MIM Notes No. 202      January 15, 2000

Meet the masses' basic needs, make revolution!

One of the particular accomplishments of the early Black Panther Party 
which the Maoist Internationalist Movement (MIM) strives to emulate is 
the Black Panther Party's revolutionary use of programs which served the 
immediate needs of the masses, such as the free breakfast for children 
programs or free medical clinics. Such independent institutions of the 
oppressed are vital to the struggle for liberation. They teach the masses 
how to organize and thus give a concrete example of the ability of the 
masses to manage their own affairs. The Black Panther Party openly used 
these programs to propagate revolutionary ideas. "We recognize that 
education is only relevant when it teaches the art of survival," they 
wrote of a summer school program they ran. "Our role in this society is 
to prepare ourselves and the masses for change."

MIM has established several programs to address the immediate needs of 
prisoners in the united $tates, the majority of whom come from oppressed 
nations. In Amerika, those who are most in need of revolutionary 
education have the least access to it. MIM's programs provide materials 
for political education and organizational tools to prisoners. We 
encourage all of those who think prisoners should have access to 
progressive literature to support these programs by donating books, 
money, and/or your time. We also encourage people who wish to see the 
basic desires and needs of the oppressed satisfied to join with us in the 
recognition that complete satisfaction can only come through anti-
imperialist and socialist revolution.