BY NAOMI CRAINE
Over the last 10 weeks, supporters of the socialist
press signed up 2,521 subscribers to the Militant and 583 to
the Spanish-language monthly Perspectiva Mundial. They also
sold 987 copies of the Marxist magazine New International.
While falling about 15 percent short of the international goals adopted at the beginning of the sales campaign, the numbers reflect some important accomplishments in reaching out to workers, young people, and others open to socialist ideas. Three thousand more people are now regular readers of the socialist press, and hundreds more are delving into the more in-depth articles in New International.
In the last week, 568 Militant subscriptions, 137 Perspectiva Mundial subs, and 166 copies of New International were sold - the most of any week of the campaign and nearly 20 percent of the total goal. Socialist workers and youth and other supporters of the Militant can draw some important lessons from this sales effort. Doing so will help us build on our successes so that we can carry out a more measured campaign next time and expand the essential base-readership of the Militant.
Distributors signed up new subscribers who are involved in a wide range of struggles. Militant supporters in Salt Lake City, Utah, for example, fielded several teams to coal- mining areas before, during, and after a walkout by miners near Window Rock, Arizona. In the most recent of a series of visits, they sold 60 singles and five subscriptions.
Rail workers and others in Wyoming, Colorado, and Nebraska bought 10 subscriptions from two rail workers who traveled through these states from Los Angeles and Seattle. Between that team and sales to co-workers on the job, 90 union rail workers bought Militant or Perspectiva Mundial subscriptions during the sales drive.
In New Zealand, a number of supporters of the fight for Maori land rights bought subscriptions.
Other subscriptions were sold to supporters of the fight for Irish self-determination at events in Ireland, Britain, and the United States. Two participants at the Saoirse national conference on political prisoners in Dublin June 3 signed up to get the Militant. One former republican prisoner explained she had seen the paper while in prison and wanted to keep reading it. The other new subscriber was drawn to the paper's regular coverage and defense of the Cuban revolution, as well as the reports on the new stage in the fight for Irish freedom.
Many of the new readers are attracted to Cuba's socialist revolution, or want to learn more about it. Militant supporters in many areas reported a lot of interest, especially among young people, both in reading the Militant and participating in the Cuba Lives international youth festival in Cuba. One college student in Georgia first met a Militant sales team, then had a couple of supporters over to watch a video on youth in Cuba. He decided to subscribe and is planning to go to the festival in August. A Young Socialist and another Militant supporter visited the student later, and he bought a couple of issues of New International.
The new subscriber lists are full of people like him who want to get involved in activities in defense of Cuba and against what the capitalist system has in store for working people around the world.
Consistent campaign effort is key
While these experiences showed there are many openings
to get a hearing for socialist views and sell subscriptions
and New Internationals, the sales campaign did not get off
the ground in most areas at the beginning, and sales became
too concentrated in the final weeks of the drive for
supporters to catch up and meet the overall goals.
The sales campaign in Los Angeles was one of the exceptions to this pattern. Supporters there hit the ground running, planning out their weeks to maximize sales opportunities. With some ups and downs, they stayed roughly on target for the entire 10-week effort and sold more subscriptions and New Internationals than anyone else. This kind of consistency is needed to meet the sales goals without a frantic and unsustainable blitz at the end.
Distributors internationally made an all-out effort in the last couple weeks to try to close the gap between what was sold and the goals, which made a real difference in coming as close as we did. Militant supporters in Atlanta proudly sent in a report detailing how they sold 23 Militant subs, 2 Perspectiva Mundial subs, and 13 copies of New International in 10 days in order to meet all their goals on time.
They participated in a march against a racist murder; fielded a team to Gainesville, Georgia, where immigration police have carried out raids against poultry workers; sold subscriptions to customers at the Pathfinder bookstore; spent many hours going door to door in working-class neighborhoods; and followed up with young people and workers who had earlier expressed interest in the paper.
Supporters in Birmingham, Alabama, made a similar come- back, selling 19 Militant subscriptions in the last week alone and almost making their goal.
Keep getting out the truth
A two-person sales team to New Brunswick, Canada, June 3-
6 sold seven Militant subscriptions and 34 single copies of
the paper. The supporters introduced the paper to workers at
factory gates, went door to door, and attended several
sessions of the convention of the New Brunswick Federation
of Labour. Among the new subscribers are two miners, two
paperworkers, and two workers who are on strike at the
Irving Oil refinery in St. John, New Brunswick.
The Militant supporters in Canada had many discussions with workers on the rise of rightist and fascist parties today. The right-wing Confederation of Regions Party became the official opposition following the last provincial election in New Brunswick. It calls for the elimination of government and social services in the French language and opposes affirmative action programs in hiring for Acadians, a French-speaking oppressed nationality in Atlantic Canada.
Supporters of the Militant attending the United Auto Workers international convention in Anaheim, California, also found opportunities to sell. Unionists there bought 4 Militant subscriptions, 54 single copies, and 2 copies of New International in the first three days of the gathering. A delegate from Aurora, Illinois, bought a copy of New International no. 10 with the article "Imperialism's March toward Fascism and War." She had seen it advertised in the Militant after her husband subscribed last winter.
These experiences and others during the subscription campaign make it clear that there are plenty of opportunities to continue getting out the socialist press.
We urge our readers to keep helping to get out the truth about working-class struggles around the world through the pages of the Militant, Perspectiva Mundial, and New International. Keep bringing these political tools into the mines, factories, and rail yards, and to workers in struggle, like those who will be participating in the June 25 solidarity rally in Decatur, Illinois. Bring them to young people attracted to the Cuban revolution and involved in protests against the death penalty, police brutality, attacks on education, and other fights.
These efforts will help put us in the best position to carry out a sustained and successful subscription campaign a few months down the road.
Pete Clifford in London, Linda Joyce in Atlanta, Roger Annis in Montreal, and John Staggs in Philadelphia contributed to this article.