In Memoriam

 Allen "Ish" Daniel

Allen I. Daniel of Waco passed away Thursday, July 5, 2007 . Memorial Services will be 4 p.m. Monday, July 9, at Lake Shore Baptist Church with the Rev. Sharlande Sledge and the Rev. Dorisanne Cooper officiating. Allen was born March 8, 1928, in Waco, TX to Robert Houston Daniel and Doris Louise Daniel. Allen graduated from Waco High School . He was employed by the City of Waco, as a firefighter for 36 years. He was active in the Central Labor Council for many years where he served as secretary and also as treasurer. Also he was active member of LULAC Council 273 for many years. Allen has been a lifelong Baptist, and a member of Lake Shore Baptist Church in Waco. He was preceded in death by his parents; a son, Bill Allen Daniel; and four brothers. He is survived by his wife, Elida Daniel of Waco; daughter, Joy Taubner of Eugene, OR.; son, Robert Daniel of Jacksonville, FL ; brother, Danny Daniel of Waco; three granddaughters; three great-granddaughters; and nephew Luis Sanderson of Waco. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Hansma Fund, for Peace and Justice, Lake Shore Baptist Church. The family invites you to leave a message or memory in our "Memorial Guestbook" at www.brazosfuneralhome.com  March 8, 1928 - July 5, 2007

Reproduced with permission of the Waco Tribune-Herald, Copyright 2007

Most of the "do good" giants of history and contemporary existence are well known, at least in their local communities, and often in regional, national, and global communities. Thurgood Marshall, Martin Luther King, St Francis of Assisi, Sojourner Truth, William Lloyd Garrison, Caesar Chavez, Florence Nightingale, Gandhi, etc. The light of publicity illuminated their brave public witness. But there are many others who are just as great as the godlike icons who led legions to help establish a more humane world, yet are relatively unknown in their local communities or among a regional, national, or international populace - and A.I. "Ish" Daniel was one of those saints. Ish died last week, at age 79. He was a resident in a local nursing home. More importantly, he was a member of Lake Shore Baptist Church who regularly attended an outdoor peacemaking/prayer circle each week, despite physical afflictions that forced him to use a walker. More importantly, he came to worship at Lake Shore Baptist Church during the last couple years. More importantly, he was my friend and mentor, and deserves a few words of tribute.

I met Ish Daniel around 1982. At the time, I was quite involved in a fledgling group called the Waco Peace Alliance. Our main crusade was a resolute opposition to President Reagan's nuclear weapons buildup and Reagan's too casual conception of the survivability of "limited nuclear war". Perhaps most people did not agree with me - but I believed that the survival of the human race was at risk, and plunged into peace (particularly anti-nuclear) activism. Most people in my circles of friendship and influence seemed mildly sympathetic - but the urge to bear public witness for peace did not seem to burn brightly in their chest. Mr. Daniel was different. He faithfully attended virtually every Waco Peace Alliance educational meeting during the 1980's. He gave the Waco Peace Alliance leadership tremendous and much appreciated encouragement.

Ish Daniel was certainly concerned about the nuclear arms race. But he had another cause - justice for Hispanics in all places, particularly in places that writhed under the hammer of tyranny and oppression. He was Caucasian, yet he belonged to a Hispanic Church in relatively poor South Waco. He was an outspoken supporter of the "sanctuary movement", which gave shelter to political refugees seeking asylum from murderous repressive situations in Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and other Latin American countries. He supported numerous "Pastors for Peace" activist caravans that carried supplies to Nicaragua, Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala - and other places of Third World suffering and promise in Latin America. I regularly saw Ish throughout the 1980's - his activism was extremely beneficial to my spirit - he helped me grow as an activist and servant leader.

In the 1990's, the Waco Peace Alliance, perhaps exhausted from years of peace/justice crusades with sporadic public recognition and success, began to fade, and completely disbanded in 1995. The work of the Waco Peace Alliance is carried on by Waco Friends of Peace, a group that has repeatedly performed acts of courageous public witness in opposition to the ethical, moral, fiscal, and political debacle that is the Iraq War and has sought to promote a vision of a world that operates on cooperation, wisdom, and unity instead of militarism, division, and empire. I am only peripherally involved in "Friends of Peace", but I am GLAD for its witness and its existence. I gradually lost contact (temporarily) with Ish.

