By Alyssa Long
Lawyer and activist Ady Barkan brought wisdom from a lifetime of political advocacy to UC Santa Barbara last week, inspiring a packed room of students, professors, and faculty to reject complacency in the face of adversity.
In 2016, Barkan was diagnosed with terminal ALS shortly after his wife, UCSB English professor Rachael King, gave birth to his first child. When President Trump was elected three weeks later, his diagnosis did not stifle his fight for democracy, but instead strengthened his resolve. His illness became a symbol of his determination.
“As my voice has gotten weaker, more people have heard my message,” he said.
Barkan read excerpts from his just-published memoir, Eyes to the Wind: A Memoir of Love and Death, Hope and Resistance. He began by describing his early work in activism, advocating against police stop-and-frisk practices in minority New York communities. After college, he worked as an organizer at the Center for Popular Democracy, a progressive advocacy group.
Barkan went on to discuss his contributions toward a more equitable system of healthcare, made more personal by his own experience. In support of Elizabeth Warren’s platform, Barkan supports Medicare for All and opposes for-profit private insurance companies.
In 2017, Barkan rose to fame when he approached Republican Senator Jeff Flake on a plane, urging him to vote “no” on a tax bill which would cut funding for Medicare. Concealing his identity as a lawyer, Barkan drilled the senator with well-researched questions and emotional appeals about the bill’s implications for his own ALS treatment. Famously, he told Flake to “be a hero.” The entire interaction was recorded and uploaded to YouTube. Though the senator ultimately voted for the tax cuts, Barkan persisted in his fight for healthcare reform.
Barkan is featured in Elizabeth Warren’s recent campaign video, emotionally-laden with video clips of his newborn daughter and his hopes for her future. In the video, he says, “If we dream big and fight hard, the future is ours for the making.”
He also discussed his involvement in fighting Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination, which he believed showed disregard for survivors of sexual assault and would undermine the #Me Too movement’s efforts. Kavanaugh was appointed, but Barkan’s advocacy and support of women’s testimonies sparked nationwide outrage about abusers coming to power.
Democracy is in peril and we may be approaching autocracy in the United States, Barkan said, despite an increasing number of educated citizens. He stressed that we need to harness control over our system, especially in the midst of the climate crisis.
“The cure to what ails American democracy is more American democracy,” he said.
Barkan explained that equitable democracy is his faith and he will spend the rest of his life promoting it. “Political struggle is timeless, essential, and liberating,” he said, adding that the struggles we face should not stop us, but motivate us to action.
“We do what we can while we can,” he said, a phrase that his father instilled in him after his ALS diagnosis. Time is of the essence, so giving up is not an option. According to the ALS Association, patients usually live between two and five years after initial diagnosis.
When a student asked Barkan how to be a more involved activist, Barkan encouraged him to experiment, because that is what college is all about. “The key to getting involved is saying yes,” he said.
Alyssa Long is a third-year student at UC Santa Barbara majoring in communication and minoring in art. She is a Web and Social Media Intern with the Division of Humanities and Fine Arts.