emma_goldman
28th July 2006, 08:35
http://www.strausnews.com/articles/2006/07...e/opinion/3.txt (http://www.strausnews.com/articles/2006/07/21/the_chronicle/opinion/3.txt)
Friday,
July 21, 2006
Dorothy Day: A true Christian, a 'dangerous radical'
To the Editor:
"The impulse to stand up against the state and go to jail,
rather than serve, is an instinct for penance; To take on
some of the suffering of the world -- to share in it."
-- Dorothy Day, February 1969.
For many years, I had only a vague knowledge who Dorothy Day
was. I knew that in the 1920s she and her spiritual mentor,
a French peasant and religious philosopher named Peter
Maurin, founded a newspaper called, The Catholic Worker, and
that in her time she was viewed by many to be a "dangerous
radical." She was considered such a menace that J. Edgar
Hoover, that pillar of goodness and decency (cough!), even
kept a file on her. Quite frankly, I've come to a point in
my life where I'm seriously disappointed in anyone who lived
during that period who didn't have their own little place of
honor in Hoover's file cabinet. Think about it -- Charlie
Chaplin, Eleanor Roosevelt, Martin Luther King, John Lennon
-- that's pretty good company to be in!
But other than that basic outline, my knowledge of her life
was, to say the least, peripheral. She was always merely a
footnote in someone else's biography.
Late last summer, while browsing through the used book store
at the library in Cornwall, I happened upon a copy of the
book, "By Little and By Little: The Selected Writings of
Dorothy Day." After reading it, a whole new world opened up
for me and I found myself exploring everything connected to
this good and decent woman and her beautiful life. She is, I
believe, a saint.
Dorothy Day was a "true Christian," the personification of
that very overused and abused term. She not only dedicated
her life to the poor and dispossessed, she lived among them
and humbly counted herself as one of them. The newspaper
that she and Maurin co-founded in 1929 was the only voice in
its time for the downtrodden. It survives to this day. Its
price remains, as it has been since the very day of its
inception, a penny per copy.
During the teens and through the mid-'20s she had been a
committed leftist and wrote for several radical
publications. After having undergone the abortion of a child
she conceived with her commonlaw husband, she found herself
in a severe depression. When a second pregnancy occurred two
years later, she insisted on going full-term, and the
child's father, not wanting to accept the responsibilities
of parenthood, ended the relationship. It was around this
time that she found herself drawn to the Catholic Church.
She made sure that her newborn daughter, Tamar, was baptized
as one and, within a matter of weeks, she, too, became a
convert to Catholicism.
In the early 1930s, in the midst of what we now call the
Great Depression, she opened up a free shelter for the
homeless in New York City, the first of its kind. Named in
honor of the Blessed Mother to whom she was so devoted, Mary
House was a miracle of hope for a people who had previously
viewed their situation as utterly hopeless. At a time when
even "progressive" northern cities operated within the
framework of a Jim Crow mentality, there were absolutely no
restrictions with regard to race or religion. The only
requirement was that a person or family were in need of food
and shelter. She also ran a soup kitchen that fed everyone
who couldn't be housed due to lack of space. No one walked
away from Mary House without, at the very least, a decent
meal and a cup of coffee. Dorothy Day made a difference!
Within a couple of years, Mary Houses were opening up all
over the United States. Through the charitable donations
which were the lifeblood of their little organization, she
and Peter were also able to start Mary Farm in Newburgh that
grew the crop that fed their beloved masses. It exists today
as the Peter Maurin Farm in Marlborough. It is run by my
friends, Tom and Monica Cornell, devoted friends of
Dorothy's who have dedicated their lives to her memory and
her mission.
Dorothy Day passed from this life on Nov. 29, 1980, at the
far-too-young age of 83. Our generation desperately yearns
for a person of her stature and saintliness. When one
compares her to some of today's so-called "men of God," the
Jerry Fallwells and the Pat Robertsons — praying on national
television for tax relief for the richest 2 percent while
calling for the assassination of Hugo Chavez, the leader of
a sovereign nation -- one wants to weep. Jesus wept.
