Revolutionary Communist Party, USA

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Revolutionary Communist Party, USA
Chairman Bob Avakian
Founded1975
Headquarters Chicago, Illinois
Ideology New Communism Marxism-Leninism-Maoism
Political position Far-left
International affiliationNone (formerly the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement)
Website
www.revcom.us OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg

The Revolutionary Communist Party, USA (also known as RCP, The Revcoms, or Revcom) is a new communist party in the United States founded in 1975 and led by its chairman, Bob Avakian. The party organizes for a revolution to overthrow the system of capitalism and replace it with a socialist state, with the final aim of world communism. [1] The RCP is frequently described as a cult around Avakian. [2] [3] [4]

Contents

History

Bay Area Revolutionary Union

In early 1968, Avakian, Leibel Bergman, H. Bruce Franklin, Stephen Charles Hamilton and a score or so others—comprising both veterans of the Communist Party USA and Bay Area radicals based in Palo Alto, Berkeley, and San Francisco, formed the Bay Area Revolutionary Union (BARU). Among the BARU's first tasks was to challenge the Maoist Progressive Labor Party (PLP) over its positions on the Black Panther Party, the Chinese Cultural Revolution and the direction of Maoism. The early RU joined with the Revolutionary Youth Movement faction in the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) in opposing PLP's role in SDS at its national convention in Chicago in 1969. The resulting split led to PLP controlling the SDS name, while RYM split into two factions. [5]

The RU organized on a revolutionary anti-revisionist Marxist–Leninist and Maoist party line, with emphasis on the Black liberation struggle and the liberation of all colonized peoples in and outside the United States. This political philosophy was elaborated in the 1969 pamphlet The Red Papers (later known as Red Papers I, after subsequent publications). [6] [7]

In 1971, Franklin led a more militant faction of BARU out of the organization to join Venceremos. The RU continued to expand, uniting collectives [8] across the country and becoming a national organization with the long-term goal to form a new communist party. The new nationwide structure induced BARU to change its name to simply the Revolutionary Union (RU). Avakian was elected to the central committee of the RU shortly thereafter. The RCP claims that of the various groups coming out of SDS, it was the first to seriously attempt to develop itself at the theoretical level, with the publication of Red Papers 1. [9] In 1974, RU started publication of its newspaper Revolution (renamed Revolutionary Worker, and adopting a weekly format in 1979).

In 1973, the anti-war group Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW) entered into reforms after the end of the Vietnam War, including an explicitly anti-imperialist stance and opening its membership to civilians. During this period, the RU became a popular faction within the VVAW, and RU members gained influential positions in the VVAW, including in the national council. [10] This reached its peak in 1975, when the RU-controlled national office voted to remove members, expel chapters and place the organization into ideological uniformity. [11] They later voted to dissolve themselves into the Revolutionary Union.

A reconstituted group of non-Marxist members of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War filed and won a lawsuit prohibiting the RU-dominated group from using the VVAW name, logos and materials. [12] Deep animosity persists between the two organizations. [10] The RU organization was renamed Vietnam Veterans Against the War Anti-Imperialist (VVAW-AI).

Formation

Bob Avakian, c. 1980 Bob Avakian.jpg
Bob Avakian, c. 1980

In September 1975, after the integration of the Revolutionary Union's faction of the VVAW, RU reconstituted itself as the Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP). [13] After the death of Mao in 1976, the RCP split, with about 40% of its membership leaving, over which position to take in relation to the new Chinese leadership. Avakian led the majority of the party that rejected what it analyzed as a counterrevolutionary coup against Mao's allies. After this split, Avakian wrote and published the book Mao Tsetung's Immortal Contributions, [14] which summarizes the developments of Maoism.

1978 RCP poster commemorating Mao's legacy and denouncing Deng Xiaoping's reforms. Mao Tse-Tung Memorial Meetings Poster.jpg
1978 RCP poster commemorating Mao's legacy and denouncing Deng Xiaoping's reforms.

