North Star—A Memoir

 

By Peter Camejo

2010 Morella Camejo, Haymarket Books

Reviewed by Steve Halpern

I first listened to Peter Camejo speak in 1972 at a conference of the Young Socialist Alliance in Houston, Texas. At that time, I didn’t know much about politics, but felt there were profound inequalities in this country that appeared to be ingrained in the system. Camejo’s ridicule of the system made me laugh and think about the politics of the world. I had never listened to anyone talk like that. That speech became the foundation for the political orientation I have today.

I also read Camejo’s book Racism, Revolution, Reaction—1861-1877. This book, along with W.E.B. Dubois book on Black Reconstruction are, for me, the two most important books on the period of history after the Civil War. In my opinion, it is impossible to begin to understand the history of this country without understanding the facts of what happened in those years. 

Over the years, Camejo’s politics drifted away from mine. Recently, I read his book North Star—A Memoir that was written shortly before his death in 2008. While I have disagreements with some of his conclusions, I found this book to be well worth reading. 

Camejo’s early life.

Peter Camejo’s family is from Venezuela. His mother’s family moved to Queens New York because their critical views of the Venezuelan government made life in their homeland impossible. When the family returned to Venezuela his grandmother got lucky and won $20,000 on a horse race. His father didn’t start out with much money but made a fortune developing tourist resorts in Venezuela. 

When Peter was about eight, his parents divorced and he lived with his mother and two brothers in Great Neck, Long Island. He was a mischievous child who no doubt tested his mother’s patience. This continued when Peter decided to become active in revolutionary politics rather than settle down with a family.

Peter had a perfect score of 800 on his SAT mathematics test. This enabled him to be accepted in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as a mathematics major. There he met Barry Shephard and Gus Horowitz. Camejo, Shephard, and Horowitz would eventually join the Socialist Workers Party.

In his early years Camejo lived in Corral Gables, Florida. This was at a time of institutionalized Jim Crow segregation. Camejo gave up his seat on a bus to a pregnant Black woman. This action enraged the bus driver. His family recognized the profound injustice of this system. After joining the Socialist Workers Party, Camejo walked the 56 miles on Martin Luther King’s march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama.

Camejo also went to several meetings where Malcolm X spoke. He was impressed with how Malcolm instilled pride in Black people by introducing them to their heroic history that the so-called educational system ignored. At that time the Socialist Workers Party was one of the few organizations that supported the politics of Malcolm X. After his assassination SWP member George Breitman edited Malcolm’s speeches in the book By Any Means Necessary.

The Cuban Revolution coincided with Camejo’s radicalization. He visited Cuba shortly after the revolution and was inspired by what he saw. 

Then he moved to Berkley, California and became a leader of the student movement protesting the war against Vietnam.

The student anti-war movement at UC Berkeley

As the war against Vietnam escalated, a polarization developed in this country. As in all wars, the government went on an all-out drive to support the war. The Administration of UC Berkeley and Governor Ronald Reagan supported the war. 

Then, as the war and the Vietnamese resistance escalated, students across the country began to question what the war was about. Why were so many U.S. soldiers dying in a war that brought unimaginable horror to the people of Vietnam? 

Peter Camejo was drafted to the military, but refused to take the Oath pledging allegiance to the United States government. The government responded by giving him a 4-F deferment. 

Then Camejo became a student leader at UC Berkeley. Initially the police arrested him but refused to charge him with anything. Several lawyers volunteered to defend him because this was a gross infringement on his rights. The case was dismissed.

Then he was one of several students arrested for using a university owned microphone. That case went to court.

Camejo was one of the central leaders of anti-war demonstrations in Berkeley in 1968. In that year a revolutionary movement erupted in France. Rebellions erupted in cities across the United States protesting the murder of Martin Luther King.

In Berkeley, thousands of students demanded to have an anti-war protest on Telegraph Avenue. The Mayor and City Council objected. The Governor mobilized the National Guard and declared a curfew. However, the protesters refused to be silenced and they had their demonstration. So, while the U.S. government ordered soldiers to murder millions of people in Vietnam, they also flagrantly violated the Constitution and worked to prohibit anti-war demonstrations.

Those events influenced Camejo. He experienced how masses of people could be mobilized to make profound change.

Camejo started this book with the story of his avoiding arrest in Columbia in 1979. He was on his way to meet with Hugo Blanco the peasant leader who spent time in a Peruvian jail. Blanco was receiving a lot of support for his actions, and apparently the authorities wanted to block Camejo from joining with Blanco’s supporters.

In order to escape this arrest Camejo had support from Columbian airport workers as well as union leaders. His family had connections with an influential relative who was meeting with the then Secretary of State Cyrus Vance. Vance made a phone call and the order to arrest Camejo in Columbia was rescinded. This is just one example of the repressive forces in Latin America and the profound influence of the United States government.

When Camejo ran for President representing the Socialist Workers Party in 1976 he received considerable media coverage in Venezuela. The Venezuelan people had fewer objections to the idea of socialism as in the United States. There was a bit of pride that someone who’s family lives in the country was running for President of the United States.

Camejo also made numerous contacts with the Chicano community during his campaign. They were also proud of the fact that a Latino was running for President and was receiving support for his campaign. The fact that Camejo was an ardent supporter of immigrant rights also made him popular in the Latino community.       

Camejo started a new life

After the Vietnamese people decisively defeated the armed forces of the United States, there was a relative lull in activity. Camejo developed differences with the leadership of the Socialist Workers Party and was no longer a member.

For a time, he worked in the garment district in New York City. He then worked for a time in the Post Office. Then he was hired by Merrill Lynch and became a stockbroker. 

During these years he gravitated to the Green Party. He eventually became the Vice-Presidential candidate to Ralph Nader, who was their Presidential candidate. 

Camejo, throughout his life was an opponent to both the Democratic and Republican Parties. He shared that opposition with Malcolm X and the Socialist Workers Party.

While some members of the Green Party wanted to support the democrats, Camejo was opposed to that perspective. However, the Green Party was not about arguing for a socialist transformation of the country. In my opinion, only a complete change in the political economic system can begin to eradicate the problems of poverty, discrimination, as well as the destruction of the environment. So, on the issue of the Green Party, Camejo and I disagree.

The North Star

While I disagree with Camejo on his support of the Green Party, I agree with his argument about the need for the socialist movement to recognize the revolutionary movements of the past. The name of an organization he worked with was The North Star. The North Star was also the name of the 19th century abolitionist newspaper edited by Frederick Douglass. 

There is a tremendous revolutionary heritage that young people have today. The United States was born as a result of a revolution against British colonialism. The emerging government established rights that people didn’t have before. However, that same government repressed the Shay’s rebellion of veterans of the Revolution. The new government also supported the unimaginably horrendous system of chattel slavery and Native American genocide.  

However, as the new government advanced its repressive policies new movements erupted that continue to challenge those policies. First there was the Native American resistance that continues to this day. Then there was the abolitionist movement that culminated in the Civil War that ultimately abolished the system of chattel slave labor. 

Then, the labor movement and the movements that advanced the rights of women, Black people, Latinos, and gays. Outstanding people came forward to lead all those movements. I agree with Peter Camejo’s argument that recognizing the history of all these movements can only strengthen those who are working to make this a world where human needs take priority over Profits. 

In all, while I disagree with some of Peter Camejo’s ideas in his later life, I found his memoir well worth reading and is a useful contribution to the struggles today.