In Memoriam: Carlton Carl
Look up the word “mainstay,” and you’ll find such strong synonyms as backbone, linchpin, pillar, sustainer… and good right arm.
You might also find a picture of Carlton Carl, for he was all of those things throughout his decades of persistent, creative, and uplifting work in the trenches of the Texas progressive movement. In our state’s ongoing, feisty efforts to advance people power over moneyed elites, Carlton was at the heart of the struggle as a grassroots organizer, legislative strategist, journalist, scrappy fighter… and mainstay.
His most recent venture was to do something that more progressives should do: He moved to a Central Texas rural county considered to be conservative. There, in Caldwell County, he’s been successfully building a local political network around kitchen-table issues of progressive populism.
As a longtime friend and grassroots champion, Carlton will be sorely missed. But rather than merely missing him, let's emulate him! We need to celebrate and elevate the Carlton Carls of our movement—and recruit more of them. They are the steady builders of a durable democratic politics—the continuum that, over time, puts the progress in progressive.
My wife and I extend our heartfelt condolences to you , to Texas, and to Our nation for your and our loss. Yes, we absolutely do need more of his character, dedication, and action. We do need to punch back against the current bullies - female as well as male - by doing it together. Together, Democratic Leaders, together. Get to know us. Talk with us, not at us. We're waiting.
I’m so sorry, Jim, so sorry that you lost your dear friend. And sorry for the country that we lost a mainstay, indeed. I will think of him and indeed I will try to emulate him when I spend time in my hometown of rural Lafayette, Wisconsin, just outside of Chippewa Falls. (Where yes, I went to high school with Judge Susan Crawford, a very nice, very smart person)