In January 1979, Avakian and 78 other Party members and supporters were arrested and charged with various crimes in connection to a militant protest against Deng Xiaoping's visit to the White House. Seventeen demonstrators, including Avakian, were charged with multiple felonies that carried a combined sentence of up to 241 years. [15] After the RCP and its supporters waged a mass campaign for political, legal, and other support for the defendants, the charges were dropped in 1982, by which time Party leadership had decided to go into exile, with Avakian applying for political asylum in France, where he remained for many years.

1980s–2000s

The RCP organized May Day 1980 rallies in 16 cities across the U.S., including Los Angeles, New York, Portland, Seattle, and Washington, D.C. [16] Weeks before the May Day demonstrations, RCP member Damian Garcia and two others climbed the Alamo, tearing down the American flag from its pole, and raising the Red Flag in its place before being arrested. Shortly thereafter, on April 22, Garcia was stabbed to death [17] while organizing in a Los Angeles housing project. At the time, police said that Garcia's murderer was gang-affiliated, while RCP insisted that he had been assassinated by the state in retaliation for his action at the Alamo. Avakian remarked in his memoir that Garcia's murder was "very clearly tied in with police agents ... it was an attack on our Party." [18]

In 1984 Avakian and other members of the RCP co-founded the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement (RIM), a now-defunct international grouping of Maoist parties, which were united by a founding declaration upholding Marxism-Leninism-Maoism. Other participating parties in RIM included the Communist Party of Peru (Shining Path), the Union of Iranian Communists (Sarbedaran), and the Revolutionary Communist Group of Colombia. RIM published and distributed the magazine and news service A World to Win from 1981 to 2006. Since RIM's dissolution in the 2000s, the publication is updated only on its website. In 2017, A World to Win was restructured as "a more thorough-going tool for revolution based on Bob Avakian's new synthesis of communism." [19]

Flag-burning by RCP members led to the Texas v. Johnson case, which established the burning of the American flag as a constitutionally protected right.[ citation needed ]

2010s

In 2011, RCP spokesperson Carl Dix and Cornel West co-initiated the campaigns to Stop "Stop and Frisk" and Stop Mass Incarceration. [20] [21] Dix and West appeared on Democracy Now! to discuss the state of Black America in the age of Obama. [22] RCP organized Rise Up October against racism and police brutality; attendees included Quentin Tarantino. [23]

In July 2016, mass protest and police arrests erupted over a flag-burning by the RCP outside the Republican National Convention before a crowd of thousands. [24] [25] The next week, the RCP staged another flag burning outside the Democratic National Convention after denouncing the United States. [26] Later that year, in response to Donald Trump's tweet calling for the criminalization of flag burning, RCP supporters burned another American flag outside the Trump International Hotel in New York City. [27]

In October 2016, RCP supporters were banned from the University of Chicago for trespassing after encouraging students to get organized with the revolutionaries, with one activist arrested by police; [28] the next day, they returned to defy the ban, while denouncing U.S. elections and America. [29] [ better source needed ]

In August 2016, the RCP led protesters in a two-day march on a barricaded police station after the fatal shooting of a black man by Milwaukee police; [30] the police chief said the RCP had incited violence toward police. [31]

RCP supporters at an immigration rights march in Chicago, 2019. Revcoms-at-immigration-march-Chicago-2019.jpg
RCP supporters at an immigration rights march in Chicago, 2019.

RCP members handed out fliers outside the San Diego Levi's Stadium in support of Colin Kaepernick and NFL protests of the U.S. national anthem. [32]

In December 2016, in response to the election of Donald Trump, the RCP helped initiate and lead the ad-hoc coalition Refuse Fascism, which had as its goal the prevention of Trump's inauguration through mass political protest and civil disobedience. After the inauguration, the organization adjusted to a mission of launching sustained mass protests aimed at forcing the removal of the Trump administration before the scheduled election of 2020.[ citation needed ]

In July 2018, Refuse Fascism and RCP organized 100 handmaids to protest U.S. Vice President Mike Pence in New York City, saying "[he] is a Christian fascist theocrat for whom the handmaid's tale is a model." [33] [ original research? ]

