Don White Presente!

DON WHITE, 1937-2008
¡Compañero… Presente!  To see more pictures of Don go here

(compiled by our friends at KPFK)

Don White long time Southern California activist, Charter Founder and lifetime member of United Teachers of Los Angeles passed away suddenly at his home in Los Angles, CA on June 19, 2008. He will be missed by, not only his family, but literally hundreds of friends and associates of the many organizations in which he was so passionately involved over the past three decades.

Born and raised in Mount Vernon, Washington on April 18, 1937, Don White’s life was a reflection of the last 60 years of the progressive movement in the United States. His leadership abilities became evident during his high school years. He was president of his sophomore class and then president of the Mount Vernon High School Student Body. He graduated from the College of the Pacific studying political science and attended post graduate classes at American University in Washington DC.

From the time that he was a college student in the late 1950′s, fighting against the injustice surrounding the House of Representatives’ Un-American Activities Committee, Don remained engaged in the struggle for peace and justice for humanity.

After becoming disenchanted with the political scene in Washington DC, he moved to Los Angeles California in 1963 where he taught history at Irving Junior High School. He was deeply committed to issues of equity in
educational opportunity, especially for children in the inner cities. Don participated in every teacher’s union strike from 1963 until his retirement in 1997.

In 1976, Don traveled to Guatemala to do relief work following a devastating earthquake there. He called that month-long journey “an epiphany, a life changing experience” which remained a vibrant part of his political psyche that resulted in his friendship and faithful service to Central America. During the war in EI Salvador, Don made 14 trips to that country and to Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. He often traveled to El Salvador to bring direct material aid and on fact-finding missions there, often at risk to his own safety. Don was a member of the Echo Park Chapter of the Committee in Solidarity with the people of EI Salvador, CISPES, since joining the group shortly after its founding convention in 1980. Read the rest of this entry »

Today, June 21, is the anniversary of Don White’s passing.  Since he left us a year ago there’s been many opportunities to remember all that Don brought to this world, from the CISPES summer camp in August 2008 to the triumphant March 2009 elections in El Salvador… during the latter occasion especially Don’s spirit was alive as the FMLN finally won state power in El Salvador after decades of struggle.

On this day, some of us in Washington DC sat down and shared a picnic with Don White.  We ate a few snacks,  lit a candle, and told stories about Don.  We brought a picture of him eating corn on the cob.

we still miss you Don.

On August 10 around a thousand people gathered in Los Angeles for a memorial tribute to our beloved compañero Don White. The 3-hour ceremony included speeches by his family, CISPES and other Central America solidarity activists, friends from KPFK, and many other peace and justice activists that loved Don.  There was music, dance, and a 20+ minute video about Don “in his own words” by Peter Dudar and Sally Marr.

click here to see a quicktime version of “Compañero” the movie

and contact Peter and Sally here if you want to purchase a copy

also, here’s an article that was in la opinion about the memorial

Don Blanco Presente, hasta la victoria!

-burke

I was tremendously saddened to hear of Don’s passing. I’ll miss his sense of humor, his sense of purpose, and his kind words. I managed to dig up a few old photos, and Diane was kind enough to post them to her website. They can be found at:

http://dianelent.com/donwhite.htm

They’re down at the bottom of the page. They were taken in El Salvador in 1994 or 1995. The first one is Don and Jill Dowling, about to make a big omelet. The second one I believe was taken at an FPL congress. Don is displaying a newspaper article about the GAP campaign.

Regards,

Zeno Wood

There was nothing quite like getting an email from Don White: it had the effect of lighting up the day because you could truly hear his voice through every word, exclamation point, series of CAPITAL LETTERS, and squiggly lines he included.

I went through my emails the other day and pulled out some of my favorite Don White subject lines.  Other than removing a name or two, these are cut and pasted directly from Don’s emails. I hope we can collect a series of his writings (emails and written notes alike, as Don loved to send postcards and letters even when most people have lost that art) because his writing truly is inspired, hilarious, and uplifting.  Which is to say that this list is simply a taste of the brilliance that is Don White…
•    Ohmygawd! That was the important thing I was going to write about!!!!!!!
•    THANKS FOR HAPPY BIRTHDAY CALL!  INCREDIBLE!
•    OOoops! my face is red..
•    BIRTHDAY CARD OVERWHELMED ME!  I WAS SO MOVED!
•    CONFIDENTIAL from don white
•    EEEkk!!!!! And I once recommended this website!!
•    OHMYGAWD… the minute I sat down I find it here!!!!!
•    MYSTERY SOLVED!!!
•    BIG, BIG, BIG CORRECTION!! DEMO IS APRIL 6th!!!! you weren’t on the address on THIS EITHER…don’t know what happened!?!
•    you might have been left off this one too!! Yipes
•    This is NOT a joke!!!
•    oh s_ _t!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! e-mail & amendment problem
•    ~~Birthday Update!!!!~~
•    ~~~~ HERE IN LOS ANGELES WE ARE APOLOGIZING !
•    OHMYGAWD! great.. and so QUICKLY!  iT LOOKS TERRIFIC!
•    : – )    maybe he overreacted a tiny bit… NO problems here
•    SACA IN L.A. ON SATURDAY… NO BIENVENIDO AQUI!
•    A heartfelt and sincere APPRECIATION from CISPES-L.A

