Some who subscribed also took advantage of the special price of $1 offered by Pathfinder for The Working Class and the Transformation of Learning or Pathfinder was Born with the October Revolution. Both pamphlets complement the two publications, and using these valuable tools is an essential part of the circulation campaign.
So far we have sold 105 Militant subscriptions, 73 subscriptions to PM and 139 Pathfinder pamphlets, putting us slightly behind the pace in the circulation campaign. With a big push over the next week we can get on schedule.
Socialists from Cleveland, Detroit, and Newark traveled here over the weekend to continue to take part in discussions and protests against discrimination and police brutality in the city. We sold three Militant subscriptions; 51 copies of the paper; seven copies of the Working Class and the Transformation of Learning; the Communist Manifesto; February 1965: The Final Speeches by Malcolm X; and Playa Girón/Bay of Pigs: Washington's First Military Defeat in the Americas.
We received a very positive response to the Militant, especially the article on the protests in Cincinnati and the coverage on the Cuban Revolution. "You came at the right time," said Annette Brown, who lives in the Avondale section of the city, where a rebellion against police brutality took place in 1967. "There's going to be another uprising if they don't stop killing these Black youth," she remarked, expressing the opinion of several people we sold the Militant to.
Our sales team also went to Bond Hill, another predominantly Black working-class section of the city. This is an area where a number of workers at the huge General Electric plant live.
Before we started visiting people, we decided to make a shift in our sales approach, leading with the Transformation of Learning pamphlet and linking that with the Militant. We spent a couple of hours there, selling 10 papers, two Militant subscriptions, and seven copies of the pamphlet.
One Black worker, a member of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees who lives in the area, invited two of us into his home and almost immediately indicated he would buy a subscription and the pamphlet.
"What are you trying to accomplish?" he asked us. We pointed to the Cuban Revolution as an example for workers and farmers in the United States. While expressing some skepticism on communism, the Cuban Revolution, and whether a revolutionary leadership can be forged that can lead the U.S. working class to challenge the capitalist rulers for power, he said he appreciated us stopping by.
Participants in the circulation drive are planning another trip to Cincinnati next week.
Big sales at April 22 demonstration
Young Socialists members, socialist workers, and other supporters of the Militant participated in the April 22 national march for women's rights in Washington, where they sold more than 200 copies of the Militant, 16 Militant subscriptions, and four PM subs.
YS member Olympia Newton said a sales team she joined sold three Militant subscriptions. "We started by encouraging people to buy subscriptions, explaining why they would need to read it on a regular basis," said Newton. "We pointed to articles on the Cuban Revolution and how this is the only way to secure rights for women. One young woman from New Jersey responded, 'Oh, come on, do you really think that's possible?' When we said yes, she said, 'Those are some things I've been thinking about myself.' Then she asked, 'Are you guys Marxists?' When we said yes, she said, 'Okay, so what do I do?' and purchased a Militant subscription."
Stu Singer, a meat packer in Washington, D.C., who also participated in the march, wrote, "At least two of our co-workers came to the NOW demonstration here. One of them bought a Militant subscription, The Working Class and the Transformation of Learning pamphlet, and a book of speeches by Malcolm X."
Also this past weekend socialist meat packers in Omaha went to Fremont, Nebraska, where they picked out a spot half a mile down the road from the Hormel plant to sell the Militant and PM. They had a sign that read, "Illinois Meat Packers Win Strike. Read the Militant," referring to the recent victory of workers at the Hormel-owned Rochelle Foods in Rochelle, Illinois. They sold seven copies of the Militant, four of PM, a PM subscription along with the Spanish edition of The Working Class and the Transformation of Learning, and Making History: Interviews with Four Generals of Cuba's Revolutionary Armed Forces.
"The previous week we had gone to Schuyler where we spent time at the home of several meat packers who work at the Excel plant there," they wrote. "The article in the March 26 issue of the Militant reporting on the workers at the Excel plant in Fort Morgan, Colorado, telling the story about their strike against intolerable working conditions has proven to be invaluable in our discussions, which are really about how to transform the unions. Before we left we sold a copy each of PM, Playa Girón/Bay of Pigs, and Making History."
As a reminder, reports of pamphlet sales and subscriptions should arrive at the Militant by Tuesdays at noon in order to be counted on the sales chart.
Related article:
'Transformation of Learning' available in Icelandic
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