Re: [Marxism] Death of Steffie Brooks

[aaron amaral <amaral1871@xxxxxxxxx>]

Like Jake, I first worked with Steffie in the Queens Antiwar Cmmtt. I worked
closely with her in the building of the Hitchens-Galloway debate, which she
was instrumental in getting broadcast on WBAI, and in numerous pickets of
local recruitment centers, and building for various marches. I strongly
second all the thoughts and memories of her tirelessness, wisdom, and
especially her anti-sectarianism.

I want to add that for me, Steffie stood out both as a comrade and as a
member of a generation that connected me directly to earlier generations,
like that of two of my grand-uncles, now in their late 80s, who worked
underground for the Communist Party in the 1940s and 1950s. This was not
about narrowly shared political traditions *per se* but about a shared
commitment to struggle, a shared commitment to the centrality of the working
class, *throughout ones life*. For those of us whose political lives have
been spent entirely in the shadow of neo-liberalism and the Reagan
Revolution, to have the opportunity to fight, side-by-side, with comrades
from earlier generations, is important on so many levels, not all
immediately obvious.

While I managed to send  flowers, I am saddened that I did not make it to
see her in hospital. I last saw Steffie in August, at the Fordham
'Trotskyism Legacy' conference. I will never forget both her amusement and
insight viz. the motley crew (ourselves included) that gathered there. She
had just heard her diagnosis but was very upbeat and politically optimistic,
both about what Cynthia McKinney's campaign might mean (doh!) but also about
the prospect for a new political opening for the left, the likes of which we
havent seen in 35+ years. I've come to share that optimism and am truly
saddened that she will not be here to enjoy what, at the very least, should
be a greater audience for our ideas.

Steffie, you are already missed.

-aa
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