[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 191 (Thursday, December 13, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2561-E2562]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




HONORING THE ANTI-WAR ACTIVISM AND SOCIAL CONSCIENCE OF THE LATE NORMA 
                                 BECKER

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, December 13, 2007

  Mr. RANGEL. Madam Speaker, I rise today in memory of anti-war 
powerhouse Norma Becker, whose energy, spirit, and integrity fueled the 
opposition to the Vietnam War. A New York City memorial service held in 
her honor on November 3 drew hundreds, underscoring how her passion for 
peace won over the hearts and minds of many. She, herself, exemplified 
equal measures of heart and mind--impressing others with the sharpness 
of her intellect and her thoroughly analytical and logical approach to 
problems, but impelling them to act through her vision, her 
sensitivity, her soul.
  She was a public school teacher with a voracious appetite for 
learning and social indignation. For 10 years, she presided over the 
Fifth Avenue Vietnam Peace Parade Committee, the most prominent 
metropolitan antiwar coalition in the country. She was a founding 
member of Mobilization for Survival and served as chair of the War 
Resisters League for 6 years. She lent her voice and talents, not only 
to the cause for peace, but to the Civil Rights Movement, as well.
  She has engraved her legacy into the American consciousness, and the 
country is the better for it. I submit for the Record and the interest 
of my colleagues some of the tributes paid to Norma Becker during her 
memorial service.

                        TRIBUTES TO NORMA BECKER

                Norma Becker: A Tribute and Celebration

                            (By Sidney Peck)

