Originally published in the Autumn 2022 edition of the Virginia Defender, issue 70, printed December 14. Reproduced here for accessibility and archival purposes. To find other stories in the Autumn 2022 issue or to download the full PDF, see this post. For other issues dating back to 2012, see the Full Issues page.

Born in Philadelphia, Pa., Saladin Muhammad was a leader in the workers rights movement in North Carolina and beyond. He co-founded Black Workers for Justice, N.C. Public Service Workers Union (UE 150), Muslims for Social Justice and the Southern Workers Assembly. A self-described “communist of the Black Nation,” his theoretical writings and strategic planning influenced generations of activists of all races. Learn more at his website, here.

Born in Colorado City, Texas, John V. Moeser was an educator and anti-racist scholar. He authored several books and taught for 30 years at Virginia Commonwealth University, helping to found its Department of Urban Studies and Planning, and then for 12 years taught at University of Richmond’s Bonner Center for Civic Engagement. In 2011, he helped create “Unpacking the Census,” a mapping project about race, class and jurisdiction in the Richmond area.

Colia Liddell Lafayette Clark was born in Mississippi, attended Tougaloo College, joined the NAACP and served as field secretary for the SNCC Black Belt Alabama Voter Project. Twice a Green Party candidate for U.S. Senate in New York, she was a fierce advocate on behalf of the Haitian people. Learn more here.

Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., Tim Schermerhorn was a New York City subway train operator, rank-and-file activist during the 1980 Transit Workers Strike, leader in Transport Workers Union Local 100 and founder of the Hell on Wheels newsletter. A socialist, he organized classes on W.E.B. DuBois’ “Black Reconstruction” at the Brecht Forum, a Marxist study center, and was an editor of Labor Notes.