BY BRIAN TAYLOR
In the final stretch of the 1999 Socialist Workers Party-
Building Fund, contributors sent in more than $19,000 - the
largest collection yet. With $57,005 in hand, supporters can
build on this momentum to collect the nearly $30,000 in
outstanding quotas pledged to bring the fund home well over
the initial $75,000 goal.
Supporters from the Boston blasted past their goal this week, sending in $2,295 - more than two-thirds of their quota. They now stand at $3,295, nearly $300 over. Half of that amount was raised at a May 29 meeting where socialist airline worker Mary Martin gave a talk that included her experiences on the picket lines with striking shipyard workers in Newport News, Virginia.
In Los Angeles, supporters collected $2,600 last week, putting them just shy of their goal. And they have organized a final meeting for June 12 where the editor of New International magazine, Mary-Alice Waters, will speak on 40 years of the Cuban revolution. Waters just returned from a Militant reporting team to Cuba that covered the celebrations of the May 1959 agrarian reform, a defining act of the Cuban revolution. Building this special event among workers, rural toilers, and others in the area should help put fund supporters in Los Angeles over the top.
In Washington, D.C., supporters held a particularly timely event hours after the demonstration there protesting the U.S.- led war on the people of Yugoslavia, June 5. Argiris Malapanis, who recently returned from a Militant reporting team in Yugoslavia, spoke to about 60 people, including a few who learned about the meeting from a flyer at the protest earlier that day. The event netted $1,795, including a few new contributions from these anti-imperialist protesters.
Fund committees in a couple of cities have raised their local goals. Atlanta fund supporters upped their goal from $3,000 to $3,400, "which we will certainly make!" read a short note sent by Floyd Fowler, a fund organizer there. Patrons of the fund in Detroit, who have been at the top of the chart for much of the campaign, raised their goal from $4,500 to $5,500. This is the spirit that will keep supporters collecting pledges and winning new contributions 'til the end.
At the June 5 fund meeting in Detroit, where Perspectiva Mundial editor Martín Koppel spoke on his recent reporting trip to Cuba, 17-year-old Young Socialists member Bill Schmitt made an appeal for the fund. He began by describing how U.S. imperialism's war in Yugoslavia has impacted a layer of youth who don't want to be drafted. "They talk about how you used to be able to run to Canada to escape a draft, but not anymore," he said, noting that Ottawa is participating in the NATO assault on Yugoslavia. "This just points to the fact that you gotta stand and fight imperialism, and you must have a combat party like the Socialist Workers Party to do it," Schmitt said. He spoke of more workers getting involved in battles and the party going to join them. "This is what attracted me," said Schmitt. As the party, together with the YS, field more teams to reach out to vanguard workers and farmers "this will take a bit of money," Schmitt concluded.
Houston supporters sent in $2,115 this week. Correspondent Jerry Freiwirth reported they held a panel discussion June 5 that including activists demanding justice Pedro Oregón, a Mexican immigrant killed by cops; locked-out Crown worker Dean Cook; Dave Ferguson, a socialist worker who has been leading teams to reach out to mine workers; and SWP leader Frank Forrestal.
Cook noted how he kept running into socialist workers armed with the Militant and Pathfinder books as he and other unionists join struggles. He explained these books are valuable to fighters trying to figure out why the bosses and the cops act against them.
Cook invited all interested to join him in a caravan to the August 5-7 Active Workers Conference (see page 11 for more information).
Supporters in almost every city are within striking distance of meeting the quotas they have adopted. Close attention to detail by local fund committees following through on collecting pledges will make or break the fund. The deadline for receiving all contributions is Tuesday, June 15, at noon.
Contributions can be sent to 410 West Street, New York, NY 10014. Please make checks and money orders payable to Socialist Workers Party.