Revolution Books' Grand Opening in Harlem is on November 15!
Hundreds
of people have donated $125,000 of the $160,000 needed to re-open and renovate the new Revolution Books,
including $30,000
was raised on this Indiegogo Campaign from 250 donors in August. This Campaign goal has been stretched to $65,000 total. Now is the
final push: this campaign will extend so that together, we raise the
remaining $35,000 to open the doors of Revolution Books, and gather
to celebrate on November 15.
Contribute today to take RB
to the finish line. These funds are essential for completion of the
ventilation system, signage, av equipment and more. You can still contribute here. Or go to the RB website. Great perks available both places.
Celebrate! Get tickets now at
revolutionbooksnyc.org for two extraordinary grand opening events
featuring the internationally renowned Kenyan writer, post-colonial
literary theorist and former political prisoner of conscience,
Ngũgĩ
wa Thiong’o, speaking on "The Book, Story and the
Conquest of Time and Space.”
Andy Zee,
Revolution Books’ spokesperson, will open with remarks on
“Revolution Books and the Emancipation of Humanity.”
2 pm on Nov. 15: the
first program at the new venue will feature Ngugi's talk, opened by
Andy Zee; then discussion. Tickets $30 general
admission; $10 students/unemployed/underemployed at revolutionbooksnyc.org
6:30pm on Nov. 15: a
special benefit dinner to continue raising the urgently needed
funds to complete the renovation of the new space and to forge a
community of people to support Revolution Books. Featuring Ngugi and
Andy with remarks and discussion. Tickets $75/$125/$250
at revolutionbooksnyc.org
Then the weekend of
Nov. 20-22 will be open house: featuring Friday night hosted by the
Revolution Club; music and spoken word by Burnt Sugar Arkestra and
friends on Saturday evening, a children's reading earlier in the day, and other special
events through the weekend. Watch at revolutionbooksnyc.org for
more details.
What will people find
at the new Revolution Books?
Books. Revolution Books will open bristling
with works of communist and revolutionary theory – and the best
cutting-edge fiction, science, Spanish-language books, children's
literature, and scholarship on the subjugation of Black, Latino and
Native people woven into America's DNA, the global war on women, our
planet imperiled from climate change. In short, the books that allow
people from all over the world and from the projects just blocks away
to understand why the world is a horror and how it can be radically
changed.
And people will find:
Films. Talks. Dialogue. An ethos of cooperative relations and
community. A movement for revolution and theory that guides it. And,
coffee. What makes RB unique? Nothing less than revolution – and a
scientific way to know and change the whole world, an approach that
goes hand in hand with a poetic spirit; a critical spirit of inquiry
and debate; the liberating joy of struggle and the seriousness of a
movement for an actual revolution that could at long last put an end
to all oppression and exploitation throughout the world.
The heartbeat of
Revolution Books is the leadership of Bob Avakian – the chair of
the Revolutionary Communist Party – concentrated in the new
synthesis of communism, a breakthrough in the science of revolution.
In a world crying out for fundamental change, this is a game changer.
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Bob Avakian and Cornel West in Dialogue on "Revolution and Religion: The
Role of Religion in the Emancipation of Humanity," co-produced by
Revolution Books at Riverside Church before a crowd of over 1900 people,
November 15, 2014.
The re-opening of
Revolution Books is cause for celebration, and it will be one hell of
a celebration! Join with students standing against injustice; people
from Harlem--literary and cultural folks, and people from the streets
and projects who raised money and worked on the renovation of RB;
critical thinkers and dreamers; downtown and out-of-town writers and
artists; people who care about the future of humanity and the planet.
The world needs revolution.
The revolution needs Revolution Books
Revolution Books needs you.
* * *
About Ngugi wa Thiong'o:
Ngugi wa Thiong'o is
beloved around the world for his path-breaking novels and plays that
paint an unsparing picture of life in neo-colonial Kenya where he was
raised. He's broken new ground in bringing the oppressed onto the
stage, and his outspoken resistance to imperialist culture is also
reflected in his innovative theoretical work on post-colonial
literature. In the late 70s, he began writing novels in Gikuya, his
mother tongue. The first of these, Devil on the Cross, was written in
prison on toilet paper. Ngugi's books have been translated into more
than 30 languages. He now lives in exile and is currently
Distinguished Professor of English and Comparative Literature and
founding director of the International Center for Writing &
Translation at the University of California, Irvine.
About Andy Zee:
Andy Zee is the
spokesperson for Revolution Books and is an advocate for the new
synthesis of communism developed by Bob Avakian. Andy Zee has hosted
conversations with Eve Ensler, Edwidge Danticat, Lewis Lapham, Walter
Mosley, Arturo O'Farrill, Wallace Shawn and many more. He co-directed
the film of the 2014 event, "Revolution and Religion: The Fight
for Emancipation and the Role of Religion, a Dialogue Between Cornel
West and Bob Avakian," at Riverside Church.
Excerpts of statements of support for Revolution Books
“I think what’s so
beautiful and wonderful about Revolution Books is that even when you
close your eyes and go to any of the shelves here and pick any one of
the books, it is likely that it will contain the kind of dreams that
Martin Carter was talking about when he said, ‘And so if you see me
looking in your hand, listening when you speak, marching in your
ranks, you must know, I do not sleep to dream, but dream to change
the world.’”
