The Militant(logo) 
    Vol.60/No.2           January 15, 1996 
 
 
Activists Protest Iowa Bookstore Burning  

BY BILL KALMAN
DES MOINES, Iowa - "Local Political Center Victim Of Arson" read the front-page headline of the December 28 Communicator. The newspaper is published five days a week and circulated primarily in the Black community in Des Moines and other cities in Iowa. Under the headline, the paper ran a photo showing the heavily damaged storefront.

"The Pathfinder Bookstore here was the victim of a serious arson attack in the early morning hours of December 18," the article by John Studer stated.

"The Pathfinder Bookstore has become a well-known political center in Des Moines," it said. "Two nights before the fire, the Militant Labor Forum, which holds weekly forums at the bookstore, had organized a panel discussion opposing the sending of U.S. troops to Bosnia.

"The Mark Curtis Defense Committee," which has its headquarters in the bookstore, the article continued, "sponsored a highly publicized meeting at a downtown hotel the night before the attack to celebrate the recent decision of the Iowa State Board of Parole to grant parole to Curtis. The meeting was covered by Des Moines channel 13, the local NBC affiliate."

"This cowardly act was clearly a politically motivated act, an attempt to intimidate those who organize to speak out against injustice and in defense of workers' rights," the article quoted bookstore manager John Cox saying.

Supporters of Pathfinder and democratic rights have been working to publicize the attack, put pressure on city authorities to investigate and catch those responsible, and to fix the bookstore up.

The local daily newspaper, the Des Moines Register, has carried minimal coverage of the campaign being waged by bookstore supporters against the book burners. The paper did not send a reporter to cover a December 19 press conference convened by bookstore volunteers and representatives of a number of other area groups who came to deplore the attack and call for police action. After materials from the meeting and press conference were faxed to the paper, the Register ran a small article quoting a police official saying the investigation into the fire was still open.

On December 23, volunteers gathered at the bookstore to begin to clean up and repair the damage from the arson attack. Members of the Socialist Workers Party and the Young Socialists, which have offices in the store; activists from the Mark Curtis Defense Committee; and others rolled up their sleeves to help in the clean-up effort.

Volunteers washed the bookstore windows, cleaned each book individually, wiped down the walls, placed odor- eating strips along the ceiling, wiped down all the office equipment, cleaned the furniture and bookshelves, and steam-cleaned the rug.

The next day - with a cooked ham, refreshments, and blinking holiday lights in the front window - bookstore supporters opened up shop for a combination open house and book sale. Supporters from across Iowa, Nebraska, and Illinois - ranging from IBP packinghouse workers to former Firestone strikers - stopped by to stand in support of democratic rights and the free exchange of political ideas.

After everyone ate, Shirley Peņa addressed the crowd on behalf of the bookstore. "The only insurance we have against future attacks is to keep the heat on the city to force them to conduct a thorough investigation to catch and prosecute those individuals responsible for this criminal attack," Peņa said.

"We are asking all supporters of democratic rights to send a message to Arthur Davis, mayor of Des Moines, demanding that the city act to send a clear message to book burners that their cowardly attack will not go unpunished," she said.

Peņa also publicly thanked the former Firestone striker who first notified bookstore volunteers of the fire after hearing about it over his police scanner. In appreciation, the bookstore presented the unionist with a 12-month Pathfinder Readers Club membership and a copy of the magazine New International.

In a demonstration of the way the bookstore is viewed as a political center by many beyond those who volunteer to staff it, one Guatemalan packinghouse worker from Perry, Iowa, thanked the Firestone striker for "saving our bookstore."

Peņa asked those in attendance to join in circulating a fact sheet on the attack, which is available in both Spanish and English. She announced a special campaign to raise $2,500 for clean-up and replacement of damaged stock.

Since the December 18 attack, the bookstore has taken in $170 in donations for repairs and stock and $603 from sales of smoke-damaged books.

Messages urging police action to catch and prosecute those responsible for the arson attack should be addressed to Mayor Arthur Davis, 400 East First Street, Des Moines, Iowa 50309.

 
 
 
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