Fuck The Troops: The Video [update]

We made the video shorter and faster for an enhanced ‘fuck the troops’ viewing experience.

Here for you now: Fuck the Troops v. 1.0

Also check out our pamphlet, also entitled Fuck The Troops.

Denver ZineFest

RAIM-Denver will be at the Denver Zinefest. This Saturday, May 31st, from 10AM to 6PM at the First Unitarian Church (1400 Lafayette)

Come by, check out our lit, grab a DVD and find out what we’re all about.

Memorial Day: RAIM Remembers

We at RAIM recognize the need to memorialize those who have died in the past. However, we are not having Barbecues to memorialize the pig soldiers of Imperialist Amerika. We will spend our time on memorial day mourning the billions of people murdered by United Snakes imperialism over its bloody existence, and remembering the heroic Men, Women and Children who died in the fight against it.

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Huey P. Newton: “In Defense of Self-Defense”

(In light of ongoing and continuing debates and discussion of nonviolence, and the principle of self-defense, we present an essay written by Huey P. Newton, founder of the Black Panther Party for Self Defense, the most influential revolutionary national liberation organization of recent times. The essay was overly optimistic in terms of the potential of revolution by the Black masses, as the U.$. has since this time bought off much of the Black nation into the labor aristocracy. Nevertheless, Newton gives an uncompromising statement for the right of self-defense of oppressed peoples, and shows the opposition to this is rooted in hypocrisy and white privilege by “progressives” who de-facto support the status quo. - RAIMD).

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"In Defense of Self-Defense" 

Huey P. Newton

June 20, 1967

Men were not created in order to obey laws. Laws are created to obey men. They are established by men and should serve men. The laws and rules which officials inflict upon poor people prevent them from functioning harmoniously in society.   There is no disagreement about this function of law in any circle the disagreement arises from the question of which men laws are to serve.  Such lawmakers ignore the fact that it is the duty of the poor and unrepresented to construct rules and laws that serve their interests better. Rewriting unjust laws is a basic human right and fundamental obligation.

Before 1776 America was a British colony. The British Government had certain laws and rules that the colonized Americans rejected as not being in their best interests. In spite of the British conviction that Americans had no right to establish their own laws to promote the general welfare of the people living here in America, the colonized immigrant felt he had no choice but to raise the gun to defend his welfare. Simultaneously he made certain laws to ensure his protection from external and internal aggressions, from other governments, and his own agencies. One such form of protection was the Declaration of Independence, which states: “. . . whenever any government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute a new government, laying its foundations on such principles and organizing its powers in such forms as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.”

Now these same colonized White people, these bondsmen, paupers, and thieves deny the colonized Black man not only the right to abolish this oppressive system, but to even speak of abolishing it. Having carried this madness and cruelty to the four corners of the earth, there is now universal rebellion against their continued rule and power. But as long as the wheels of the imperialistic war machine are turning, there is no country that can defeat this monster of the West. It is our belief that the Black people in America are the only people who can free the world, loosen the yoke of colonialism, and destroy the war machine. Black people who are within the machine can cause it to malfunction. They can, because of their intimacy with the mechanism, destroy the engine that is enslaving the world. America will not be able to fight every Black country in the world and fight a civil war at the same time. It is militarily impossible to do both of these things at once.

The slavery of Blacks in this country provides the oil for the machinery of war that America uses to enslave the peoples of the world. Without this oil the machinery cannot function. We are the driving shaft; we are in such a strategic position in this machinery that, once we become dislocated, the functioning of the remainder of the machinery breaks down.

Penned up in the ghettos of America, surrounded by his factories and all the physical components of his economic system, we have been made into “the wretched of the earth,” relegated to the position of spectators while the White racists run their international con game on the suffering peoples. We have been brainwashed to believe that we are powerless and that there is nothing we can do for ourselves to bring about a speedy liberation for our people. We have been taught that we must please our oppressors, that we are only ten percent of the population, and therefore must confine our tactics to categories calculated not to disturb the
sleep of our tormentors.

