NOTE:
You've come to an old part of SW Online. We're still moving this and other older stories into our new format. In the meanwhile, click here to go to the current home page.
Messages of solidarity from our readers
Happy 500th

Socialist Worker does what so much of the mainstream press never does; it gives voice to issues and perspectives that are otherwise declared taboo. I send my greetings and solidarity for its 500th issue.
John Pilger, journalist, filmmaker and author

Your work has been a staple in my life for the past five years, and your willingness to carry the unfiltered stories that the mainstream media cannot and refuses to carry has been most vital in my understanding of our world. I truly appreciate your immeasurable assistance in exposing the racist, corrupt and unjust death penalty system, which led to the U.S.'s first moratorium and the commutation of 167 death sentences.

You were the first to introduce the Death Row 10 to the world, which led to many Death Row 10 victories and the pardoning of four Death Row 10 members, including yours truly. On behalf of the Death Row 10, congratulations on your penta-centennial milestone, and I wish you many more 500th anniversaries.
Stanley Howard, pardoned Illinois death row prisoner

Many thanks to the entire Socialist Worker collective for their support of the military families and young soldiers who are being forced to sacrifice for a war based on lies.
Lou Plummer, Military Families Speak Out

We are incredibly thankful for the grassroots support we have received from the International Socialist Organization through Socialist Worker. Not surprisingly, the ISO has been one of the first non-gay allies to step forward and get actively involved in the struggle for marriage equality for same-sex couples."
Molly McKay, Marriage Equality California

This paper and those associated with it were among the first to come to the side of the Accuride/UAW workers in Henderson, Kentucky adding their voice and support to the people fighting so hard for dignity and the right to stand. It brought all of us into contact with some of the greatest people and friends we have ever known. My heart and gratitude goes out to all that they have and continue to do--a voice and an arm of support to all who are downtrodden.
Billy Robinson, former president, UAW Local 2036

I personally want to thank Socialist Worker for the word it put forth for me. Socialist Worker was one of the first to publicly feature my story of innocence and my fight against injustice. I feel the paper played a part toward my fight for freedom and the justice I enjoy today.

Incarcerated people need to keep a link to the outside. Otherwise, you can go crazy in jail. Socialist Worker helps guys stay in touch with issues in the world beyond the jail cell. I congratulate Socialist Worker on its 500th issue.
Madison Hobley, pardoned Illinois death row prisoner

We are honored to share in the celebration of the 500th edition of the Socialist Worker. Your dedication and tireless effort to write the truth, to educate, to organize and to build revolutionary understanding continues to inspire us. Abolition now! Another world is truly possible! We are grateful for the support and encouragement you have given to us. Thanks to you, Shujaa has been able to tell his story and expose the cruelty and racism of the experiences so many suffer on death row and in U.S. prisons today.
Shujaa Graham and Phyllis Prentice

As an activist in the ISO and Campus Antiwar Network (CAN), I wanted to express my appreciation for the contribution SW has made to CAN. SW has faithfully reported on CAN's activities since its founding conference. This has helped connect CAN to the global resistance against the war and occupation in Iraq.

A letter printed in SW on October 17, 2003, from a comrade in New Zealand reported on an antiwar protest in his country. He wrote, "It was great to be able to point activists toward articles in Socialist Worker about the activities of the Campus Antiwar Network and to show the inspiring activism of students in the United States. We stand with you in the struggle against occupation and war. Our resistance is global!"

It will take a worldwide movement to stop this occupation. SW's reporting is an invaluable tool connecting our struggle here to resistance around the world. SW has also played a crucial role in deepening the politics of activists in CAN by consistently taking up the key questions facing the movement. As one activist in my campus antiwar coalition told me, "It's amazing--every time I have a question, there's an article about it in that week's Socialist Worker!"
Elizabeth Wrigley-Field, ISO and Campus Antiwar Network at New York University

Socialist Worker is exactly what's needed in these shrub times: a newspaper with clarity, commitment and politics. May the next 500 issues be even better!
Harvey Wasserman, author of Harvey Wasserman's History of the United States

Our most warm greetings for the 500th anniversary issue of SW. For those of us who struggle against war, imperialism and capitalism in a small country like Greece, the existence of SW is both a source of inspiration and a very useful argument--that in the heart of the greatest imperialist country, there are socialists who are dedicated to the abolition of oppression and exploitation.

