[Frameworks] I'm a revolutionary

Wed Apr 13 14:30:04 UTC 2016

Gene,

I agree with your change. I put those words in quotes - the other
democratic candidate says that a lot. He doesn't go far enough in
describing the situation. But, it is refreshing to hear a presidential
candidate say that real change doesn't happen from the top down; it always
happens from the bottom up. I also realize electoral presidential politics
isn't revolutionary.

I used to teach at The Better Boys Foundation (BBF) in North Lawndale on
the west side of Chicago at 15th and Pulaski. I taught film and video there
for 5 years (2008-2012). That was the site that Fred started the Breakfast
for Children Program in Chicago with his Deputy Minister of Education,
Billy 'Che' Brooks. Billy was my colleague, friend, and supervisor for
those 5 years at BBF. In 2012, I screened Howard Alk and Mike Gray's *The
Murder of Fred Hampton*. By all accounts, it was the first time that film
screened publicly in that community. More than 100 people attended the
screening and stayed for a panel discussion with Billy, Jeff Haas, Flint
Taylor, and Bill Hampton. This was shortly after Flint Taylor led the
People's Law Office to convict that asshole, John Burge. At BBF, I
administered 7 other art and trade apprenticeships for teenagers in the
community. In 2011, we were worried that a new mayor would de-fund or pull
funding from Maggie Daley's After School Matters program which funded more
than half of our apprenticeships. I saw soon-to-be mayor Rahm Emanuel (Bye
Anita!) at a pizza place. I invited him to BBF to speak. We knew he was
going to win the election, so Billy and I wanted to make sure that funding
for after school programs would continue. He promised that it would and
that he would address it at the press conference he was holding there that
afternoon. Before the press conference, he came into my
office/classroom/studio. The place was decorated with posters that students
printed out: Fred Hampton, Hoop Dreams, The 400 Blows, Reservoir Dogs, and
Raging Bull among others. Guess which two posters Rahm praised... yep,
Reservoir Dogs and Raging Bull happen to he his favorite movies. He asked
me something like.. "your white, what can I do to fix race relations in
this city as mayor?" I said, you might start by publicly apologizing for
the assassination of Fred Hampton and commemorate Monroe St. as "Fred
Hampton Way." He said he didn't know a lot about it and he would read up on
it. We were interrupted by Billy and a group of board members.

I had some idea that he was going to be a terrible mayor. Who knew it was
going to be worse than little Daley and Boss Daley. Unbelievable corruption
and racism.

On Wed, Apr 13, 2016 at 9:53 AM, Gene Youngblood <atopia at comcast.net> wrote:

> Warren,
> Thanks so much for taking the time to do this. I appreciate it. Yesterday
> I bought the PBS documentary that Bryan Konefsky said the clip was from,
> but maybe Amy’s context makes it stronger. We’ll see.
>
> Naturally, I agree with your assessment of the situation. But since words
> tell us what we think, I suggest a slight modification of terminology: the
> system isn’t “broken,” it’s performing exactly as it’s structured to
> perform (“structural racism”). You fix something that’s broken (that’s
> called reform); you overthrow something that’s structurally incapable of
> transformation (that’s called revolution). To say “broken” is collaboration
> in our oppression.
>
> I was co-editor of the underground newspaper, the Los Angeles Free Press,
> when Hampton was assassinated. We published numerous articles about
> COINTELPRO (Counter Intelligence Program). Ever since the Snowden
> revelations and the NSA’s panoptic response, I’ve argued repeatedly that
> the NSA (aka, the predator state), has no choice: the digital condition
> means that, in the interest of social control, everyone is legitimately
> suspect. It’s COINTELPRO forever. That’s why I want the “I am a
> revolutionary” clip.
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Apr 12, 2016, at 11:35 PM, Warren Cockerham <warrencockerham at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> Dear Gene,
>
> I remember seeing that like a week or so ago - and like Jeff, I thought of
> Fred Hampton (assassinated by the Chicago Police by order of FBI's
> Cointelpro on 12/4/69). Very little has changed. The clip in question was
> on Democracy Now! on 3/31 during the headlines. A protester in Minneapolis
> was shouting "I am a Revolutionary!" to a crowd of hundreds also protesting
> the idiotic and now endemic decision to not charge the cops that murdered
> Jamar Clark
> <http://www.reuters.com/article/us-minnesota-police-idUSKCN0WW1L9>. "...
> a broken criminal justice system." Too broken. Broken enough to have
> another BPP for Self Defense. I think that Fred would be proud of Black
> Lives Matter... we need thousands of Fred Hamptons now.
>
> Amy Goodman covers this briefly during the headlines on 3/31 (
> http://www.democracynow.org/shows/2016/3/31). The story begins at 5:12
> and the quote in question begins at 5:49. I remember Amy's interview with
> Keith Ellison
> <http://www.democracynow.org/2015/11/25/us_rep_keith_ellison_demands_transparent>
> in the fall during the initial protests. Some stupid fucking cop pointed an
> assault rifle at Ellison's son! And here in New York City this weekend,
> we have the mayor and a presidential candidate making insensitive racial
> jokes like it's no big deal... and I'm not talking about Donald Trump. I
> hope these voters wake up and realize that these pigs are often not just
> gangs of cops anymore they are often the kinds of cops called 'super
> predators'... no conscience, no empathy... we can talk about why they ended
> up that way but first, we have to bring them to heel.
>
> - Warren
>
> On Tue, Apr 12, 2016 at 10:32 AM, Gene Youngblood <atopia at comcast.net>
> wrote:
>
>> Frameworkers,
>> I recently saw on Democracy Now (I think; the source really doesn’t
>> matter) an interstitial showing a protest demonstration with a
>> call-and-response where the speaker said “I am a revolutionary” over and
>> over,  and the crowd repeated it with him over and over. I vaguely recall
>> it was black and white, but it may not be. And I don’t know if it was a
>> recent event or not.
>>
>> I searched  the phrase on You Tube but only found interviews in which it
>> was used by individuals. Does anyone know the clip I’m talking about?
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>
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