San Francisco
Celebration honors three communist heroes
By Nancy Mitchell
San Francisco
Aug. 4 was a memorable day of celebration, as Worker World
Party honored three comrades--Jackie Kiernan, Hilda Roberts,
and Ricardo Leons--for their lifetimes in the struggle. Rosa
Penate chaired the meeting, explaining that the event was a
benefit for the Committee to Free the Five Cuban Prisoners held
in the U.S.
"In the spirit of the Cuban Revolution, we celebrate today
our three comrades and companeros who are dedicating their
lives to the revolutionary struggle here in the United States,"
said Alicia Jrapko, who explained the background of the
revolutionary date of July 26, which in 1953 was the opening
shot of the revolutionary struggle against the U.S.-backed
Batista regime in Cuba.
Jackie Kiernan
Brenda Sandberg shared stories about Jackie Kiernan's life
of struggle. Her political life started in San Francisco in the
1930's, where she became an active member of the Communist
Party. After World War II, she was expelled from the CP because
of her strong opposition to the party's No Strike policy.
Later, at the height of the McCarthy anti-communist witch
hunt, she was fired from her job when she refused to sign a
document stating that she had never belonged to a list of
political parties. She joined Workers World Party 10 years
ago.
Jackie reminisced about her experience in the second Pastors
for Peace Caravan to Cuba. As she was getting off the plane in
Havana, "I walked down the platform and there was Fidel at the
bottom, waiting to give every one of us a great big hug!" She
expressed her determination "to keep marching toward the
revolution" and asked every one there to do the same.
Hilda Roberts
Anne Sadler saluted Hilda Roberts, who, at age 87, still
stands with the Women in Black in solidarity with Palestine
every week. As a young nurse, Hilda joined the Abraham Lincoln
Brigade and spent one-and-a-half years in Spain helping the
fight against fascism. She was also on the second Cuba Caravan,
and she and others stayed on the Little Yellow School Bus that
was held hostage by the U.S. government. After a 23-day hunger
strike in 100-degree weather, they succeeded in forcing the
release of the bus and received a hero's welcome in Cuba.
Hilda said, "I was brought up in a socialist family so I was
always interested in socialism and I saw that as a great need
for this world of ours. But I never participated in communist
parties because I wasn't sure they were doing what I thought
they should be doing as communists.
"It wasn't until Jackie introduced me to Workers World Party
that I really felt satisfied that this is the place that I want
to be, because they were the ones who are really pushing ahead
for socialism, and are concerned about not just the communist
party, but the people of the world--the people that we work
with and live with, whether they're communist or not."
Ricardo Leons
Saul Kanowitz introduced Ricardo Leons, one of the founding
members of Workers World Party. In 1943 Ricardo resisted the
draft to World War II. When they asked him if he was a
conscientious objector, he replied, "No --this is an
imperialist war to re-divide Europe." He spent three years in
federal prison in Minnesota, and he left prison as a
revolutionary. In 1954 he moved to New York City where he met
Vince Copeland, and later joined Copeland, Sam Marcy and others
in founding Workers World Party in 1959.
From protesting for Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis to
defending the Puerto Rican independence movement to
coordinating Workers World newspaper distributions, Ricardo has
been fierce and steady on the picket line.
"I have stayed with the Party all these years because of the
way it responds to all the struggles as they arise," said
Ricardo. "I have always felt that Workers World Party was a
revolutionary socialist party that knew how to struggle. And I
will continue to stay in that struggle."
Five Cuban heroes
Gloria La Riva, a national chair of the Committee to Free
the Five, described the five Cuban heroes, who grew up in
revolutionary Cuba, "where they saw a life of dignity
guaranteed to every Cuban, and where they've also seen that
life and dignity threatened by 43 years of blockade and
sabotage and hostility."
She said it was most appropriate that the celebration to
honor these comrades would benefit the five Cuban heroes, who
have fought to safeguard their country from U.S.-sponsored
terrorism. Ricardo has consistently written letters of
inspiration and support to the Cuban 5 during their
imprisonment, and both Jackie and Hilda have been longtime
activists dedicated to the Cuban Revolution.
In describing Jackie, Hilda and Ricardo, Richard Becker
paraphrased a quote from playwright and poet Bertolt Brecht:
"To struggle for a day is a good thing; to struggle for a year
is even better. But those who struggle for their whole
life--those are the essential ones."
He said that while being in the struggle is often looked on
as a huge sacrifice, he knew the comrades would agree that "by
dedicating your life to the struggle, you get a big reward,
which is that you get to be the subject of history and not just
the object. You're involved in making history and in changing
the world."
Reprinted from the Aug. 15, 2002, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyrighted
under a Creative
Commons License.
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
Email: ww@workers.org
Subscribe to WW by Email: wwnews-subscribe@workersworld.net
Donate to
support pro-labor, anti-war news.
Email
this article
Printable
page