Damu Amiri Imara Smith (1951 - May 5, 2006) was an American peace activist.

Early life and education

Damu Smith was born in 1951 in St. Louis, Missouri, to Sylvester and Vernice Smith. His father was a firefighter and his mother was a

licensed practical nurse A licensed practical nurse (LPN), in much of the United States and Canada, is a nurse who cares for people who are sick, injured, convalescent, or disabled. In the United States, LPNs work under the direction of physicians, mid-level practitio ...

. Smith was raised with his two brothers and sister in the Carr Square Village housing project. A

working-class The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colou ...

family, they often struggled to make ends meet, sometimes receiving welfare or other government assistance. Smith has said that this experience developed in him a great sensitivity to the plight of low-income communities, and played a central role in shaping his views as an adult and as an activist. As a high school student, Smith had the chance to attend some of the

Black Solidarity Day Black Solidarity Day is a memorial day, created in 1969 by Panamanian-born activist, historian, playwright, Carlos E. Russell. It was inspired by the fictional play “Day of Absence” by Douglas Turner Ward. It is annually observed the day before ...

rallies in

Cairo, Illinois Cairo ( ) is the southernmost city in Illinois and the county seat of Alexander County. The city is located at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Fort Defiance, a Civil War camp, was built here in 1862 by Union General Ulysses ...

, where he listened to speeches by

Amiri Baraka Amiri Baraka (born Everett Leroy Jones; October 7, 1934 – January 9, 2014), previously known as LeRoi Jones and Imamu Amear Baraka, was an American writer of poetry, drama, fiction, essays and music criticism. He was the author of numerous bo ...

, Nina Simone, and

Jesse Jackson Jesse Louis Jackson (né Burns; born October 8, 1941) is an American political activist, Baptist minister, and politician. He was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988 and served as a shadow U.S. senator ...

, and toured black neighborhoods where white supremacists had sprayed houses with gunfire, a sight that changed his life. As a freshman at

St. John's University St John's University may refer to: *St. John's University (New York City) **St. John's University School of Law **St. John's University (Italy) - Overseas Campus *College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University, St. Joseph, Minnesota and Col ...

in Minnesota, and president of the Organization of Afro-American Students, Smith led a protest and takeover of the school’s administrative offices to demand a Black studies program. It was during that time that he changed his name to Damu Amiri Imara Smith, the first three words meaning ‘‘blood,’’ ‘‘leadership,’’ and ‘‘strength’’ in Swahili, respectively.

Career

In 1973, Smith moved to Washington D.C., where he began the next chapter in his lifelong mission of advocating for

social justice Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has often referred to the process of ensuring that individuals fu ...

in the United States and abroad. He was one of the first African-American activists to fight

environmental racism Environmental racism or ecological apartheid is a form of institutional racism leading to landfills, incinerators, and hazardous waste disposal being disproportionally placed in communities of colour. Internationally, it is also associated with ...

. During 1978, 1979 and 1980, he chaired the local chapter of the Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, whose national chairpersons were Angela Davis and Benjamin Davis, and organized many protests and educational events against racism in America and apartheid in Zimbabwe, Namibia and South Africa. Over the next 30 years, Smith's activism included vigilance in the fight against

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

in South Africa as Executive Director of the Washington Office on Africa and co-founder of Artists for a Free South Africa. Additionally, Smith focused his energy and attention on broad-based efforts to expose gun violence and police brutality, and was also active in peace and nuclear weapons freeze campaigns, working as the Associate Director of the Washington Office of the

American Friends Service Committee The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) is a Religious Society of Friends (''Quaker'') founded organization working for peace and social justice in the United States and around the world. AFSC was founded in 1917 as a combined effort by Am ...

. He spoke out against the U.S. invasion of Iraq in the 1990s during the

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

. Smith was known for his pioneering leadership in the

environmental justice Environmental justice is a social movement to address the unfair exposure of poor and marginalized communities to harms from hazardous waste, resource extraction, and other land uses.Schlosberg, David. (2007) ''Defining Environmental Justic ...

movement, working as the first environmental justice coordinator for the Southern Organizing Committee for Economic and Social Justice. After touring cities severely impacted by chemical pollution and seeing the devastating impacts of these practices on low-income and African American communities, he organized Toxic Tours in the South for

Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by Irving Stowe and Dorothy Stowe, immigrant environmental activists from the United States. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth t ...

. In 1999, he coordinated the largest environmental justice conference ever held, an event which led to the formation of the

National Black Environmental Justice Network National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

, the first ever network of Black environmental justice activists, of which he served as the Executive Director. He was the founder and executive director of Black Voices for Peace.

Personal life

Smith died on May 5, 2006, of

colon cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowel mo ...

at George Washington University Hospital. He was survived by his companion Adeleke Foster, a daughter, sister, and two brothers.

Awards and honors

In 1986, Smith received the Malcolm X Community Service Award. He received the National Bar Association Community Service Award in 1989. The

Southern Christian Leadership Conference The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) is an African-American civil rights organization based in Atlanta, Georgia. SCLC is closely associated with its first president, Martin Luther King Jr., who had a large role in the American civi ...

presented Smith with an award in 1996 and in 1998, he received the St. James Citizen for Jobs and the Environment Award.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Damu 1951 births 2006 deaths Activists from St. Louis African-American activists Nonviolence advocates College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University alumni American social justice activists Deaths from cancer in Washington, D.C. Deaths from colorectal cancer National Bar Association