Vol. 74/No. 13      April 5, 2010

Dozens of Workers Power books and subscriptions were also sold at demonstrations scheduled in conjunction with the Washington actions in cities around the country, including San Jose, Oxnard, and Salinas, California; Orlando, Florida; and Houston.

These sales are part of a national drive to sell thousands of copies of the book and win more than 2,000 new subscribers and renewals to the Militant this spring.

The response reflects the keen interest in finding an explanation for the capitalist economic crisis grinding against the working class today and a revolutionary perspective for how workers can defend themselves, both here and internationally, against the dictatorship of capital.

Of the 187 participants in the D.C. immigrant rights demonstration who bought copies of Malcolm X, Black Liberation and the Road to Workers Power, the majority wanted the Spanish-language edition that had just come off the press two days before.

One hundred sixty demonstrators bought Militant subscriptions in Washington, most of them in a special combination offer with the book. A number of these were sold on the buses on the way to and from the demonstration, and some at send-off rallies before the buses left. Another 29 books and 31 subscriptions were sold to marchers in immigrants’ rights actions on the West Coast and Houston.

The top salesperson at the immigrant rights marches was Susan Anmuth from Newark, New Jersey, who sold 15 copies of the Workers Power book.

“Everyone who bought the book and subscription also signed up to be notified about other activities socialist workers are involved in,” Anmuth said about four of the subscriptions she sold on a hospital workers’ bus riding down to the march. “By the end of the day, two of the bus captains also bought the book, one with a subscription.”

“At the demonstration itself, I showed both the Spanish and English editions to many people,” continued Anmuth. “As one young Mexican woman was looking at photographs in the book, her husband said, ‘This demonstration is not my thing.’ She responded, ‘Well, it’s my thing,’ and promptly bought a subscription with the book.”

“A Virginia high school student stopped by the literature table and spent a while looking through the book,” said Paul Pederson, a meat cutter from Washington, D.C., who sold 12 copies of the book at the rally. “She asked her father if he would buy it for her. He said, ‘It is about revolution and Black people. Are you sure you want it?’ She told him yes and he bought the book and subscription.

“For many at the rally, looking through the photographs in Malcolm X, Black Liberation, and the Road to Workers Power persuaded them to buy the book. The historical photos that convey the militancy and breadth of the battle for Black liberation and those that illustrate the place of the Black struggle in today’s world helped convince many of the interconnections between those fights and the battle for legalization of immigrants.”

Craig Honts and Gale Shangold sold seven books and nine subscriptions at the Washington action and on the bus ride home. “A Mexican family from Chicago bought one of the subs,” said Honts. “After we talked more about Malcolm X and how he came to the conclusion that we have to make a revolution in the United States, and the parallels with the fight for immigrant rights, they decided to get the book too. One teenage daughter wanted the book in English, but she got outvoted 4-1 by the rest of the family, who wanted it in Spanish.”

During a break at the National Young Feminist Leadership Conference going on here at the same time, a dozen young women from Midwest campuses gathered to continue discussion. They felt that the workshop they had just attended concentrated too much on how women can get high-paying professional jobs, rather than on the severe impact of the economic depression on working people. “I didn’t come to the conference for this,” said one student from Goshen College in Indiana. “I came looking for something different.”

Glova Scott, a laundry worker from Washington, joined the discussion. “I came to the conference to meet young people like you who are looking for a more fundamental approach to ending women’s oppression,” she said, introducing everyone in the circle to Malcolm X, Black Liberation, and the Road to Workers Power. “Malcolm X understood that capitalism is the root cause of racism,” Scott said. “And we can say the same thing about women’s oppression.”

“Say no more,” said one Goshen student, who pulled out $15 for the Workers Power book and a Militant subscription. Another student also bought a subscription, and several signed up to learn more about the Socialist Workers Party, as well as the current speaking tour of two Cuban students on U.S. campuses.

At antiwar demonstrations in Washington, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Houston, and the Twin Cities 44 Workers Power books and 25 Militant subscriptions were sold.
 

The chart in this week’s issue of the Militant includes the number of subscriptions to the paper and copies of Malcolm X, Black Liberation, and the Road to Workers Power that have been sold since the March 13 start of the circulation campaign. The eight-week drive will focus on selling thousands of copies of the book and 2,000 subscriptions to the Militant.

Local quotas for the subscription campaign will be included in an upcoming chart, after each area has had a discussion and adopted a goal based on centering the subscription campaign on sales of the Workers Power book. It is through the discussions on the politics of the book with workers, farmers, students, and others that supporters of the Militant will organize to surpass the 2,000 goal.

Next week’s issue will resume the “Sell the Book on Workers Power” column. We invite our readers to contribute short items describing the kinds of political discussions they have been involved in to sell the book.
 
 
Related articles:
‘No deportations, no raids!’ marchers say
More than 100,000 converge on D.C.
Legalize all undocumented!
Schumer-Graham bill is attack on workers rights
California farm workers march for legalization
Rallies demand U.S. out of Iraq and Afghanistan
Communist literature well received in Montreal
Campaign to sell 'Workers Power' with 'Militant' subscription  
 
 
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