Revolution Newspaper Special Notice: Kickoff Events Near You

Revolution Newspaper's Six-Month Expansion and $500,000 Fund Drive! Kick-Off Events August 4-5
_______________________________________

Starting right now, YOU can play a critical role in making this all happen. Come to kick-off events over the weekend of August 4-5. Call your friends and bring with. Copy and email this note to co-workers, family, "interested parties." You'll get hooked up with bundles of this special fundraising issue of Revolution. And at many of these events, you'll be able to meet and talk to writers from Revolution. Teams will be formed. You'll hear about ambitious goals. And you'll contribute to figuring out exciting plans. One important part of all this is for many, many people to pledge to raise $100 or more. There are a thousand ways to raise $100 or more for this fund drive, ways that rely on people, their creativity, and their desire to see this paper having much more influence. To help, there will be resources, organizing kits, and help and advice for raising money and expanding the reach of this paper at revcom.us/drive/ and at the kick-off.

Find and Attend the REVOLUTION EXPANSION AND FUND DRIVE KICK-OFF event near you:

New York
Uptown
Saturday, August 4th
10:30am-1:00pm
Brunch
St. Mary's Church
521 W. 126th Street
(Bet. Broadway and Amsterdam)
212-691-2245

New York
Downtown
Sunday, August 5th
6:00pm-8:30pm
Reception
Revolution Books
9 W. 19th Street
(Bet. 5th & 6th Avenues)
212-692-3345

Chicago
Sunday, August 5th
6:30 pm
Acme Art Works
1741 N. Western Ave., Chicago
773-489-0930

Atlanta
Sunday, August 5th
4 pm to 7 pm RAIN OR SHINE.
POT-LUCK BARBEQUE
at the PICNIC PAVILION
(next to the basketball court and playground)
at the rear of GLENLAKE PARK, CHURCH
and LUCERNE STREETS in DECATUR
404-577-4656

Seattle
Saturday, August 4th
4:00 pm
Potluck Picnic
at Cal Anderson Park
11th Avenue between Denny and Pine on Capitol Hill
(meet at the fountain in the middle of the park, look for Revolution banner)
Bring food, make plans, share conversation
206-325-7415

Seattle
Sunday, August 5th
6:00pm
Revolution Books
1833 Nagle Pl
(near corner of Broadway and Denny)
206-325-7415

Los Angeles
Sunday, August 5th
12 noon
Barbecue at Earvin "Magic" Johnson Park
905 E. El Segundo Blvd
323-241-6709

San Francisco Bay Area
Saturday, August 4th
1:00pm
BBQ/picnic (omnivore and herbivore)
San Pablo Park
(Between Ward St. and Russell St. at Bonar St.)
Berkeley
wheelchair accessible, children welcome
510-848-1196

Boston
Saturday, August 4th
6:00pm
Open House and Pot Luck
Revolution Books
617-492-5443

Honolulu
Monday, August 13th
6:00 - 8:00pm
Revolution Books
2626 South King Street
808-944-3106

Cleveland
Sunday, August 5th
4 pm -6 pm
at the Living Room Cafe
4828 Loraine Avenue
Cleveland, OH
216-932-2543

Donate Now
to the $500,000 Fund Drive

Revolution #97, July 29, 2007

Two things about Revolution #97:

(1) As the Senate Debates: Death Surge in Iraq...New Threats on Iran
by Larry Everest

The Democrats’ July 17-18, all-night Senate debate on the Iraq war ended where it began—with no agreement in Congress on what to do and with Bush still running the show and vowing to continue the war. …

As the debate in the U.S. government over Iraq has intensified, there have been new steps toward a possible military action against Iran.

