The Militant (logo)  

Vol. 78/No. 31      September 1, 2014

 
‘Militant’ well received, from
Ukraine rallies to Ferguson
(front page)
 
BY EMMA JOHNSON  
The Militant was well received this past week at actions across the country protesting cop brutality and killings, supporting Ukrainian sovereignty and against Israel’s war on Gaza.

It was a good prelude to the seven-week international subscription and book-selling campaign, which kicks off Sept. 6. We invite all our readers to join the effort to expand the reach of the paper. Eleven books on revolutionary, working-class politics are on special for those who sign up (see ad below). Supporters of the Militant will also be selling two recently published books: 50 Years of Covert Operations in the US and a new expanded edition of Socialism on Trial.

Supporters from Chicago and Omaha, Nebraska, traveled to Ferguson, Missouri, Aug. 16-17 to join protests against the cop killing of Michael Brown.

“We participated in the actions with signs demanding ‘Arrest the cop who killed Michael Brown,’ the front-page headline of the paper,” reported Dan Fein Aug. 18. “This drew a lot of attention and agreement. We signed up 22 new subscribers and sold 110 papers and 17 books.”

“Oh, you are the socialist who split from all the other socialists because you support Ukraine,” a young woman said to Craig Honts as he introduced the paper to her at an Aug. 16 protest march of 400 people to the Russian consulate in New York. “You’re like George Orwell. He wrote Animal Farm to show that the revolution was for something very different than the people who took over afterward turned it into.”

She was one of four participants who decided to subscribe. More than 50 bought single copies.

“We found many workers concerned about declining living conditions and open to a course for workers to advance,” reported Pete Clifford who was part of a team from London and Manchester, England, to Scotland Aug. 9-11. Workers there are considering how to vote in the referendum on Scottish independence Sept. 18. The team sold nine subscriptions and eight books.

“We need to inform people about the truth of what is happening in Gaza,” Shariq Mohammed told Edwin Fruit when he signed up for a subscription to the Militant at a Free Gaza demonstration Aug. 16 at the Westlake Plaza in Seattle.

Mohammed also got Malcolm X, Black Liberation, and the Road to Workers Power, one of the specials, and February 1965: The Final Speeches by Malcolm X.

“I have always been attracted to the ideas of Malcolm X after reading his autobiography and seeing the Spike Lee movie,” he said. “I agree with the idea that if somebody attacks you, you have the right to defend yourself as opposed to turning the other cheek as Martin Luther King advocated.”

David Ward, a 45-year-old electrician from Atlanta, got two subscriptions last week from his co-worker Ray Parsons, one for himself and one for a friend.

“David is a ‘traveler,’” wrote Parsons from Albany, New York, Aug. 18. “He is one of hundreds of construction workers who has come to work at one of the largest construction projects underway in the state, GlobalFoundries computer chip manufacturing plant in Malta.”

After seeing the ads in the paper, Ward decided to get two copies each of the specials Malcolm X, Black Liberation, and the Road to Workers Power and The Working Class and the Transformation of Learning for himself and his friend. He also got a couple of Malcolm X titles.

“I’m glad someone else has come to Calgary to join the struggle against inequality,” said Stasha Huntingford, a student at University of Calgary, when she met François Bradette and Katy LeRougetel for coffee Aug. 1. She was referring to the prevailing prejudice that people in Alberta are conservative.

Huntingford got a copy of the paper at a July 25 rally protesting the bombing of Gaza, read it and decided she wanted to subscribe. Along with her one-year subscription she picked up two books on special, Women in Cuba: The Making of a Revolution Within the Revolution and The Cuban Five: Who They Are, Why They Were Framed, Why They Should Be Free.

“This rally is to say no to attacks by ISIS [Islamic State combatants in Syria and Iraq] and no to countries supporting ISIS,” Ari Saleh, one of the organizers of an action Aug. 17 in Calgary, told Bradette and Joe Young. “Kurdistan is for every religion and everyone is welcome: Muslims, Jews, Christians.” One of some 100 participants signed up for a six-month Militant subscription.

Sign up friends, co-workers and relatives. Bring the paper to picket lines, social protests and political events. Join teams going door to door and to workers resistance. Contact a distributor near you listed on page 8, the Militant at (212) 244-4899 or themilitant@mac.com.  
 

 
 
 
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