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Mary Pinotti Kaessinger | |
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| Born | Mary Pinotti 1946/47 |
| Died | March 14, 2023 |
| Political party | Workers World Party |
Mary Pinotti Kaessinger (1946/47 – March 14, 2023) was a Statesian communist organizer and disability rights activist. She first became politically active in the 1960s and later served as leader of the Disability Justice and Rights Caucus of the WWP.[1]
Early activism
After transferring from Illinois to Berkeley, Pinotti participated in five-day Stop the Draft Week protests against the invasion of Vietnam. She also marched in support of Huey Newton and participated in a vigil to keep the police out of Eldrige Cleaver's house. She later moved to New York City and joined the women's liberation movement, disrupting the sexist Miss America Pageant in Atlanta City.[1]
Union organizing
In New York, Pinotti met Veronica Golos and joined the WWP's Youth against War and Fascism group to raise bail for imprisoned women between 1970 and 1972. She founded and led the Women's Bail Fund and married Bill Kaessinger, a union organizer who led a 103-day strike at the Radio Corporation of America (RCA).
She tried to organize workers at Continental Insurance but was fired and moved to the RCA. She went to Chicago in 1974 to found the Coalition of Labor Union Women. She helped organize another RCA strike in 1978.[1]
Disability activism
In the late 1980s, Pinotti was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and moved to upstate New York, where cold weather would make the disease less severe. There, she protested against fracking at the South Plymouth City Council. After Bill died in 2013, she returned to New York City and joined the disability justice movement. In 2015, she was elected to the Executive Board of Disability Pride NYC as its Recording Secretary. In the People's Metropolitan Transportation Authority, she advocated for elevators to make public transportation accessible. The Disability Justice and Rights Caucus elected her as an alternate delegate to the WWP's Central Committee in 2020.[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Mary Pinotti Kaessinger: Revolutionary, disability justice and rights fighter, labor organizer – Rest in power!" (2023-04-06). Workers World. Archived from the original on 2023-04-23. Retrieved 2023-04-23.