In the pages of SW, we find the most informative accounts of political developments in the U.S., of the movement against war and the movement against capitalist globalization, of the struggle against racism, and also current workers' struggles in the country where the tradition of May Day was born.

In Genoa, Florence, Paris, Barcelona and all the cities of Europe where the new international movement built mass demonstrations against war, racism and exploitation, it became obvious that a new radicalized generation is coming to the front. All those young fighters have their eyes turned to the U.S. Filled with rage against George Bush, they are full of solidarity and hope toward the forces of resistance. An important section of those fighters can now discern SW's and the ISO's role and is referring to your action and ideas. This makes us proud.

Accept our best wishes in your efforts, with the hope that on your 1,000th issue, we will be far closer to our common goal--this other world of socialism that we talk about, which is not only possible, but more necessary than ever.
International Workers Left organization and Workers Left newspaper (Greece)

Socialist Worker has long been a beacon of critical commentary and news that goes where few other publications dare to tread. In a time where "oppositional" politics in the U.S. has been reduced to weak-kneed Anybody-But-Bushism, SW continues to fearlessly rally the people to join the struggle against the depredations of capitalism and to foster critical thought and analysis of contemporary issues that goes beyond the narrow framework of brain-deadening liberal/conservative, Democrat/Republican propaganda.

Congratulations to Socialist Worker on the wonderful occasion of its 500th issue. Here's a hearty cheer for many more to come. In this dark period of hyper-aggressive American empire, Socialist Worker is more than ever vital reading and a treasured tool in activist struggles.
Sunil Sharma, editor, Dissident Voice Web site

Socialist Worker constitutes for me, here in Jerusalem, a window for understanding current political events, especially in the U.S., from a working-class and internationalist perspective, which is entirely lacking in the mainstream media. The world rule of U.S. imperialism makes the struggles in America that SW follows--among workers, women Blacks, antiwar activists and the Palestinian solidarity movement--most significant for our struggles here for the liberation of Palestine and the entire Middle East from imperialism and Zionism.
Tikva Honig-Parnass, coeditor of Between the Lines magazine

Congratulations on your 500th issue! That kind of tenacity is much needed on the left as we strive to build the broadest possible movement for peace, justice and socialism.
Max Elbaum, author of Revolution in the Air

Consistently over the years, Socialist Worker has exposed the racist and class-biased nature of the death penalty. It has put the voice of those resisting the sentence of death on its pages, it has given voice to the voiceless family members struggling for change, and it has been a champion of the oppressed. But more than that, Socialist Worker has given an analysis of the wider fight against the criminal justice system and links it with the struggle for a more humane society. Thank you, Socialist Worker.
Marlene Martin, National Director of the Campaign to End the Death Penalty

These are dark times. Even darker than we've witnessed in some time. But the Socialist Worker has been a beacon of optimism and realistic hope for revolutionary change. It is a voice of our resistance and, as Michel Foucault said, it's resistance that unites us. Carry on!
Jeffrey St. Clair, co-editor of CounterPunch

I read SW because it is such a good source of information on the people's struggles locally, nationally and internationally. Without such a news source, I would not know half of the battles going on, nor the real reasons for those fights.
Mark Serafinn, former president, Teamsters Local 722

Thank you for persistently challenging this destructive capitalist world with a revolutionary, democratic, socialist alternative.
Howie Hawkins, Green Party activist, Syracuse, N.Y.

Congratulations on the publication of your 500th issue. I look forward to reading the 1,000th issue and wish you continued success in providing a vital alternative to the mainstream corporate media.
Robert Meeropol, Rosenberg Fund for Children

May 21, 2004 is an important milestone for Socialist Worker as it publishes its 500th issue. My sincere congratulations and best wishes for continuing success for a publication that has been providing readers with valuable insight on the crucial domestic and international issues that have shaped the world during the past quarter of a century. SW has been consistent and principled in its reporting and analysis of numerous struggles for a better world.
Naseer Aruri, author of Dishonest Broker: The U.S. Role in Israel and Palestine

Congratulations to Socialist Worker on its 500th issue. As an antiwar activist and the father of a soldier serving in Iraq, I appreciate the newspaper's steadfast call to "Bring the Troops Home!" With this call, Socialist Worker exemplifies the ultimate form of "Support the Troops."
Larry Syverson

Congratulations on 500 issues of world-changing news. I personally love reading each issue of the Socialist Worker because I know you're going to bring the truth, without watering it down. I thank you for continuing to give voice to the millions around the world who don't have arms and voices to speak out. They daily struggle for justice. But you highlight all the abuses so many refuse to report. From child slave labor to the death penalty to presidential lies to governmental fools--Socialist Worker keeps all of them in school. No one can ever ask you: What do you do?

