Vol. 77/No. 28      July 22, 2013

Dear readers,

The Militant is extending a warm welcome to the 2,784 people who subscribed to the socialist newsweekly during the spring circulation drive.

A large proportion subscribed when Militant readers — including Socialist Workers Party candidates and campaign supporters — knocked on their door to talk and introduce them to the paper, along with books on revolutionary working-class politics.

Through the eight-week campaign, hundreds bought books at reduced prices with a subscription, including well over 150 copies of The Cuban Five: Who They Are, Why They Were Framed, Why They Should Be Free. The book has proved to be not only a powerful weapon for broadening support for the international campaign to free these five Cuban revolutionaries, but a way to discuss with thinking workers why we should defend and emulate Cuba’s socialist revolution.

“I enjoy reading the Militant,” said new subscriber and warehouse worker Marlon Grosvenor when Militant supporter Bev Bernardo called him in Montreal to check that he was receiving the paper OK. “I especially like the overseas coverage. The world has a lot of issues and the paper shows what people are doing about some of them.” When told about the books on special, he decided to get Malcolm X, Black Liberation, and the Road to Workers Power a few days later.

The book offers are still valid and I urge subscribers to take advantage of them.

The spring 2013 subscription campaign fanned out in cities, towns and rural areas across the United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. As part of talking with a broad cross-section of working people door to door, Militant supporters built solidarity with those standing up to the bosses’ attacks, joining and bringing others to labor actions and picket lines.

Last week the Militant reported 12 subscribers were won among workers behind bars, just three shy of the goal. This week I am delighted to report that the figure is much higher. Five subscriptions came in the mail shortly after the chart was printed. Readers in prison fighting for their quota were slowed down only by the snail’s pace of mail through the prisons and post office. This puts the prisoners’ effort at 113 percent — the top of the chart! The welcome news comes just as tens of thousands of workers behind bars have joined a hunger strike in prisons across California, taking a stand for working-class dignity.

Contributions from readers to the Militant Prisoners’ Fund, and what money inmates can put together, make it possible to bring the paper’s revolutionary perspective to readers behind bars. And we know from comments they send us — both praises and criticisms — that these inmates use the paper to advance political discussions and working-class perspectives with fellow prisoners.

The effort to expand the working-class readership of the paper does not end with the spring campaign. In a real sense, it is just getting started. Join the effort. Introduce the paper to friends, relatives and fellow workers. You can call distributors in your area (see directory on page 8) or contact us at (212) 244-4899 or themilitant@mac.com.

And be sure to renew your subscription before it runs out!

In solidarity,
Louis Martin
Circulation director  
 
 
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