David McReynolds
| David McReynolds | |
|---|---|
David McReynolds at the 2009 Left Forum in New York City
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
October 25, 1929 Los Angeles, California |
| Political party | Independent |
| Other political affiliations |
Socialist Party (1951-2015) Prohibition Party (before 1951) Green (affiliated non-member) |
| Residence | Lower East Side, Manhattan, New York |
| Alma mater | University of California Los Angeles |
| Occupation | Activist, politician, writer |
David McReynolds (born October 25, 1929) is an American democratic socialist and pacifist activist who described himself as "a peace movement bureaucrat" during his 40-year career with Liberation magazine and the War Resisters League. He lives in New York City.
McReynolds was born in Los Angeles to Charles and Elizabeth McReynolds. In 1951 he joined the Socialist Party of America (SPA) and in 1953 he graduated from UCLA with a degree in political science. Between 1957 and 1960, McReynolds worked for the editorial board of the left-wing magazine Liberation. McReynolds is openly gay and wrote his first article about living as a gay man in 1969.
He was staunchly anti-war and a draft resister, and in 1960 joined the staff of the War Resisters League (WRL), where he remained until his retirement in 1999. In 1965 he lectured on 'The Old Left and the New Left' at the newly founded Free University of New York.
On November 6, 1965, he was one of five men who publicly burned their draft cards at an anti-war demonstration at Union Square in New York. This was one of the first public draft-card burnings after U.S. law was changed on August 30, 1965 to make such actions a felony, punishable by up to five years' imprisonment. He was close friends with Bayard Rustin and other prominent peace activists, as well as literary figures such as Quentin Crisp. In 1968, he signed the "Writers and Editors War Tax Protest" pledge, vowing to refuse tax payments in protest against the Vietnam War.
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