The New York Times published what it called an “Overlooked obituary” of Kitty Cone March 26. These are obits of individuals who the Times did not mention at the time of their passing. Kitty Cone died in 2015.
Cone was a member and leader of the Young Socialist Alliance and Socialist Workers Party in the 1960s and early ’70s, active in the fight against the imperialist war in Vietnam, in defense of the Cuban Revolution and a party builder.
She was also an early champion of the rights of the disabled. She wasn’t “confined” to a wheelchair, she rode one and fought from it. Cone set an example that countered the wretched treatment, expectations and perceptions by the ruling capitalist class of those who by injury, illness or birth they couldn’t exploit. Cone’s Times obituary can be found online, as can a documentary, Crip Camp, in which she appears.
Raul Gonzalez
Redwood City, California