Ron Dellums: A Voice Rising from the West Sets in the East
Anti-war Advocate; Activist for Peace, nonviolence, human rights; an
elected public official and politician, a Washington-DC-based lobbyist,
Oakland, California-born Ronald “Ron” Vernie Dellums November 24, 1935 – July
30, 2018 [Below excerpts, minor edit from his words]
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mperative Voice
“Martin Luther King told us to raise our voices in the name of peace
and justice and equality and peace because it was the right thing, the moral
thing, the ethical thing, the principled thing to do.”
You must now emerge “…out of a sense of urgency, out of a sense of the
imperative …
This generation must raise their voices “because it is now the only thing to do.
It has now become the imperative.
…because we know that the price of war is too high …, what was principle for our generation is the imperative for this generation.
We know the price of neglect of the issues affecting the human
condition…; so we have a responsibility, now, to address the imperative.
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riorities
“Understand the relationship between the billions of dollars that are
being spent to wage war and the inability to address the injustice that is
taking place in the ghettos and the barrios of America— the issue of
priorities.”
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eace
“The peace movement is the ultimate movement. Peace is the superior
idea, the umbrella movement of and for all movements
The peace movement—because to come together under the banner of peace forces us to challenge all forms of injustice
… [T]he movement to end the war in Vietnam ultimately became the largest and most powerful movement in the country.
But when the war in Vietnam ended, many of the people went home and
left us to fight racism, poverty, hunger, disease, homelessness, helplessness….
Peace is more than simply the absence of war; it is the absence of
conditions that give rise to war.
What would have happened … if we had stayed together?
What would the international community look like?
What would the world look like, globally?
What would America look like?
Would we still be seeing the Baltimores, if we had challenged on these issues?
“… [I]t is not too late.”
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orld Change
“… [H]ow can people move to change the world when they are constantly
being fed a diet of cynicism, of superficial political analysis rooted solely
in partisan politics, or the shaping of personalities as if this individual or
that individual can change the world all by themselves—without dealing with the
substance of the problems, of policies that have to be addressed, [beyond]
narrow, very parochial, shallow analysis?”
Today’s youth are “not carrying the same baggage we carry; and if they
ever stand up, they will change America and change the world for their children
and their children’s children.”
… [W]e had carried the burden of racial, cultural and economic
oppression but we did not have to carry the burden of ignorance
… we had the obligation, the right and the responsibility to enter the arena and be educative, to educate our people, to help them to understand the inter-relatedness, the inter-connectedness, the relationships between and among all issues of oppression and injustice.
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ellums First Person Singular, Plural
“If it’s radical to oppose the insanity and cruelty of the Vietnam War,
if it’s radical to oppose racism and sexism and all other forms of oppression,
if it’s radical to want to alleviate poverty, hunger, disease, homelessness and
other forms of human misery; then I’m proud to be called a radical.”
It’s criminal that we turn a blind eye to poverty.
The solutions are multidimensional.
We have to deal with health care, housing, jobs, education, crime and social justice.
Ultimately this should be a federal issue; but until government begins to address it, we will stand with our residents and eliminate poverty.
Sources
Democracy Now! 2015 Amy Goodman: “Former Oakland Congressman and chair
of the Armed Services Committee Ron Dellums speaking at a conference recently
in Washington, D.C. It was called ‘Vietnam: The Power of Protest.’” https://www.democracynow.org/2015/5/25/former_congressman_ron_dellums_organizing_for
May 2015 Power of Protest Conference
“As VPCC developed its network of past and present anti-war activists,
it decided to organize a national gathering in Washington, DC, to recall the
importance of the Vietnam era from the perspective of the anti-war movement,
along with the lessons for today. On May 1-2, 2015, at the New York Avenue
Presbyterian Church, not far from the White House, over 650 participants joined
in a variety of workshops and plenary sessions. Included in the program were
Dan Ellsberg, Mark Rudd, Peter Yarrow, Staughton Lynd, Cora Weiss, Tom Hayden,
Pat Schroeder, Ron Dellums, Phil Donahue, and dozens of others. Scores of
former anti-war activists were in attendance.” http://www.vietnampeace.org/2015-conference
Democracy Now! “Remembering Ron Dellums: The Radical Member of Congress
Who Fought Against War, Apartheid & Poverty” July 31, 2018
https://www.democracynow.org/2018/7/31/remembering_ron_dellums_the_radical_congressmember
Democracy Now! “Ron Dellums (1935-2018): Organizing for Peace Forces Us
to Challenge All Forms of Injustice” July 31, 2018
https://www.democracynow.org/2018/7/31/ron_dellums_1935_2018_organizing_for
Wikipedia
Ron Dellums https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Dellums
Biographical Directory of the United States Congress Entry
Ronald V. DELLUMS
Schooling
“DELLUMS, Ronald V., a Representative from California; born in Oakland,
Alameda County, Calif., November 24, 1935; attended the Oakland public schools;
A.A., Oakland City College, 1958; B.A., San Francisco State College, 1960;
M.S.W., University of California, 1962
Work: Non-elective Office
Marine Active duty United States Marine Corps, 1954-1956
“Psychiatric social worker, California Department of Mental Hygiene,
1962-1964; program director, Bayview Community Center, 1964-1965; associate
director, then director, Hunters Point Youth Opportunity Center, 1965-1966;
planning consultant, Bay Area Social Planning Council, 1966-1967; director,
Concentrated Employment Program, San Francisco Economic Opportunity Council,
1967-1968; senior consultant, Social Dynamics, Inc. (manpower specialization
programs), 1968-1970; part-time lecturer, San Francisco State College,
University of California, and Berkeley Graduate School of Social Welfare
Work: Government Elective
Office
“Member, Berkeley City Council, 1967-1970; delegate to Democratic
National Convention, 1972; elected as a Democrat to the Ninety-second and to
the thirteen succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1971-February 6, 1998);
chairman, Committee on District of Columbia (Ninety-sixth through One Hundred
Second Congresses), Committee on Armed Services (One Hundred Third Congress);
served from January 3, 1971, until his resignation on February 6, 1998; Mayor
of Oakland, Calif., 2007-2011; died on July 30, 2018, in Washington, D.C.”
http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=D000222
VPCC: Vietnam Peace Commemoration Committee
Formed in September 2014 by long-time anti-war activists responding to “the
Pentagon’s announcement of a 10-year public program aimed at retelling the Vietnam
War story and commemorating its veterans on the war’s 50th anniversary”— its public
relations campaigns begun in 2015 with 2008 Congressional funding — “the Vietnam
Peace Commemoration Committee (VPCC) has sought “to tell the truth and learn
the lessons of the US war in Indochina”; and the lessons “of the broad, diverse
protest movement that ended the war.”
http://www.vietnampeace.org/about-vpcc
News sources (other)
Reuters “Ron Dellums, U.S. lawmaker who led push for sanctions against
South Africa, dead at 82” Steve Gorman July 30, 2018
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-russia-whitehouse/white-house-says-trump-did-not-order-attorney-general-to-end-mueller-probe-idUSKBN1KM5SZ
New York Times “Ron Dellums, Forceful Liberal in Congress for 27 Years,
Dies at 82” Robert D. McFadden https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/30/obituaries/ron-dellums-forceful-liberal-in-congress-for-27-years-dies-at-82.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
Quote sites (other)
https://www.great-quotes.com/quotes/author/Ron/Dellums
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Dellums
Insight Beyond Today’s News, CLB
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