BY BERNIE SENTER
During the last week, supporters of the Militant made the most progress yet since the beginning of the Militant Fund drive. $14,649 was sent in, indicating that the campaign to raise $125,000 is picking up steam. With four weeks left to go in the 10-week drive we have raised $62,704, just over half the goal.
The Fund will provide the financial resources necessary to maintain and continue publication of the paper. The fund drive ends December 3.
Hosting Militant Fund rallies that are widely publicized and feature a cross-section of those who appreciate the Militant is the main reason for the acceleration in payments and increases in pledges.
"Now that momentum is picking up," Fund director Martín Koppel said, "we need to reach out even more."
This is what Militant readers in many cities are doing.
A program to support the Militant was held in Salt Lake
City November 5. A panel of speakers told why they
appreciate a working-class paper that tells the truth.
Lawrence Oliver, vice president of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) Local 1332 in Window Rock, Arizona, sent a message to the Salt Lake City meeting.
The letter said, "The Militant is our only source of news on the struggles of the working class in this remote area.
"It gives you a sense of satisfaction that you are not alone in your fight for dignity, justice, and that your continuing battle for fairness is not in vain. As such, The Militant reported on our one-week strike back in May 1995.
"The Militant is our eyes, voice and ears. It gives us a heightened perception of what may yet be hurled our way and that we may be better prepared for it.
"The Militant, . . . for it to die . . . we would have to tread in darkness."
Members of UMWA Local 1332 , most of whom are Navajos, scored a victory in their strike last May against Pittsburgh and Midway Coal Mining Co. Miners preserved the eight-hour work day and made other modest gains.
Militant reporters and sales teams have traveled to the Navajo reservation for more than 15 years reporting on the strikes miners have waged and other issues facing Native Americans.
Cyd Crue who is active in the Salt Lake City Coalition in Solidarity with Cuba also spoke at the meeting to raise money for the Militant Fund. Crue explained how the Militant was a workers voice to counter the bourgeois media that tries to shape and control our ideas and what we know about the world.
Thabo Mzilikazi discussed his fight for justice at the benefit. Mzilikazi, a member of the African National Congress of South Africa and student at Weber State University, was arrested by the cops in June on sexual abuse charges. In September he was cleared of a felony sex abuse charge but convicted of a misdemeanor.
Twenty people attended a rally for the Militant Fund in Cleveland, including two students from Oberlin College, an abortion rights fighter, and an activist involved in a local fight against police brutality. More than $400 was raised at the meeting, pushing Militant supporters in Cleveland closer to their $2,100 goal.
San Francisco has obtained a total of 54 pledges. "We have just begun to scratch the surface," said Joan Radin, who is coordinating the fund drive there.
This week we also welcome readers in Denver who joined the campaign. They took on a goal of $500 and made an initial payment. With the addition of goals from Militant supporters in Canada and Britain, we now have $130,830 pledged toward the fund, which is actually the amount needed to help meet the paper's financial needs for the year.