White, a longtime member and supporter of the Socialist Workers Party, was part of a generation of young people won to the communist movement under the impact of the Cuban revolution and the civil rights movement. After visiting Cuba in 1960, White became convinced of the need for a socialist revolution to transform society and the possibility of doing so in the United States. She joined the Young Socialist Alliance in 1961 and the Socialist Workers Party in 1963.

As the U.S. government escalated its war against the people of Vietnam, White helped to found the Greater Boston Coordinating Committee during the first International Days of Protest in October 1965. In 1966, at the age of 28, she was the Socialist Workers candidate for governor of New York. In response to the firebombing of the party's campaign headquarters in the state, White said, "If the right-wing terrorists think they can intimidate us by such tactics, they are mistaken. We will continue our opposition to American intervention in Vietnam."

Following the elections and a week of large mobilizations against the war in 1967, New York governor Nelson Rockefeller signed a law described by the New York Times as the "anti–Judy White bill." The law barred "ineligible" people from being nominated for public office or appearing on the ballot. Backers of the law claimed that since White was not yet the age required in New York to serve as governor, her campaign had led the 12,000 people who voted for her to "waste" their votes.

An article reporting on this in the May 15, 1967, Militant explained, "The real intent of the law is plain: it is to throw another roadblock in the path of minority political parties. The SWP is especially singled out for its uncompromising fight against the war in Vietnam, which its candidates have carried to the people of this state."

White was a staff writer for the socialist weekly Intercontinental Press and helped found the Spanish-language magazine Perspectiva Mundial, which began as a special section of Intercontinental Press. Fluent in Spanish, she became an outstanding translator and taught Spanish at the party's leadership school. White was active in the U.S. Committee for Justice to Latin American Political Prisoners (USLA). During the Nicaraguan revolution she served on the Managua, Nicaragua, bureau of the Militant and PM. She helped build several branches of the Socialist Workers Party and joined in the party's work in the industrial unions.

Messages to the meeting can be sent to the Los Angeles Socialist Workers Party at 2546 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90006; faxed to 213-380-1268; or e-mailed to 74642.326@compuserve.com.  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home