Here’s my invitation to those of you, like me, in the top of America’s income and wealth ladder. Come home. What I mean by “coming home” is to bring your whole self – your passion, your stake in a place, your wealth and sense of agency – and throw it fully into the movements to reduce […]
Felice Yeskel
Your Class War (for Felice Yeskel)
A memorial for Felice Yeskel will be held this Sunday 10/23 at 1:30 at the Jewish Community of Amherst. Felice’s long-time colleague Chuck Collins wrote this poem in honor of this occasion memorializing Class Action’s kick-ass co-founder. Your Class War (For Felice Yeskel) Class war! You would laugh at the absurd idea of the poor inconveniencing the rich. You […]
WWFD? What Would Felice Do?
Working in the Class Action office, I sometimes find myself asking, “What would Felice do?” Often it’s hard to know, but at other times I can almost hear her voice weighing in on a decision. For example, should we do a local training of trainers now, or wait until we can afford to fly in […]
Felice’s mission of making classism a diversity issue
When Felice Yeskel started graduate school in the 1980s, she was outraged that the Social Issues Training Project at the UMass Education School omitted classism from its curriculum. Every aspiring diversity trainer had to practice facilitating two-day workshops on sexism, racism, heterosexism, ageism, ableism and anti-Semitism – but not classism. Felice had been severely oppressed […]
Celebrating Felice Yeskel
Felice Yeskel, a peaceful warrior for economic justice, has left us. After a 2-year battle with cancer, Felice died on Tuesday Jan 11, surrounded by loving family and friends in Amherst, Mass. Felice was a remarkable trainer and public speaker on issues of class, human liberation and economic justice. Her irreverent sense of humor and […]
Memories of Felice and class
A few memories of Felice and class from Betsy Leondar-Wright I remember when Felice first identified herself as working-class. When she was in her mid-20s, members of Movement for a New Society (MNS) began caucusing by class background, and she joined a middle-class caucus. After all, she had always known that she’d be going to […]
Mourning the loss of Felice Yeskel
Felice Yeskel, co-founder of Class Action, passed away in her home early this morning after a courageous struggle with cancer. Felice was a tireless activist working to bring about social change. Through fearlessly sharing her personal story, first as a lesbian and later sharing her working-class history to help break down the walls of classism, […]
