Rest in Power, Carlos Cardenas
There is a Carlos-Cardenas-shaped hole in the universe, and it’s been hanging over us for one year now. Today is his yartzeit (death anniversary). It’s fitting that his yartzeit is on May Day; Carlos was a worker and his experiences exemplified the many ways our society has forgotten the Carlos’ of the world. To honor him and his memory, I wanted to share my reflections on him. It’s hard to describe who Carlos was in my life. He was the very first grassroots, community member I brought into the organization where I work. He quickly became a key leader of our organization and ultimately became our longest serving board member. He would introduce me to his family, “This is my organizer, Hannah.” I was proud to be Carlos’ organizer. But our relationship went further than that. Last May, when his niece called me to tell me he’d passed, she said, “I know you were like a niece to him.” And that felt just right. He always felt more like family than anything else. And while he alway...