Vol. 81/No. 13 April 3, 2017
(front page)
Socialist Workers Party sets campaign in working class
7-week drive to spread party’s reach with ‘Militant,’ books
The drive will run from April 1 to May 23 to boost the number of Militant subscribers, sales of revolutionary books published by Pathfinder Press and raise $112,000 for the spring Militant Fighting Fund.
A central component of the drive will be introducing the party to workers and youth through door-to-door discussions in cities, towns and rural areas. SWP election campaigns in New York, Seattle, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Miami and elsewhere will help draw people toward the party.
The international goal is 1,100 subscriptions to the party’s press and sales of 1,100 books. Three Pathfinder titles: Are They Rich Because They’re Smart? and The Clintons’ Anti-Working-Class Record, both by SWP National Secretary Jack Barnes, and Is Socialist Revolution in the US Possible? by Mary-Alice Waters are each offered at a special price of $5 with a Militant subscription or $7 if purchased without one.
Party branches are discussing and adopting quotas, and asking those they do political work with if they want to join in. Meeting these goals will help SWP members develop and deepen political relations and common activity with workers, on their doorsteps and participating in labor and social protests — for amnesty for all immigrants in the U.S., against Jew-hatred and attacks on Muslims, in support of women’s right to choose abortion and against cop brutality. The door is open to join the party.
Specials on several other books are being offered: “It’s the Poor Who Face the Savagery of the US ‘Justice’ System”: The Cuban Five Talk About Their Lives Within the US Working Class for $7; Malcolm X, Black Liberation, and the Road to Workers Power by Barnes for $15, and Cuba and Angola: The War for Freedom by Harry Villegas (“Pombo”) for $7.
The $112,000 annual Militant Fighting Fund is needed to cover the paper’s operating expenses, including rent, printing and shipping. It helps keep introductory subscriptions at the special low rate of $5 for 12 weeks and provides low-cost and complimentary subscriptions for prisoners. It also maximizes the Militant’s ability to field reporting trips in the U.S. and worldwide.
In addition to appealing to those who currently look to the paper for political direction, there are increasing opportunities to raise funds by asking for contributions while meeting and discussing the party with workers on their doorsteps.
The Militant has a growing number of subscribers among workers behind bars. The party has set a goal of getting at least 15 new Militant subscribers in prison.
“Every week that we receive your newspaper the Militant, it gives us more hope, more strength and more unity,” one worker behind bars wrote recently from Florida. “I ask that you never give up your stride and that you continue to be a tool and voice for the masses.”
Mary Martin, a leader of the SWP and party candidate for mayor of Seattle, is director of the party-building campaign and Lea Sherman, the Militant business manager, is director of the Militant Fighting Fund.
To join in the campaign, get a subscription, order some books or copies of the paper to sell to others, and make a contribution to the Militant Fighting Fund, get in touch with the SWP in your area listed in the directory on page 4. Checks or money orders payable to the Militant can be sent to 306 W. 37th St., 13th Floor, New York, NY 10018-2482.
Related articles:
SWP: Workers need to build our own political party!
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