I personally thank you as well for allowing brothers and sisters from death row to tell their stories of pain and shame. You even allowed some of my poetry to see the light of day. How could I stay away? So I send my love, respect and best wishes for the future. And I greet you in struggle, until we see all our people free. Until then, we stand and resist the lies!
Renaldo Hudson, former Illinois death row prisoner

Congratulations on giving the landlords of the planet a pain in the ass for the 500th time.
Greg Palast, author of The Best Democracy Money Can Buy

The ruling class has a weapon more powerful than its bombs and chemicals--a culture that imprisons the minds of the poor. Their servile mass media cheerleads the worldwide slaughter that underlies capitalism's quest for ever-greater profits. Their mainstream press is an infomercial for imperialism.

As the class struggle deepens, the creation and development of an independent voice for working people is essential. The forging of a lively and critical socialist press is a key task for revolutionaries. Your remarkable achievement is an important contribution towards this goal.

The vision of the working class is painted on walls--its voice is the sound of marching feet. Our spirit is expressed in our programs and proclamations, our music and poetry, our magazines and newspapers. Within your pages exist the truth of the present and a whisper of the future.
Mike Alewitz, Labor Art and Mural Project

I would like to congratulate Socialist Worker on the printing of its 500th issue and also for its support of UFCW Local 538's strike against Tyson Foods. I think your articles point out that the unions need to be more active, and that there is a lack of leadership from both the local and the International unions. I am speaking from experience, as we just lost an 11-month strike in which we were misled by our union that the longer we stayed out, the stronger we would get. They never mentioned anything about decertification until it was staring us in the face. We lost job and shift rights and have about half of our original union brothers mixed with half of the scabs. We are now facing de-authorization by the scabs, which would allow them to not pay union dues, but still get the same benefits as paying union members. The local or International union never let us know that was a possibility and, in fact, begged that we accept the last offer or we would be decertified. Keep spreading the word.
Chuck Moehling, UFCW Local 538

Greetings and congratulations to Socialist Worker and its readers on the publication of its 500th issue. SW is a consistent informational and analytical resource that makes the necessary connections regarding what is behind so much of the world's ills today--U.S. capitalism. Its significance can therefore only increase as time goes on, making it an important informational weapon for all those engaged in progressive resistance. Though each edition gives light to new issues, its overriding message remains the same: we are obliged to speak truth to power while organizing accordingly--both politically and socially--for the challenges that lie ahead. Kudos for what you have accomplished, and strength for the battles ahead.
Toufic Haddad, coeditor of Between the Lines magazine

Congratulations on your 500th issue! Never stop what you are doing because you are truly needed in this world by many people. You give a voice to the voiceless and expose the whole truth to a world that doesn't want to hear or acknowledge it! You are the one truth in a world full of lies.
Kevin Cooper, California death row prisoner

I've been an avid reader of Socialist Worker for over 25 years, and no other publication has been so vital in helping me to keep my political bearings and remain active as a socialist over that time. Marx argued that socialism seeks first and foremost to change the world, not merely to comment upon it. Yet it is a fact that for long periods, revolutionaries may lack the numbers and influence to effect significant change. It's all too easy to become disoriented in the swirl of events that seem both to confirm and to contradict what we desire, and in the hostile or indifferent attitudes spawned by society's "ruling ideas."

For me, Socialist Worker has been a compass in recognizing how to proceed across new political terrain. As we push into a period in which socialist ideas begin to develop the mass audience they deserve, I look forward to the next 500 issues.
Brian Erway, Rochester, N.Y. ISO

Congratulations to Socialist Worker on your 500th issue. You provide an essential voice for socialists in the imperialist heartland. SW is also an essential organizer of the American working class and its allies that will one day challenge the rule of capital there, a precondition for the elimination of wars, poverty and exploitation across the planet. May your readers, subscribers and Web site visitors multiply.

