Around 70 people gathered in East Harlem to celebrate the life of Joseph Little, a PSL member, veteran of the Attica Rebellion, and longtime revolutionary. Joe, as he was known to his friends, passed away in November. The memorial took place on Feb. 10.
The memorial gathering reflected all aspects of Joe’s life, his political work and the people he fought for. The event was hosted by two groups that Joe was a member of in recent years: Community Voices Heard, a welfare activist organization, and the Party for Socialism and Liberation.
The gathering began with a potluck dinner and a slideshow of photos of Joe on the picket line, giving talks or just spending time with his colleagues and friends.
Before the start of the program, Joe’s brother, Nasir Abdullah, addressed the crowd via video, with a moving eulogy. He spoke of Joe’s contagious enthusiasm for the causes he believed in and how he always had a book recommendation for his friends. “I believe the best remembrance we can show for a person is to do what they did,” Abdullah said. “So let us remember Joe by doing two things: speak truth to power and read a book!”
The program included excerpts from the documentary “Attica,” which included an interview with Joe at the time of the rebellion. Alan Levine, Joe’s long-time friend and attorney, followed with a presentation on the rebellion and how it impacted Joe’s life. Levine spoke of how the prisoners were deprived of basic humane treatment, getting only one shower a week and one roll of toilet paper for a month. Out of the prisoners’ limited demands to correct these cruelties grew a larger struggle for dignity and justice. For Joe in particular, the struggle was always more than a struggle for better conditions; it was a struggle against racism and class oppression.
Diego Gerena-Quiñones of Community Voices Heard spoke of how he met Joe after a day of outreach. Waiting on a bus stop, Joe asked to see his leaflet, but because it was his final one, he didn’t give it to him. Joe immediately took down the information from the flyer anyway, and showed up at the next CVH meeting. He kept coming back. Gerena-Quiñones reflected on Joe’s unending energy, going from event to event, in spite of his age and health conditions. This dedication inspired many young activists—if Joe wasn’t tired, then the young people had an obligation to keep going too.
Frances Villar, former New York City mayoral candidate, spoke on behalf of the PSL. Villar reflected on Joe’s excitement during the mayoral campaign, finally having a working-class socialist candidate to promote against the city’s billionaires.
Villar remembered Joe’s desire to always be in the action. “Joe wanted to fight,” Villar explained. “Any group that he was part of better have been an activist group, or you would hear it from him. He’d ask, ‘When is the next protest? What are we going to do about it? When are we getting arrested?’”
Villar continued: “Joe was always trying to take whatever struggle was going on and push it up a notch. He was deeply committed to changing this country that is ruled by the banks and corporations. The way he wanted to do that was by getting into the streets. You could sum it up as building the revolutionary movement.”
Following these presentations, members of the audience shared their stories and memories of Joe, reflecting on the impact he made on their lives. The stories were all of struggle, youthful enthusiasm and revolutionary optimism.
Everything in this society is designed to keep us out of the struggle. Everything tells us that there is no reason to fight, that we cannot win. But the day after Joe’s memorial, the Egyptian people’s constant protests finally forced the dictator Hosni Mubarak to step down.
Joe would have been reading the newspaper about the uprisings in Egypt and the rest of the Arab world with the greatest hope, spreading the word to everyone he knew. He would have been making the point that if the people in the Middle East can stand up to imperialism and oppression, we can too! This was the spirit that permeated the memorial to Joe’s life and contributions. The final comments called on all of us to “be like Joe,” which is indeed the greatest tribute to his legacy.
