WW Fund Drive: Be creative!

Rubac at Workers World Party conference. WW photo: Gary Wilson

I was asked to talk about the WWP Fund Drive, which literally keeps our party headquarters and our wonderful newspaper going.

I’m asking you to join in making this fund drive a success. Yes, times are hard for us. Just like others in our class, we face difficult times, but because of this we need our party and our paper more than ever. We need the new book “Low-Wage Capitalism.” We need our program to fight foreclosures.

I want to share with you how important our newspaper is to a group of workers who pass it around until the pages wear thin: prisoners. We send subscriptions to hundreds of prisoners for free.

I want to read from a letter I got last week from a prisoner in Texas named Nanon Williams.

Nanon was arrested at age 17 in Houston and framed up by the lying creeps working for the Houston Police Department Crime Lab, who regularly manufactured evidence for the DAs to use so they could put people away, innocent or guilty. The ballistic expert in Nanon’s case said that a man was killed by a bullet from Nanon’s gun. He was sure of it. So the jury sent this young man to death row.

Several years later, when Nanon found an attorney who agreed to take his case, a real ballistic expert proved that the bullet was NOT from Nanon’s gun. The Houston police expert said, “Sorry, I made a mistake. It wasn’t his gun after all.”

But no nice ending yet—17 years later, Nanon is still locked up for a crime he didn’t commit. He was 17 when arrested and now is 34. One half his life for something he didn’t do.

Workers World newspaper is important to this prisoner and those locked up with him. Nanon receives a bundle of 10 papers every week. The last time I visited him, I asked if he was still receiving the paper and how he was using it. I got a letter this week. This is what he says:

“I receive 10 copies of the paper every week and I use them in what we call ‘Incognitive Intervention Classes.’ These classes are designed to make people think about their actions, the choices they make and what impact they have on society, as well as changing belief windows that have a negative impact on people’s thoughts and actions. Every day we select three articles from Workers World to not only be read so we can learn about current events but we discuss the politics behind those articles as well. These 10 papers are shared by two of these classes that we hold daily.

“Then at the end of the week on Friday nights, I take them to Tyleem Services. They are technically like church services, but for the Muslim community. Many Blacks and Latinos go to these Tyleem services because we discuss things that can change and shape our community. This group gets to keep the papers. But before these services, I sometimes use the papers with something called the PEER Health classes. Then on Sunday I have my own study group with brothers here to discuss political ideas that many are not aware of but want to learn about.

“So, you asked what I do with the papers. There it is.”

The last thing Nanon told me in his letter was this: “If the paper is too expensive to send to us, let me know. Once a month I can collect stamps to send to the Party as a donation if that would help.”

The prisoners all work but get not one penny for their labor. But most do have stamps. Even the indigent prisoners are allowed a few stamps.

For many people, Workers World is a voice for the voiceless. It speaks for the most oppressed of our class, whether in the Gaza Strip or in Huntsville, Texas. It brings the world to all of us with a revolutionary perspective and analysis.

The struggle takes a lot. It takes money. We have to pay the rent, the printer and so on. It takes our two fund drives each year as well as the Workers World Supporter Program to make all this possible.

If you live in a city without a branch of the Party or if, for whatever reason, you cannot be physically active in a branch, then consider being a Workers World Supporter. You can contribute money monthly or make a yearly donation. Either way, you will become a vital part of the Party, a supporter who financially contributes to the newspaper in a concrete way.

It is now Fall Fund Drive time. We need each and every one to contribute what we can. If Texas prisoners can donate their precious stamps in order to have the paper, can’t we donate our hard-earned money to make the drive a success?

We need to think outside the box to raise this money. Be creative. It is our responsibility. It is on our back to do this. Can we raise $60,000?

Si se puede!