SW has also proved a very useful resource for us in Australia--we've reprinted many of your excellent articles in Green Left Weekly. Keep up the good work.
John Percy, Democratic Socialist Platform (Australia)

One thing the makers of the American Constitution got right was freedom of the press. Never before in my lifetime, and that includes the McCarthy era nightmare, has the need for a socialist press been so acute. Socialist Worker has been particularly valuable in carrying forward some of the best traditions of the 1960s.
Dan Georgakas, author of Detroit I Do Mind Dying

My best wishes to the Socialist Worker on its 500th anniversary issue.
Larry Kirwan, Black '47 singer and songwriter

Reading Socialist Worker gave me a basis of understanding of the intersectionality of capitalist oppression, from constant attacks on abortion rights and people of color, to labor struggles at home and imperialist wars abroad. As a new ISO member with many questions about socialism, the paper provided me with a concrete reference on the socialist stance on current issues, which in turn bolstered my arguments on paper sales and helped me debate confidently and field the questions I was faced with. I have made many promising contacts this way, some of which will hopefully become new comrades who will aid us in the fight to end capitalist oppression and build a better world.
Ellie Houston, San Francisco ISO

In a time when America might just be headed to its worst period under an administration that's all about profits and war, the Socialist Worker is still around to tell it like it should be told. Happy 500 issues of telling the truth.
Ernesto Quiñonez, author of Bodega Dreams

After having read Socialist Worker for the last 18 years, I want to thank the editors and contributors for striving to make the newspaper a tribune of the people.

Some years back now, the San Francisco Police Department killed a young, unarmed African American man named Aaron Williams with several cans of pepper spray and a sustained beating, in front of his family and friends. Recently, in the same neighborhood in San Francisco, the SFPD killed another African American man with wooden legs in front of many witnesses who are loud and clear that this man, Cammerin Boyd, was unarmed and surrendering. Socialist Worker gave William Bowser, Aaron's uncle and guardian, the opportunity to tell Aaron's story and helped win some justice for Aaron's family. I have every confidence that this paper will do the same for Cammerin Boyd's family.

Socialist Worker is one of the few places where people who are attacked by the system we live under can have their side of the story told.
Kim Rabuck, San Francisco ISO

Congratulations on the 500th edition of the Socialist Worker. We appreciate SW's continuing contributions to the struggle against capitalism. Please keep up the good work.
Progressive Workers Organizing Committee, Houston-Galveston, Texas

Congrats on reaching the big 500. Keep those botox shots handy and be careful not to trip over any inherent contradictions. Tread lightly and watch out for the falling rate of profit.
Alexander Cockburn, co-editor of CounterPunch

Congratulations to Socialist Worker on its 500th issue. Week in and week out, SW brings us the best analyses and insights. In a society dominated by corporate-owned media, SW tells it like it is, from the perspective of working people.
Dina Roy and Ganesh Lal, Greensboro, N.C., ISO

I extend my thanks to Socialist Worker newspaper, which I congratulate in my name and in the name of the Palestinian people, who have faith in a democratic understanding of equality, justice and rights to future peace and love between the two peoples in the historical land of Palestine, the Palestinians and the Israelis--while reserving the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people as the equals of the Israeli people to create a paradise, peace with justice, rights and equality in the historical land of Palestine, in the region and in the world.

And in this nation of America, in which I have been incarcerated, tortured, beaten and locked up in solitary confinement for eight months and 10 days to shut my mouth and to prevent me from speaking out about the violation of human rights against my people--the Palestinians, the Arabs, the Muslims and all other oppressed peoples in the world, who are fighting for their freedom and equal rights.

You, the Socialist Worker newspaper, are always there in my defense and in the defense of justice everywhere. I congratulate you from the depths of my heart. Continue the struggle until we win the creation of a socialist society, with peace and justice for everyone in the world. Our struggle continues until victory is ours.
Farouk Abdel-Muhti, formerly incarcerated in the U.S. government's war on Arabs and Muslims

Congratulations to Socialist Worker on its 500th issue. From the beginning, but especially since going weekly, it has taken up the key arguments that arise in the movements of the day, arming activists and socialists to make a difference in the short term--and preparing us for the long-term struggle to destroy capitalism.