On July 16, the Guardian (UK) reported that nearly half the U.S.'s 277 warships are stationed close to Iran, including two aircraft carrier groups, with another carrier on the way.
The Guardian reports: “The balance in the internal White House debate over Iran has shifted back in favor of military action before President George Bush leaves office in 18 months, the Guardian has learned. The shift follows an internal review involving the White House, the Pentagon and the State Department over the last month. Although the Bush administration is in deep trouble over Iraq, it remains focused on Iran. A well-placed source in Washington said: ‘Bush is not going to leave office with Iran still in limbo.’” (http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,2127115,00.html) …

The danger [here] isn’t the Democrats going to sleep on the job. The danger is that their anti-war posturing will induce a “slumber” of passivity among those who want to end the war. The real danger lies in relying on and waiting until the 2008 election -- at a time when it is more urgent than ever for millions to take mass, independent action to drive the Bush regime from power and repudiate its entire agenda of war endless war for empire.

(2) Coming August 3…A Special Revolution Fund Drive Broadsheet

The August 3rd issue of Revolution will be a special, updated expansion and fundraising broadsheet: Truth…in Preparation for Revolution! With this special issue, we aim to unleash an unprecedented movement throughout society to raise $500,000 by the end of this year, to expand the reach of Revolution, and to put this paper on a whole new playing field.
This special issue will be released at kick-off events the weekend of August 4-5. …
Getting out this special issue of Revolution will lay the basis for reaching way out into society to raise money. In the projects and prisons and sweatshops, on high school and college campuses, at house parties in the suburbs, and from people with substantial resources…all kinds of people can and must be challenged to find their way to support this paper in their own way, from their own perspectives.

Kick-Off Events August 4-5

Starting right now, YOU can play a critical role in making this all happen. Come to kick-off events over the weekend of August 4-5, where you’ll get hooked up with bundles of this special fundraising issue of Revolution. And at many of these events, you’ll be able to meet and talk to writers from Revolution. Teams will be formed. You’ll hear about ambitious goals. And you’ll contribute to figuring out exciting plans. One important part of all this is for many, many people to pledge to raise $100 or more. There are a thousand ways to raise $100 or more for this fund drive, ways that rely on people and their creativity and desire to see this paper having much more influence. To help, there will be resources, organizing kits, and help and advice for raising money and expanding the reach of this paper at revcom.us/drive/ and at the kick-off.
Another focus will be Labor Day weekend, when we are calling on people to sell thousands of “Wanted” t-shirts (see picture on this page). To have people buying this shirt, and finding out about Revolution at swap meets, from street vendors, in retail stores, from vendors outside concerts, from door-to-door sellers, and beyond.

To find an event in your area, or to get help organizing one, contact RCP Publications (see contact information below), or call the Revolution Books store nearest you (see list on contact page).

Wherever and whoever you are, however you connect with Revolution, whatever it is this paper that you find intriguing, provocative, compelling or addictive about this paper … join in!

#96 The Imperialist Debate Over Iraq: How to Best Maintain a Ruthless, Unjust Empire

The debate within the U.S. ruling class over how to deal with the war in Iraq heated up this past week—without resolution…

A Washington Post analysis titled “As the War Debate Heats Up, Stagnant Air Is in the Forecast” offers a sober reality check for those who think (or wish) that Bush is “over,” and just a lame-duck president without any power: “Yet no matter how battered he seems, no matter how unpopular he may be in the polls, President Bush still holds the commanding position in his showdown with Congress over Iraq. Even with Republican defections, as votes in both houses made clear this week, opponents do not have anywhere near the veto-proof majorities needed to wrest leadership of the war. The almost-certain result, according to strategists in both parties, will be at least two more months of anger and posturing but no change in direction.” (7/13/07)

The Democrats rode a wave of disillusionment over the war into Congressional power. Bush’s insistence on continuing the war in the face of last November’s vote has deepened anti-Bush anger. Recent U.S. polls show that 45 percent of the people want Bush impeached and 54 percent want Cheney impeached. At the same time, the Democrats’ failure to halt the war has also angered and disillusioned millions who had supported them. One poll found that only 13 percent approved of the actions of the Democratic-controlled Congress.

