Vol. 73/No. 19      May 18, 2009

Militant/Jorge Letora

Socialist Workers Party table at May Day immigrant rights march in Chicago.

Many of the 511 people who subscribed to the socialist newsweekly during a 10-day push to get the drive back on track did so on May Day and activities leading up to it. The momentum will help supporters of the paper meet the challenge of getting some 450 subscriptions to meet the goal by May 12.

Supporters of the Militant newspaper joined others in calling for immediate legalization for all undocumented workers at actions in dozens of cities across the United States.

Distributors of the socialist newsweekly in several cities reached out to college campuses during the week, winning new readers to the paper while encouraging students and others to march on May Day.

In New York, supporters of the paper started May Day going to several campuses to be part of the final push to build the rally and march. The campuses included Hunter College, Baruch College, New York University, Borough of Manhattan Community College, and Suffolk County Community College. They also joined several May Day actions in and around the New York area, including a march of 1,500 people from Union Square to Foley Square in Manhattan despite the pouring rain.

A lively contingent led by Dan Fein, Socialist Workers candidate for mayor of New York, joined the march, carrying signs and banners calling for immediate legalization for all immigrants and led chants around the same slogan. During the target week 92 people subscribed to the paper in New York City.

Militant supporters in Florida won 13 new readers last week. Efforts to build May Day actions in Miami and Orlando included reaching out to students at University of Miami, Miami Dade College, and University of Central Florida.

A team of Militant supporters went to Phoenix May 2 to take part in a demonstration against the brutal treatment of immigrant workers and prisoners there by County Sheriff Joseph Arpaio. Four participants in the march subscribed, 12 got single copies along with three titles from Pathfinder Press. (See article on page 6.)

In Chicago, 53 new readers signed up for the paper during the target week. The subscriptions were purchased on campuses and through door-to-door teams in working-class communities that helped build the May Day march for legalization. The demonstration attracted some 3,000 people. Supporters of the paper from Chicago and Des Moines, Iowa, sold 23 subscriptions there.

In the final stretch of the subscription campaign a major push is needed to bring in the remaining 456 subscriptions. A day-to-day effort will need to be organized in each city in order to make the international goal of 2,150.

Readers of the Militant are encouraged to help make the drive a success. If you would like to be part of getting this revolutionary working-class perspective into the hands of workers, farmers, youth, and others who need this unique point of view, contact a local distributor listed on page 8.

Alyson Kennedy in Chicago, Emily Paul in Miami, and Naomi Craine in Los Angeles contributed to this article.

'Militant' Subscription Drive: Week 6