| By: Bill Egnor Saturday April 30, 2011 7:57 am |
Ben In Madison
Ben Masel has died. You may or may not have known him but he was an activists activist. When I think about what it means to be out there fighting the good fight I think about Ben.
He had run for office several times in Wisconsin and was going to be mounting another independent Senate campaign this cycle. Unfortunately lung cancer claimed his life yesterday.
He was a believer in direct action and never was one to be shut up for one second. I knew Ben through Daily Kos and got to meet him at the ’08 Democratic National Convention. He was steadfast in his beliefs and was active in the protests in Wisconsin, even though he was dying of cancer at the time.
If you did not know Ben, it was your loss. If you did it is now your loss too. He was too good for this world, too soon gone. But he does not have to be gone completely. If each of you who would class yourself an activist takes Ben’s lesson to heart, gets out there and performs some kind of direct political action, just once a year then he will never be truly lost.
I have many people in whose name I fight for economic, political and social justice. My Father, my cousin Ryan who died to young to be a force in politics, my Uncles Kenny and Otho along with my Grandfathers who were Union men their whole lives, today I add one more to that list. Ben, I know you can’t read this, but I will be speaking up and acting up in the future and when I do it will be in your name and from your example.
Rest in peace, Brother, we who remain will continue the fight you fought, we will not let it lag.
The floor is yours.
http://my.firedoglake.com/somethingthedogsaid/2011/04/30/wisconsin-activist-ben-masel-has-died-rip-to-a-great-activist/