This Monday, The April 11 Host Committee and Revolution Books sponsored an event marking the publication of BAsics by Bob Avakian, chairman of the Revolutionary Communist Party. The evening featured music, visual art, political cartoons, videos, poetry and readings from luminaries such as Abiodun Oyewole, Guillermo E. Brown, Tapsploitation, Aladdin, Hank Willis Thomas and Richard Brown. The celebration was MC’d by Herb Boyd of New Amsterdam Newspaper and Sunsara Taylor.
Divided into four acts: Roots, The Whole Globe In Mind…Dedication, A Different Way To Think, Feel and Be and A Celebration of Revolution and the Vision of a New World, each performance was thematically linked to Bob Avakian’s 30-year dedication to liberation and transformation.
The Roots section featured an explosive performance by Abiodun Oyewole, member of the legendary Last Poets. Oyewole performed “America’s a Terrorist,” a poem that catalogues the struggle of marginalized communities in the United States from slavery to the present moment. The poem pushes the audience to consider the inconsistencies within United States domestic and foreign policy, as it relates to the fight for democracy and liberation around the globe.
The Whole Globe in Mind…Dedication opened with a collaborative performance by Moist Paula Henderson on saxophone and a reading of an excerpt of BAsics. Henderson’s piece had the crowd bobbing their heads in their seats as she swayed while playing her instrument.
Next, was a breathtaking performance of Blues for Nadar, by award-winning comedian and writer Aladdin. Accompanied by the hypnotic sounds of the tabla drum, the piece centered around the impact music, urban life, capitalism and the media have on communities from New York to Bangladesh.
Nitya Vidyasagar, an Iranian freedom fighter, performed a wonderfully lyrical poem about Bob Avakian’s influence on her. She described his teachings as “…earthly, matter, living truth, transforming, dialectical…”, language and actions that moved her from a limited understanding to an expansive world view. Her recitation, melodic and musical, was also direct and persuasive as she encouraged the audience to “link up with waves of struggle and swim in the seas of the masses”.
Guillermo E. Brown, dubbed the Funkmeister by Herb Body, opened up the third act. Armed with fresh red sneakers, a microphone and a Mac Book, Brown had the audience dancing in their seats as he sung about liberation over heavy beats and fast-paced rhythms.
If anyone was confused about why the publication of this book deserved such a celebration, the video in which Avakian describes why revolution is necessary and possible, cleared any misunderstandings. In the excerpt, Avakian utilizes prison politics to describe why individuals need to work for autonomy in their communities. He talked about how marginalized populations are duped into thinking they have real power with out realizing they are pawns in a game of global capitalism and imperialism. His lecture urged the audience to consider strategies to empower those most affected by racism, poverty and the prison system to take deliberate steps to strengthen their communities.
Cornel West welcomes us to BAsics with words of liberation and solidarity.
Avakian describes why another world is possible.
Act 3 closed with an arresting piano/ bass duo by Matthew Shipp and William Parker. Shipp and Parker entranced the audience with their composition leaving the listeners exhilarated yet wanting more of their masterful sound.
The performances in Act 4 reminded the audience that the journey for human emancipation does not end with desire but requires each of us to “emancipate ourselves”. Richard Brown, Black Panther, evoked the legacy of women of the Party and the role women play in social justice movements all over the world. At 70 years old, Brown spoke about COINTELPRO, Homeland Security, consistency and longevity in the fight for liberation.
Kyle Goen and Dread Scott curated a visual art exhibition to accompany performances. The exhibit featured work by Hank Willis Thomas, Derrick Adams, Wafaa Bilal and Emory Douglas, among others.
Words by Ebony Golden
