Another Passing: Dellinger

I don't intend this blog to become an activist "in memoriam" site, but I just received word that David Dellinger, active for more than six decades in struggles for peace and social justice in the United States, has passed away. I saw him speak once, in Toronto, but it was after his Alzheimer's had already begun to affect him. However, I have read his autobiography and other writings by him and I find him phenomenally inspiring. He came from privilege but led a resolutely radical life. His commitment to nonviolence was unwavering, but he was not afraid of "revolution" as either a word or a goal. I remember once characterizing, in a tongue-in-cheek way but still kind of meaning it, the affinity group I was active with for a number of my later years in Hamilton as being "anarcho-Dellingerist" in its politics. For various reasons, including the fact that I knew I would be moving to the United States, my profile of activity has changed somewhat in the last two or three years but I still consider that approach to be central to how radical social change can and will happen.