"The Oppression of Black People,the Crimes of this System & the Need for Revolution"

From the holds of the slave ships to the locked-down penitentiaries and desperate street corners of today, the bitter oppression of Black people and the struggle against that oppression, has been central to the history and current -day reality of this society. But now, some claim that this is all a question of the distant past. Some go so far as to say that Barack Obama's presidency signals the "transcendence of race" in America. Others may acknowledge the desperate straits of the majority of Black people,only to then blame the masses themselves for this situation. And meanwhile, the grinding and horrific oppression of Black people continues. To take but one outrageous example, one in nine young Black men are locked down in prison-while crises like the collapse of the housing market and the new epidemic of homelessness hit hardest in minority communities. Clyde will speak about: The emancipation of humanity and the struggle for the liberation of Black people.From slavery through the struggles of the 1960's to the present-day reality of Black people in America...system...and the possibility ...of revolution. Clyde Young,of the Revolutionary Communist Party has spoken at college campuses,high schools,and community centers around the country. As a young man, Clyde spent many years behind bars in "correctional" institutions and became a revolutionary leader while in prison-leading prison rebellions and other political activity. He was influenced by revolutionary leaders and movements of the 1960's,including Malcolm X,George Jackson, the Black Panther Party, and especially,the Maoist revolution in China. Upon his release from prison, Clyde met Bob Avakian and recognized in him unique and special qualities as a leader and also an enormous sense of humor. Clyde's writings range from an essay on Martin Luther King and the Vietnam War to recent commentary on Bush's constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage entitled, "Biblical Morality,Slavery and Other Horrors",to a major analysis of demographic changes in the 1980's, "Since the '60's:Trends of Impoverishment,Oppression, and Class Polarization in the Black Nation." In 2008, exerpts of an interview with Clyde entitled "Down for Revolution",originally in the Revolutionary Worker, was published in the anthology Bandana Republic by Soft Skull Press.