McReynolds, Deming Biography Celebrated
It was standing room only at the annual Dellinger Lecture on Nonviolence April 26. Judson Memorial Church in Greenwich Village was packed at the forum and book party for A Saving Remnant, Martin Duberman’s new dual biography of two important pacifist (and WRL) figures, David McReynolds and the late Barbara Deming.
McReynolds is the longtime WRL staffer and Socialist Party leader who came out as gay in the pages of the original WIN magazine in 1969. Deming (1917–1984) was a writer and pacifist theorist (Revolution and Equilibrium) who declared herself to be a lesbian while still in her teens. Duberman, the noted gay playwright and historian, wrote the book to look at his subjects’ parallel careers in the peace movement and their very different relationships to feminism and gay liberation.
The subject for the evening was McReynolds’ and Deming’s “radical lives and their place in the pacifist, civil rights, gay and lesbian, and feminist movements.” Filling in details, Duberman read from the book; African-American lesbian activist and former WRL staffer Mandy Carter emceed and talked about Deming as she knew her; and McReynolds talked about “the view from over the hill”—his current perspective on his years of activism. A lively question-and-answer period followed the discussion, and the evening ended with wine and book-signing.
The evening was co-produced by The New Press, publishers of A Saving Remnant, and WRL, which regularly presents a Dellinger lecture to honor the memory of revolutionary pacifist and activist Dave Dellinger (1915–2004), the World War II resister, civil rights activist, anti-Vietnam War leader, member of the Chicago Eight, and lifelong peace and justice activist.
Strategy in Focus at National Committee Meeting
As it always does, the February meeting of the War Resisters League National Committee (NC) took place over the three days that most of the country knows as President’s Day weekend. During the gathering in New York City the NC hears proposals, passes the annual budget, and discusses WRL’s plans to resist a war machine the head of which is the celebrated office of the president.
On Friday night, Susan Cakars once again opened her Brooklyn home for a potluck dinner and discussion. This time, the topic was the pro-democracy revolts springing to life in one Arab country after the next. One key element that came up was of nonviolent strategy as recorded and promoted by Gene Sharp and how his work may have been an influence.
Meetings began Saturday, with reports from the national office, committees, and task forces. As a followup to last summer’s NC and the strategic planning done in consultation with cross-movement organizer Suzanne Pharr, Organizing Task Force members facilitated a strategy session. After reviewing parts of the summer session, they led an exercise centered on a list of parameters that would serve as a lens or tool for crafting and evaluating program proposals. The committee expects to present a formal proposal after further input from the organization.
The next two days saw proposals presented to and passed by the committee, including a balanced budget. One proposal temporarily expanded the NC to include all six candidates then running for the NC from the “underrepresented” category—communities and peoples historically underrepresented on our leadership bodies. Also passed were a proposal to co-publish with PM Press a book on antiracism coedited by NC and ACC member Matt Meyer. Another proposal involved replenishing WRL’s development fund to support reaching out to new members.
Among the program proposals approved this fiscal year:
* Contributing to “G.I. Voice,” a G.I.-led radio project out of Coffee Strong outside Ft. Lewis, WA, which would allow service members throughout the country to hear stories connected to issues such as the current U.S. wars, trauma, G.I. rights, the new G.I. bill, and other issues of relevance to their lives;
* events remembering former WRL staffer and civil rights leader Bayard Rustin during his 100th birthday year;
* support for a web-based antinuclear mapping and storytelling project in collaboration with other anti-uranium mining activists from New Mexico and outside the United States, and Iraq Education Project workshops, which will draw on resources from the vibrant Iraqi women’s, labor, and cultural movements.
UNAC Solidarity March
A WRL contingent made a strong and vocal presence at a mobilization in New York City in solidarity with people of Arab countries engaged in nonviolent revolution. The United National Antiwar Committee (UNAC) organized the April 9 rally and march, which took place simultaneously in New York and San Francisco. UNAC reports a turnout of 10,000 in New York and 3,000 in San Francisco. Local news outlet NY1 reported that “hundreds” marched from Union Square to Foley Square calling for an end to U.S. wars and immediate military withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan.
“A lot of what we’re doing is really trying to come together across movements in support of labor organizing, in support of communities being targeted right now by U.S. wars,” WRL Organizing Coordinator Kimber Heinz told NY1.
WRL supporters distributed copies of a new educational comic depicting the Iraqi resistance to occupation and sit-ins planned for that day. As the comic shows, on April 9, 2003, U.S. troops pulled down the statue of Saddam Hussein in Firdos Square in Baghdad. Since then, Iraqis have been holding an annual demonstration against the U.S. occupation. This year, demonstrations began around February 25, sparked by events in Egypt and Tunisia. The mass sit-in in Mosul was dispersed on April 26, but as of this writing similar sit-ins were being called for in other major Iraqi cities.
