It was my first time there although the Gang gathers every Thursday. This Thursday -- the closest Thursday to May Day -- was also the annual commemoration of folks who have passed on.
Gang members - about 30 or so - remembered their friends and colleagues as each name was read out loud and a red carnation was either tossed into the waves or threaded into the fence.
The Fort Point Gang originated in 1978 with seven men - Joe Passen, Bill Bailey, Al Richmond, Lou Goldblatt, Frank Jones, Jack Olsen, and Jim Kendall -- all lifelong labor activists, union leaders, and former members of the American Communist Party whose lasting friendships had taken root many years before in San Francisco, a union stronghold. (Purchase the book, "Better Red: The Writing and Resistance of Tillie Olsen and Meridel Le Sueur" for more.) All now have plaques on several wooden benches at the Point to remember them.
After the event, the group went off for lunch.
No comments:
Post a Comment