In October 2018, the RCP organized a demonstration in Chicago's Daley Plaza on the 23rd Annual "National Day of Protest to STOP Police Brutality," in response to the police murder of Laquan McDonald and other black youth. [34] [35]

During the Q&A at a February 2019 event at USC, RCP supporters sparked controversy after criticizing speaker Amanda Nguyen's work in the U.S. government during the War on Terror. [36] [ better source needed ]

In March 2019, police detained a Revolution Newspaper correspondent on the anniversary of the police shooting of Stephon Clark, after the correspondent got into an argument with Al Sharpton while urging attendees to organize for revolution rather than political reforms. [37]

On International Women's Day 2019, the Revolution Club joined supporters of the Communist Party of Iran (Marxist–Leninist–Maoist), to march through Westwood, California, calling for universal women's rights. [38] [ better source needed ]

On Independence Day 2019, the RCP staged flag burnings at the U.S.–Mexico border and the White House, the latter being a demonstration against the "Salute to America" military parade, which resulted in two RCP supporters being attacked by the Proud Boys and arrested by Secret Service officers. [39] [40]

Political ideology

The RCP originated as a Maoist political organization with roots in the New Left of the 1970s. [41] In the 1990s, its political ideology was Marxism–Leninism–Maoism. [42] Today, the framework for its political ideology is Avakian's "New Synthesis" (or "New Communism"), which it sees as an advancement of revolutionary theory; this has been debated among Maoists internationally, most of whom do not take it seriously. [43] [44] The RCP is atheist and claim to stress the scientific method. [45]

RCP leadership says "the system cannot be reformed, it must be overthrown," [46] and does not participate in charity or elections, [47] instead organizing for total revolution, [48] to replace the capitalist system with a socialist system aiming for communism worldwide. [49] Its goal is not to "make America socialist" but instead "a world without America and everything it stands for." [50]

RCP posters in Cleveland, 2023. Spanish language Revolutionary Communist Party, USA Posters in Cleveland, Ohio.jpg
RCP posters in Cleveland, 2023.

Since the 2000s, Avakian's "new communism" is the RCP's ideological framework, [51] which it considers a scientific advancement of Marxism–Leninism–Maoism. Before that, the party was a founding member of the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement.

Cult of personality

The RCP began developing a cult of personality around Avakian as part of the 1979 pivot catalyzed by the Deng Xiaoping protest trial. The goal was to both increase support for Avakian in the legal arena while also making RCP a more revolutionary organization, inspired by Joseph Stalin's cult of personality, Mao Zedong's cult of personality, and the more recent Free Huey! campaign in which Avakian had participated. Relying on the theory of Georgy Plekhanov and framing the development of a cult as a scientific organizational strategy, Avakian was put forward as a larger-than-life figure to revitalize the group. [52]

Members of both the left and the broader public often see the RCP as a small cult around Avakian. This perception was noted in The Indypendent in 2014, [53] Harper's in 2016, [54] Mic in 2017, [55] and Vice magazine in 2022. [56] Members and groups on the left, in organized labor, and in protest movements have called RCP a cult. In 2016, former USLAW national coordinator Michael Eisenscher called RCP primarily "a cult around Avakian". [54] In June 2022, a coalition of 23 abortion rights, feminist, and mutual-aid groups released a statement denouncing RCP and the affiliated organization Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights, including a description of RCP as a cult. [56] [57] [58]

RCP members celebrate the organization as a cult of personality around Avakian. [59] [60] [54] RCP publications say that the RCP and Avakian have encouraged controversy and serious debate over their views and a wide range of issues, engaging in numerous debates and polemics, while also taking a strong stand against destructive allegations in place of principled dialogue and building unity for what they term "the emancipation of humanity". [61] [62] [63] [64] [ non-primary source needed ]

LGBT issues

In the 1970s and 1980s, the RCP called homosexuality "petty bourgeois" and prohibited LGBT people from joining the party. [65] [66] [67] This outlook coexisted with a public line against gay-bashing and attacks on homosexuals by religious bigots and fundamentalists, and was consistent with numerous groups of the New Communist movement and the broader Marxist–Leninist movement of the period. [68] The party's policy against homosexuality ended in 2001. [69] The RCP platform now demands full recognition of LGBT rights as a fundamental element of establishing socialism. [70]

Activities

The RCP releases daily updates online and a periodic print edition of its weekly newspaper, Revolution (formerly called Revolutionary Worker, 1979–2005), in English and Spanish.

