An Open Letter to the PEN America World Voices Festival
In a Time of Great Urgency, Support and Defend Revolution Books

This year's PEN World Voices Festival takes place at a moment of great peril for humanity and the planet. Fascist movements are spreading in the world. Here in the U.S., the Trump-Pence regime is hell-bent on bringing about a fascist America.

The people of the world are counting on us to act to STOP the Trump-Pence fascist regime.

An American Fascism…With Revolution Books In Its Cross-Hairs

This regime shreds governing norms and flouts the rule of law. It demonizes Muslims, terrorizes immigrants, is taking away fundamental rights of women and lgbtq people, is "taking off the gloves" towards people of color, and systematically taking away civil liberties and basic democratic rights. It scorns and squelches evidence-based thinking and ignores and welcomes global warming. Ominously, the regime is hammering into place a cabinet and cabal of torture specialists and war-mongers—ghouls who have no compunction about using nuclear weapons. With their gun-sights on Iran, the Mideast, and North Korea, this is the most dangerous time in 70 years.

Revolution Books is in the cross-hairs of this rising fascism. 10 times in the last 6 months our Berkeley store was assaulted by Trump-thumping, fascist thugs. On March 3, they threatened to burn the store down! PEN America has strongly condemned these attacks in an April 10 statement: "Political disagreements are one thing. Threatening to burn down a bookstore is another, and is unacceptable…Now more than ever, we need to recognize and cherish the right of bookstores to offer books with diverse points of view from across the political spectrum."

What historical memories does the burning of books evoke? Put differently, will we be asking ourselves two years, even one year, from now, "if we only knew then …" Indeed, this is a 1932 moment.

Books, Dialogue, and Debate about the World We Live In
and How We Can Change It. . .
Where You Discover and Can Engage the Liberatory New Communism Developed by Bob Avakian

It is no accident that Revolution Books galls these reactionary thugs. We are the political, intellectual, and cultural center of a movement for actual revolution to emancipate humanity. As RB spokesperson Andy Zee has said of the store: "We mean both words in our name: Revolution and Books. Not a marketing slogan, it is what we are and embodies for whom and for what we exist. This is a bookstore about the world, for a radically new world. A place that is guided by a radically new and emancipatory understanding of the first word of our name—REVOLUTION, as it has been reenvisioned in the new communism developed by the revolutionary leader Bob Avakian,"

RB is a space where you find an incredible selection of books: history, philosophy, science, literature of the African diaspora, and more. It hosts programs where Pulitzer Prize winners and scholars mix it up with people from around the block and from around the world. It has been a gathering center for discussion, debate, and resistance to the Trump-Pence fascist regime. It connects people to a revolution to change everything and to the work and leadership of its architect, Bob Avakian.

The Film That Analyzes How We Got Trump/Pence Regime and How to Stop It

In these dangerous times, you owe it to humanity and to your principles to check out the film of the talk by Bob Avakian The Trump-Pence Regime Must Go! In the Name of Humanity, We Refuse to Accept a Fascist America. A Better World IS Possible. Avakian shows how "it can happen" and is happening here. He goes deep into the roots of American fascism in the history of this country and the challenges facing the U.S. empire in the world today. He demonstrates how the Republican Party is not the party of Lincoln but has become the party of the Confederacy…in power now.

This regime is pushing forward with its agenda, but it has not fully consolidated its hold. In his talk, Avakian explains how this regime must and can be driven from power, and calls on people to get involved with Refuse Fascism—you'll meet them here at the World Voices Festival—and join in the great cause to drive this regime from power.

If you're not as angry now as you were right after the election, if you were decrying "normalization" in 2017 but now pinning hopes on "blue waves" and mid-terms, you are scuttling the responsibility to know reality and act accordingly.

Getting to a World In Which Human Beings Can Flourish

And if you are serious about "reimagining" this world of horrors, again you owe it to humanity and to your principles to learn more about the new communism. It not only provides the understanding to confront the current crisis we are facing. It provides the scientific framework, the vision, and the strategy to make a revolution to overturn the system that produces a world of misery and gives rise to an American Hitler—and to get to a whole new world based on meeting the needs of the 7 billion on this planet…people collectively coming together to go to work on overcoming all the oppressive and exploitative divisions that exist today…in a society that gives flight to the imagination. All towards achieving a world in which human beings can truly flourish.

Supporting RB Is a Cause for All Who Care About the Future of Humanity

There are big stakes in whether Revolution Books is supported and survives. This bookstore is a bridge between the world as it is, and the world as it could be. Visit Revolution Books in Harlem and buy your books there. Contributions are urgently needed. You can make a one-time donation or become a monthly sustainer. Become part of the community of a vibrant bookstore that will not back down in the face of fascist threats and assaults, never losing sight of the potential for a radically different and better world.

 

Upcoming events at Revolution Books:

Tuesday, April 24, 7pm at Revolution Books
Andy Zee speaking on
Why Fascists Want to Burn Down Rev Books—and Why We Must Stand Together to Defend All Bookstores Under Attack in the Age of Trump!
Important statements from writers, publishers, and others featuring
a presentation and Q&A with Andy Zee, spokesperson for RB.

Saturday, April 28, at Revolution Books
12-5 pm—OPEN HOUSE: Books, conversation, refreshments
6pm—FILM SCREENING of a film of a talk by Bob Avakian
THE TRUMP/PENCE REGIME MUST GO! In the Name of Humanity,
We REFUSE To Accept a Fascist America,
A Better World IS Possible
and discussion with the Revolution Club.

Suggested donation for events $5-$10.
Events sponsored by the Revolution Books Educational Fund, a 501c3 registered in NYS. To obtain our financial reporting go to revbooksedfund.org.

 

Revolution Books
437 Malcolm X Blvd. @ 132nd St. Take #2/3 to 135th
Open 12 noon to 9pm, daily except closed Mondays
212-691-3345 -- www.revolutionbooksnyc.org -- @revbooksnyc