TORONTO — Eleven Pathfinder volunteers from Canada and the U.S. staffed a lively stand at Toronto’s annual open air Word On The Street fair Sept. 26-27, billed as Canada’s largest no-door-charge book and magazine festival.
“Our top seller was Pathfinder’s Cuba and the Independence War in Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde: The Fall of the Last Colonial Empire in Africa by Cuban leader Víctor Dreke,” said organizer Philippe Tessier. “Twenty-one copies were sold in English and French. Titles on the fight for women’s emancipation followed closely. We sold 216 books in all, including 11 copies of the Marxist magazine New International and 29 subscriptions to the Militant newspaper.
“Our stand was the last to close down on Sunday because people kept coming by to discuss politics. We sold 10 copies of The Communist Manifesto, and everything from In Defense of Marxism to The Truth About Yugoslavia and Samizdat: Voices of the Soviet Opposition.”
Nitsimrit Kaur browsed the booth after picking up Che Guevara Talks to Young People, Commenting on Washington’s ever-tightening blockade of Cuba, she said, “Every country has the right to live how they want.
“Social media makes us dumber. You get a lot of information but you have to process it. I like to dig a little deeper.” She added to her pile the three issues on special of New International, which include the articles “The Second Assassination of Maurice Bishop,” “Che Guevara, Cuba, and the Road to Socialism” and “Imperialism’s March Toward Fascism and War.”
Candace Wagner showed The Fight Against Jew-Hatred and Pogroms in the Imperialist Epoch: Stakes for the International Working Class to a young man who said he thought Israel was guilty of genocide in Gaza. As Wagner explained why working people should defend Israel as a refuge for Jews, a young woman joined the conversation. “I was in Israel recently and it’s not true that it’s an apartheid state. There are Arabs in government, in all walks of life,” she said.
This was in sharp contrast to the occasional yells of “You support genocide” directed at the stand by a small group handing out flyers urging a boycott of the Indigo bookstore chain, which is owned by Jews.
A volunteer staffing the table selling Parchment, a magazine of contemporary Canadian Jewish writing, told this reporter that they were getting a warm reception.
“I was in Iran for a few months during the woman, life, freedom demonstrations, and they did make a difference,” high school student Nika Solatinia told volunteers at our booth. In 2022, widespread street protests across Iran erupted after the killing of Zhina Amini by regime thugs for alleged violation of the reactionary dress code.
“Now girls go out wearing regular clothes,” she said. “There are derogatory comments, but people are sick and tired of all the hate and obviously the economic situation.” Solatinia picked up a copy of Problems of Women’s Liberation and a subscription to the Militant.
Pathfinder volunteers also met staffers at other booths who wanted to keep in touch. Tom Best, director of Book Clubs for Inmates, described the 45 reading clubs they’ve set up in prisons around the country, as well as their successful fight last year to stop Ottawa’s plan to eliminate prison librarians. He requested a list of the Pathfinder books ordered most by prisoners.