No matter the current political climate, Socialist Worker has always stood firmly for the interests of workers the world over--and applied those principles in a concrete, effective way. Wishing Socialist Worker continued success for another 500 issues and beyond to the socialist revolution!
Steve Leigh, Seattle ISO

Congratulations Socialist Worker on your 500th issue. It's a fantastic achievement. Many of our comrades read the online version of Socialist Worker. Reliable and up-to-date coverage of the war and occupation of Iraq written from the perspective of socialists fighting Bush and his war on terror in the "belly of the beast" has been a wonderful resource. Socialist Worker has definitely helped in making the arguments in Australia for a clear anti-imperialist opposition to our own government's role in Iraq. We wish you all the best for the next 500 issues.
Socialist Alternative (Australia)

Congratulations on the 500th issue of Socialist Worker newspaper. A newspaper that does not shy away from difficult issues and questions, deals with the struggle for peace and justice here and abroad, a newspaper that stays true to the working-class ideology. The paper is courageous and mind-opening, and encourages critical thinking. Looking forward to another 500 issues.
Hakim Husien, Palestine Aid Society

Keep shedding light on the real issues. Thanks for the first 500 issues of free speech!
Kaye Robinson, City College of New York student

I would like to congratulate and thank you for your many years of service in providing information to me and others. Socialist Worker gives me real information and coverage of many issues going on around the world. I always look forward every week to receiving this insightful paper in the mail.

With so many lies and scandals going on--in the White House, but with both the Republicans and Democrats and their connections to the big media companies--it's really refreshing to hear from an independent paper like Socialist Worker. Myself and many of the guys here at the maximum security ACI in Cranston, R.I., read the Socialist Worker, because I share it with them. On behalf of me and all of those who I share your paper with, I want to say: Thank you SW.
Aldrin Diaz, prisoner in Rhode Island

Congratulations on reaching the milestone. For nearly 30 years, you've argued that socialists need their own force to challenge the twin parties of business. That message has never been more timely. Greetings, and Respect, from Britain. Your enemies are our own enemies, your friends are ours, too.
David Renton, socialist historian

One can always count on the Socialist Worker for a news perspective that sees the world through working-class eyes. If I could, I would buy gift subs for the world.
Ron Jacobs, writer and anti-imperialist

Congratulations and many thanks. For over 40 years, we have been political activists in the San Francisco Bay Area. Our local "cosmopolitan" paper, the San Francisco Chronicle, is directed to and written for the so-called socialites of San Francisco. Without your paper, we would not be informed of the many issues, problems, workers' negotiations, strikes, etc., taking place in our own area. Your paper gives socialists information, strength and confidence to speak out!
Steve and Pat Gallagher, Fremont, Calif.

I also want to congratulate you on your 500th issue. We need independent, non-corporate media voices like Socialist Worker to point the way to fight the messed-up system we have and to build the fight to overthrow the capitalist system. Keep up the good work, and onward to the next 500 issues.
Patrick Switzer, Seattle, Wash.

I joined the ISO when I was 15 years old in April 2002. My favorite part of Socialist Worker is the page that has letters to the editors because SW prints all types of messages from readers. I've seen plenty of letters in SW when people did not agree with something that was printed.

At Socialist Worker paper sales, people are given an alternative and asked questions, which people don't really take the time to do themselves. For school reports, I have used SW and shown it to a lot of my friends. I'm not afraid to be a socialist. I mean, why should you be afraid to fight for reproductive rights, gay rights, more money for

education, less war and a system that is for human need and not corporate greed. In short, a better world.

