In Memoriam: Dan Stern, Revolutionary

Teacher, revolutionary and unrepentant anti-imperialist Dan Stern died on June 6 after a long illness. He was 73. His friends and comrades will hold a memorial service to honor his life work and his legacy on Saturday, July 3rd at noon at the Montgomery Place Retirement Community, located at 5550 South Shore Drive in Hyde Park, near the Museum of Science and Industry.

Stern was Professor Emeritus of sociology at Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago. He joined Northeastern as associate professor of sociology 1968 and became full professor 1971. His work on campus extended far beyond the classroom, however, and he often drew the ire of his colleagues for serving as a tireless advocate, faculty advisor and mentor to students who advocated for Palestinian rights, Puerto Rican independence, the Black liberation movement, an end to the Vietnam War, and a host of other issues that underpinned the movement to smash capitalism and its ills.

Stern received his bachelor’s degree with honors in psychology and sociology from Cornell University in 1954. He received a M.A. in 1958 and a Ph.D. 1961, both in psychology from the University of Wisconsin.

Stern marked the beginning of his radicalism with the onset of the McCarthy witch-hunts of the 1950’s. He never looked back. Stern had a lifelong interest in the study and understanding of techniques of manipulation and propaganda as a tool of power and domination by ruling elites. He was an expert in COINTELPRO – the government’s illegal domestic counterintelligence program – and related campaigns that led to the wrongful incarceration and assassination of dozens of militants, including Black Panther Fred Hampton, with whom he worked. He was also an expert in the evolving history of the Chicago Outfit, and was a vast fount of knowledge about the intricate connections between the mob, local politicians, and the police. His classroom presentations on the hidden face of the international drug trade were legendary, particularly in elucidating the concealed dynamics of economic power and class privilege that undergirded the trade. He could lecture for hours on the nuanced dynamics of the drive for imperial power and corporate domination in Africa, Central and South America – decades before the issue of corporate globalization and the new imperialism had resurfaced as core movement issues in the late 1990’s.

He was an outspoken and militant advocate for Palestinian rights, and promoted his position among other progressive Jews as a way to encourage people to more openly and publicly challenge the strictures of Zionism both within the Jewish community and within the broader movement. He was a generous advisor and financial donor to Palestinian projects, as well as to militant projects in the African American community -- particularly those that sought to organize the most dispossessed sectors of society for radical political change.

Stern was also willing to stretch himself, particularly in terms of issues related to feminism and women’s rights. He counted himself as one among thousands of men in the movement who benefited from the criticism of their sisters in the struggle on issues of gender equality and women’s empowerment during the heady days of the 1960’s and 1970’s.

Stern had been in poor health for several years, and health issues, including his failing eyesight, eventually led to his retirement from Northeastern several years ago. Stern suffered a stroke last July which left him unable to swallow -– but still able to speak and read, which he did with his characteristic dry wit and humor, often in the company of his friend and comrade Carole Dodd. He died in his sleep on June 6 at the Montgomery Place Retirement Home, where he had been convalescing after his last hospitalization.

His passing is mourned by Carol Dodd, by his ex-wife and friend Dot, by his two children and extended family -– and by an army of former students and comrades who will carry on the struggle in his wake, empowered by the memory of his humor, wisdom, and unflinching commitment to building a better world.