On 7/2/08, Frank <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > [image: latimes.com] <http://www.latimes.com/> > ------------------------------ > * > http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-white2-2008jul02,0,2839980.story > *<http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-white2-2008jul02,0,2839980.story> > *From the Los Angeles Times* > Donald White, 71; Social Activist on Human Rights in Central America *By > Mary Rourke > Los Angeles Times Staff Writer > > July 2, 2008 > > Donald White, a former schoolteacher and social activist who helped > organize and coordinate dozens of initiatives involving human rights in > Central America and antiwar efforts around the world, has died. He was 71. > > He died of an apparent heart attack June 19 at his home in Los Angeles, > said Blase Bonpane, a longtime friend. > > White, who was born in 1937 in Mount Vernon, Wash., studied political > science at the University of the Pacific in Tacoma, Wash. > > In the 1960s, he moved to Los Angeles, where he began a 30-year career as a > history teacher at Washington Irving Middle School. > > White was a charter member of United Teachers Los Angeles, the union > representing public schoolteachers, and was active in union politics until > he retired from teaching in 1997. > > A trip to Guatemala with relief workers after a 1976 earthquake led White > to an ongoing involvement with Central America. > > In the early 1980s, he helped organize a Los Angeles chapter of the > Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador, whose goal was to > end U.S. involvement in the civil war there. White coordinated rallies, > spoke at demonstrations, led teach-ins and lobbied Congress. > > White also helped organize protest rallies calling for the closing of the > Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, formerly called the > School of the Americas at Ft. Benning, Ga., a U.S. Army training center for > Latin American soldiers. Antiwar activists contend that the school teaches > torture tactics. > > In Los Angeles, White joined the "sanctuary movement" of the 1980s. > Although it was against the law, local churches gave refuge to undocumented > immigrants from Central America who fled civil war in their homelands. > > "Peace-making in El Salvador was Don's main work," said Bonpane, director > of the Office of the Americas in Los Angeles, which offers educational > programs on American foreign policy. > > White was a supporter of public radio and was on the board of KPFK-FM > (90.7), the local Pacifica Network station that features news not > necessarily emphasized in mainstream media. He served as chairman of the > KPFK board in the early 2000s. > > "Human rights, peace and justice were so important to Don," said Maria > Amoudian, a KPFK producer and on-air host. "He wanted to find the root cause > of violence." > > White never married and had no children, said his brother, Dennis, who > survives him. > > A memorial service is planned at 6**:00* *PM** **on Sunday, **Aug**ust* * > 10**th* *at Immanuel Presbyterian Church, * > *3300 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles. > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > ------------------------------ > > > > > > >
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