Jennifer Meeropol is the granddaughter of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg and the daughter of RFC Founder, Robert Meeropol. Jenn became the Executive Director of the RFC on September 1, 2013. Prior posts on this page were written by Robert (unless otherwise noted), and represent his opinions, which are not necessarily shared by the RFC.
The last time I was at the RFC office I found a soup can that expired in 2020. A bit of context: after about 20 years in the same office suite in the Eastworks building in Easthampton, the RFC is moving our office this summer. We’re not going far, just across the hall to a new suite in the same building...
I'm not sure why, of all the terrible news stories lately, this is the one that stopped me in my tracks and left me in tears at my computer one afternoon last month. The government leaked the address of the family of a man they disappeared (they say mistakenly) to a Salvadoran prison known for its human rights abuses and horrific conditions. The threats and harassment the family immediately faced resulted in supporters moving them to a safe house. Something about the casual cruelty of that action felt like a breaking point to me. Perhaps it was how chillingly reminiscent it was of the harassment my father and uncle experienced when they were children and their parents, Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, were targeted.
Our latest granting cycle has brought us applicants from the Northeast, the South, the Midwest, and the Pacific Coast. In the months leading up to our granting decisions, I had the honor of meeting and speaking with environmental rights activist leaders, anti-genocide protesters, parents fighting for educational equality in marginalized neighborhoods, and abortion rights activists standing up to right-wing disinformation tactics. The repression that these parents and young people have faced has been, frankly, horrifying.
Many of you have reached out to us via email, sent notes with donations, left comments on our social media posts and otherwise expressed both your support for our work and concern for RFC beneficiaries. Given the current political climate, it’s an incredibly challenging time for progressive activists and those supporting them; your fears, and the concerns of the beneficiary families we work with, are legitimate and deeply troubling.
Last summer the RFC lost a founding member of the Board and a dear friend when Bruce Miller died after a battle with cancer. Bruce served on the Board for more than 30 years, from 1990 until his death. He was also a treasured family friend. I met Bruce, his wife Jane and their girls more than 40 years ago. I started babysitting for their daughters when they were three and six years old and I was 12 or 13. Our families vacationed together and often gathered to celebrate holidays and birthdays. When I described our relationship to friends, I often used the expressions “friends who are family” or “chosen family” and that’s absolutely who they were to me.