For Howard Keylor, a long life in service to the working class began in his
younger years in Ohio, where he saw miners going to work. In rural Ohio, not
far from the Appalachians and near the mines, he grew up with a strong
sense of solidarity among workers. He became registered as a longshoreman
in 1959, when he found his political footing as a radical trade unionist and a
revolutionary activist for his class, and especially for dock workers. He
constantly used the docks as a basis for organizing workers while opposing
the rulers.
When South Africa was gripped in the knot of apartheid, Keylor raised a
motion to refuse to remove cargo from South African vessels. To his surprise
the motion was passed unanimously by the members of the ILWU
(International Longshoreman & Warehouse Union), Local 10. This action
earned the praise of South Africa’s Nelson Mandela, who commended Local
10 during his 1990 world tour. Mandela said Local 10 (Howard’s union) was
on the front line of the global struggle against the racist system of apartheid.
That was the workers’ united vision of Howard Keylor.
Keylor was, in essence, a lifelong revolutionary, who greeted all struggles as
a challenge to be met and beaten. He fought for social justice and a better
world. He fought against my death sentence and for my freedom. He is
remembered as a man who made every one of his 98 years count: Howard
Keylor’s extraordinary life for labor and liberation.
–maj 1/22/25@