Recordando a nuestro querido Don Blanco por que la lucha continúa….

Recortes del poema Hermana, Mujer de Fé por la poeta y teóloga Guatemalteca: Julia Esquivel “The Certainty of Spring. Poems by a Guatemalan in Exile” En un momento de reflexión éste poema me recordó a Don Blanco.

—

Pienso en los indios……………………. I think of the indians

sacados a sangre y fuego de Manhattan, …………………..driven from Manhattan with blood and fire

y mi corazón estrujado…………………… and my heart

por el dolor, ………………….crushed with sorrow

intenta detener con otros…………… along with other hearts in solidarity

corazones solidarios, ………………….struggles to turn back

las garras del capital …………………..the claws of Capital

Read the rest of this entry »

In 1986 I became part of the Way/White family and Don White became by Little Brother.  Don and I shared the same liberal political views and a deep love for his Dad Lang – my step father-in-law.  Donnie has always been a support for me and flew to Anacortes, WA on short notices to share our joys and sorrows.  After his Dad’s death he always stayed at our house and was here at least 2-3X a year.  I was aware of his involvement in CISPES, Radio Pacifica and his many other activities for Peace and Justice and continue to be completely awed at his commitment.  He still had time to write (I don’t have email) and send cards or contact me frequently.  He had such strong ties with such a wide variety of people.  Donnie we love you so much LIttle Brother and your beautiful spirit will always be with us with inspiration to work for Peace and Justice for all humanity.

Lucretia (Bobbie) Way

Last year Martin Sheen agreed to sign a CISPES direct mail letter in honor of Don’s 70th birthday. We had to send an official fax to Martin’s office and I remember that he called back to my cell phone almost immediately and said jubilantly, “of course, I’ll do anything for Don!” He did mention that he thought the letter was too long, but the personal vignettes that are included were solicited directly from Don, so how could we cut it down? you can download and read the letter here: 0507dm_letter

I am still unsure how to characterize the deep sense of loss that Don’s passing has left me with over the past week and a half. As others have said, I know that others new Don better than I ever did, but nevertheless, his impact on me was so profound. Over the past 10 days I’ve been through so many waves of emotion, disbelief, memories of Don flooding my mind alternatingly bringing laughter chuckling up through my windpipes and tears squeezing their way out the corners of my eyes. It still takes my breath away whenever someone tells me how sorry they are for such a tremendous and sudden loss.

His death coincided with the arrival of our fact-finding delegation to El Salvador, and consequently with me being the main person holding down the CISPES national office for over a week. Naturally, I was faced with a dilemma: shocking and devastating news like this required a lot of energy throughout the week, and my urge was to drop everything else and pour my all into trying to pass on the news by phone to as many people as possible, coordinating a public response and communicate with all the necessary people, find ways for us to grieve and remember Don as a community and as a widespread movement, all the while still trying to make sense of this sudden shift in the universe. A world without Don White? Imposible! No puede ser, no lo puedo imaginar.

But the dilemma I faced was this: while I wanted to drop everything, I could just hear Don’s unwavering voice telling me “My dear Compañero, while I certainly don’t want to come across as ungrateful, might I remind you that there is still WORK to be done! La Lucha Continua!” There was still a delegation to be supported, still updates about El Salvador to get out, still a budget to be tracked, still donations to process, still reports to be edited, lots to do. There is always more work to be done than we have time to do, and so in the midst of such a hectic week I found myself reflecting on how since I met him, I knew Don to schedule early morning phone meetings at 7am from his home, knowing that he also most likely had meetings in LA scheduled late into the night. I just don’t know how he did it all, with such grace and continual youthful energy.

