“Keep up the good work!” George Blue from Michigan City, Indiana, wrote when he sent in a check for $25 to the Militant’s special winter appeal. “I first started reading the Militant in 1970 when I was in prison — in the belly of the beast,” he said.
With $8,132 collected and further contributions pledged, the paper looks forward to going over its $10,000 appeal. This will help cover the Militant’s operating expenses through the launching of its annual Militant Fighting Fund in the spring.
“Happy to help out,” wrote Dan Coffman, a retired longshoreman from Washington state, when he sent in $25. Coffman was president of Local 21 of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union during its hard-fought 2011 strike against EGT’s union-busting effort in Longview.
“It’s so important to get the truth out — First and Second amendment rights are under attack today,” he said. The Militant explains why liberals’ attacks on freedom of speech and the right to bear arms are a threat to rights the working class needs.
The appeal’s success will make it possible for the Militant to continue providing readers with articles like the special features in this issue from Cuba and Iraq. The issue also contains material on how fighting toilers in Algeria overthrew French colonial rule in 1962 and established a workers and farmers government there, opening the door to collaboration with the Cuban Revolution in extending solidarity and aid to fighters across Africa. Algeria is the country of honor at this year’s Havana International Book Fair.
The on-the-scene article by Ogmundur Jonsson depicts the efforts to keep the Baghdad International Book Fair running in the face of wars, political repression and violent conflicts in Iraq over years. And it describes how thousands came to the book fair there this year to get their hands on a wide range of books. Volunteers at the Pathfinder Books stand found great interest in titles by Fidel Castro, Che Guevara, Thomas Sankara, leaders of the Socialist Workers Party and other revolutionaries.
There is still time to kick in to the appeal this week. You can use your credit card to contribute online at www.themilitant.com or send a check to the Militant at 306 W. 37th Street, 13th floor, New York, NY 10018. Help take us over the top!