CHICAGO — Socialist Workers Party members from Chicago, Cincinnati and Minneapolis set up a well-stocked booth of books by party leaders and other revolutionaries at the Printers Row annual book fair here Sept. 6-7. It was often swamped with people checking out the titles and having political discussions.
Over the two days, 155 books were purchased and 37 people bought subscriptions to the Militant. Top sellers were Cosmetics, Fashion, and the Exploitation of Women by SWP leaders Evelyn Reed, Joseph Hansen and Mary-Alice Waters; Are They Rich Because They’re Smart? Class, Privilege, and Learning Under Capitalism by SWP National Secretary Jack Barnes; and Teamster Rebellion, the first in a four-book series on building the union across the Midwest in the 1930s by Farrell Dobbs, a leader of the union and party.
Books on women’s emancipation and titles by and about Malcolm X and Thomas Sankara, who led the 1983-87 revolution in Burkina Faso, were among the best sellers.
Kimberly Church drove over 500 miles from Jenkins, Kentucky, to the book fair. She was excited to see the Pathfinder booth, buying books and a Militant subscription. She spoke with David Rosenfeld, Socialist Workers Party candidate for U.S. Senate from Illinois, who was campaigning at the fair. When she met Betsy Farley from the Cincinnati branch of the party, she said, “I had no idea there was a revolutionary party organizing only three hours from where we live!” They exchanged contact information to get together again soon.