The power structure inflicts pain and brutality upon the peoples and then provides controlled outlets for the pain in ways least likely to upset them, or interfere with the process of exploitation. The people must repudiate the established channels as tricks and deceitful snares of the exploiting oppressors. The people must oppose everything the oppressor supports, and support everything that he opposes. If Black people go about their struggle for liberation in the way that the oppressor dictates and sponsors, then we will have degenerated to the level of groveling flunkies for the oppressor himself. When the oppressor makes a vicious attack against freedom-fighters because of the way that such freedom-fighters choose to go about their liberation, then we know we are moving in the direction of our liberation. The racist dog oppressors have no rights which oppressed Black people are bound to respect. As long as the racist dogs pollute the earth with the evil of their actions, they do not deserve any respect at all, and the “rules” of their game,
written in the people’s blood, are beneath contempt.

The oppressor must be harassed until his doom. He must have no peace by day or by night. The slaves have always outnumbered the slavemasters. The power of the oppressor rests upon the submission of the people. When Black people really unite and rise up in all their splendid millions, they will have the strength to smash injustice. We do not understand the power in our numbers. We are millions and millions of Black people scattered across the continent and throughout the Western Hemisphere. There are more Black people in America than the total population of many countries now enjoying full membership in the United Nations. They have power and their power is based primarily on the fact that they are organized and united with each other. They are recognized by the powers of the world.

We, with all our numbers, are recognized by no one. In fact, we do not even recognize our own selves. We are unaware of the potential power latent in our numbers. In 1967, in the midst of a hostile racist nation whose hidden racism is rising to the surface at a phenomenal speed, we are still so blind to our critical fight for our very survival that we are continuing to function in petty, futile ways. Divided, confused, fighting among ourselves, we are still in the elementary stage of throwing rocks, sticks, empty wine bottles and beer cans at racist police who lie in wait for a chance to murder unarmed Black people. The racist police have worked out a system for suppressing these spontaneous rebellions that flare up from the anger, frustration, and desperation of the masses of Black people. We can no longer afford the dubious luxury of the terrible casualties wantonly inflicted upon us by the police during these rebellions.

Black people must now move, from the grass roots up through the perfumed circles of the Black bourgeoisie, to seize by any means necessary a proportionate share of the power vested and collected in the structure of America. We must organize and unite to combat by long resistance the brutal force used against us daily. The power structure depends upon the use of force within retaliation. This is why they have made it a felony to teach guerrilla warfare. This is why they want the people unarmed.

The racist dog oppressors fear the armed people; they fear most of all Black people armed with weapons and the ideology of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense. An unarmed people are slaves or are subject to slavery at any given moment. If a government is not afraid of the people it will arm the people against foreign aggression. Black people are held captive in the midst of their oppressors. There is a world of difference between thirty million unarmed submissive Black people and thirty million Black people armed with freedom, guns, and the strategic methods of liberation.

When a mechanic wants to fix a broken-down car engine, he must have the necessary tools to do the job. When the people move for liberation they must have the basic tool of liberation: the gun. Only with the power of the gun can the Black masses halt the terror and brutality directed against them by the armed racist power structure; and in one sense only by the power of the gun can the whole world be transformed into the earthly paradise dreamed of by the people from time immemorial. One successful practitioner of the art and science of national liberation and self-defense, Brother Mao Tse-tung, put it this way: “We are advocates of the abolition of war, we do not want war; but war can only be abolished through war, and in order to get rid of the gun it is necessary to take up the gun.”

The blood, sweat, tears and suffering of Black people are the foundations of the wealth and power of the United States of America. We were forced to build America, and if forced to, we will tear it down. The immediate result of this destruction will be suffering and bloodshed. But the end result will be the perpetual peace for all mankind.

Immortal Technique: Third World

From his new album, dropping June 24th

Here is an excellent review from the Monkey Smashes Heaven blog:

reviewed by rwp (source:monkeysmashesheaven.wordpress.com)

Immortal Technique comes back blasting after a four-year hiatus. His new album/mixtape, The 3rd World, drops June 24th.

The latest single, which happens to be the title track, is pretty self-explanatory. One of the opening lines is “from where police brutality’s not half as nice, it makes the hood in Amerika look like paradise,” underscoring the stark contrast between the situation faced in the First-World and the Third-World. Tech describes the grim realities of the Third-World to his predominately-Western audience in jarring detail. He uses his place of birth as his frame of reference, prefixing lines with “where I’m from,” referring to Peru—his birthplace. He grew up in Harlem, New York.

