Ruthie Weeks
Fighter for a just society
By Steven Ceci and
Renee Washington
Baltimore
Baltimore lost a fighter and champion for poor
and working people's rights on Jan. 25. Ruth Weeks, more
affectionately know as "Ruthie," passed away from cancer after
a year-long battle against the disease. Ruthie was an active
member of the All Peoples Con gress and Jesus Saves Church for
All People, and attended many Workers World Party
activities.
Ruthie graduated from Frederick Douglass High School,
received an Associate of Arts degree at the Community College
of Baltimore, and later received her Bachelor of Science at
Coppin State College. She worked as a teacher's assistant for
Chimes of Baltimore, a non-profit organization serving the
disabled.
So many things could be said about Ruthie that it is hard to
know where to start. Ruthie was a leading organizer in
campaigns to stop utility shutoffs and lower the gas and
electric rates. She participated in a sit-in at the office of
Constellation Energy in which eight people were arrested,
including her son, Tony Weeks.
She was active in building the Korea Truth Commission, which
in June of 2001 heard evidence of U.S. government war crimes in
Korea. Ruthie traveled to New York City for the hearing and
helped build a solidarity event for the commission in Baltimore
at Dr. Kwame O. Abayomi's church. She marched in all the major
anti-war protests called by ANSWER after Sept. 11, 2001, and
served as a bus captain on many different trips to Washington.
Ruthie saw unity as a very important concept and advocated it
all the time.
Ruthie always had a smile and a word or song of
encouragement for everyone. Many times she would sing, "This
Little Light of Mine, I'm Going to Let It Shine." That song
sort of sums her up. She would give whatever she could for
justice and people's rights, regardless of her personal
situation or the tough times she might be going through.
Ruthie Weeks' legacy will continue through her two sons,
Tony and Reggie Weeks; her two daughters-in-law, Angela and
Anita Weeks; five grandchildren--Andrea, Shaylin and Amina
Weeks, Nikisha Reid and Marquette Payne; her great-grandson,
Montas Flood; her sister, Antoinette Turner; her brothers
Robert Darby Sr., Ralph Darby, Larry Darby and Joseph Darby;
and her cousin, Roy Miller. But her legacy extends beyond her
family and stretches out to all those who worked and struggled
with Ruthie to make this world a just society.
Reprinted from the Feb. 19, 2004, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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