It's east to speculate that the likes of Dorothy Day will
never pass this way again, but we can hope, can't we? Hope
is all we have . . . and prayer. Pray for peace.
Friday,
July 21, 2006
Dorothy Day: A true Christian, a 'dangerous radical'
To the Editor:
"The impulse to stand up against the state and go to jail,
rather than serve, is an instinct for penance; To take on
some of the suffering of the world -- to share in it."
-- Dorothy Day, February 1969.
For many years, I had only a vague knowledge who Dorothy Day
was. I knew that in the 1920s she and her spiritual mentor,
a French peasant and religious philosopher named Peter
Maurin, founded a newspaper called, The Catholic Worker, and
that in her time she was viewed by many to be a "dangerous
radical." She was considered such a menace that J. Edgar
Hoover, that pillar of goodness and decency (cough!), even
kept a file on her. Quite frankly, I've come to a point in
my life where I'm seriously disappointed in anyone who lived
during that period who didn't have their own little place of
honor in Hoover's file cabinet. Think about it -- Charlie
Chaplin, Eleanor Roosevelt, Martin Luther King, John Lennon
-- that's pretty good company to be in!
But other than that basic outline, my knowledge of her life
was, to say the least, peripheral. She was always merely a
footnote in someone else's biography.
Late last summer, while browsing through the used book store
at the library in Cornwall, I happened upon a copy of the
book, "By Little and By Little: The Selected Writings of
Dorothy Day." After reading it, a whole new world opened up
for me and I found myself exploring everything connected to
this good and decent woman and her beautiful life. She is, I
believe, a saint.
Dorothy Day was a "true Christian," the personification of
that very overused and abused term. She not only dedicated
her life to the poor and dispossessed, she lived among them
and humbly counted herself as one of them. The newspaper
that she and Maurin co-founded in 1929 was the only voice in
its time for the downtrodden. It survives to this day. Its
price remains, as it has been since the very day of its
inception, a penny per copy.
During the teens and through the mid-'20s she had been a
committed leftist and wrote for several radical
publications. After having undergone the abortion of a child
she conceived with her commonlaw husband, she found herself
in a severe depression. When a second pregnancy occurred two
years later, she insisted on going full-term, and the
child's father, not wanting to accept the responsibilities
of parenthood, ended the relationship. It was around this
time that she found herself drawn to the Catholic Church.
She made sure that her newborn daughter, Tamar, was baptized
as one and, within a matter of weeks, she, too, became a
convert to Catholicism.
In the early 1930s, in the midst of what we now call the
Great Depression, she opened up a free shelter for the
homeless in New York City, the first of its kind. Named in
honor of the Blessed Mother to whom she was so devoted, Mary
House was a miracle of hope for a people who had previously
viewed their situation as utterly hopeless. At a time when
even "progressive" northern cities operated within the
framework of a Jim Crow mentality, there were absolutely no
restrictions with regard to race or religion. The only
requirement was that a person or family were in need of food
and shelter. She also ran a soup kitchen that fed everyone
who couldn't be housed due to lack of space. No one walked
away from Mary House without, at the very least, a decent
meal and a cup of coffee. Dorothy Day made a difference!
Within a couple of years, Mary Houses were opening up all
over the United States. Through the charitable donations
which were the lifeblood of their little organization, she
and Peter were also able to start Mary Farm in Newburgh that
grew the crop that fed their beloved masses. It exists today
as the Peter Maurin Farm in Marlborough. It is run by my
friends, Tom and Monica Cornell, devoted friends of
Dorothy's who have dedicated their lives to her memory and
her mission.
Dorothy Day passed from this life on Nov. 29, 1980, at the
far-too-young age of 83. Our generation desperately yearns
for a person of her stature and saintliness. When one
compares her to some of today's so-called "men of God," the
Jerry Fallwells and the Pat Robertsons — praying on national
television for tax relief for the richest 2 percent while
calling for the assassination of Hugo Chavez, the leader of
a sovereign nation -- one wants to weep. Jesus wept.
It's east to speculate that the likes of Dorothy Day will
never pass this way again, but we can hope, can't we? Hope
is all we have . . . and prayer. Pray for peace.