Tim Thomas

Tim Thomas

James (Tim) Thomas , died 2016, lived in Oakland. He was a member of the Justice for Alan Blueford Coalition.

Life of activism

Tim Thomas was born in Augusta, Georgia on May 20, 1944, and grew up there and in Delaware. He entered the military in 1963, which he described as having “spurred his national consciousness.” At George Washington University, Tim became active in the Black Liberation and Marxist movement that remained his lifelong passion. A self-described OG, Tim was a leader of SOBU (Student Organization for Black Unity) and later YOBU (Youth Organization for Black Unity). He was also very active in the African Liberation Support Committee.

Tim joined the Revolutionary Workers League in 1972 and later the League of Revolutionary Struggle (LRS), a New Communist Movement group that brought together in one organization Asian-American, Chicano, Puerto Rican, African American, and white communists who shared a vision of national liberation as a critical element of communist revolution. After that group dissolved in 1990, Tim and a number of former LRS comrades came into the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, where they continue to advance the theory and practice of self-determination socialism.

As Co-Chair of FRSO’s Oppressed Nationality Commission, Tim helped us live up to our commitment to building the Black Liberation Movement through its downturns and upsurges. He wrote extensively about Bay area peoples’ movements, organizing methodology, and developments in the Black Liberation Movement. Tim saw to completion an extensive update of our Oppressed Nationality Unity Document, which was passed just last month at FRSO’s 2016 Congress. Tim also chaired a FRSO working group on immigrant rights. At the time of his death, he was collaborating with comrades on a comprehensive paper about the Black Liberation Movement.

After doing rank-and-file labor and community organizing in DC and Chicago, Tim answered a call to move to Oakland in 1988. He became deeply involved in many Oakland community struggles, drawing on his experience to support new leaders and build united fronts. Tim helped to win environmental protections, good jobs and community oversight in the Port of Oakland redevelopment/base closing. As an organizer with Reclaiming Oakland through Organizing and Solidarity (ROOTS, formerly Occupy the Hood), Tim worked with the Stop Goldman Sachs Coalition and other efforts to developments that are driving out communities of color from Oakland.

Tim helped to build the movements against the police murders of Oscar Grant, Alan Blueford and other Black youth. He was the former Community Building Manager at Habitat for Humanity East Bay and former Executive Director of the Emergency Services Network, where he did advocacy and service coordination for the homeless. Tim served on the Boards of Urban Habitat and the Workforce Collaborative and was involved in the [Black Left Unity] Network. Tim was also the father of a grown daughter and son.

Grenada delegation

In late 1983 Reese Erlich and Tim Thomas were part of a left wing journalists delegation to Grenada.

Unity correspondent

In 1989 Regional Correspondents for Unity, newspaper of the League of Revolutionary Struggle included Tim Thomas, Oakland.

Black Radical Congress

In March 1998 “Endorsers of the Call” to found a Black Radical Congress included James Tim Thomas, Executive Director, Emergency Services Network, Alameda County, CA.

“Forging a Black Liberation Agenda for the 21st Century”

10th Anniversary Meeting of the Black Radical Congress, “Forging a Black Liberation Agenda for the 21st Century” Black Radical Congress, June 20-22, 2008, St. Louis, Missouri.

Endorsers for the Congress included James (Tim) Thomas , Freedom Road Socialist Organization.

Open Letter to Obama on Iran

In 2008 Tim Thomas of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO), Oakland, CA signed an online petition “A Open Letter to Barack Obama on Iran”.

Ad-Hoc Left Committee

POLITICAL HIGHS, ECONOMIC LOWS: MANAGING U.S. DECLINE

Featuring Gary Younge, Author of "No Place Like Home: A Black Briton's Journey Through the Deep South"

THURSDAY, APRIL 30 2009 St. John's Church, San Francisco

Like previous events sponsored by this Ad Hoc Committee, this program is aimed at fostering dialogue and debate among leftists who see themselves operating within the left-wing-of-the-Obama-motion political space. If there are people sharing this broad viewpoint who you believe would be interested in participating in this conversation, we encourage you to extend this invitation to them.

Ad-Hoc Left Committee: Carl Bloice, Linda Burnham, Max Elbaum, Michelle Foy, Juan Lopez, Calvin Miaw, Giuliana Milanese, Maria Poblet, Tim Thomas, Mei-ying Williams, Steve Williams.

REPARATIONS NOW!

REPARATIONS NOW!The Struggle for a CUNY that Serves the People Tuesday, September 20, 2011, Lehman College, Bronx.

Moderator: Lamont Oyewale Badru, Co-founder of Black Legacy (Black Student Union) at Lehman, Former Lehman College Senator, Member of MXGM. Speakers:

• Hank Williams, Adjunct Lecturer in the English Dept at Lehman, Member of FRSO/OSCL
• Alice Feng, Student at Grad Center, Blogger for THE F-CKIN' LOUDEST ASIANS!
• Ronald B. McGuire, Esq., Activist Attorney, Harlem University '69 (expelled)
• Tim Thomas, Participant in the Durban + 10 Coalition, Member of FRSO/ OSCL

References

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