BY LAURA GARZA
Every day counts!
To meet the target of 1,950 new readers of the Militant, we have to sell another 716 subscriptions. To reach this goal, it will take maximum effort by each reader interested to help every day that remains until November 19, when the drive ends.
Supporters of the Militant in a number of cities picked up steam in the last week, with teams spending all day at campuses, work places, and on community sales. Six areas are now on or ahead of schedule, one more than last week.
In London, now on target for the first time, Militant distributors surged ahead with the help of socialist workers who took days off to hit campuses within a few hours drive of the city. Such special efforts in every area can bring us to the finish line with all the goals met.
In another encouraging sign, Militant supporters in a couple of areas raised some of their goals. In Boston they raised all their goals. In New York and Newark, after unexpected success in selling Perspectiva Mundial subscriptions, readers raised their local targets for the Spanish-language magazine just to keep up with the pace of actual sales.
We now have 63 percent of our goal for sales of Militant subscriptions, 78 percent of our goal of 525 Perpectiva Mundial subscriptions, and 53 percent of the target we set for selling 750 copies of the Marxist magazine New International.
These goals can be met with a day-by-day application of what we've done up to now: door-to-door sales, getting to political and community events, weeknight teams, weekend mobilizations, and special teams of several days with supporters taking off work or school to pitch in.
Jonathan Silberman reported from London that sales teams he was part of visited the University of Essex, University of Sussex, and the University of Kent. One universal question students asked was, "Are you coming back?" The team sold subscriptions to many international students, including a young Greek who also bought a copy of New International no. 10, with the article "Imperialism's March Toward Fascism and War," and the book The Truth About Yugoslavia.
At the University of Kent in Canterbury, students from a local Cuba Libre club were happy to see people who supported the Cuban revolution and the Militant's regular coverage on Cuba. Several subscribed. A table was also set up at a conference on Third World First. Going door-to-door on Sunday netted three more subscriptions.
Salt Lake City has fielded several teams to speak with coal miners in Arizona. Most recently, miners at Peabody's Black Mesa and Kayenta mines near Kayenta, Arizona, bought 25 single copies and 3 subscriptions to the Militant. At the P&M mine in New Mexico 22 copies and 2 subscriptions were sold. Both mines are on the Navajo Reservation. Due to a successful fight for affirmative action, the overwhelming majority of the miners are Navajos.
Jill Fein reported that miners were particularly interested in the articles on the national convention of the United Mine Workers of America and the demonstrations in California in defense of affirmative action. The team also sold a subscription to a rail worker at the Santa Fe yard in Gallup, New Mexico.
Supporters from New York City and Albany joined together over four days visiting the SUNY Albany campus and selling in the Black community. The team won 14 new readers to the Militant and 1 to Perspectiva Mundial. A debate on affirmative action had just been held on campus. Students gathered around the table to continue discussing the issue. Later that evening, four people attended a meeting to find out more about the Young Socialists.
In Miami, Young Socialists and other Militant distributors traveled to a community fair in Tampa, attended the Florida state convention of the National Organization for Women, and set up tables at several area campuses. They sold 17 Militant and 3 Perspectiva Mundial subscriptions, and 9 New Internationals in a week. They are now busy building a November 11 rally against the Klan in North Miami.
With this spirit, let's organize the maximum number of Militant readers every day for the next two weeks to make all the goals in full and on time.