Vol. 73/No. 38      October 5, 2009

“We sold 8 subscriptions in a working-class neighborhood in Aurora, Illinois,” writes Alyson Kennedy. “Many of the Mexican workers who bought subscriptions related recent run-ins with immigration cops. Several other new subscribers expressed dislike for the health-care ‘reform’ bills and were attracted by the Militant headline saying ‘guarantee medical care for all.’”

“Another worker said he has been searching the Internet to read different views on the cause of the economic crisis. He was looking forward to reading the Militant coverage,” Kennedy says.

Chicago supporters sold 16 subscriptions in all, including 4 in working-class neighborhoods of South Chicago and one to a college professor interested in bringing speakers from Cuba to U.S. campuses.

Supporters of the Militant in San Francisco sent in 25 subscriptions to kick off the drive. Betsey Stone reports that eight workers got introductory subscriptions in Vallejo, California, a working-class community some 30 miles north of the Bay Area. Many were drawn by a Socialist Workers campaign sign calling for guaranteed health care for all and wanted to discuss the anti-working-class provisions of the current bills in Congress, including those attacking immigrants.

“The case of Troy Davis, framed up for killing a cop, struck a chord with a number of workers who have had their own experiences with police abuse,” said Stone, “including at checkpoints cops have set up in Vallejo to entrap and arrest immigrant workers without papers.”

In New York City, campaigners for Dan Fein, Socialist Workers Party candidate for mayor, signed up six workers at an African-American Day Parade in Harlem for introductory subscriptions. Many at the parade appreciated the newspaper’s coverage of the frame-up of Troy Davis and the truth about how the Grenada revolution was overthrown, noted Willie Cotton.

Norton Sandler reported that the discounted Pathfinder titles on sale with the subscription made the deal especially attractive for workers at the parade.

Titles on sale with a Militant subscription include New International no. 10 and no. 14 for $10 each, as well as Problems of Women’s Liberation, The Working Class and the Transformation of Learning, and Cuba and the Coming American Revolution for 50 percent off.

Militant supporters in Minneapolis sold three subscriptions at a march called by Local 26 of the Service Employees International Union to demand a halt in firings and deportations of undocumented workers. In the course of helping build the solidarity action, another nine subscriptions were sold.

Distributors of the Militant are getting to know workers, students, and others who want to discuss politics or join in activities that advance the interests of the working class. Two distributors from Des Moines, Iowa, traveled to Omaha, Nebraska, to spend time talking with a new subscriber they first met during actions to defend an abortion clinic in nearby Bellevue. The subscriber, who volunteers as an escort for patients at the clinic, decided to purchase the books Problems of Women’s Liberation and Abortion Is a Woman’s Right!

The eight week drive lasts until November 10.

Supporters in local areas should send in reports and photos to the Militant at themilitant@mac.com.

Fall 2009 'Militant' subscription drive - Week 1