I wish SW in the best of the luck to continue to grow in the next centuries to come.
Sheri Pegram, Washington, D.C. ISO

The Working Group of the Socialist Front (Frente Socialista) of Puerto Rico congratulates the International Socialist Organization on the occasion of publishing the 500th issue of its organ, Socialist Worker. We salute this accomplishment for its contribution to the struggle for socialism in the United States and the ultimate victory against imperialism everywhere in the world.
Frente Socialista-New York Committee

We will always need a paper like the Socialist Worker to keep us informed. So thanks Socialist Worker. I wish you well in achieving your goals in bringing awareness. I hope I'll be around for the 1,000th celebration.
Ronald Kitchen, former Illinois death row prisoner

I would like to send you my warmest greetings for the 500th issue of your newspaper. In fact, Socialist Worker has been a very useful source of firsthand information and analysis, both on the nightmarish foreign policy of the Bush administration and the working-class and social movements in the U.S., which are mostly unknown in Greece. Thanks for the quality and open-mindedness of your modest but so precious paper.
George Mitralias, Athens, Greece

All the best on the 500th edition of the SW from the belly of the beast!
ISO members and friends in Houston

It is of great value to the antiwar movement that SW provides accounts and analysis that cut through the morass of sycophantic reportage that is presented as serious analysis.
Omar Waraich, Radical Activist Network, London

Socialist Worker is a vital resource, offering the analysis and information our side needs to win. The articles in Socialist Worker offer a perspective you just won't get from the corporate-controlled media and, just as importantly, they are a tool we can use to organize--connecting struggles, drawing links and offering solidarity.

Here in New Zealand, Socialist Worker is a great political resource for us to be able to show our workmates, fellow students and others in campaigns that, in the United States itself, there are people organizing against Bush and his war for oil and empire. All the best for the next 500 issues.
Dougal McNeill, International Socialist Organisation--New Zealand

During the California grocery strike, the San Diego branch of the ISO joined the picket lines every weekend at a local Vons, one of the largest in the city. Every Saturday, we would use Socialist Worker to engage strikers around an array of issues, from strike tactics to the war in Iraq. It was common to see small groups of strikers, SWs in hand, clustered around ISO members in eager discussion or picketers on break delving deep into the red and white pages.

This particular store stood out amongst the others. Not one worker crossed the line in the four-plus months of the strike, and the core of strikers maintained their militancy to the end. Coincidence? I think not. The fighting words of Socialist Worker undoubtedly connected with the mood and aspirations of the rank and file--helping to generate the confidence and the means to fight on. SW in action gives a glimpse of how workers power can develop out of our day-to-day struggles.
Justin Akers, San Diego ISO

With all the beating of war drums and spinning of the war party's disinformation, it's getting harder to find facts, let alone progressive political opinion. I look forward to reading Socialist Worker each week, particularly for its excellent coverage of the struggle in Palestine.
Brian Flanagan, former member of SDS and Weather Underground

Congratulations on the 500th issue of Socialist Worker. In the 13 years I have been a proud member of the ISO, the paper has informed and inspired me and those around me not only to know what's going on in the world, but what we can do to change it. More than any academic readings or arcane lectures, the SW and the International Socialist Review have connected my work to my politics. I am proud to be part of the revolutionary tradition in which the ISO stands and of the paper that represents us.
Dana Cloud, Associate Professor of Communication Studies, University of Texas

Thank you, Socialist Worker, for rescuing me from the Democrats and a life of lesser evil.
Jake Kornegay, New York City ISO

I have been reading Socialist Worker for the last 15 years. It has been my lifeline to the news that really matters.
Brian Huseby, Olympia, Wash., ISO

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

In addition to the many messages of solidarity we received and have excerpted here, Socialist Worker would like to thank the following individuals for their donations or well wishes.

Noam Chomsky, author and activist

Mike Davis, author of Late Victorian Holocausts: El Niño and the Making of the Third World

Alison Dellit, editor of Green Left Weekly (Australia)

Seewan Eng

Emily Goldstein, Campus Antiwar Network Coordinating Committee

Stuart Munckton, national coordinator of Resistance (Australia)

Robert Simmons

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

From ISO branches

The newspaper and its Spanish version, Obrero Socialista, have helped our community branch answer questions that working people here are concerned about. Whether it's the war on Iraq, gay marriage or a strike at SBC, SW always provides a clear analysis and a definite way ahead.
San Francisco-Mission branch

We'd like to congratulate everyone who has worked so hard on Socialist Worker over the years for bringing the paper to where it is today. Those of us in Texas have had to endure George W. Bush's reign for longer than the rest of the country. When he was governor of our state and on a killing spree--152 executions during his term--we were happy to have a newspaper like SW to help organize our fight.

