Linda Hoover presente!

Linda Hoover, a longtime member and former interim director of Women Against Military Madness, died on April 20, 2024. She was a longtime anti-racist, anti-war activist and a leading member of MPAC (Minnesota Peace Action Coalition) formerly the IPAC (Iraq Peace Action Coalition).

Linda will be greatly missed. She was a thoughtful, well informed, articulate, consistent, committed and principled activist and revolutionary. When she was involved in the campaign to stop the U.S./NATO war against Yugoslavia, she correctly understood and spoke frequently about it as an imperialist war. This was not commonly spoken of during rallies but because she was insistent and persistent, she was important in advancing this understanding in the anti-war movement.

Meredith Aby, a leader in the Anti-War Committee said, “Linda Hoover was a strong leader in the Minnesota Peace Action Coalition. I enjoyed working with her because she was a fierce anti-imperialist.”

Linda was also a teacher in her work life. She ran adult education programs, summer programs for youth and worked for the Loring Nicollet Bethlehem Center which offers a wide range of educational services for kids in grades two through six. She was always a strong advocate for the students and not afraid to be a thorn in the side of administrators when she encountered injustice.

Joe Callahan, member of MPAC and the Minnesota Cuba Committee shared this remembrance, “She chaired the Joe Callahan Support Committee meetings, though that committee only existed for a little over a year, thankfully.” Callahan’s trial on immigration charges ended in a victory for Joe and the movement. Callahan continued, “In addition to anti-war activities, she attended many other kinds of protests – anti-racist, Cuba solidarity and more.”

Linda was a voracious reader. Kristin Dooley, a volunteer at Mayday Books says, “She was a very good customer and a frequent customer. She especially liked books and articles by Samir Amin, an Egyptian economist.”

Michael Livingston, who alternated leading MPAC meetings with Linda recalls, “She was a founder and organizer of the Minnesota Marxist Book Club, a group that met regularly to read and discuss serious works of Marxist and Leninist theory.”

Despite her deteriorating health, she continued to rally and march as much as she could, accompanied by her son, Omari, who carries on the family legacy, as an important leader in the Twin Cities anti-war movement and in the Free Palestine Coalition.

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