By Peter Molenaar
January 14th, 2012”¦
Marv Davidov, the world-renowned activist who quietly resided at 2615 Park Avenue, has passed. All of us would do well to “google” his name. The numerous tributes are rich in content. Should you open “The Wild Reed” site you will find him pictured smiling from his death bed.
Freedom Rides, 1961”¦
40-plus days behind bars, “We were the first group of integrated prisoners in Mississippi prison history.” The freedom songs prevailed. This was the “moment of blessed human solidarity” which determined the remainder of his life.
Sometime around 1970”¦
My small circle of student friends found itself among the many hundreds amassed outside the Honeywell (war) production facility. Marv Davidov stepped forward to proclaim: “Any person committing an act of property damage will be considered by the body of this gathering to be an agent provocateur.” I was deeply impressed. A tactic was deemed valid from the standpoint of its potential to draw broader masses onto struggle. Lesson learned.
Note: In the context of the United States of America, our friend adhered to the thesis of “non-violent revolution”, however, as one who was deeply empathetic with oppressed people anywhere on the planet, he did consent to moral relativism.
Remarkably, Marv Davidov was a “self-professed non-believer” who surrounded himself with religious people. They adored him. Nevertheless, as he would have it, consciousness is the product of billions of years of material evolution i.e. central nervous systems. Which is to say: The universe has become conscious of itself through human beings. Marv was a radical humanist.
To which I will add: Come the day when we the people discharge our present ruling class, the universe will smile back big time in his honor.
