Vanguard's Hari Dillon Honored

ANSWER organizer Richard Becker joked, “This dinner for 250 was harder to put together than a demonstration of 250,000.” Held in the War Memorial Building, the event was staffed by volunteers. A broad range of activists attended. Proceeds from the event will go towards the costs of the upcoming March 20 demonstration against the occupation of Iraq and Palestine.

Ten young activists were also honored at the event: Lara S. Kiswani of Students for Justice in Palestine, Davis, Tami Aranki of Students for Justice in Palestine, Berkeley, Nabeel Silmi of General Union of Palestinian Students, Natividad Carrera, Nathalie Alsop and Tina Landis of Youth and Student ANSWER, Lindsey Parkinson of Youth and Student ANSWER and the Oakland 25, Sade Bonilla of Berkeley High School ANSWER, Marco Matillano of BAYAN and war resister Stephen Funk.

Below are some words about Hari Dillon from the event’s program:

Hari Dillon has played a central and unique role in many of the most important struggles in the Bay Area since the mid-sixties. Over the most recent decade-and-a-half, he anchored the reception of Nelson Mandela to the Bay Area upon his release from prison in 1990, was a prominent leader in the two-and-a half-year struggle against Proposition 209’s assault on affirmative action, and most recently was a key leader in the successful fight to stop the execution of Kevin Cooper. At no time was Hari’s role more critical that during the massive outpouring of popular opposition to the invasion of Iraq in the fall and winter of 2002-03, when hundreds of thousands repeatedly took to the streets of San Francisco to say NO to Bush’s war on Iraq. . . . Perhaps what most distinguishes Hari’s leadership at Vanguard is that Vanguard has become a political institution, engaged on a day-to-day basis with the most pressing issues facing the communities and people of the Bay Area and the world.