my black and brown comrades: all you have to do is read marx and lenin to see why the people telling you not to read marx and lenin are wrong at best, bad actors at worst

for instance, check out what lenin says here, from 'state and revolution":

"During the lifetime of great revolutionaries, the oppressing classes received their theories with the most furious hatred...After their death, they hallow their names...robbing the revolutionary theory of its substance, blunting its revolutionary edge and vulgarizing it" (Lenin)

does this not bring to mind the watered-down legacy of MLK? the transformation of Malcolm from serious political organizer and agitator into "general badass"? the racks of Che t-shirts at your local walmart? the erasure of nina simone's marxism, of angela davis's marxism?

you read marx & lenin & you don't see old white men. you see thomas sankara & bhagat singh. you see the black panthers. you see rural indians & chinese. you see argentina & haiti, strangled by the imf. you see the diamond mines of sierra leone, the rising waters in bangladesh

the people saying 'don't read marx & lenin' are afraid you will read marx & lenin & that their writings, ideas & political legacies will RESONATE WITH YOU as they have resonated with oppressed peoples throughout history & throughout the world

so--read them. you won't regret it.