of this activity should be college campuses and high schools.

A national conference drawing together the forces working to build resistance to mass incarceration. Such a conference could bring together organizations and individuals working on different fronts of this battle; discuss and debate the cause of and solution to this outrage; develop a comprehensive approach to this battle and a plan of action going into the fall. THIS CONFERENCE SHOULD AIM AT NOTHING LESS THAN RADICALLY CHANGING THE NATIONAL TERMS OF DISCUSSION ON THIS.

A statement of conscience that sharply and concisely lays out the harsh and unjust reality that mass incarceration inflicts on millions. This statement would be circulated for signature among prominent voices of conscience, published in various significant publications and publicized nationwide.

A major concert or other cultural event opposing mass incarceration, featuring a broad spectrum of artists.

We urge people to respond to this proposal, including with additional ideas for how to advance this fight in this critical time period.

Signees (in formation):

Gbenga Akinnagbe, Actor
Rafael Angulo, Professor of Social Work, USC
Nellie Bailey, Occupy Harlem
Kendra Castaneda, Prisoner Human Rights Activist with a family member in CA State Prison Segregation Unit
Solomon Comissiong, Executive Director, Your World News Media Collective (http://www.blogger.com/)
Carl Dix, Revolutionary Communist, co-initiator of Campaign to Stop "Stop and Frisk"
Kelley Lytle Hernandez, Professor of History, UCLA
Robin DG Kelley, Distinguished Professor of History, UCLA
Wayne Kramer, Jail Guitar Doors USA, Co-Founder
Sarah Kunstler, Esq., National Lawyers Guild NYC*
Rev. Janet Gollery McKeithen (Unity Methodist Clergy), President, Methodist Federation for Social Action, Cal-Pac
Mary Ratcliff, Editor, San Francisco Bay View Black National Newspaper
Cornel West, author and educator, co-initiator of Campaign to Stop "Stop and Frisk"
Clyde Young, Revolutionary Communist, and former prisoner

March 12, 2012

*For Identification Purposes Only.

Friday Night Movies at Revolution Books

For International Women's Month

Fundraiser for Revolution Books-Donation

All donations go for Revolution Books to have tables at Printers Row,

the Green Festival and spring concerts.

March 30 - If These Walls Could Talk - 7:00pm

If These Walls Could Talk is a 1996 made for television movie, broadcast on HBO. It follows the plights of three different women and their experiences with abortion. Each of the three stories takes place in the same house, 22 years apart: 1952, 1974, and 1996. The women's experiences in each vignette are designed to demonstrate the popular views of society on the issue in each of the given decades.