We'll always be thankful for the serious and urgent coverage you gave to the fight to save Shaka Sankofa (Gary Graham) from execution. During that summer before the 2000 elections, we used SW to help campaign hard to save Shaka's life. This August, when many of us travel to the protests at the Republican National Convention in New York, SW supporters from Texas will be yelling as loud as we can: "Hey, Bush, it ain't over. We remember Shaka Sankofa!"
Austin, Texas, branch

All of the comrades here want to congratulate Socialist Worker on its 500th issue. We also want to thank the staff for the incredible amount of work and energy that they put into producing each issue, as well as for their sharp and insightful analyses, which make the SW absolutely the best news source around. This paper has been a vital component of our branch life and growth--from learning and discussing, to organizing and agitating. We are all extremely proud to claim it as our own. Here's to the next 500 issues of a hopefully expanded and more frequent Socialist Worker.
New Haven, Conn., branch

Through the years, Socialist Worker has exposed the truth about life in the nation's capital and has shown how all of the talk from the White House and Congress about "democracy" is sheer hypocrisy and lies. And from the fight to save the University of the District of Columbia and DC General Hospital, to student resistance to tuition hikes and budget cuts at the University of Maryland, to the fightback by D.C. teachers to the Sterling laundry workers union drive, SW has been there every step of the way. We look forward to the many fightbacks and battles that will be represented on Socialist Worker's pages in the years to come.
Washington, D.C.-City branch

As a new branch of the International Socialist Organization, we have found Socialist Worker to be an amazing tool for organizing and building a political foundation. Through our paper sales, we also learn about the situation on the ground--how people feel about policies and how they think we should fight. Thank you, SW, for not only providing news we couldn't find elsewhere, but also for helping us move forward politically.
Ithaca, N.Y., branch

Here in the South, Socialist Worker has not only been an agitator and an organizer for our branch--it has been a political lifeline. SW has helped us build the antiwar movement by using it as a vehicle to make connections with military families and veterans here in North Carolina. When there is less activity, it keeps us in touch with many of the struggles around the world. Thanks for the outstanding paper--a tool our branch depends on.
Greensboro, N.C., branch

Congratulations to Socialist Worker on more than 25 years of publication and 500 great issues! The weekly Socialist Worker gives us a much-needed working-class perspective in a world otherwise dominated by a press that is wholly subservient to the ruling class agenda.

SW has been invaluable in keeping our branch and local readership up to date on the news of our movements. In addition, SW consistently offers a way forward through solidarity and struggle to build a better world. We look forward to reading, writing for and selling another 500!
Burlington, Vt., branch

Organizing in a community that's been massively effected by 50 percent unemployment, the criminal injustice system and military recruitment, Socialist Worker has been an invaluable tool to build roots in our community. We're proud to carry a newspaper that so unequivocally brings rationality and justice to an insane and racist world.
New York City-Harlem branch

Albert Einstein once wrote, "The economic anarchy of capitalist society as it exists today is, in my opinion, the real source of the evil." Every passing year confirms more and more Einstein's observation, and the dire need for more people to embrace the politics of Socialist Worker. Congratulations on your 500th issue!
Davis, Calif., branch

Unlike their counterparts in the corporate-controlled press, the editors of Socialist Worker will never have to apologize for their coverage of world events. Socialist Worker always tells the truth.
Chicago-University of Illinois at Chicago branch

From Los Angeles, we would like to congratulate you on your 500th issue. We have found Socialist Worker to be an invaluable and inspirational tool in our fight against injustice on many fronts.

SW argues that another world is possible. We've met many people who want to fight for justice, from fighting against the FTAA and for drivers' licenses for immigrants, to stopping police brutality and ending the death penalty, to protesting at the Democratic National Convention in 2000, SW helps us to draw these fighters together. Think of what a different place this would be if we realized our potential and took control of our own lives and resources!
Los Angeles branch

Congrats to Socialist Worker on its 500th issue of speaking for the oppressed. Socialist Worker has been invaluable in helping spread the truth about the injustices in the world and leading the path towards a world of true equality and liberation--a socialist world. Through the articles of the Socialist Worker, our branch has had 11 new members join in the past four months. Another world is possible!
New York City-Hunter College branch