There is a great disconnect today between the desires of millions and what the leaders in the government are doing. Millions badly want to see this whole regime brought to a halt and the war ended. Yet the Democrats they voted for not only refuse to impeach Bush and Cheney from office, but “rule it off the table,” and meanwhile carry out what amount to worthless charades around the war.

This poses both a huge challenge and a huge opportunity for those who see how bad the situation is—in Iraq, in the torture chambers, and on so many other fronts. How are we going to act on this “disconnect” and turn dissatisfaction with both Bush and the Democrats into massive political action and resistance that can force the rulers to alter their course? The World Can’t Wait—Drive Out the Bush Regime provides such a vehicle, including with their “Declare Yourself: Wear Orange” campaign. On July 27 this campaign will be launched for people across the country to wear orange—to declare themselves against “unjust war, more lying, more spying and more torture” and the whole Bush agenda. Those who want to see the Bush-Cheney cabal removed from power, their nightmarish program repudiated, and the war ended should “Declare Themselves” and take this campaign out broadly.

Revolution #95: America: Separate, Unequal, and Badly in Need of Revolution

July 13, 2007

U.S. Supreme Court Fortifies the Savage Inequalities

On June 28, by a 5-4 majority, the Supreme Court—headed by the Bush-appointed Chief Justice John Roberts—struck down school admission policies in Seattle and Louisville that used students’ race as a factor to maintain diversity in individual schools.

Make no mistake about it: this ruling is a savage attack on the rights of Black people in this country. It signals an official turning back from even a pretense of a commitment to end white supremacy in the public schools, and it virtually removes the ability of people to use the courts to do that. And it will lend strength to every racist and reactionary in this country, sending a signal of approval from the highest court of the land. …

Think about it. What does that decision, and the whole history that underlies it, say about the depths of the white supremacy that permeates every fiber of America? And what does it say about the determination of the highest court in the land, and the government more generally, to now fortify all that?

What kind of a statement is this about the kind of future this system has for Black people and other oppressed peoples? What does it say about the kind of society this is, and is becoming more starkly every day?

The question this poses is:

What Country Are You Living In?…And What Are You Going to Do About It?



Tuesday, July 10, 2007

7/10 TUE 9:30am Support Bushwick Youth wrongfully arrested on their way to a friend’s wake. Drop the charges! Brooklyn Court, 120 Schermerhorn St. at Adams.

7/10 TUE 7:00pm Film: “Darwin’s Nighmare” at Revolution Books, 9. West 19th Street bet 5th & 6th Avenues


Wednesday, July 11, 2007

7/11 WED 9:30am Support Bushwick Youth wrongfully arrested on their way to a friend’s wake. Drop the charges! Brooklyn Court, 120 Schermerhorn St. at Adams.

7/11 WED, 10 am-4 pm - Event: Opening Day & Fair for South Bx Community Market /Inauguracion & Feria para el Mercado Comunitario del Sur del Bx. Fresh fruit, fresh vegetables, fresh herbs, honey & eggs straight from local farms & community gardens. Accept/aceptan cash/efectivo, EBT/Food Stamps/Cupones de alimentos, FMNP Checks & Health Bucks. Voter registration /registro de votantes, cooking demonstration /demonstracion de cocinar 11:30 am-1:30 pm, & more/mas. At front of El Girasol Community Garden, E 138th St, Bx (btw St Ann's & Cypress Aves). Info: More Gardens, 718-585-2109, 917-518-9987, aresh@moregardens.org & http://moregardens.org/

7/11 WED Be there at 6:15pm; Film starts at 7pm Film: “Dr. Gary Null’s documentary Gulf War Syndrome: Killing Our Own at Symphony Space/The Leonard Nimoy Thalia. 2537 Broadway at 95th Street. $25

7/11 WED Team meets at 8:30pm, event starts at 7pm. 72nd & 5th Avenue Summer Stage: Femi Kuti & the Positive Force. Rumsey Playfield Central Park 69th St. at Fifth Ave.