Read the rest of this entry »

El Sindicato de Empresa de Trabajadores de ANDA SETA envia sus muestras de solidaridad al Comite Ejecutivo de CISPES y a la familia del compañero Don White por el fallecimiento de un compañero de lucha que no dudamos que queda en nuestros corazones el arduo trabajo que realizo en favor del Sindicalismo y pedir a Dios por el descanso del compañero y a la vez fortaleza y resignacion a sus familiares.

Adelante Compañeros de lucha no desmayemos,

Atentamente, Adalberto Cortez
Secretario Primero de Conflictos SETA.

——–

The Water Workers Union (SETA) sends our solidarity to CISPES and Don White’s family on the passing of such a committed compañero in the struggle.  Don’s arduous work in support of unions will undoubtedly live on in our hearts, and we pray that Don rest in peace and that his family may draw strength at this time of his passing.

Onward compañeros, the struggle continues!

Sincerely, Adalberto Cortez
Secretary of Bargaining, SETA

Han pasado algunos días desde que leí lo que parecía ser uno de esos correos electrónicos con un encabezado que no tiene mucho que ver con el contenido del mismo. En él se anunciaba el fallecimiento de Don White – nuestro querido y amado “Don Blanco”.

Es probable que ese sentimiento de incredulidad y negación que se apoderó de mi al leer la noticia y confirmarla con otros es el mismo con el que tengo que luchar ahora para aceptar que el ciclo de la vida se llevo a Don.

Y ahora entiendo con mucha más certeza lo que Tomas Borge dijo cuando le dieron la noticia de que Carlos Fonseca había muerto. Este dijo con clarividencia revolucionaria: “Carlos Fonseca es de los muertos que nunca muere”.

Y ahora compañeros y compañeras, ante la pérdida física de un guerrero de solidaridad, de un luchador de social, de un compañero y amigo del pueblo salvadoreño, ante un gran revolucionario les digo, me digo: ¡Don es de los muertos que nunca muere! Don vivirá donde haya un activista, un agitador, un organizador pero por sobre todo donde siga germinando la esperanza de un futuro con justicia social.
¡Hasta la Victoria Siempre Tío Don!
Emelie, Antonio, Lisa y Manuel

For the newest generation of CISPES activists and organizers, it has been said that Don was like a grandfather to us all, and it’s true in a sense. He had been through so much as an organizer and was capable of sharing his knowledge, wisdom, and passion for struggle in a way that was infectious. He did so with complete humility, which in itself served as a profound lesson for up and coming leaders. But in my mind to label Don a “grandfather” just doesn’t work.

Don was 71 years old when he died and yet he had more energy and patience than most young activists, as well as more idealism, optimism, and openness. Sometimes in our phone conversations I came away feeling like the stodgy, cynical old-timer (I’m 31 and first met Don in 2001 at the age of 24). Perhaps I’d call him with an update, and then would immediately get discouraged about our side once again losing a vote related to Central America in the US Congress; meanwhile, Don would be on the other end of the line cracking jokes, seeing the bright side, and looking ahead to the next battle.

Don was a founding and diehard member of the “viejitos unidos” caucus within CISPES, and loved to mock his own age. As we were preparing his 70th birthday party last year he often referred to his chance meeting with Farabundo Marti and Augusto Sandino in the 20s, and at one point claimed that he knew Simon Bolivar. (Incidentally, the only way to convince Don to have such a party was to turn it into a giant fundraiser for CISPES; otherwise, his humility would never allow him to have a spectacle in his honor alone.) In the end, though, Don transcended age. I’ve wondered to myself what Don would be like when he was 90, whether he’d still be participating in CISPES conference calls, whether he’d still be bouncing around from meeting to meeting, but I simply couldn’t imagine Don getting “old”. Read the rest of this entry »

San Salvador, June 23, 2008.

To family, friends, and compañeros:

We offer our deepest condolences for the death of our friend and compañero Don White, the relentless activist for the Salvadoran people in search of peace, justice, and liberty.

We recognize one of Don’s greatest achievements is having been part of the founding of the solidarity movement with the Salvadoran people, and his participation in that movement for nearly 30 years.  It was his solidarity with the poor that transformed him into the voice of the oppressed, the face of the disappeared, and the raised fist the assassinated.  His actions and personal sacrifices gave us a light of hope in the darkest moments of our history.  Don White, with his work and disposition, has won a place of privilege in the memory of the people and of the party alongside other great men and women that contributed their struggles and lives to obtain a more dignified and humane El Salvador.

To his family we offer our solidarity, and to his friends and compañer@s a call to continue his fight.

Merardo Gonzales
FMLN General Coordinator