Tag Archives: In Memoriam

Summer Issue Front Cover

Posted on 06/30/2025 by Public i

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

Posted on 06/30/2025 by Jim Barrett

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 →

 332 total views,  5 views today

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Belden’s Democratic Socialist Vision

Posted on 06/30/2025 by Pat Simpson

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 →

 75 total views

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Belden Fields: Human Rights Scholar

Posted on 06/30/2025 by Walter Feinberg

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 →

 73 total views,  3 views today

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A Belden Fields Memory

Posted on 06/30/2025 by Jeff Machota

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 →

 76 total views,  4 views today

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

Posted on 06/30/2025 by Al Kagan

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 →

 72 total views,  2 views today

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

Posted on 06/30/2025 by Danielle Chynoweth

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 →

 72 total views

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

Posted on 06/30/2025 by Carol Ammons

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 →

 62 total views,  1 views today

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Belden’s French Connection

Posted on 06/30/2025 by Marie-Claude Smouts

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 →

 69 total views,  2 views today

Posted in 1968, 1968 Revolt, France, In Memoriam, International, International, Politics, Section, Students | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Belden’s French Connection

Belden’s Public i Articles

Posted on 06/29/2025 by Public i

“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 →

 66 total views,  1 views today

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Summer Issue Back Cover

Posted on 06/29/2025 by Public i

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 →

 52 total views,  1 views today

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Winter Issue Back Cover

Posted on 12/23/2024 by Public i

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

Posted on 02/11/2024 by Rick Boyd

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 →

 732 total views

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

Posted on 07/18/2023 by Al Kagan

“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 →

 958 total views

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

Posted on 09/18/2022 by Jim Barrett

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 →

 816 total views,  1 views today

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