7/11 WED 7:00pm Ray Lotta: “Hugo Chavez has an Oil Strategy…But Can This Lead to Liberation?” at Revolution Books, 9 W. 19th St. bet 5/6 Ave


Thursday, July 12, 2007

7/12 THU 9:30am Support Bushwick Youth wrongfully arrested on their way to a friend’s wake. Drop the charges! Brooklyn Court, 120 Schermerhorn St. at Adams.

7/12 THU Thursday Day Team Fulton Mall/Court-Montague St./Ft. Greene area in Brooklyn

7/12 THU 12 noon-2pm BAM Rhythm & Blues Festival at Metrotech. Free

7/12 THU Thursday PM Team. "Sicko" Lines. Regal Union Square Stadium 14, 850 Broadway. 7:20 ; 7:55 ; 10:20 ; 10:45. Try to get to at least two lines; the 7pmish or 10pmish



Friday, July 13, 2007

FRI 7/13 Friday Day Team 2:00pm Meets at Bookstore. Going to Upper West Side.

7/12 THU-7/15 SUN - Event: CitySol. Summer music & market series on Manhattan's East River waterfront. Renewable energy-powered live music, interactive exhibits showcasing key innovations, practices & policies for NY's sustainable future, & a green lifestyle marketplace offering apparel, electronics, household goods, media & much more. At Solar 1, E 23rd & East River & South Street Seaport. Info: http://www.citysol.org & http://www.solar1.org

FRI 7/13 Friday PM Team Meets at 6:30 at the NW corner of W. 23rd & 8th Avenue, by the BBQ on the 8th Avenue side. Event: Project for a Revolution in New York Matthew Marks 523 W. 24th St., New York, NY 10011 nr. Tenth Ave. 212-243-0200 Gallerist Mitchell Algus curates this show of under appreciated European artists from the sixties and seventies. Price Free. Subway: C, E at 23rd St.

FRI 7/13 Friday Club Team


Saturday, July 14, 2007

SAT 7/14 10:30am Harlem Team meets at the Burger King, 125th & Lenox

SAT 7/14 10:30am Brooklyn Green Market Team, Grand Army Plaza.

SAT 7/14 East Flatbush Brooklyn Team

SAT 7/14 11:00am East Harlem Team. Meets at Wendy’s, 116th & 3rd Avenue

SAT 7/14 Times Square Team


Sunday, July 15, 2007

SUN 7/15 Upper Westside Team

SUN 7/15 Jackson Heights Team. Meets at #7 Train stop Junction Blvd


Monday, July 16, 2007

MON 7/16 4:30-6:30pm Rally: Troops out Now! Times Square, in front of the Recruiting Station Stop the War at Home and Abroad! Troops Out Now! Impeach Bush & Cheney for War Crimes!

MON 7/16 7:00pm Event: People's Power vs the Right's Advance: The Case of South Dakota. With Laura Flanders. The Culture Project, 55 Mercer St. $15 www.cultureproject.org




UP COMING EVENTS

7/18 WED 7:30pm Celebrate Brooklyn Prospect Park Band Shell: Ani DiFranco. The entrance to the Prospect Park Bandshell is located at Prospect Park West & 9th Street in Park Slope, Brooklyn -- F (best) to 7th Avenue. Exit at the front of the Brooklyn-bound train leaves you at 8th Avenue and 9 Street. Walk 1 block to park's 9th Street Entrance. Benefit Concert $37.00

7/21 SAT 11:00am-6:00pm The 9th annual HARLEM BOOK FAIR [JULY 20 - 22, 2007] on West 135th Street from 5th to 7th Avenues.

7/28 / 29 SAT, SUN Rock the Bells with Rage Against the Machine + Wu-Tang Clan + Public Enemy + Cypress Hill + The Roots + Mos Def + EPMD + MF Doom Randalls Island. $83.

Wk #2: #94: Hugo Chavez Has an Oil Strategy...But Can This Lead to Liberation?

