Members of the Socialist Workers Party and Young Socialists set up a literature table to meet workers and others interested in how the lessons of the revolution in the Congo apply to the struggles of working people in the United States today.

Dozens of moviegoers stopped by the sidewalk table featuring Pathfinder's newly reissued pamphlet Revolution in the Congo and a wide range of titles on socialism, anti-imperialist struggles, the Cuban Revolution, and revolutionary politics, as well as the Militant and Perspectiva Mundial. In one week of showings, 138 copies of the new pamphlet were purchased. When the socialist workers ran out of the pamphlets before the next shipment arrived, 12 people put money down in advance.

Sixty-four other books were sold, with the speeches of Thomas Sankara topping the list, and the pamphlet The Working Class and the Transformation of Learning in second place. Also purchased were multiple copies of titles on South Africa and Cuba, as well as Panama: The Truth about the U.S. Invasion, Israel: A Colonial-Settler State? Cosmetics, Fashions and the Exploitation of Women, and more. Six people took advantage of a special offer of $12 for both the Congo pamphlet and an introductory subscription to the Militant.

Socialist workers sold more than $1,100 worth of literature in the first week and met a wide range of people who want to discuss the challenges facing the fight against imperialism today. After seeing the interest in these discussions and in revolutionary books from Pathfinder, they decided to follow the movie to its next 12-day run at another art-film house. There, the managers invited the socialists to have a table indoors. One of the young managers said he "grew up with Pathfinder."

At the table many who attended the movie asked questions to find out more about the events depicted in the film and about current world political developments. As one new Militant subscriber said, "The movie made me feel devastated and hopeful in alternating moments. But I want to do something to change things."

Several people traveled three or four hours to see the film, including many African students from the Congo, South Africa, and Burkina Faso studying in Indiana and Wisconsin.

Many of the filmgoers said they had visited Cuba and especially appreciate the comparison of what the more experienced revolutionaries in Cuba were able to accomplish in routing the imperialists at the Bay of Pigs only three months after the assassination of Lumumba.

One young Black man saw the movie three times, bringing two or three different friends with him each time. When asked what motivated him, he said, "You have to see this movie. Lumumba was a freedom fighter and we need that today in this country."  
 
 
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