BY SARA LOBMAN
"I depend on Pathfinder books and the New International to get a scientific understanding of the world." That's how Huudu Yahaya explained why he spent every penny he could afford to buy four Pathfinder books and two issues of the Marxist magazine New International. Yahaya, from Accra, Ghana, met socialists from the United States who had set up a table with Pathfinder books and other literature at the Southern Africa-Cuba solidarity conference in Johannesburg, South Africa, October 6-8.
Yahaya said he had met Pathfinder supporters in Cuba a couple of years ago and bought some books. This time he purchased Lenin's Final Fight, Malcolm X: The Last Speeches, Dynamics of the Cuban Revolution, To Speak the Truth: Why Washington's `Cold War' against Cuba Doesn't End, and copies of New International nos. 9 and 10. He also subscribed to the Militant.
A few other people who had seen Pathfinder books before had a similar reaction to Yahaya. Derrick Moyo, for example, a member of the Cuba solidarity group FOCUS in Pretoria, had picked up several titles in the United States a year ago. This time he purchased five titles, most of them on Cuba, and renewed his subscription to the Militant.
Altogether, $375 worth of socialist literature was sold to many of the participants in the meeting, including 41 Pathfinder books and pamphlets and 10 copies of the New International. The best seller was To Speak the Truth with four copies sold. This book contains speeches by Fidel Castro and Ernesto Che Guevara. Eighteen of the 41 titles sold were on the Cuban revolution. Other popular sellers were Lenin's Final Fight, The Communist Manifesto, and books by Malcolm X.
A table featuring Pathfinder books and pamphlets attracted much interest at the Asian-Pacific Region Conference for Solidarity with Cuba in Calcutta, India, September 22-24.
Within two hours of it being set up, all the books by Leon Trotsky, a central leader of the Russian revolution, had been sold. Especially in demand were Trotsky's writings on the degeneration of the revolution, contained in The Revolution Betrayed and In Defense of Marxism. Several of those interested in the books explained that they were seeking to understand what is happening in politics since the collapse of the former Soviet Union.
Two union officials from Nepal combined their money to buy Teamster Rebellion. An Indian delegate involved in the bank workers union came by one day and purchased The Changing Face of U.S. Politics: Working-Class Politics and the Trade Unions. The next day he was back to discuss the contents of the book.
"The push to expose GW [George Washington University] students to socialism started off with a bang in September as the Pathfinder bookstore, a `center for books, discussion, and working class political activity' had its Grand Opening at a new location,' " began an article in the Authority, a newspaper at the Washington, D.C., university.
"Pathfinder carries revolutionary writings, including books about the Cuban revolution, the Russian revolution, and many books about or by revolutionary leaders, many of which express socialist ideals," the article notes.
Mary Martin, a member of the Socialist Workers Party who volunteers at the Pathfinder bookstore, explained to Authority correspondent Jeff Baxter that she often helps set up tables at the university that include Pathfinder books. "It's a way to get the truth out about the Cuban revolution, the South African revolution, the women's movement, and all these ideas are kept in print in the books that Pathfinder prints and distributes," she said.
A recent table on the campus, for example, staffed by Martin and several students, "showcase[d] a selection of books including In Defense of Socialism by Fidel Castro, several books by Malcolm X, The Communist Manifesto, Imperialism's March Towards Fascism and War, and pamphlets including Socialism and Man in Cuba."
Several GW students visited the new Pathfinder bookstore the night of the grand opening to participate in a Militant Labor Forum by the editor of Perspectiva Mundial, Martín Koppel, on "working-class resistance in Latin America," the article reports.
Argiris Malapanis, reporting from Johannesburg, South Africa, and Brigid Rotherham, reporting from Calcutta, India, contributed to this column. Rotherham is a member of the Meat Workers Union in Auckland, New Zealand.