Tag Archives: In Memoriam

Summer Issue Front Cover

BELDEN FIELDS (1937–2024): SCHOLAR, ORGANIZER, ACTIVIST, SOCIALIST  160 total views,  8 views today

 160 total views,  8 views today

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Belden Fields: Organizer for Justice

Anyone who knew Belden Fields understands that he was an institution in Champaign-Urbana, someone who injected a message of social justice into our daily lives. Everyone will have their own way of remembering him. He was very smart, very funny, … Continue reading

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Belden’s Democratic Socialist Vision

What are we to make of the current horrors of a globally ascendent authoritarianism, an authoritarianism bred in the toxic soil of neoliberalism and the aftermath of the wars in Iraq and Latin America that sent desperate migrants knocking on … Continue reading

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Belden Fields: Human Rights Scholar

Review Belden’s book Rethinking Human Rights for the New Millennium (2003), addresses a conflict among three human rights theories and provides a compelling synthesis of the three. According to The Declaration of Independence, “All men are created equal, . . … Continue reading

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A Belden Fields Memory

It’s February 8, 1990. The U of I Board of Trustees are meeting. The Coalition Against State Sponsored Terrorism (CASST) is protesting against CIA recruitment on campus. We have members inside the meeting planning to disrupt, but not get arrested. … Continue reading

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Belden’s Work in the Union of Professional Employees and Campus Faculty Association

I worked closely with Belden in the Union of Professional Employees (UPE) and later in the Campus Faculty Association (CFA). UPE voted to change its name to CFA in 2007. This article is an attempt to reconstruct Belden’s work in … Continue reading

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Posted in Academy on Capitalism and Limited Government, In Memoriam, labor, Labor/Economics, Section, union soldarity, University of Illinois, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Belden’s Work in the Union of Professional Employees and Campus Faculty Association

Belden Rests in Solidarity

When I hear the word solidarity, the first person I think of is the late Professor Belden Fields; may his spirit rest in power. On the 25th anniversary of the Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center, we honor our dear friend Belden, … Continue reading

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In Celebration of My Political Advisor-Turned-Surrogate Father: Belden Fields‬

In 2025, in my eleventh year serving Champaign-Urbana as state representative, the world seems to be coming apart at the seams. We have a madman in the White House, who is shredding the last remnants of dignity our country had … Continue reading

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Belden’s French Connection

I met Belden in 1963. We both were residents at the Cité Universitaire Internationale and attended the same seminar on the 1930s at the Paris Institute of Political Studies (Sciences Po). It was the start of a close friendship spanning … Continue reading

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Belden’s Public i Articles

“Economic Human Rights in Champaign County: A Living Wage,” September 2001 “September 11—An Attack on Human Rights,” October 2001 “Universities and the ‘War on Terrorism,’” November 2001 “Administration and the Attempted Coup in Venezuela,” No. 6, 2002 “Protesters as Targets,” … Continue reading

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Summer Issue Back Cover

Community Memorial We hope you appreciate this special issue of the Public i remembering our colleague Belden Fields. It was gratifying for us to put it together. The IMC will be hosting a memorial at some point in the near … Continue reading

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Winter Issue Back Cover

The Public i editorial collective mourns the passing of our dear colleague and friend Belden Fields. A full appreciation will appear in our next issue.  219 total views

 219 total views

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Remembering Jim Holiman, Local Activist Mentor: Rest In Power

Before there were cell phones, or the internet or Zoom, campus activism in C-U was alive and well. Posters and word of mouth brought people of conscience together for strategy sessions and social justice cultural events at the Illinois Disciples … Continue reading

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Daniel Ellsberg: “The Most Dangerous Man in America” and Heroic Whistleblower

“Wouldn’t you go to prison to help end this war?” Daniel Ellsberg, 1971 “I was PFC Manning.” Daniel Ellsberg, 2011 “The current risk of nuclear war, over Ukraine, is as great as the world has ever seen.” Daniel Ellsberg, 2023 … Continue reading

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Kathryn J. Oberdeck (January 18, 1958–June 8, 2022)

Kathy was a passionate fighter against all forms of inequality. She combined an unwavering commitment to the highest intellectual standards with a selfless dedication to community and family. She was a prolific historian of poor and working-class people, particularly their … Continue reading

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