       It was in December 1966, that I first met Norma Becker. I 
     had come to New York City to attend the executive committee 
     meeting of the newly organized Spring Mobilization Committee 
     to End the War in Vietnam. During a break in the meeting, 
     A.J. Muste invited me to join him with a few others the next 
     day to exchange views about a number of political issues.
       Being in New York City was new for me, having lived most of 
     my life in St. Paul, Minnesota. I braved the big city subway 
     system and then found 68 Charles Street. I was looking for 
     the name Norma Becker on a doorbell--but no name was listed. 
     So I rang both bells and soon a buzzer sounded.
       I heard a loud yell--a question, ``WHO'S THERE?!!!!'' I was 
     too intimidated to respond. Again the loud question--``WHO'S 
     THERE?,'' followed by ``THE DOOR'S OPEN. COME ON UP.'' I 
     opened the door and went up. She was standing at the top of 
     the stairway--she had a big grin on her face, looked straight 
     into my eyes and said, ``Hi, I'm Norma,'' and with the same 
     breath--both question and command--asked, ``What's your 
     name?'' ``Sidney,'' I answered rather softly. ``SIDNEY,'' she 
     exclaimed, and with the same breath asked, ``Where are you 
     from?'' ``The Midwest,'' I answered aloud, ``And your name is 
     SIDNEY?'' ``Most people call me Sid,'' I replied. ``That's 
     very interesting, how come?'' she asked, and added, ``Come on 
     in and hang your jacket up in the closet. Have you had lunch 
     yet? Sit down and tell me about yourself, before the others 
     come.''
       That is how our friendship began. She told me how she was a 
     teacher at a public school, how she loved to teach but 
     despised the system. She told me about her marriage and 
     divorce--about her children, Gene and Diane. She talked about 
     her involvement with the civil rights movement and the peace 
     movement--and more recently the anti-Vietnam war movement, of 
     her work with the Teacher's Committee and The Fifth Avenue 
     Vietnam Peace Parade Committee. A total stranger only moments 
     before, she made me feel right at home.
       Soon the others arrived and we shared our views about this 
     issue and that question and were encouraged to appreciate and 
     respect the profound differences that occasionally rose to 
     the surface. Norma's place was a safe house to the Movement. 
     It gave us a sense of community.
       Just as we were about to adjourn, Diane appeared, soon 
     followed by Gene who gave everyone a big ``Hello, what's 
     happenin'?'' greeting. I liked them immediately because of 
     their great sense of humor. They had never met anyone from 
     the Midwest. ``Minnesota?'' asked Gene, ``Where in the hell 
     is Minnesota?'' So, Norma invited me to stay for supper and 
     answer that question. It was over a meal of whatever was left 
     in the refrigerator that we began a family friendship.
       Over many years, I learned to understand Norma's language. 
     Most of all, I learned to understand what Norma was saying 
     when she wasn't talking at all: when she just looked--or 
     smiled--or laughed--or cried or grimaced--or shrugged.
       Norma was a very careful listener. I think that was because 
     she was such a good teacher. Her penwomanship alone was 
     impressive! And, she was always the teacher and student 
     wrapped in one. Probing, questioning: ``How come?''; ``Why do 
     you say that?''; ``What are your reasons?''; ``What is your 
     evidence?'' and on. She needed to have the facts straight 
     and the facts had to make sense. She has a lot of left 
     brain: very analytical, logical, organized. But even more 
     powerful was her right brain: her vision and sensitivity. 
     Above all, Norma was heart and soul.
       How else can you account for her record of leadership in 
     our movement for peace and social justice? For ten years, she 
     presided over the most prominent metropolitan antiwar 
     coalition in the country--The Fifth Avenue Vietnam Peace 
     Parade Committee. The political waters of New York City are 
     treacherous, especially those of the left and progressive 
     movement. No other city has more political splinters, splits, 
     fractions, fragments, division and sects--all of whom believe 
     they are the vanguard. Each of which proclaims the correct 
     political line. And none of whom shall ever be denied a 
     representative speaker at the coalition demonstration--or 
     else!
       ``What do you mean, `or else'?'' asked Norma, ``Or else 
     what?'' And then she said nothing--just looked, rubbed her 
     chin and waited as the demand was withdrawn--and then she 
     smiled. ``Thank you very much for helping to reach an 
     agreement on our plans for the demonstration.'' She was a 
     superb communicator, even to those who resisted her 
     leadership. She was tireless in her efforts to build a true 
     coalition. She was an outstanding leader of the anti-Vietnam 
     war movement.
       On April 15, 1967, over 400,000 people marched from Central 
     Park and Harlem and assembled on First Avenue in front of the 
     United Nations to protest U.S. military intervention in 
     Vietnam and demand an end to the war. The success of that 
     powerful demonstration was due in large measure of the work 
     of The Fifth Avenue Vietnam Peace Parade Committee, under 
     Norma's skillful leadership.
       Fifteen years later, Norma threw herself into organizing 
     New York City peace sentiment in support of the mass 
     demonstration in Central Park on June 12, 1982. It was 
     Norma's tireless and devoted leadership of the New York City 
     peace movement that contributed immensely to the outpouring 
     of over a million people in the largest single demonstration 
     for peace in the history of the country.
       In both of these historic demonstrations, Norma carried a 
     considerable burden over the most difficult political 
     obstacles. On both occasions, it was her energy, spirit and 
     integrity that helped to sustain the unity of mass action. 
     For more than 20 years, Norma was in the vigils, the sit-ins, 
     the days of protest, the trains to Washington, the Hiroshima 
     actions. She did the calling and the fundraising and the 
     letter writing. She went to this meeting and that conference 
     and hosted thousands of gatherings at Norma's place.
       In the spring of 1977, she was a founding organizer of the 
     Mobilization for Survival and for several years organized for 
     peace and social justice at the national level. During this