Here in San Diego, activists in the ISO have been able to use Socialist Worker to inject Marxist analysis into struggles ranging from the recent Southern California grocery strike to opposition to the brutal state budget cuts we currently face. SW's sister publication, Obrero Socialista, has also been key to our ability to connect to activists and struggles in Mexico and Latino activists in our town. At every step of the way, SW has offered both analysis of the gritty reality we face today, and inspiration from those who have succeeded in their struggles. Good luck on the next 500 issues!
San Diego branch

Socialist Worker has been an important weapon through the ups and downs of our struggles for the past 21 years that the ISO has been in Madison. From fighting apartheid in South Africa to chasing the Klan out of southern Wisconsin, from the fight for abortion rights to the struggle against sweatshops, we've taken the paper into our workplaces and our classrooms, and onto many picket lines. We look forward to having Socialist Worker with us in the struggles to come.
Madison, Wis.-City branch

Socialist Worker has been an indispensable tool in building a branch of the ISO in Santa Cruz, Calif. The newspaper carries outstanding coverage of the issues that mean the most to students and working people in this town, from the war in Iraq to the fight to save Kevin Cooper. By connecting struggles at the national and local levels, Socialist Worker has become an important part of the left in our area. Sales of the paper here have nearly tripled in the last six months. Here's to more readers, more struggles and 500 more issues!
Santa Cruz, Calif., branch

As organizers at the largest public university on the East Coast, the University of Maryland branch of the ISO would like to congratulate Socialist Worker on its 500th issue. While our campus is a primary recruiting ground for many of the military contractors and intelligence organizations around the Washington, D.C. area, it is also home to a racially diverse working class and a commuter community angered by budget cuts, raises in tuition and mistreated workers. In providing news, perspective and opinions from around the country and across the globe, SW has given us the perfect counterweight to a university run like a factory and a campus media that often treats the left with disdain.
Washington, D.C.-University of Maryland branch

Socialist Worker and its consistent voice for the oppressed has given our branch and others around us a real sense of where the priorities of this system lie. Each week, we look forward to cutting analysis, readership debates, news on struggles from around the world, Marxist examination and, most importantly, labor struggles in the U.S. It has been both a weapon in our local struggles and an ally, reporting the experiences of our community in the context of similar struggles around the country. Thanks Socialist Worker, happy 500th.
Rochester, N.Y., branch

Your consistent and principled opposition to all the ills of the system has helped us to be the fighting socialists that we are--and to make a bigger impact than we ever could by ourselves. As the most clear and engaging Marxist alternative to the obsequious and nauseatingly "objective" mainstream press, may Socialist Worker continue to be a source of indigestion in the belly of the beast of global capitalism!
Boston branch

Providence, like 98 percent of U.S. cities, has only one major newspaper, which is itself mostly cobbled together from wire services. Each week's shipment of Socialist Worker is a treasure and a relief. We look forward to reading and selling the next 500 issues!
Providence, R.I., branch

On an elite campus like Columbia, it's easy for students to become isolated from the outside world. Socialist Worker has helped the International Socialist Organization at Columbia to find the students most outraged by inequality and racism and inject a sense of class politics onto the campus. During various explosions of activism, Socialist Worker provided a class analysis of many of the struggles we've been a part of--most recently, the fight to save Kevin Cooper's life, the struggle against racism on Columbia's campus, and the Columbia graduate student employees' strike.
New York City-Columbia branch

Congratulations to Socialist Worker on your 500th issue. We're proud to sell over 30 copies of SW every Saturday in Oakland; we know it's the place to find the news from our perspective, not the propaganda put out by the bosses. Here's to another 500 (at least)!
From the Berkeley branch Saturday sale

The Cincinnati branch of the ISO sends greetings and thanks to the powerful organizing and educational tool, Socialist Worker! Our branch has grown by leaps and bounds in the last six months to a large, confident, powerful force. We have so many incredible new members joining with experienced cadre, making our presence in this city known to all. Our meetings continually bring out great numbers of working people looking for an alternative to the left of the Democrats and apologetic "liberals."
Cincinnati branch

Congratulations on 500 issues of telling the truth to power; of organizing the working-class fightback; and of inspiring us to a new, socialist future.
Iowa City, Iowa, branch

Home page | Back to the top