July 5, 2007

*** PRIORITY: We need a count of all papers unsold in the area. Please contact Flaco or Janet and let them know how many papers you have left unsold -- both English and Spanish as soon as possible.***

Week #2 of getting out issue #94: Hugo Chavez Has an Oil Strategy...But Can This Lead to Liberation?

One selling team found that these talking points connected with people when they went to the soccer fields in Brooklyn:

“There was a real interest among many when the question was posed, is it possible to build a just society on oil revenues, dealing with imperialist gangsters and depending on them, and that this article was saying no.

“We used the pull out quote on the second page, bottom, of the article, about the rope of imperialism. We also pointed a lot to the Three Alternative Worlds article, which people were also interested in (especially speaking to why the Cuba model is not what we need, and there is another alternative that goes somewhere good).

“To the extent that there was agitation, it was basically ‘Here's Revolution, the newspaper of the Revolutionary Communist Party, with this article on Chavez. This world does cry out for radical change, and the question is posed: can you liberate humanity using profits from selling oil in an imperialist world? This article says no, and talks about why.’”

Some other suggestions:

1) As above, sellers have found that using/pointing to the pull out quotes gives potential readers a clearer idea of what we are talking about and peaks their interest in this analysis. We are not just “going for people who agree with us”, but we’re out to engage people in a discussion of what the content of the “Bolivarian Revolution” is, where this leads to, why and how another way is possible.

“Over the last half century, oil income has both lubricated a certain kind
of growth and development in Venezuela and locked Venezuela into an
international oil economy dominated by Western imperialism.”

“Export-oriented oil production is a relation to the world imperialist
economy, a rope of control and dependence, a rope tightly constricting the
creative capacities of the masses of people. And that rope must be cut
through revolution...”

“Even if this program provides some short-term improvement in the conditions
of the masses, it cannot be sustained and cannot lead to a world beyond
imperialism.”

2) Suggest that people buy more than one paper and get out bundles of the paper to their friends, family or to distribute at barber shops, club houses or other places where people gather.

3) A reminder to sellers: Encourage people to purchase the special 5-week subscription of Revolution – Use the contact cards to have people sign up for this offer. This article on Venezuela is the first of a series – if they subscribe they will be sure to get the whole series.

4) Displays draw attention to the paper and sellers. Teams are encouraged to make for the 4th poster boards with enlargements of the front and back of the paper.

Sellers need make sure that they have papers and other materials to bring when they go out on the teams.

We are a little over ¼ of our goal as of Monday the 2nd. We have the rest of this week to sell out this issue. We can do this. Teams should discuss the selling goals before they start off and sum up where they are several times during the outing to push further on accomplishments and break through on difficulties. We are counting on Wednesday, July 4th to be a big day to get out the paper. Our aim is to sell out this issue.


7/3 TUES 7:00pm “Iranian Women & Liberation – Neither Islamic Theocracy nor U.S. Imperialist Domination” Talk/discussion with Azar Derakhshan, Iranian activist now living in Europe. Revolution Books, 9 W. 19th St.


7/4 WED 12 Noon Anti July 4th Picnics “What, to the American slave, is your Fourth of July?” Frederick Douglass, 1852

7/4 WED 12 Noon Independence Day w/ Granny Peace Brigade & Norman Siegel in Strawberry Fields. Tradition begun by Norman Siegel in 1969.

7/4 WED 2pm NY Historical Society, Chat with Frederick Douglass, the great African American abolitionist, listen to his Famous Fourth of July speech. 170 Central park West @ 77th Street.

7/4 WED 11am Internation’l African Arts Festival, Commodore Barry Park, Bklyn, Info: info@iaafestival.org & http://www.iaafestival.orgNavy St. bet. Park Ave & Flushing Ave (F to York)

7/4 WED 11:30am Coney Island Beach & Broadwalk. Meet at Stillwell Avenue at Nathan's.

7/4 WED 6:30-8:30pm Vigil: Bring Them Home Now! Times Sq. Recruiting station. Military Families Speak Out, Veterans for Peace-End the War.