In December 2016, party members and others co-initiated Refuse Fascism, a coalition group aiming to "drive out" the Trump administration through sustained street protests. [71] InfoWars and other far-right conspiracy theory websites claimed the RCP and Refuse Fascism were organizing a military overthrow of the government on November 4, 2017. [72] Several nationwide anti-Trump protest marches were organized for that day, numbering in the thousands. [73] [74]

Refuse Fascism protesters were arrested in September 2017 after blocking four lanes of the 101 Freeway in Los Angeles during rush hour, to "sound the alarm about fascism." [75] [76]

RCP supporters Michael Slate and Sunsara Taylor have regularly aired shows on radio networks KPFK [77] and WBAI, [78] respectively, where they discuss news and politics with guests.

Revolution Books

RCP branches opened Revolution Books stores in major U.S. cities and became a frequent presence in protest movements. [47]

Prison outreach

The RCP runs the Prisoners Revolutionary Literature Fund, [79] which sends its newspaper and other political works from its publishing press to prisoners. [80] The fund states that its aim is to provide "an educational opportunity for prisoners to engage with world events and key political, cultural, and philosophical questions from a unique communistic perspective, including discussions of morality, religion, science, and the arts centered around a positive socialist-light." [81]

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References

  1. ↑ USA, Revolutionary Communist Party (2010). Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America: (Draft Proposal). R C P Publications. ISBN   9780898510072.
  2. ↑ Keizer, Garret. "Left of Bernie". Harper´s Magazine. Retrieved September 24, 2023.
  3. ↑ "On Choice, Revolution, and a "Rare, Special, Unique" Cult". Counterpunch. August 12, 2022. Retrieved January 22, 2024.
  4. ↑ "Abortion Rights Activists Call New Group Leading Protests A Front For A Far-Left Cult". The Intercept. July 14, 2022. Retrieved January 22, 2024.
  5. ↑ Leonard & Gallagher 2015 , pp. Chapters 1–2
  6. ↑ Leonard, Aaron J.; Gallagher, Conor A. (2014). Heavy Radicals: The FBI's War on America's Maoists. Winchester: Zero Books. pp. 10–34.
  7. ↑ Elbaum 2002, pp. 95–99.
  8. ↑ "Bob Avakian (BA)—Official Biography—Part 1: Formative Experiences, Critical Junctures, Decisive Leadership". revcom.us. Retrieved August 19, 2018.
  9. ↑ "Red Papers 1". Originally published by the Bay Area Revolutionary Union, now available online thanks to Marxists.org's Encyclopedia of Anti-Revisionism On-Line project. Spring 1969.
  10. 1 2 Andrew E. Hunt. The Turning: A History of Vietnam Veterans Against the War, New York University Press, 1999, p. 188
  11. ↑ Elbaum 2002 , pp. 192–193: ...in April 1975 the RU- controlled national office moved decisively to assert full control over the organization it expelled a number of chapters, drove out scores of individuals and then imposed programmatic uniformity on those members who remains. Within a very few months, VVAW/WSI declined to a small core of RU cadre and close supporters."
  12. ↑ "VVAW Official Website – Court Order" . Retrieved March 22, 2007.
  13. ↑ Elbaum 2002 , pp.  191 –193: "It [the RU] convened a congress in September 1975 that formally disbanded RU and founded the Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP)..."
  14. ↑ Avakian, Bob (1979). Mao Tsetung's Immortal Contributions - Amazon. RCP Publications. ISBN   0898510465.
  15. ↑ Avakian, Bob (1981). Bob Avakian Speaks on the Mao Tsetung Defendants Railroad and the Historic Battles Ahead. Chicago, IL: RCP Publications. p. 1. ISBN   0-89851-047-3.
  16. ↑ "MAY 1st 1980: REVOLUTIONARY WORKERS STORM HISTORY's STAGE" (PDF). Revolutionary Worker. May 5, 1980.
  17. ↑ "Los Angeles detective briefs reporters on Damian Garcia homicide". UCLA Film and Television Archive.
  18. ↑ Avakian, Bob (2005). From Ike to Mao and Beyond: My Journey from Mainstream America to Revolutionary Communist. Insight Press. p. 408. ISBN   978-0976023623.
