To remember Mary

My friend and esteemed local elder, Mary Bisharat, 85, passed away on February 18. But her spirit of empathy and solidarity lives on in Sacramento and beyond.

With sparkling eyes and smile, Mary—a devoted environmental and peace advocate—lived her life in support of all people to have the right to fully develop their abilities and capacities. For her, nobody should be less or more equal; every human being was a chosen person.

Mary had a deep understanding of people’s strengths and weaknesses, far beyond mine. We met in the mid-1990s when I was a co-editor with Because People Matter, Sacramento’s progressive paper. Her incisive news articles and book reviews improved the publication.

In addition to her ceaseless environmental work to save Mother Nature from destruction, Mary made a public choice to agitate and organize for an end to Israeli occupation of Palestine. Discussing the latter subject with those who hold opposing views is difficult. I am proof of that.

To put it mildly, I have let emotions govern me in more than one such discussion. Mary showed me another way to proceed in the marketplace of ideas. Hers was a crucial lesson, indeed.

More than once, my wife and our then-young daughter joined Mary at 16th and J streets to rally for peace and reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians. In my mind’s eye, I see Mary there speaking with adults and youth, allies and foes, standing for nonviolence, calmly yet firmly.

How could I be in Mary’s presence and not be inspired to continue opposing militarism and its evil twin of racism? Like the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., she believed it was vital as for conscious American citizens to oppose what this great man said was “the greatest purveyor of violence in the world,” namely the U.S. government of, by and for corporate power and wealth.

Mary entered Vassar College in 1943 as the spread of fascism spawned World War II. Its end heralded a new dawn of freedom for the world’s people. Yet what rapidly unfolded for human rights in former colonial regions such as the Middle East was a lack of liberation and self-determination for the native people.

Mary’s motive for exploring that post-war regional history was to help forge a regime of nonviolence there. For her, the future was an open book, the meanings of yesterday were evolving and the present is what we had to work with.

Always in motion, Mary shared her network of contacts with me. They included Diana Buttu, who I interviewed at a coffee shop in Midtown Sacramento; Laurie King-Irani; and Robert Fisk. I am forever grateful for this.

Mary lived morally, with a heartfelt compassion for victims of oppression, from people in Palestine to those in Central America and East Timor, while understanding the importance of engaging with their oppressors. That’s easy to say, not so much to do for both personal and political reasons.

Mary’s approach to activism helped to shape me over the years. Thanks so much for your mentoring, dear friend.