— Ngugi wa
Thiong'o
"…For more than 35 years, Revolution Books has been a place
where people from various backgrounds have gathered to obtain and swap
information about the challenging issues we face in our society, and what we
can do to make much needed changes. In September 2015, Revolution
Books plans to re-open in a new location in Harlem. And they urgently need your
support to re-open and to continue with the work they do with such conviction
and fierceness…"
— The Center for Black
Literature at Medgar Evers College
"It's not just a bookstore, it's a big, wide radical world inside
Revolution Books. It's a feast for the heart and mind. Together we must
make sure this place survives."
— Naomi Wallace, playwright
“The first time I walked into this bookstore I was about 15 years old. Where I lived,
around the corner police had shot down Amadou Diallo, on other side
Malcom Ferguson. I was hating the world, angry, not understanding why
any of this is happening, why we have to live this way, what my place
was in it is. And I found out there’s this bookstore downtown,
Revolution Books. I’d never seen a bookstore where I grew up… As
soon as I walk into the store the first thing I see is this pamphlet,
'Conquer the World' by Bob Avakian, and I said that’s me. People
said I’m crazy. And I say if you’re looking at all this and not
talking about taking over everything and doing something different,
then you are the one that’s crazy.”
— Noche Diaz, NYC
Revolution Club
“When you walk into Revolution Books … the books, the books! It’s
bright, there’s color everywhere. Even the air feels fresh. You can breathe. My
god, it’s a liberated area!
— from one of RB’s matching fund donors, “a still-crazy senior woman looking to a new world”
![]()
Saul Williams,
Daniel Watts. Jessica Care Moore, Faith Ringgold, Dr. Brenda Greene @ Ferguson
is Everywhere!, Revolution Books 12/5/14
The World Needs Revolution
The Revolution Needs
Revolution Books
Revolution Books Needs
You!
![]()
Revolution Books' new space at 437 Malcolm X Blvd./Lenox Ave. @ 132nd Street Harlem, NY. Founded in 1978, Revolution Books is a not-for-profit bookstore with an all-volunteer staff.
How we will use the money
The extended $35,000 is needed to:
-
Purchase new books stock in English and Spanish
-
Internal and External signage
-
Furnish the children's area
- Furnish the cafe
-
High quality AV equipment
-
Promote the new location
Other ways you can help
- Get the word out and make some noise about our campaign.
- Donate a perk or issue a challenge to match your gift.
-
Leave a statement of support.
Pick a perk and pitch In
Here are some of the Perks for supporting Revolution Books (full list in right hand column above).
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Both Harper Lee books, including "Go Set a Watchman," the controversial new hardback. $75
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"The Half Has Never Been Told" by Edward Baptist. $50 (sold out)
Red Star Pin, enamel, 3/4-in, donated by Peoples Pins, $25
Beautiful heavy-duty canvas Tote Bag, $50
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Revolution Books mug, $75
Signed by author Edwidge Danticat, $ 75 (sold out)
Poster from China's Cultural Revolution, laminated, $200 (sold out)
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Galley proof, "Untwine," young adult novel comes out Sep 2015, signed and donated by author, $100 (sold out)
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REALITY PACK: "Away with All Gods: Unchaining the Mind and Radically Changing the World" by Bob Avakian + "Atheist" t-shirt (state your size), $125
Signed CD: Arturo O'Farrill & Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra, $100
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"Walls of Freedom: Street Art of the Egyptian Revolution," by Don Stone Karl, Basma Hamdy. Hardcover – May 1, 2014.
Giant beautiful book, pictures on every page, detailed notes/essays on evolving street art movement which covered the walls (now almost entirely erased) during 3-year uprising in Egypt which began on January 25, 2011.
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"Robert & Mabel Williams" - two-color screen print on #Mohawk Paper 26" x 35.75" Donated and signed by the artist, Kyle Goen. $250
[Robert Williams was a civil rights activist and advocate of Black armed self-defense and revolutionary nationalism. He organized the NAACP chapter in Monroe, North Carolina into a militia that resisted KKK attacks. His 1962 book, "Negroes With Guns," had a big influence on the developing Black liberation struggle.]
"Fred Hampton (Double Image)" print, Kyle Goen, $250
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Rare historic poster from December 1988 Refuse & Resist! concert at the now-torn-down Palladium on 14th Street. Keith Haring designed the dancing fist logo especially for this concert featuring Sinead O'Connor, Soul Asylum and many more. Signed by Keith Haring. 28"x20"
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Cornel West portrait, 18 x 24″ Screen Print, 2009. Framed. Edition of 450. Rare. Artist Shepard Fairey collaborated with photographer Glen E. Friedman who took the photograph of Cornel West at first dialogue between Dr. West and Carl Dix. Donated to RB by Shepard Fairey and Glen E. Friedman, signed by the artists + Dr. West. $750
Rare original poster brought back by friends of RB from Cultural Revolution in China in the early 70s. Huge, 30"x40" $1200
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Screen print donated and signed by the artist, Dread Scott $1200
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1972 poster by Faith Ringgold. "The United States of Attica." Cut paper 22"x28". $3000. Donated and signed by the artist. This famous poster honored the prisoners who rose up at Attica Prison, and documents acts of violence and terror committed by the US government since its founding. Top center: "The United States of Attica, 1971, Founded by the American People on Sept. 13, 1971 at Attica Prison N.Y. where 42 men gave up their lives in an heroic struggle for freedom…" Bottom center: "This map of American violence is incomplete. Please write in whatever you find lacking."