Years passed - and then I was blessed again. Somehow, Ish found his way to Lake Shore Baptist Church. Perhaps he remembered our reputation for peacemaking - perhaps someone told him about the Quaker class in the "Peace Garden". He came - with his walker - the type of person that you rarely see in church - a physically challenged person with no substantial social or economic status. Ish worshipped at the church for many months (a couple years) - and I had a few conversations with him - not enough conversations, because my attendance at the Quaker class had become increasingly irregular. I must say this - I was inspired by his presence as I looked at him sitting in the front row or the back of the church from my seat in the choir loft. I was in a bit of grief as I looked at him - because I saw that his health was weak and vulnerable, and knew that his physical health would not improve. But I was so glad that he was there.

There are leaders and there are followers - and Ish Daniel was never a formal leader in my world - he never held a formal leadership position in the Waco Peace Alliance or Lake Shore Baptist Church. But he wasn't a follower - he was a SUPPORTER of all that was good and true and just. That is my easy interpretation of Ish Daniel (remember that I first met him when he was 54 years old) but it is not completely correct. Ish showed abundant and unbelievable courage decades before I knew him - he actively sought an inclusive and unprejudiced world during a time when his community reeked of prejudice, apathy, and "go along to get along" cowardice - He suffered for his bravery and his farsightedness. The walls of segregation and racism were beginning to show signs of age - but Ish was an outspoken Caucasian supporter of civil rights at a time when few Waco area Caucasians aggressively adopted such a position. Ish believed that EVERY person is a child of God, and rejected ALL forms of debilitating discrimination based on based on prejudice or socioeconomic class.

Today, the civil rights revolution is a "settled" issue - no politician or preacher advocates a return to segregation days, and the Ku Klux Klan (which once controlled the politics of entire states and had much influence in Texas and Waco) has become a disgraced group that all political leaders effortlessly denounce. But there was a time when it was not settled. There was a time when support for civil rights was regarded as impractical as the abolition of nuclear weapons - and Ish Daniel was in the vanguard.

"A man of sorrows - well acquainted with grief" - this would describe Ish Daniel. He suffered severe family tragedy - there were mental health difficulties. But Ish did not let his chains and stripes define him. On occasion after occasion after occasion, he cast them aside, until they become hardly noticeable and faded into a gray mist. Ish lived a life of great authenticity and great courage. He was willing to follow his conscience - to say and do controversial but right things - regardless of the personal cost. If everyone in the world had the spirit and the soul and the ethics and the courage and the heart of Ish Daniel, and were willing to willing to let these qualities be known and shared, the world would be entirely different - at the global level, at the national level, at the local level, and among friends and family. War and oppression would be almost invisible and toothless, and brotherhood and compassion would be dominant.

Ish Daniel was beautifully eulogized by his minister (a Hispanic clergyman who served as Ish's pastor for 20+ years) and his daughter. The minister stated that Ish combined "Faith AND Works"...Ish was a man who refused to accept any discrimination - HE DID NOT DISCRIMINATE..."He was always willing and eager to help others". Ish's daughter spoke of Ish's love for his children and family. There was a recollection of Ish's often irritating plunges into political activism ("yard signs at every election - a willingness to aggressively push for civil rights when almost no one believed in it") and a recognition of Ish's personal struggles. But this was clear to all members of the congregation who came to honor Ish -- Ish's daughter loved Ish Daniel, and Ish loved his children.

The last time I saw Ish Daniel was Sunday July 1st - he was standing in the front row - we were singing a Kurt Kaiser benediction in the choir - the last line stays with me - "Go ---- Live This Life The Whole Day Through". The last note was a beautiful blend of harmony and meaning. Ish gave life his best effort - he was a prophet who sometimes was stoned and sometimes tripped - but he was a prophet aligned with the justice, mercy, and kindness of God. RIP, Ish... We'll do our best to honor your example.