The Militant(logo) 
    Vol.61/No.29           September 1, 1997 
 
 
`I Want To Buy That Militant'  

BY MAURICE WILLIAMS
"By the time the last discussions ended with UPS strikers checking out our book table, we had sold 57 copies of the Militant," reports Floyd Fowler, who participated in an August 14 rally organized by the Teamsters union in Atlanta. Militant supporters joined in rallies to back the UPS strikers across the country that week.

Participants at the Atlanta event bought three Pathfinder titles, including The Eastern Airlines Strike, The Great Labor Uprising of 1877, and Teamster Rebellion. Dan Fein, a Militant supporter who sold 34 copies at the demonstration said, "I just held up the paper among the packed crowd and people said, `I want that.' "

At a rally in Jersey City, New Jersey, socialists sold one subscription to a striker and 30 copies of the Militant to other participants. A few days later, socialists sold 24 Militants and 75 Pathfinder books at a Brooklyn rally protesting the brutal cop assault of Abner Louima.

"The Teamsters strike at UPS sparked more interest in the socialist press, as workers compared the Militant's coverage with the daily newspapers here," said Barry Fatland, a member of the United Transportation Union (UTU) in Los Angeles. He reported 13 people renewed their subscription to the Militant, including seven members of the International Association of Machinists (IAM) and the UTU. "We sent in two Perspectiva Mundial renewals; one from an IAM member, the other from a Teamster."

Martin Hill in London reports socialists there sold seven copies of the new Pathfinder pamphlet At the Side of Che Guevara, which includes two interviews with Harry Villegas and a copy of Pombo: A Man of Che's `Guerrilla' at a picket outside the Colombian embassy there August 19, protesting human rights abuses in Columbia.

Militant supporter Mike Fitzsimmons from Cleveland reported, "One of the renewals we've gotten so far is from a young woman who just moved to Yellow Springs, Ohio to attend Antioch College. She wanted to renew for a longer period (six months) this time so she could rely on the Militant coming to her through the school year."

To build on the momentum of sales over the last couple of weeks, the Militant is extending its renewal drive for one week, through August 31. This effort and the completion of the campaign to sell the new titles from Pathfinder Press will launch the sales effort to win new readers to the socialist press. That eight-week campaign will begin August 30 and end October 26. Youth At Festival Snap Up Pathfinder Titles BY ESTELLE DEBATES

HAVANA, Cuba - Hundreds of participants in the 14th World Festival of Youth and Students returned home with books and pamphlets published by Pathfinder Press. Members of the Socialist Workers Party from the United States, the Communist League of Canada, and Young Socialists from both countries were among the delegates who staffed a table at the regional club of the Americas, selling nearly 500 books and pamphlets there.

Members of the Movement or Landless Rural Workers (MST) of Brazil and dozens of other groups had their own literature tables at the club of the Americas, which was a center for informal political discussion and debate. Young Socialists collaborated with MST members to distribute literature asking for support in the defense campaign of MST leader José Rainha, who has been framed-up by the police in Brazil for his involvement in the fight for land.

Best sellers at the Pathfinder table were the newly released Pombo: A Man of Che's `Guerrilla' by Harry Villegas, with 20 copies sold; the pamphlet At the Side of Che Guevara: Interviews with Harry Villegas (Pombo) with 39 copies sold in English and Spanish; and The Changing Face of U.S. Politics: Working-Class Politics and the Trade Unions with 20 copies sold in English and Spanish. Books by Malcolm X in Spanish and French were among the most popular titles. Most books and pamphlets by or about Ernesto Che Guevara were snapped up quickly.

Delegates from Australia and New Zealand set up similar literature displays at the Asia and Oceania regional club and delegates from Britain, Iceland, and Sweden sold Pathfinder books at the Europe regional club.

Another 200 books and pamphlets, and dozens of copies of the Militant and Perspectiva Mundial, were sold by Young Socialists and other delegates, who had knapsacks full of revolutionary literature, on the way to and back from Cuba. Tom Alter, from Des Moines, Iowa, sold over 20 titles this way. "I concentrated on promoting The Changing Face of U.S. Politics and the new book by Villegas," said Alter. "But the political discussions led to sales of a range of titles. On two occasions I sold Fascism What It Is and How to Fight It by Leon Trotsky, both times to delegates from East Germany who were involved in protests against rightist attacks in that country." Alter also sold out the five copies he brought of the YS Organizer, as he discussed the political perspectives of the YS with delegates from around the world.

Heather Wood, a new YS member from Minneapolis, concentrated on sales to members of the delegation of nearly 50 youth from Minnesota. "Among the most popular titles," said Wood, "were To Speak the Truth with speeches by Fidel Castro and Che Guevara and Malcolm X Talks to Young People." Wood said as she got into debates about what caused the break up of the Soviet Union and other issues, she became more interested in reading several of the books.

Several delegates sold copies of the Marxist magazine New International during heated political discussions. Rafik Benali from France sold 51 Pathfinder titles and copies of the magazine, mostly during breaks at festival sessions. "I sold 21 copies of Nouvelle Internationale [the French- language sister publication of New International]," he said. "The Haitian delegates bought the most, but I also sold to others from Malawi, France, and elsewhere."

Several U.S. delegates related discussions with youth from Nicaragua, many of whom were active in recent protests against attacks on education in that country.  
 
 
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