Supporters of the fund in San Francisco held a successful meeting October 26 highlighting the newest Pathfinder title, October 1962: The ‘Missile’ Crisis as Seen from Cuba by Cuban author Tomás Diez Acosta. The book examines the historic events of four decades ago, in which the administration of President John F. Kennedy brought the world to the precipice of nuclear war.

Earlier that day 40,000 people had rallied in the city to protest Washington’s war moves against Iraq. Socialist workers and young socialists had attended that protest, using Pathfinder books and the Militant and Perspectiva Mundial to offer a communist perspective to demonstrators.

Featured speaker Ernie Mailhot, a member of the Socialist Workers Party National Committee, said that 40 years ago working people in Cuba had reacted to the 1962 crisis not with panic but with confidence in their ability to defend their revolution and in their battle-tested revolutionary leadership.

The audience responded to an explanation of the fund appeal by contributing $1,905. The event raised to 54 the number of contributors in the Bay Area.

Joel Britton, the Socialist Workers candidate for governor of Illinois, spoke on similar themes at a Pathfinder Fund event in Des Moines, Iowa, on October 25, describing how the Cuban people prepared to defend their revolution against Washington’s attacks.

Britton explained how--far from heading for the bomb shelters--several thousand young people in cities across the United States, including himself, went into the streets together with others to protest the Kennedy administration’s warlike stance, including its preparations to invade Cuba.

During the discussion a farm activist said that he looked to the Iraqi people to fight fiercely against a U.S. invasion. He also asked Britton why one couldn’t identify oneself as an "American" at the same time as opposing the war in Iraq. Britton responded by pointing to Malcolm X, whose speeches are published by Pathfinder. Malcolm, he said, took a proletarian anti-imperialist stance and explained that he was "not an American but a victim of Americanism."

A student originally from Turkey joined other forum participants in discussions that lasted until midnight. He described how the imperialists from Europe and the United States continued to dominate the Turkish economy. Some $335 in donations and pledges was taken in at the meeting, and total pledges are now over the $1,200 goal projected from the city.

Fund supporters in several areas have taken steps forward this week, with more than half a dozen having advanced toward their target by 20 percent. Funds collected now total $51,298, nearly 50 percent of the way toward the international goal, but still behind schedule as we head into the final three weeks of the drive.

Checks for the fund should be made out to Pathfinder and sent to the Militant, 410 West Street, New York, NY 10014.  
 
 
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