Arthur Kinoy, Revolutionary

Future Hope

September 20, 2003

Arthur Kinoy, Revolutionary

By Ted Glick

"At the risk of seeming ridiculous, let me say that the
true revolutionary is guided by a great feeling of
love. It is impossible to think of a genuine
revolutionary lacking this quality. We must strive
every day so that this love of living humanity will be
transformed into actual deeds, into acts that serve as
examples, as a moving force." -Che Guevera

The obituary in this morning’s New York Times for
Arthur Kinoy, featured prominently with a picture,
describes Arthur as "a fighter for civil liberties, he
was involved in many landmark verdicts." This is true.
Without question Arthur was an exemplary model of a
"people’s lawyer," a title he was proud to call
himself. His legal skills were legendary—creative,
courageous, brilliant. But he was much more than this.

Arthur Kinoy was a revolutionary, in the very best
sense of the term, in the tradition of Tom Paine,
Frederick Douglass, Harriett Tubman, Eugene Debs,
Martin Luther King, Jr. and many millions of others
down through history.

Arthur was deeply convinced that there was no hope for
real change in U.S. society until a broadly-based "mass
party of the people" was formed that could challenge
the corporate domination of government and the economy.
He had no illusions about the Democratic Party. He
believed deep in his bones that it was absolutely
essential, a strategic necessity, that there be a
genuine people’s alternative developed to the two
parties of capitalism. He was constantly talking about
the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party of the 1960’s
as an example of the kind of alternative political
movement needed.

A recent example: in June of this year Arthur was
present at a house party for the Independent
Progressive Politics Network, an organization he helped
to found and lead. There was much discussion at this
event about the importance of getting Bush out of
office, and, for a while, very little about the need
for anything other than supporting whomever the
Democrats ended up nominating. Arthur was clearly
agitated, and when he was called upon to speak he
asked, "What about the question of a third party?" He
argued forcefully that we should not push this central,
strategic issue aside in our understandable fear about
what another four years of the Bushites could mean.

Arthur understood that the building of unity on the
left and among broad sectors of the population was
another strategic key to the possibilities for people-
oriented change. And he was good at it, in very
concrete ways. He was always open to taking time to try
to figure out how he and the groups he worked with
could be supportive of movements and organizations that
were in need of support. He was amazing in his ability
to intervene during times in meetings when things
seemed to be coming apart. He could do this because of
his deep commitment to unity, because of his
intellectual brilliance, and because of his ability to
listen carefully to what people were saying-not just
the words, but what was behind the words.

Arthur was a very good listener. I remember one meeting
when an organization he had founded was going through a
deep internal crisis. At the "showdown" meeting where
things came to a head, he was quiet for much of the
meeting, listening to the divergent opinions and
frustrations that people were putting forward. When he
finally spoke he spoke with a wisdom and a depth that
affected everyone and helped to keep things together,
at least for a while longer.

Arthur Kinoy was a humble man, by and large. Unlike
many lawyers, including progressive lawyers, he made a
genuine effort to follow the leadership of both those
he was defending and the broader movement. Here’s what
one person wrote yesterday as she remembered this great
human being, reflecting upon how he reacted to her
group’s invitation for him to speak at Columbia Law
School during the Vietnam War:
"I was one of the people making arrangements for the
schedule of events. Each of the important people told
us what they would speak about, when they could speak
and how long they would speak. They fit in their
presentations to accommodate their busy, important
schedules. Arthur Kinoy, in contrast, said
(essentially): What can I do to help? When would you
like me to speak? What do you need me to speak about?
How long do you want me to speak and how else can I
help."

Arthur was one of those people who didn’t just love
humanity, he really loved individual people, especially
young people. This was such a strength, it was also a
weakness, in that he hated to say no to people or let
them down. He was often stretched out as he attempted
to respond to the many demands on his time in a way
that was as helpful as possible to those who were
demanding it.

Arthur took seriously the need for personal as well as
political change. His life exemplified these words from
Rosa Luxemburg: "Unrelenting revolutionary activity,
coupled with a boundless humanity-that alone is the
life-giving force of socialism. A world must be
overturned, but every tear that has flowed and might
have been wiped away is an indictment, and a man
hurrying to perform a great deed who steps on even a
worm out of unfeeling carelessness commits a crime."

In the last several years of his life, as he struggled
with various medical problems, including problems with
memory, Arthur refused to give in to the ravages of old
age. Although unable to do as much as in earlier years
he continued to be as active as he could be as a leader
of IPPN. Two months ago he flew out to Detroit to take
part in our 6th national summit at the University of
Michigan. He was re-elected to our Steering Committee
and was up for nomination to our Executive Committee.
He was always telling me that I should be sure to give
him things to do.

It is difficult to think that he will never again be in
our midst, in the physical sense. But this man’s
spirit, his indomitable, fiery, passionate, loving
spirit, lives on in the lives of the many, many people
he touched over the course of his 83 years on this
earth. He is a model we can all learn from as we go
about our movement-building work during these urgent
times. Well done, brother Arthur, well done.

Ted Glick is the National Coordinator of the
Independent Progressive Politics Network, www.ippn.org,
where all his past Future Hope columns can be found. He
worked closely with Arthur Kinoy for close to 30 years.
He can be reached at futurehopeTG@aol.com or P.O. Box
1132, Bloomfield, N.J. 07003.

***

The New York Times Obituary on Arthur Kinoy can be found at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/20/obituaries/20KINO.html?ex=1065100641&ei=1&en=afc25a08934f7bc5