ETAN activist Luis Kemnitzer, Dead at 77
ETAN activist Luis Kemnitzer dies at 77
Luis Kemnitzer, radical activist and longtime ETAN activist died
Friday, February 17, at Kaiser Hospital in San Francisco of
complications from lung cancer. A fifth-generation Californian, Luis
was 77.
A founding member of the Bay Area chapter of the East Timor
Action Network, Luis helped to connect Timorese visitors and
ETAN with other indigenous peoples' organizations also working for
justice and sovereignty. He and his wife Moher, who survives him,
were always enormously generous with their house, a frequent spot
for dinners and fundraisers benefiting ETAN and other groups. Luis
was a stalwart of the Bay Area anarchist and peace-activist
communities, with a long history of participation in non-violent
protests and civil disobedience. Like our other recently departed
ETANer Nate Osborn, Luis had no hesitation about doing the routine
grunt work that keeps activist projects going. He was always there
for mailings and other working meetings, even when he had many other
things going on in his life, which he always did.
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Luis Kemnitzer
with East Timorese human rights lawyer and former member of
ETAN's executive committee Aderito de Jesus Soares. ETAN/SF |
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Over decades of such activism, he managed to maintain an
enthusiasm for living and appreciation for people, and a down to
earth but often surreal sense of humor.
A lifelong record collector, Luis was famous for giving away
compilations of music from his massive collection of folk, country,
blues, jazz and "world" music. In 1998 he was awarded a Grammy
award along with other authors of the liner notes for the "Anthology
of American Folk Music," which also won the Grammy that year for
Best Historic Album. The album was a re-issue of a 1952 Folkways
album originally compiled by Luis's friend Harry Smith.
Luis was the first teacher of American Indian Studies at San
Francisco State University, where he was a staunch ally of the
American Indian Movement. He supported the historic 1969-1971
occupation of Alcatraz Island, and was Director Emeritus of the
Lakota Language and Culture Center in Ignacio, California, and Kyle,
South Dakota.
With Moher, Luis helped organize the first needle exchange
program, which started in the San Francisco Tenderloin and became a
model for similar programs around the world. This radical approach
to HIV prevention, illegal at the time of its inception, continues
to save thousands of lives.
Luis earned his Ph.D. at the University of Pennsylvania. His
field work focused on Lakota culture in Pine Ridge South Dakota,
where he spent many summers over the years. He also studied health
care in Palau, and supported the movement for nuclear-free Pacific
Islands.
Luis will be greatly missed by his surviving family members and
by his many friends in the Bay Area and throughout the world.
see also
Golden Gate Express Online:
Grammy winning SF State professor dies
San Francisco Chronicle:
Luis Kemnitzer -- professor and social activist
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