In Struggle Spotlight – Ron Walters, A Scholar Activist Who Mattered

This issue of BlackCommentator.com is dedicated to remembrances of Dr. Ron Walters, PhD. Brother Ron was a member of the BlackCommentator.com Editorial board and a BC columnist. He was a noted Educator and political analyst and activist. The title of his BC column was “African American Leadership” – a subject he studied, wrote about and taught. He was a warrior in the struggle for social justice, economic justice and peace. Ron Walters was 72. He died Friday night, September 10, 2010 after a long battle with lung cancer.

Ron was a very private man. So private that he did not tell very many people about his cancer diagnosis and treatment. In speaking with several of his close friends, I have reached the conclusion that his silence about the cancer was not just the behavior of a private man, but an act of courage because he did not want conversations about his illness to distract from his work as an activist.

Ron was a fan of tennis. A number of his final hours were spent watching, from his hospital bed, the U.S. open on TV . He also insisted on using his laptop and the hospital WIFI system to communicate with friends and colleagues right up the the end, when the cancer overtook him.

As impressive as Ron’s credentials were, he was a regular guy. Everyone I’ve ever spoken to about him told me he was easy to approach and eager for an exchange of views. This was also my experience.

I never met Ron face to face. I knew him for years through his writings. When he became a columnist for BC and joined our Editorial Board he became a friend and colleague. I spoke with Ron numerous times on the telephone, interviewed him several times and enjoyed about a half dozen long conversations on politics and history. In each of our extended talks, Ron always emphasized the importance of political action on the local level as the first step towards bringing about change.

His most famous early “action” experience is a part of American history. Here is a statement from the Wichita, KS NAACP about the Dockum drug store sit-in: