In the New York Garment District, campaigners report they sold 10 subscriptions to the Militant in the first few days of the drive. "Six people bought Militant subscriptions at a literature table we set up at Columbia University one evening," said Olympia Newton, a member of the Young Socialists in New York. "We went there after getting a great response selling to people who were standing in line for the meeting where Fidel Castro was speaking, which is near Columbia. In the first hour two people bought Militant subscriptions there."

Newton said one worker at a grocery store in the area bought a Militant subscription together with the specially discounted Pathfinder pamphlet The Working Class and the Transformation of Learning: The Fraud of Education under Capitalism.

"He was very interested when I pointed out how the pamphlet approaches social questions from a class point of view, and told me about his experiences being harassed by the cops as a Black working-class youth."  
 
September 16 Palestinian rights rally
Also talking to the crowd waiting to hear the Cuban president were some young activists who were leafleting for the September 16 rally in Washington to defend the right to return for Palestinian refugees. Militant supporters have attended local planning meetings for the national demonstration as well as a teach-in at Columbia University. A number of newly politicized youth have been involved in these activities. The march and rally in Washington will be a good opportunity to meet a number of revolutionary-minded youth and others who will be thirsty for a publication like the Militant. Several busloads of demonstrators are going from New York as well as a number of other cities.

In Brooklyn, supporters of the socialist publications have sold 26 copies of the pamphlet, 4 Militant subscriptions, and 6 PM subscriptions. They took this literature to Farmingville, New York, where a reactionary move to pass anti-immigrant ordinances had been narrowly defeated on August 31.

The bill targeted immigrant day laborers who have to wait on street corners to be picked up by contractors to be taken to jobs in construction and landscaping. Opponents of that chauvinist campaign have continued to meet to discuss how to counter future attacks, and invited supporters of Perspectiva Mundial to future meetings.

"One worker explained that while he was studying to become a teacher in Mexico, he had been active in political organizing in the countryside," said Luis Madrid. "He added that he also faced repression there. He bought a subscription to Perspectiva Mundial, along with the new pamphlet and a copy of Che Guevara Talks to Young People in Spanish.

In Washington, D.C., campaigners have sold 5 Militant subscriptions and 25 copies of the pamphlet. "We sold two of the pamphlets at a protest around the fight to keep D.C. General Hospital open," said Janice Lynn.  
 
Pamphlet sells well
"We sold more than 30 copies of The Working Class and the Transformation of Learning, 6 Militant subs and 5 Perspectiva Mundial subscriptions," said Seth Galinsky, from the upper Manhattan area. "Selling the pamphlet has been easy--because it immediately poses important political questions--and it definitely helps sell subscriptions. One guy, a Dominican, bought a PM sub from me after buying the pamphlet."  
 
Target week
The Militant has set a special target week from September 30 through October 8 to plan an extra boost to the subscription campaign. Campaign supporters will organize to step up the pace of activities in that period.

Leading up to that week, supporters of the socialist press will plan out a week of daily sales, with extra teams--both to regular locations in the area as well as special teams in the broader region. Readers are urged to send in reports on their plans, as well as other news on the subscription campaign, for upcoming columns.

Next week the chart will show the results of the first full week of campaigning.  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home