  19. ↑ "Editorial Introducing a transformed AWTWNS". A World to Win News Service.
  20. ↑ "Activists Cornel West And Carl Dix Hold Mass Incarceration Dialogue In N.Y.C." May 21, 2013. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
  21. ↑ "Carl Dix Talks Ending Police Brutality, Marching With Cornel West & Shutting 'Em Down". AllHipHop.com. Archived from the original on July 2, 2019. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
  22. ↑ "Cornel West and Carl Dix on Race and Politics in the Age of Obama". Democracy Now!. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
  23. ↑ Elerick, George (November 18, 2015). "An Interview With Carl Dix On: Racism, Police Brutality, Ferguson & Rise Up October". HuffPost. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
  24. ↑ "Cleveland police arrest protesters after flag burning outside RNC". PBS. July 20, 2016. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
  25. ↑ "Watch Protest Erupt Over Flag-Burning Outside GOP Convention". Time. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
  26. ↑ Redford, Patrick (July 28, 2016). "Communists' DNC Flag-Burning Interrupted By DeSean Jackson Fanboy". Deadspin. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
  27. ↑ "People Burn The Flag Outside Trump Hotel To Protest His Latest Tweet". November 30, 2016. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
  28. ↑ "Video: Communist Protester Arrested After Standing on Table in Dining Hall". Chicagomaroon.com. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
  29. ↑ "Communist Returns to Campus After Arrest, Ban". Chicago Maroon. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
  30. ↑ Briscoe, Tony. "Chicago-based RevCom downplays Milwaukee role, calls protest 'righteous'". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
  31. ↑ "Milwaukee police chief blames Chicago-based activists for violence toward police". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
  32. ↑ "Kaepernick And Reid Again Take Knee For Anthem". CBS Bay Area. September 12, 2016. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
  33. ↑ "'Handmaids' protest Mike Pence, Kirstjen Nielsen in Manhattan". ABC News. July 31, 2018. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
  34. ↑ "Rally to Stop Police Brutality". WGN Radio. October 22, 2018. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
  35. ↑ "October 22 Coalition to Stop Police Brutality still going after 23 years". Amsterdamnews.com. October 25, 2018. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
  36. ↑ Lazas, Maddie (February 14, 2019). "Visions and Voices event disrupted by RevCom". Daily Trojan. Retrieved September 23, 2019.
  37. ↑ Hector Amezcua (March 18, 2019). "New York activist detained after incident at Sharpton press conference". The Sacramento Bee. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
  38. ↑ "Revolution Club leads march through Westwood in support of universal women's rights". Daily Bruin. March 9, 2019. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
  39. ↑ "Trump supporters and communists in violent clashes after Fourth of July flag burning". The Independent. July 5, 2019. Retrieved September 23, 2019.
  40. ↑ Hermann, Peter; Demkovich, Laurel (July 5, 2019). "Activist at center of landmark case allowing flag burning faces charges after melee in front of White House". Washington Post. Retrieved July 3, 2020.
  41. ↑ "Important Struggles in Building the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA". Marxists.org. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
  42. ↑ "Our Ideology is Marxism-Leninism-Maoism". Revcom.us. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
  43. ↑ "Our rupture from the Communist (Maoist) Party of Afghanistan". cpimlm.com. Archived from the original on April 29, 2023. Retrieved May 22, 2019.
  44. ↑ "AGAINST AVAKIANISM : AJITH" (PDF). Jalands.org. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
  45. ↑ "Science and Revolution : Ardea Skybreak : 9780976023616". Bookdepository.com. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
