Four decades of civic activism
by Jen DeGregorio

Laurie DeWitt/The Gazette

Joe and Rose Marie Flynn of Bethesda have been civic activists for 40 years. They were recently honored by Jobs with Justice for their work helping the nonprofit organization.

Joe and Rose Marie Flynn of Bethesda stood on the sidewalk in front of an eight-foot-tall iron fence wondering how they would climb over it.

They knew a couple of protesters had climbed the fence the night before and leaned a ladder against it so others could follow, but they were less than half the Flynns' age.

Joe looked Rose Marie in the eye, and, having been married to her for 51 years, knew her thoughts. The physical risk of hopping the fence was small compared to the risk of not: The Franklin School homeless shelter on 13th Street in Washington, D.C. might remain closed.

So the Flynns and other homeless advocates decided to protest July 28 by hopping the fence surrounding the property and occupying the shelter, which city officials had closed earlier in the month with plans to sell it.

"In the old days it wouldn't have been a problem," Joe Flynn said as he recalled the protest during a recent breakfast at a College Park diner. "But of course it's hard to make it now."

But they did make it, Joe said, and less than two weeks later the city released a statement to the Gray Panthers, the group Joe and Rose Marie represented at the protest, informing the group that the shelter would stay open through this winter for homeless people in danger of hypothermia.

The protest at the homeless shelter was but the latest in a life of social activism that started in the 1960s, when Joe and Rose Marie became involved in the civil rights movement. More than 40 years later, the struggle for social justice has become Joe and Rose Marie's full-time jobs in retirement.

And for their work and lifelong service, Washington, D.C. Jobs with Justice -- whose mission it is to improve working people's standard of living, fight for job security, and protect workers' right to organize -- honored the couple in July with the "I'll Be There Award," given during a ceremony at the national headquarters for the AFL-CIO in the District.

"We picked them for the award because of their un-lagging dedication to workers' rights," said Mackenzie Baris, an organizer for Jobs with Justice. "They've been wonderfully committed to building our coalition. ... I've been to picket lines at 7 in the morning in the snow, and they've been out there. And that's impressive for anybody, especially people their age."

The beginnings of activism

Despite their stamina, the Flynns still hesitate before some obstacles, such as the ladder they faced July 28. Joe said he could not stop replaying past challenges in his mind while he contemplated the climb.

He could never forget his triumph over racism -- an accomplishment he considers to be the most difficult and pivotal in his life -- after having grown up in segregated Washington, D.C.

Back then, he never pictured himself breaking into buildings, such as the Franklin School. Joe said he was a "good boy," who excelled at St. John's High School and earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Georgetown University.

Rose Marie Flynn grew up more sheltered from racism in a small but relatively diverse California town. "You just weren't conscious of differences," she said.

They met each other in 1951, during a quantum mechanics class at Catholic University, where they earned advanced degrees in physical chemistry. They lived in the District until 1956, when they grew tired of the voting restrictions for District residents, and moved to Montgomery County.

Although segregation had been outlawed, Joe Flynn said he discovered in 1960 housing covenants made by land developers that prevented real estate agents from selling to anyone but white Christians. The realization spurred the couple's first real move into activism, although they did attend a few protests against segregation in the late 1950s.

Joe Flynn and others designed pledge cards that informed the public about the covenants, and collected signatures to condemn segregation. The fledgling activists knocked on about 500 doors.

"It got quite a bit of notoriety at the time because people who were running the pledges thought that [news about the covenants] was a good selling feature," Joe Flynn said.

That work inspired the Flynns to keep working for justice.

In 1963, Joe Flynn helped found Suburban Maryland Fair Housing, a group that still operates today for fair and low-income housing.

That same year, he marched with two of his children to see Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. Rose Marie said she wished she could have attended, but stayed home during the last days of her eighth pregnancy.

"You see that it's important to speak up for what you believe in," said Julie Burke, the Flynns' second child, who also lives in Bethesda. "You have to try to educate yourself about issues and to look deeper."

The couple worked for civil rights groups throughout the '60s and '70s, on everything from the Vietnam War to farmers' rights. "I think that going around to people's houses plus picketing turned us into physical activists instead of armchair liberals who just read the Nation and the other liberal papers," Joe Flynn said.

"One thing that always impressed me was that [Joe] always worked for the government as a scientist ... but he didn't think of protesting as something wrong," said Angela Flynn, their eighth-born who lives in Northern California. "He thought of it as something you are supposed to do. You're supposed to be active in the government."

Keeping active in retirement

Some might expect life after 75 to be sedentary, but the 81-year-old Joe and the 77-year-old Rose Marie say they can hardly find a minute to spend with their nine children and seven grandchildren. They attend meetings for more than 10 activist groups in Montgomery County and Washington, D.C., including the Gray Panthers, Washington Inner City Self Help and the Affordable Housing Strategy Committee.

"We split up the work," Rose Marie said. "On the same night, I'll go to one meeting and Joe will go to another one and we'll come home and fill each other in."

Rose Marie said she feels most of her direct victories have occurred in retirement, when she and Joe had more time to be politically active. Most recent on her list of victories was a resolution by Montgomery County community leaders to support workers' rights to unionize, which was based partially on testimony she gave on behalf of D.C. Jobs with Justice.

"We keep saying we're going to cut back, but we don't want to quit," said Rose Marie, who is in the process of negotiating a "welcoming resolution" for immigrant workers' rights with the Montgomery County Council.

"I think they're gonna just keep going until they can't," Angela Flynn said. "In my life I set limits. ... My parents constantly battle those limits. It's very hard to keep your limit because there are always more things that need to be done that no one is doing."

"I know I won't be here too many years to see it all change," Joe Flynn said. "...I guess I'm disappointed that the world is not a better place, but I do hope things will get better slowly and that people will become more conscious."