Saturday, March 28, 2009

The Maison Norman Bethune: A New Maoist Bookstore in Montreal



The following announcement from the Revolutionary Communist Party (the on based in Quebec, not to be confused with the Avakian-led group in the united states!), regarding the opening of their new bookstore in Montreal. The original French is available in pdf here.

The Opening of the Maison Normal Bethune

The Political Information Bureau is anno the opening of the Maison Norman Bethune - unique in Canada, aiming to be both an information center and an organizing space to support the struggle for socialism and world revolution.

This project is especially important in the current situation, where capitalism is going through one of its worst crises and where more and more people are expressing renewed interest in struggling for a system based on the interests of the majority and workers' power.

Located in the heart of Montreal's Centre-Sud neighbourhood, the Maison Norman Bethune will make a variety of documents available to those interested: the classic works of Marx, Lenin and Mao, works on revolutionary history, publications from contemporary revolutionary organizations such as the Parti Communiste Revolutionnaire, books and texts about current events and socialism, and in all languages... In short, the Maison Norman Bethune aims to distribute all that can serve the revolution.

The Maison Norman Bethune also intends to be a space open to workers and revolutionary and anticapitalist militants who hunger for knowledge and wish to organize themselves to not simply stir up new hope for communism and revolution, but a concrete and immediate project to make them a reality. It is also the place to contact the Political Information Bureau and to learn about the positions and activities of the Revolutionary Communist Party.

For the moment, the Maison Norman Bethune is open Wednesday to Saturday (see below). Over the coming weeks, the team which runs it will work to expand and improve the collection of books and publications available. Regular activities (speakers, video nights, etc.) will also be organized, and a schedule will soon be announced.

The opening of the Maison Norman Bethune itself represents an important victory in the struggle against the propaganda of the bourgeoisie and the unitary vision that its acolytes have been trying to brainwash us with for so long now. It is up to us and us alone, workers and militants who wish to bring forward the liberatory voice of communism and to develop revolutionary action which will put an end to the capitalist system whose time is up, to make this a lively space and a tool in the service of the struggle of the proletariat and the oppressed masses in this country.

The Political Information Bureau calls on all revolutionary, progressive, and anti-imperialist militants to support the Maison Normal Bethune. You have books to give us? You know someone, a militant or former militant, who still has some "hidden treasures"? You want to contribute financially to this project or to offer a bit of time to help out? Let us know, and a militant from the Political Information Bureau will contact you right away to follow up on your proposal.

And most importantly, come and drop by the Maison Norman Bethune, and spread the word!

The Political Information Bureau


*************************************************
Maison NORMAN BETHUNE
Bookstore - Political Information Bureau
1918, rue Frontenac
Montréal (Qc) H2K 2Z1
(across the street from Frontenac metro)
514 563-1487

Opening Hours:
Wednesday: 12:30 - 6pm
Thursday: 12:30 9pm
Friday: 12:30 - 9pm
Saturday: 10:00am - 5pm
*************************************************



5 comments:

  1. Charles Gagnon would be (is?) proud!

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  2. Great. A new shrine to Mao and Lenin, two men directly responsible for the destruction of the respective revolutions that they siezed control of and the ensuing deaths of tens of millions of proletarians (see, for example, 'Hungry Ghosts: Mao's Secret Famine' by Jasper Becker. If the revolutionary left wishes to pull itself out of the pit in which it finds itself, it needs to stop praising the words and deeds of totalitarian state rulers and murderers.

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  3. Much more interesting than the dead thought of Mao and Lenin is the online video of a recent talk at the Dublin anarchist bookfair by Ashanti Alston, a former member of the Black Panther Party and a Black Liberation Army solider and prisoner. This can be found here: http://vimeo.com/3954733. Perhaps it's even worth a Sketchy Thoughts entry in itself?

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  4. Comrades, is this a pissing contest?
    "Their" tradition has "dead thought", "ours" has lively brilliance?
    Really!

    If i can get Ashanti's video to play (it seems to have no sound) i may put it up, but this kind of ideological tunnel vision is just plain silly.

    A new left-wing bookstore is good news, the implication that one should not ever read certain authors (or maybe should only buy their books at a chain like Chapters or Borders) just doesn't jibe with how i try to learn about things, and your assumption that the people running La Maison Norman Bethune will be as sectarian as you seem to be is incorrect.

    Disappointing, friends...

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  5. Great to see your book shop

    ReplyDelete