[[Page E2562]]

     same period she gave organizational leadership to the War 
     Resisters League, serving as chair from 1977 to 1983.
       She was a unique and successful organizer because she could 
     blend the right proportions of tender loving care, anger and 
     guilt. Above all, she conveyed a powerful sense of social 
     indignation to all of us, and especially the youth. She truly 
     appreciated the young for their energy, creativity and 
     selflessness. In her interview with Nancy Zaroulis and Gerald 
     Sullivan, authors of ``Who Spoke Up?: American Protest 
     Against the War in Vietnam, 1963-1975,'' Norma recalled some 
     of the events around the May 9, 1970 demonstration (in 
     response to the U.S. invasion of Cambodia and the killings of 
     students at Jackson and Kent State universities):
       We put out a mailing of 10,000 one day's notice--we didn't 
     have computerized mailings then. We had a staff of young 
     people who worked incredible hours. These are the unsung 
     heroes of that period, and their names don't go down in the 
     history books: Linda Morse, Josh Brown, Alan Barnes, Wendy 
     Fisher, Laurie Sandow, Bob Eberwein, and many others . . . 
     these are the young people who were working for fifty, 
     seventy-five dollars a week, if and when we could pay them--
     nineteen, twenty, twenty-one years old. . . .
       Norma worried about our youth. She worked with youngsters 
     every day in the public schools and she witnessed young 
     people in the movement for peace and social justice. She was 
     critical of herself and her generation for not providing the 
     young with more meaningful role models. She was concerned 
     that we have left them with too little hope.
       In her effort to understand the dynamics of war and 
     genocide, Norma was drawn to the study of human culture and 
     the role of irrational forces in human motivation. She 
     researched biology and behavior--was not satisfied with the 
     theoretical orthodoxy and rationalistic models of the 
     political left. She read the literature of Zen and Tao; she 
     took courses in anthropology; she engaged her friends in long 
     talks about the meaning of it all. She always continued to 
     learn, to study, to know, to create, to enjoy, and to love.
       A hope, a desire, a wish--or an attitude--whatever it took, 
     it was an expression of Norma's optimism in troubled times. 
     She understood how powerful a people's movement can be, even 
     with the most limited of resources. And, how empowered each 
     of us can become if we act on our inner courage, however 
     small it may seem.
       Norma celebrated our potential as persons, if we can accept 
     one another as ally, friend and comrade. In Norma's everyday 
     practice, she sought to heal and overcome the hurts and 
     pains, the divisions and schisms arising from racism, sexism, 
     opportunism and sectarianism within our movement. Time and 
     again, she acted with courage and passion to unify our ranks 
     against divisive assaults. Often she succeeded, and sometimes 
     not, but she never failed to respond, no matter how difficult 
     the task.
       This is a time to celebrate Norma and give tribute to this 
     remarkable person who gave so much of her energy, her spirit, 
     her self, so that this might be a better world for the 
     young--so that our children will be alive and well in the 
     21st Century and beyond--so that all will go well.
       We love you, Norma, as our sister, friend and comrade--and 
     we celebrate your life. L'Chayim!

                      The Norma Becker That I Knew

                         (By David McReynolds)

