Title
Recognizing the work and contributions of labor and grassroots community activist Ronald Whitehorne, whose leadership and mentorship has inspired generations of activists and leaders in the City of Philadelphia.
Body
WHEREAS, Ronald Whitehorne was born on June 6th, 1942, in New York City and later moved with his family to Vermont, where he attended high school and college; and
WHEREAS, After college, following a stint as a street singer and private school teacher, Ron joined VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) and was trained in Baltimore, where he helped organize a petition campaign to pressure bar owners who refused to serve Black patrons to desegregate their establishment. Afterwards, Ron was assigned to an agency in Philadelphia that worked with gang members; and
WHEREAS, He joined People For Human Rights, an organization that challenged white people to support the Black Liberation Movement, and later became a staff member. Ron taught in "Liberation Schools"-designed to tell the truth about racism in U.S. history-and organized high school youth to oppose the war in Vietnam and support the Black freedom struggle; and
WHEREAS, Ron burned his voter registration card at a 1968 demonstration that protested all the presidential candidates'-Humphrey, Nixon, and Wallace-support for the war. He was attacked and jailed by police, accused of assaulting three police officers, and, thanks to the National Lawyers Guild and many supporters, was found not guilty at trial; and
WHEREAS, As a member of the Philadelphia Workers Organizing Committee (PWOC), Ron
worked for six years as a sleeve presser for men's suits at a garment factory at Broad & Lehigh and helped lead a rank & file movement for union democracy, better wages, improved working conditions and an end to racial and sexual discrimination in the industry. He also edited The Organizer, a newspaper that supported worker struggles and liberation movements here and abroad; and
WHEREAS, In 1978, Ron was ...
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