Director Raoul Peck spoke and answered questions about his film after the showing. The movie has received an enthusiastic response from people around the world because of interest in the legacy of Congolese independence leader Patrice Lumumba, he said, but the story has been repeated many times throughout Africa and Latin America where "imperialism has organized to overthrow democratically-elected governments."

In an interview published in the LA Weekly, which chose Lumumba as its "pick of the week" film, Peck said, "It's a film about today, about trying to get a sense that we are on the same planet, that we all have the same hopes. The '60s were really 10 years of hope for everywhere in the world...all those leaders who knew each other--Malcolm X, Che Guevara, Lumumba. Malcolm X repeatedly spoke of Lumumba in his speeches; Lumumba was an inspiration to him. The world was going to change. That was the great hope. The film is about that, too."

Many people who went to see the movie, which is a contribution to the true history of the Congolese struggle for independence, were also interested in Pathfinder books. At two showings at theaters in Beverly Hills and Pasadena, moviegoers bought 32 copies of Pathfinder's newly reissued Revolution in the Congo, three copies of Thomas Sankara Speaks, and other revolutionary titles by Maurice Bishop, Ernesto Che Guevara, and Jack Barnes. Two people purchased subscriptions to the Militant, and others expressed interest in attending the Militant Labor Forum at the Pathfinder Bookstore in Los Angeles to have further discussion on world politics.

Elizabeth Lariscy is a garment worker in Los Angeles.
 

Most participants came from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and other southern states. A few came from as far away as New York and Minnesota. This was the third Southern Girls Conference and the first one held in Alabama.

One of the conference organizers, a student at Auburn University, had bought a subscription to the Militant along with a copy of Cuba and the Coming American Revolution last spring, and invited members of the Young Socialists and Socialist Workers Party to be part of the conference, to set up a literature table, and to host a workshop.

Twelve conference participants attended the workshop titled "Women's Liberation and the Working-Class Fight for Power." Amanda Ulman opened the workshop with a brief overview of the way women have been drawn into the workforce by capitalism, and the impact this has had on the structure of the family in the working class and on the fight for women's equality.

The discussion, which lasted long after the workshop was supposed to end, focused mainly on the Cuban Revolution and socialism. Some of the women copied down the Pathfinder titles suggested by Ulman, and several stopped by the literature table afterwards for more discussion and to buy books.

Participants at the conference bought $103 worth of Pathfinder literature, 20 copies of the Militant, and two subscriptions. Titles purchased included The Jewish Question, The Communist Manifesto, Revolution in the Congo, Che Guevara Talks to Young People, and The Changing Face of U.S. Politics.  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home