The Reformer II

"The black revolution is much more than the struggle for the rights of Negroes. It is forcing America to face all its interrelated flaws - racism, poverty, militarism and materialism. It is exposing evils that are rooted deeply in the whole structure of society. It reveals systemic rather than superficial flaws and suggests that radical reconstruction of society itself is the real issue to be faced... White America must recognize that justice for black people cannot be achieved without radical change in the structure of our society. [...] For years I labored under the idea of reforming the existing institutions of the society, a little change here, a little change there... now I feel quite differently. I think you've got to have a reconstruction of the entire society, a revolution of values"

--Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

So the last time I attempted to comment on the difference between reform versus Revolution, some of you said "I still don't get it" and some of you said "i'm still reading your first post". It made me realize two things, I hadn't fully explained myself and two some of you mofo's can't read, three, I love you illiterate mofo's for attempting to read my posts(i promise to add pics or videos or maybe candy to this joint for my illiterate folks out there), four, a lot of what i said sounded a lot like King in one of his last essays "A testament of hope". That's right kiddies--King became a Revolutionary and a socialist later on in life when he realized all that reformism stuff was like banging your head on a brick wall.

So here's the difference. Reform is perfecting the system while Revolution is creating a whole new system. Revolution replaces the values and thereby the institutions of a given society. Reform does not question the values or underlying assumptions of a given society so it may produce change, but does not seek a radical alteration of society. It's the difference between a Party and a movement. It's the difference between reacting spontaneously to circumstances and being conscious of the reasons behind everything you do. It's the difference between instinct and reason.

It's this consciousness I tried to point to last time. Without a Revolutionary consciousness there is no Revolution. A lot of times we fall short and only reach a resistance consciousness--we know what we fighting against, but not necessarily what we're fighting for. I respect the civil rights movement, the decolonization movement, the anti-apartheid movement but don't call it a Revolution. A Revolution overturns system, it does not seek to become a part of. This doesn't happen spontaneously or overnight. And yes, there will be a violent phase, but the real work is transforming a resistance consciousness to a Revolutionary consciousness. It's not glamorous, it's not gonna get you a spot on the 7' o clock news. But, the day-in day-out battle of ideas is where the Revolution is won. That's the only way we get to the underlying root causes rather than just attacking symptoms.