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	Workers Vanguard No. 1023	3 May 2013

In Memory of Barbara Sullivan

(Letter)

New York
23 April 2013

Dear Comrades,

I’m very sad to be writing this. The person dearest to me, Barbara Sullivan, died at age 56 on March 18 in New York City after a two-year battle with liver disease. Battle is not an overstatement; she took her treatment seriously, following her doctors’ instructions even when they resulted in massive discomfort and short-term debilitation. She sought out other options on her own, discussing them with her doctors.

From a large liberal Catholic family on the South Side of Chicago, Barbara grew up in the 1960s hating injustice, inequality and segregation. As a kid she went on several civil rights marches with her parents and siblings.

She moved to NYC in 1986 to pursue a career as a painter and to join other friends who’d made the move for similar reasons. I joined her here in 1988. We were both outraged by the brutality and racial oppression of capitalism, and because of that we were drawn to the Partisan Defense Committee in 1995 around the fight to save Mumia Abu-Jamal’s life when the death warrant was signed. Beginning then, we went to numerous protests on many issues that were called by the Spartacist League or went as part of their contingents. She was at the 1999 NYC anti-Klan mobilization initiated by the PDC and was very proud that we kept the Klan from marching.

Barbara became a member of the Labor Black League in 1996. As its secretary for several years, she was known for her conscientiousness. She helped produce a number of LBL newsletters. From then through the mid 2000s, she gave her time and clerical skills to aid the PDC’s office work and transcribed some forums for the SL.

Although she wasn’t a Marxist, Barbara was a partisan of the working class and understood, respected and appreciated the program of the SL. Like many workers, she became more engaged when there were battles to be fought.

A memorial was held for her on April 20 at the American Federation of Musicians Local 820 hall, a place she’d been to many times before at Spartacist forums. Eighty of her beautiful paintings were hanging around the room. By the end, the hall was packed. A good number of those present were comrades of the SL who had gotten to know Barbara over the years. Barbara was liked by all who knew her and loved by many.

Comradely greetings,
Don D.