7/5 THU 3pm IVAW members host barbecue for vets & active-duty soldiers, sailors & marines. At Ft Hamilton, Dyker Beach Park, Bkn (D to 18th Ave & walk 15 blocks WSW or take southbound B8 bus to Bay 8th St/Dyker Beach Park) Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW East Coast Tour. Sponsors: IVAW, Military Project, Veterans for Peace, Military Families Speak Out. Info: Jose Vasquez (NYC IVAW): 917-587-3334.

7/5 THU, 7 pm - Talk/benefit: "New Face of State Repression." W/Christian Parenti (Nation contributor, author, The Freedom: Shadows & Hallucinations in Occupied Iraq, The Soft Cage: Surveillance in America..., Lockdown America: Police & Prisons in the Age of Crisis). At 6th St Community Ctr, 638 E 6th St btw Aves B & C, F/V to 2nd Ave or F to Delancey St). Proceeds to Eric McDavid's legal fund (1 of 16 "Operation Backfire" defendants). Info: David Segal, 718-844-9849.


7/6 FRI 11:30am Internation’l African Arts Festival, Commodore Barry Park, Bklyn, Info: info@iaafestival.org & http://www.iaafestival.orgNavy St. bet. Park Ave & Flushing Ave (F to York)

7/6 FRI Evening. SICKO movie lines, theater in the Village

7/6 FRI Doors open 7:30pm Celebrate Brooklyn Prospect Park Band Shell. Rewind: A Cantata For Voice, Tape & Testimony / Richie Havens. Cape Town composer Philip Miller's international collaboration is based on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings that led South Africa from apartheid to democracy.

7/6 FRI 9:00pm Special Youth Night Team Club night: Ludlow street between Houston and Delancy; Bowery Poetry Club, Nuyorican Poetry Club


7/7 SAT 10:30am Harlem Team Meets at the Burger King on 125th & Lenox.

7/7 SAT 10:30am Brooklyn Green Market team

7/7 SAT Brooklyn Team. East Flatbush and/or International African Arts Festival

7/7 SAT Washington Heights Team. Dominican Day Festival. Amsterdam Avenue between 190th & 193rd. 1-8pm And/or Broadway from 157 to 168; soccer games at Inwood Park by the river, go from Dyckman west to the river, then north.

7/7 SAT LIVE EARTH Doors open 1pm; Starts 2:30pm. Giant Stadium, part of Meadowlands Sports Complex in NJ. Special Youth Night Team

7/7 SAT 10am-7pm Arab-North African Street Fair Great Jones between Broadway and Lafayette


7/8 SUN Jackson Hts Team

7/8 SUN 11:00am Upper Westside Team Meets at 81st & Columbus, north end of museum park

7/8 SUN Dominican Day Festival Amsterdam Avenue between 190th & 193rd Sts. 1-8pm


7/9 MON 4:00pm The Student Coalition Against Racial Profiling will be rallying outside the 83rd Precinct. This group of youth began organizing after 32 of their peers were wrongfully arrested on their way to a friend's wake. 83rd Precinct, 480 Knickerbocker Ave @ Bleeker St., Bushwick. L to Myrtle/Wyckoff Avenues; M to Knickerbocker Ave

7/9 MON, 7:30 pm - Film: "Sir No Sir." Acclaimed film about antiwar rebellion among troops in the Vietnam War. At Islamic Society of Bay Ridge, 6807 5th Ave, Bkn (R to Bay Bridge Ave). Sponsor: Bay Ridge Neighbors for Peace. Info/volunteer: 646-546-6642, bayridgepeace@yahoo.com


7/10 TUE 7:00PM - Film: "Darwin's Nightmare" At Revolution Books, 9 W. 19th Street, NY

7/11 WED 7:00pm - A discussion with Raymond Lotta: Hugo Chavez Has an Oil Strategy...But Can This Lead to Liberation? At Revolution Books, 9 W. 19th Street, NY