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 Front page ofThe Militant, May 2025 | |
| Type | Newsweekly |
|---|---|
| Editor | John Studer |
| Founded | November 15, 1928; 97 years ago (1928-11-15) |
| Language | English,French,Spanish |
| Headquarters | 306 West 37th Street, 13th floor New York City, New York 10018 |
| City | New York City |
| Country | United States |
| Website | www |
The Militant is asocialistnewsweekly connected to the United StatesSocialist Workers Party (SWP) and thePathfinder Press.[1] It is published in theUnited States and distributed in other countries such asCanada, theUnited Kingdom,Australia,France,Sweden,Iceland, andNew Zealand.[2]
An earlier publication calledThe Militant was launched in November 1928 byJames P. Cannon and other AmericanTrotskyists gathered together in theCommunist League of America (CLA). It declared its goal to be a fight "in the interest of the working people" against thecapitalist system,imperialist wars, and theStalinist regime in theSoviet Union, which according to the Trotskyists had betrayed and corrupted theOctober Revolution.[citation needed]
The originalMilitant terminated in 1934 at the time of the merger of the Cannon-led CLA with theAmerican Workers Party headed byA. J. Muste to form theWorkers Party of the United States (WPUS). The paper was succeeded by a similar broadsheet that served as the official organ of the WPUS called theNew Militant, edited by Cannon. This paper was in turn terminated after about 18 months when the main section of the WPUS joined theSocialist Party of America en masse in 1936 and was replaced by a new publicationSocialist Appeal by Trotskyists in the SPA.Albert Goldman edited the Chicago-based publication from 1935, he and other Trotskyists in Chicago had joined the SPA prior to the rest of the WPUS.[3] In 1937, the newspaper was transferred to New York City.[4][5]
The Socialist Workers Party was founded on December 31, 1937, by Trotskyists following the expulsion of the "Socialist Appeal faction" from the Socialist Party of America. The SWP's newspaper continued to be known asSocialist Appeal until 1941 when it was renamedThe Militant. This publication has continued without interruption.[citation needed]
In 1964,The Militant gained unwanted attention when it was revealed during theWarren Commission thatLee Harvey Oswald had his wife,Marina Oswald Porter take two photographs of him around March 31, 1963 posing in his backyard holding a copy ofThe Militant and another communist newspaperThe Worker in one hand andthe rifle that he would later use on November 22 toassassinateJohn F. Kennedy on the other (he held them in different hands in both photographs). These photographs were considered important evidence in the investigation as it proved the rifle was his.[6] In the 1970s, another photograph of the same was found and was used in a later investigation in 1977.[7]
In the summer of 2005,The Militant became a bilingual newspaper, published in both English andSpanish (El Militante), and with lead articles and editorials appearing in both languages. AFrench edition was inaugurated in 2012 namedLe Militant.[citation needed]
The Militant is not officially owned or controlled by the SWP. To protect the party and the paper,The Militant is owned by an unidentified private group,[citation needed] although the endorsement the paper gives to the SWP is clear.[citation needed]