A symbol of protest [Marv Davidov in Miineapolis]

A symbol of protest

http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/books/84401252.html

Lifelong Twin Cities activist Marv Davidov looks back on his life,
his causes, and the Honeywell Project.

By MARILYN HOEGEMEYER
February 20, 2010

For more than five decades, Marv Davidov has been a fixture on the
streets of Minneapolis, on college campuses and in newsrooms and
boardrooms around the Twin Cities, a persistent spokesman against war
and injustice.

His longest running battle was the Honeywell Project, pitting Davidov
and hundreds of citizens against Honeywell Inc., which was then
headquartered in Minneapolis and was the state's largest military contractor.

Honeywell's "cluster bomb" became the symbol of the protest, and for
years Davidov carried an unarmed version with him wherever he went.
The story of a judge who insisted he relinquish the bomb in his
courtroom is among the anecdotes in this book about Davidov's life.

The author, poet Carol Masters, joined the protest movement herself
in the 1980s and has spent 25 years listening to Davidov's stories.
More recently she began taping his recollections and providing
historical detail.

In 1949, at 18, Davidov moved from Detroit to St. Paul to work in his
uncles' Midway department store and begin classes at Macalester
College. His parents and brother joined him a year later and, except
for a brief stint in the Army and several years in the mid-'60s in
Berkeley, Calif., he has always called the Twin Cities home.

The book contains frank admissions: Davidov describes his bouts with
depression. There are hints at his many romantic liaisons. There are
complaints about the lack of media coverage for his causes.

And there are countless names of those who inspired him (from Dan and
Phil Berrigan, John Lewis and Grace Paley, to Meridel LeSueur, Vernon
and Clyde Bellecourt, and Howard Zinn), and details about the many
causes Davidov has joined. He was a Freedom Rider in the South in the
early '60s, a participant in the Walk to Cuba for Peace effort, a
part of the Minnesota farmers' power line struggle. He joined Native
American causes, labor union struggles, Vietnam War protests, and
protests against the war in Iraq. But the Honeywell Project was his
centerpiece.

In 1990, Honeywell announced a spin-off of its military and marine
systems business into a new company, Alliant Tech Systems Inc.
Davidov's take: that more than 20 years of protests were worth it.
"After 2,200 arrests and nearly 100 trials, Honeywell reduced its
dependence on weapons systems. We were -- thousands of us -- a major
factor in the decision."

Now nearing his 80th year, Davidov has survived prostate cancer, has
diabetes, kidney failure and undergoes dialysis three times a week.
But that hasn't stopped him from telling his stories to the medical
staff who care for him and to his students at the University of St.
Thomas in St. Paul, where he co-teaches a class called Active
Nonviolence in Justice and Peace.

The book ends with "A Note of Thanks from Marv" -- six pages, in
small type -- for the people who supported him with money, medical
care and legal aid and helped him foster peace and justice in the world.

The last paragraph is Davidov's list of more than a dozen things
still needed to reform the United States. Clearly, his work is not complete.
--

YOU CAN'T DO THAT!
By: Carol Masters and Marv Davidov.
Publisher: Nodin Press, 296 pages, $19.95
Review: This sympathetic look at one of the Twin Cities' most
persistent activists has a nearly overwhelming number of names, dates
and details, but it provides a look at Marv Davidov's life and times,
told from his view of the world.

.