  46. ↑ "Revolution Books Chicago". Chicagorevolutionbooks.blogspot.com. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
  47. 1 2 Eliot, Krissy (December 19, 2016). "The Struggle Continues: Checking in With Revolution Books". Cal Alumni Association. Archived from the original on January 26, 2017. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
  48. ↑ "Constitution of the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA". Bobavakian.net. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
  49. ↑ "Programme and Constitution of the Revolutionary Communist Party USA". Marxists.org. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
  50. ↑ "What's Really Going On: the RevCom Party Outlook". Chicago Maroon.
  51. ↑ "The New Synthesis of Communism: Six Resolutions of the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA". Indymedia UK. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
  52. ↑ Leonard & Gallagher 2015 , pp. 228–230
  53. ↑ Dock, Sam (November 21, 2014). "My Afternoon with Chairman Bob Avakian". The Indypendent .
  54. 1 2 3 Keizer, Garret (February 2016). "Left of Bernie: On stupidity and transcendence". Harper's Magazine. Vol. February 2016. What the R.C.P. has come to be best known for, however, is its unqualified veneration of Bob Avakian. He contends that the creation of a personality cult around his leadership was both deliberate and strategically desirable....Eisenscher does not hold the Revolutionary Communist Party in much esteem. He sees it primarily as 'a cult around Avakian.'
  55. ↑ Smith IV, Jack (November 2, 2017). "The far-right thinks a violent antifa overthrow is coming Nov. 4, but the truth is far stranger". Mic . The RCP is often referred to as a communist doomsday cult that is obsessed with Avakian, its mysterious leader, and hastens unto a final emancipation of humanity through a populist revolution.
  56. 1 2 Merlan, Anna (August 4, 2022). "The Abortion Rights Group Other Activists Want Nothing to Do With". Vice. Retrieved August 12, 2022.
  57. ↑ Mackey, Robert (July 14, 2022). "Abortion Rights Activists Call New Group Leading Protests a Front for a Far-Left Cult". The Intercept.
  58. ↑ "Statement Against RiseUp4AbortionRights" . Retrieved August 12, 2022.
  59. ↑ Saba, Paul (September 10, 1979). "Bob Avakian: Dangerous, yes, but not to capitalism". The Call– via Marxism.org.
  60. ↑ Oppenheimer, Mark (January 28, 2008). "How Maoists Are Like Scientologists". But, more important, both [Scientology and RCPUSA] are terrific latter-day examples of cults of personality.... And Avakian's supporters have been increasingly frank that they actually want a cult of personality around Bob Avakian (although they call it a 'cult of appreciation').
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  63. ↑ revcom.us (June 28, 2022). "Haters Who "Don't Want to Hear About BA" Are Telling On Themselves". revcom.us. Retrieved July 4, 2022.
  64. ↑ revcom.us (June 28, 2022). "BA: A Contended Question". revcom.us. Retrieved July 4, 2022.
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  67. ↑ Saba, Paul (November 1974). "Toward A Scientific Analysis of the Gay Question, RU Position Paper". Young Spartacus. Retrieved November 25, 2018– via Marxists.org.
  68. ↑ Elbaum 2002 , pp. 138–139: "The first wave of party builders also foundered in addressing the oppression of gay men and lesbians. Doctrinally, most of the movement simply ignored this issue, though the Guardian did decide by 1971 that it was appropriate to include opposition to discrimination against gays under the broad rubric of defending democratic rights. But whatever was formally said or not said, for the most part the movement's attitude toward homosexuality and the gay movement was decidedly negative. Fundamentally, most Marxists-Leninists shared the homophobia prevalent in society as a whole, and on the issue of gay rights they surrendered to prejudice instead of analyzing and opposing it."
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