Activism

Community Celebrates Lifetime Achievements of Ex-Berkeley Mayor Gus Newport

Newport, who is now in his mid-80s, was born in Rochester, New York. While living there, he was leader of the Monroe County Nonpartisan Political League, where he worked with Malcolm X to defend nine Black Muslims who were attacked and arrested during a worship service.

Published

5 years ago

April 21, 2022

Ken Epstein

Gus Newport meets friends and well-wishers at a celebration of his lifetime of commitment to social justice, organized by the Middle East Children's Alliance, Monday night at the Freight & Salvage in Berkeley. Photo by Ken Epstein.

By Ken Epstein

A large crowd turned out Monday evening, March 28, to pay tribute to Eugene “Gus” Newport, former Berkeley mayor and a grassroots leader with a long history of activism in the Civil Rights Movement and the struggle for human rights in the U.S. and globally that has continued up to the present.

Newport’s friend and fellow activist, actor Danny Glover, hosted the event.

Some of the speakers were in-person while others appeared live on a large monitor behind the stage at the Freight and Salvage. Among those who honored Newport were Angela Davis, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders and singer Holly Near. Newport’s son, who was present, and his daughter who livestreamed from Atlanta, spoke lovingly of their father. His wife, Katherine Kasch, was also there. The event was a fundraiser for the Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA).

Newport was a founding member of the alliance and served for years as chair of MECA’s board. MECA founder Barbara Lubin also spoke at the celebration.

Moving to New York, he was mentored by Harlem Congressman Adam Clayton Powell and Malcolm X, helping him found the Organization of African American Unity.

Newport served as mayor of Berkeley from 1979 to 1986. He was one of the first U.S. mayors to ride in a Gay Freedom Day Parade in 1979. Under his leadership, Berkeley became the first city to divest from companies that supported apartheid in South Africa.

More recently, he traveled around the country to support Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign.

Newport has supported human rights around the world and within the U.S. He:

Traveled to war zones in solidarity with the people of El Salvador;
Worked for Palestinian liberation;
Headed the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative in Boston, creating a national model for a neighborhood run “by and for the people;”
Helped oversee the rebuilding of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina;
Mentored young activists;
Served on the faculty of UC Berkeley, MIT and Yale;
Serves on the National Council of Elders, an organization of key social justice activists over 65;
Received the 2019 Khalil Gibran Spirit of Humanity Award from the Arab American Institute Foundation.