Mike Stark, Chicago
In 1999, I was driving Ossie Davis around Washington, D.C., during a visit he made to participate in a delegation to the White House in support of Pennsylvania death row prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal.
Drawing on his Georgia roots, Ossie said, "Many people look at a horse who eats sawdust, and say, 'What a stupid, lazy horse. That horse will never be anything.' But if you feed that horse some oats, you'll see how quickly that horse will learn to jump. Organising is the same way. People are used to lies and garbage. But if you give them a little truth, a little hope, you'll be amazed at how they react."
The movement for social justice lost a great champion when Ossie Davis died on February 4. Raised in Georgia, Davis came of age in the 1930s, an era in which the struggle against racism inside the US was taking a new turn.
Davis later moved to Harlem to pursue a career in acting. There, he came in contact with other radicals, including members of the Young Communist League. He was deeply influenced by other prominent radical artists, such as Langston Hughes, Richard Wright, Paul Robeson and others.
Davis remained fiercely loyal to Robeson, even after the singer was denounced by other Black political, sports and show business figures for his openly communist and pro-USSR sympathies.
Davis was at the heart of the struggle when the Black movement emerged in the 1960s. He delivered a stirring eulogy when Malcolm X was assassinated in 1965, and another for Martin Luther King in 1968. Davis and his wife Ruby Dee also helped organize the 1963 March on Washington and together were the masters of ceremonies.
Davis' commitment to the struggle never wavered, and he was tirelessly active, even as he grew older. Activists in the struggle against the death penalty, in particular, have been able to count on Davis' support.
In his eulogy for Malcolm X, Davis said in his signature baritone voice that we had lost "our own Black shining prince". In Davis, we have lost someone who was also a shining light — but his example will continue to guide our movement for a better world.
[Abridged from Socialist Worker, the newspaper of the US International Socialist Organization. Visit <http://www.socialistworker.org>.]
From Green Left Weekly, February 16, 2005.
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