It’s refreshing to hear something from Tech that doesn’t mention the Illuminati, George Bush or the word “faggot.” DJ Green Lantern’s cutting-edge production and Tech’s mesmerizing, lyrical wizardry combine to produce an agitational sucker punch. Musically, the track is in the top of its class. This will be a hit among hip-hop fans nationwide as Rock the Bells tour commences this summer.

There isn’t really anything negative to say about this particular track. Its calculated, tongue-in-cheek humor is impeccable and guaranteed to grab the attention of anyone within a listening distance. It’s very rare, if not unprecedented, that a rapper focuses his attention on the Third-World.

“Revolution will come where I’m from, the Third-World son” couldn’t be more correct. It is doubtful that Immortal Technique has a consistent, worked out view on the labor aristocracy, but, at times, his lyrics are internationalist. This is definitely a notch above the Amerika-first, chauvinist current in the Amerikan so-called left. For the same reasons, this song is a notch above Tech’s previous work.

Tech also addresses neo-colonial, comprador rulers in the Third World. Just because Third World states are led by non-Whites does not mean that Whites aren’t still pulling the strings. Third World states have nominal independence. In reality, they are controlled by imperialist capital:

“They might even have a Black president but he’s useless because he does not even control the economy, stupid.”

This is the best material from Immortal Technique yet.

Benefit for Big Mountain/Black Mesa Resistance

the Strength of the Earth
is my strength
the thoughts of the Earth
are my thoughts

-traditional Dine ‘song of the Earth Spirit’

Benefit will be held at the Mercury Cafe
2199 California Street
May 15th, 2008, Beginning at 9PM
Art raffle, free literature, and giveaway items included!

Hektor Munoz, Performance Artist
Sarah Morelli and gueass, traditional classical dance/music from North India
Zay and guests with World Percussion
The Asia Jazz Project
Poetry by Ted Vaca and Renee Fajardo
Raffled Art by Estevon Lucero and Eric “Elfego” Baca

Speakers include:

Elder Keith Johnson (Plingit-Alaska)
Antoinette Redwoman (Northern Cheyenne)
Glenn Morris (Prof. at UCD and AIM Activist)
Sarah Graves, member of the Villa Vilekulla collective speaking about her recent trip to Chiapas

Hosted by Big Mountain Friends and Supporters

ZAPATISTA play today

ZAPATISTA
Our word is our weapon!
¡Nuestra palabra es nuestra arma!

A bilingual play by Teatro Milagro

Thursday, May 1st, 1 PM
St. Cajetans
Auraria Campus

Sigma Lambda Beta International Fraternity Inc, in collaboration with Metro State Student Student Activities and The University of Colorado  - Denver are proud to present ZAPATISTA, the story of Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos and the Zapatista National Liberation Army.  This intriguing tale shares the struggles and successes of the man behind the mask who, in his fight for human rights, proves that the spoken word is a powerful implement for social change.  ZAPATISTA will perform for one day only in St Cajetans at 1 PM on the Auraria Campus.  For more information contact Jose Guardiola of the Sigma Lambda Beta’s at 720-629-2368.

From the mountains of Mexico’s southeast, a small band of Zapatistas made their first strike at the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve, 1994.  With the help of the Internet, news media and hundreds of international NGOs, their struggle still continues for indigenous rights, territorial rights, women’s rights, everything for every oppressed group that is willing to stand up for their beliefs.  “I am Mayan in San Cristobal, gay in San Francisco, black in South Africa — any human being in this world who is exploited, marginalized and oppressed, resisting and saying enough! ¡Ya basta!”

In this exciting new work, Gilberto Martin del Campo, noted actor from Mexico, plays the role of Marcos.  Omar Vargas, 8-year veteran of the Milagro troupe, plays the role of his principal Mayan cultural advisor, Don Antonio.  Jorge Madrid, from Honduras, plays the role of the Zapatista leader Comandante Tacho.  Dañel Malan, company Artistic Director, plays Comandante Ana Maria.  Milagro’s signature mural is designed and painted by Jesus Kobe from Oaxaca.