¡Don White Presenté!
We were shocked and saddened to hear of the death of Don White, revolutionary dreamer and activist. He seemed imortal. What a hole he has left in the Los Angeles Peace and Justice movement. Don was a tireless activist and advocate, an internationalist who understood the connections between racism, imperialism, sexism, and militarism. He was courageous, fearless, and willing to take on all just cause, regardless of the controversy.
So many people love Don, who was admired and adored for his integrity, passion and grace. So often those who are so popular gain favor through people pleasing and "chosing one's battles." Not Don. He was unwavering in his understanding of solidarity and alliance, speaking truth to power regardless of who might not approve. His was a rare grace.
Personally, we are forever in his debt for defending activists who support Palestinian human rights, and Cafe Intifada when we came under attack from the Zionist establishment in collusion with some of the more "progessive" members of United Teachers' Los Angeles, of which he was a charter member. Don's most recent work has been in the most controversial area of boycott, sanctions and divestiture of Israeli Apartheid, an issue many activists have shied away from, and others have been destroyed over. (But not Don!)
He also became an ally in the struggle for disability rights, setting a policy of only allowing meetings on the first floor of the Peace Center, so that all activists could be included in all events.
Don's tireless work on behalf of CISPES is his most powerful legacy; an organization (and whose activists) were subject to death threats from death squads, and surveilance by the FBI and the ADL (liberal dollars at work!)
Don was always available, in solidarity, in support. He was the pitch guy at almost every fundraiser or event. When Don White got to the podium, checkbooks came out.
Today is the last day of the KPFK fund drive. Sherna Berger Gluck of Radio Intifada (no relation to Cafe Intifada) suggests making a donation in Don's name.
We will. We hope you will too!
Emma Rosenthal
Andy Griggs
Cafe Intifada
The WE Project
The Los Angeles Palestine Labor Solidarity Committee
Memories of Don
by Casey Peters
Don White was such a ubiquitous presence that I cannot remember how we first met. It just seemed like he had always been there. There among us. Among those of us who have given of ourselves to work together trying to make this a better world. A world of peace, prosperity and cultural exchange. At times he played a leader, speaking from a podium before thousands of people rallying against war and bigotry. But such offerings were never elitist in nature. Speaking to thousands never made him feel too important to listen to one. To anyone. Don White was truly a man of the people.
It seems so strange to say “was.” The vibrancy that rippled through his soul was remarkable, and it is hard to think that it could come to an end. His excitement about a new idea or even an old project was genuine enough to instill enthusiasm in others. And, as many will recount, he went about the work before us in a way that inspired people to set aside disagreements and focus on the big picture.
Don’s role in working well with others helped to build a successful week of demonstrations known as D2K to underscore the disappointment that the progressive community felt after two terms of having a Democrat in the White House. My part in that season was working on PCLA2000, bringing a diversity of radical thought together for a People’s Convention. Despite overwhelming commitments, Don lent his support to that effort as well.
A few months later, shortly after the Pershing Square rally to protest the inauguration of the presidential candidate who lost the popular vote, Don White and my mother (Lee Peters) and I were again in downtown Los Angeles, and rode the Angel’s Flight funicular railway up to California Water Plaza on Bunker Hill. That was just after one o’clock on January 31, 2001, and I remember thinking as we sat by the open door on the downhill end of the train that someone could get seriously injured if the cable were to break. 23 hours later it did with one person killed and several hurt. My Mom said “we were one day from foreverness.”
In 2003, I was chosen to be the first Local Election Supervisor for a new directly elected Local Station Board at KPFK. Dozens of activists ran for the board. At one point a broadcaster inadvertently announced that Don White would be speaking at an upcoming anti-war rally. Although Don’s candidacy for the board was not mentioned, and he knew nothing of the announcement, it was my duty to pull his recorded candidate statement from the air to provide a fair balance of broadcast exposure for all candidates. Some people complained about that sanction, but Don selflessly agreed that the ruling was reasonable. When the exhausting election was over and the grueling vote count complete, it was my job to announce the results to the crowd gathered at the Peace Center. Sleep-deprived as I was, I made the error of combining the first name of first place finisher Donna Warren with the last name of second place finisher Don White. When I said the first seat on the board goes to “Donna White”, laughter filled the air, and Don responded with a limp wrist gesture and blushing bright red. He went on to serve two years as Chair of the KPFK board.
Our mutual friend Mike Varady told me he’d asked Don why he was so quiet about being gay. Don had said he was proud of it but that just wasn’t his political emphasis. Although Don’s personal life was in accord with his politics, he did have a life that went beyond politics. Some of my favorite memories of him are just bumping into him at places like Fatburger, a fish and chips shop, and recently in downtown Long Beach. My wife Marilyn had many conversations with Don that never got political.
One particularly meaningful act was Don driving to my Mom’s house just under the deadline to deliver a letter telling the probate court how happy Lee Peters had been when living an active social life in the care and company of Marilyn and me.
At a Washington DC meeting of the Pacifica National Board in April 2007, when I was introduced as the new National Elections Supervisor, Don made a point of telling the Directors that they were getting “2 for 1″ because of my hard-working supportive wife. Only he was observant and thoughtful enough to publicly recognize a woman’s unsung contribution.
That summer, I checked one of my email accounts on Bastille Day and came across one from Frank Dorrel entitled “Martin Sheen invites you..,” that was actually an invitation to Don White’s 70th birthday party that very night! It was a joyous event with a wonderful variety of refreshments and music where I saw several friends I hadn’t seen for years. More importantly, there were activists from competing factions who were all there to celebrate their friendship with Don White. Now we will all gather again to remember Don as a bridge builder among peace makers.
Six months ago, Don White took time out from his work at the CISPES office (Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador) to pick up KPFK ballots and Election Supervisors and give us a ride to the Peace Center for the LSB vote count. That was reflective of his style of leadership. He was never too proud to do “Jimmy Higgins” work, named after the Upton Sinclair title character who devoted himself to thankless grunt work necessary to keep the movement going. Don lead not by edict but by example. With Don White having gone to his great reward, it is now incumbent upon a new generation to step forward to carry on the struggle.