By Sean Healy
The first issue of Resistance inspired many Resistance members — new and old — to get out into the streets. In Melbourne, we sold more copies than we've sold all year — a record 260+. Other branches also had significant successes.
Many Resistance members have commented on how exciting it is to be selling a paper with our name on it — giving us a sense of pride and ownership. This was certainly shown by the launches of the Resistance magazine around the country.
Twenty-five Resistance members and supporters attended the launch in Melbourne, hearing a presentation by Emma Murphy on the history of Green Left and watching exciting footage which highlighted the importance of an independent paper like Green Left and Resistance.
In Sydney, 25 people attended the launch, which featured speeches from DSP national secretary John Percy about the early history of Resistance in the 1960s and Lucy Honey on plans for the Resistance magazine.
In Canberra and Adelaide, the launch took place on the street, with speak-outs.
But plans don't stop there. With the long holidays ahead of us, and a promise of fine weather, many branches have been planning ways to take the paper further afield — into the suburbs and regional areas, and covering the many festivals and gigs that happen over summer.
The high point of these efforts will be "Blitz Week", from November 30 to December 6, when major plans are afoot for getting the new Resistance magazine out to new audiences.
For example, Sydney Resistance will saturate the city with more than 500 Green Lefts and Resistances. High school members will be "painting their schools red" with the radical paper, getting socialist ideas to both students and teachers. The publication will be seen at cafes, pubs, bus stops, markets and workplaces.
A huge city stall on Friday will put the revolutionary press on street corners, at railway stations and all over the malls.
On Saturday, Resistance members will be getting out to more than 20 suburbs, distributing the paper in places it's never been seen.
In Wollongong, Resistance activists are fired up to defy the Crown Street Mall's attempts to stop the distribution of Green Left and Resistance. The mall manager, after realising that the distribution of Green Left can't be stopped, is now attempting to "control" it, specifying where and when it can be sold. In defiance of this, the overall target is 143 papers in 52 hours — the majority of which are planned to be sold in the mall!
And these are just the beginnings.