       My first memory of Norma is from the Civil Defense Drill 
     protests in 1960-61, and her attending the WRL Conferences we 
     used to have every year at Hudson guild. I had little 
     knowledge of her courageous work in the South and didn't 
     really get to know her until 1965 and the founding of the 
     Vietnam Peace Parade Committee.
       Looking back, that was typical Norma Becker. She felt that 
     since everyone else had parades on Fifth Avenue--The Irish, 
     the Italians, the annual Easter Parade--that the Vietnam 
     Peace movement had a right to such a parade. She approached 
     A.J. Muste--then in his late seventies--chaired the meetings, 
     and had wide respect, the Communists and Trotskyites, who 
     hadn't sat in the same room in decades, came. The Catholic 
     Left came. Liberal Democrats, pacifists, socialists, trade 
     unionists, Protestants, Jews--all came to that founding 
     meeting, and to the following meetings.
       The first parade, in 1965, when the Vietnam War was still 
     widely supported by the public, marked the birth of what 
     would, by the 1970s, become mass coalition demonstrations. 
     (And it had one wonderful moment of theater, when Allen 
     Ginsberg, who was in the parade, walked up to a police 
     officer, kissed him, and handed him a flower--only Allen 
     could have done that and left the officer looking bemused 
     instead of angry.)
       When the initial parade was over, the Parade Committee 
     didn't dissolve. It set up offices, and drew a staff of 
     supporters who provided the backbone of public protest and 
     resistance in New York City--setting an example, in the 
     process, for people all over the nation to put aside old 
     disagreements and unite to fight the war. (Norma never 
     forgave me for opposing the continuation of the Parade 
     Committee, sectarian anti-Communist that I then was, I wasn't 
     sure about institutionalizing cooperation with the Marxist-
     Leninists. Norma was right. I was terribly wrong).
       Norma functioned in a movement where men played the leading 
     roles as the main speakers and writers. While this was a 
     period when the feminist movement emerged, and Norma 
     considered herself a feminist, she was more concerned with 
     getting work done than with getting credit. She was a 
     constant figure in all the shifting coalitions and 
     mobilizations, often using her apartment on Charles Street as 
     the meeting place from which new ideas and new approaches 
     emerged. It would be an enormous mistake to think that 
     because she was not the ``public figure'' for the movement, 
     that she was thus ``merely'' an organizer. (Though God knows, 
     being the kind of organizer Norma was, if that was all she 
     did it would have earned her a place in heaven--if not the 
     history books).
       What needs to be said is that while many of us, including 
     myself, had jobs in the movement, Norma's full time job was 
     that of a school teacher--a first class one, active in her 
     union. In addition, she was a divorced mother raising two 
     children. For most human beings that would have been 
     enough. But Norma was a tower of strength in the broader 
     movement, negotiating her way through forests of egos and 
     organizations. She had taken on the role as Chair of War 
     Resisters League, and, like all of her other tasks, she 
     took that seriously. Did Norma somehow operate outside the 
     usual time spectrum? Did she have a 48 hour day, while the 
     rest of us had only 24?
       Norma was one of the first in the Jewish community to 
     initiate informal dialogue with Arabs in New York City, 
     bringing together members of two groups who had operated at a 
     great distance from one another.
       When the Vietnam War ended, and most people returned to 
     their pre-war routines, Norma, with the help of Sid Lens, 
     founded the Mobilization for Survival in 1977. While ``Mobe'' 
     eventually folded, during its ten years or so of active life 
     it generated a number of local ``Peace and Justice'' centers, 
     and laid the basis for the enormous demonstration in 1982 in 
     Central Park, when the numbers of those who came were so 
     great that estimates of a million remain only a guess. I was 
     there--the crowds were so dense it became frightening. Norma 
     was, for once, a speaker, late in the program, and she alone 
     dared raise the issue of the Israeli military actions taking 
     place at that time.
       With the recession that came with the Reagan years, Norma 
     tried hard to push the War Resisters League to embrace 
     economic justice as part of its agenda. Together with Norma 
     we helped set up a coalition--the name now escapes me--which 
     tried to get the peace movement to put unemployment, poverty, 
     and economics on its agenda.
       She had a restlessly curious mind. To visit Norma for 
     dinner was to be plunged into intellectual discussions far 
     beyond the agenda of the moment. Toward the end of her life 
     she suffered from mania and depression. She was out of the 
     usual organizational loop. The death of her son, Gene, 
     probably precipitated her agitation. Norma would be furious 
     with me if I skipped over this, as if her life was too 
     perfect for a touch of reality. Norma was very real, to the 
     dinners she prepared, to the love and concern she showed to 
     all, to the incredible ability to forgive slights. Perhaps, 
     most of all, I remember her laughter
       I have been lucky in this life to have known closely and 
     well a number of those the world has considered great, among 
     them A.J. Muste, Norman Thomas, Dave Dellinger, Bayard 
     Rustin. Norma was as ``great' as any of them. Let the record 
     show that because of her, fewer Vietnamese and Americans 
     died. She showed us that--in the midst of apathy--resistance 
     and mass mobilization is possible. It was my good fortune to 
     have worked with her during many years of struggle. The 
     memory of that struggle shames us if we think, in a period 
     equally dangerous, we can fail now to mount a resistance, one 
     that reaches out to mobilize the many.

                          ____________________