RIP Rasheed Abdul-Haqq

On Saturday night I received the sad news that Rasheed Abdul-Haqq has passed.

I met Rasheed 30 years ago when we both worked for the weekly newspaper Plainfield Today. He impressed me as someone who was always thinking about Plainfield, whether in support of city youth or dreaming up economic strategies to help the city's bottom line. He was tenacious with his causes, such as wanting the Bierstadt painting removed from the courtroom and preferably sold to finance a youth center.

He served on the school board and ran for the City Council. He never hesitated to comment on education or city government at meetings, usually reading from remarks written in one of his many notebooks. Among his advocacies were community gardens, reforms in the justice system and local entrepreneurship. He believed in mentoring and his words can be seen on the cafeteria wall in Plainfield High School.

Rasheed loved finding interesting ethnic items and bargains at Unique and kept up with issues on WBAI and WYNC. He was engaged with the world, when he could have just spent his time resting as his health problems increased. In recent years I relied on him to get me to the airport for my trips to Seattle and to Overlook Hospital when I developed medical problems. Our rides were sometimes hair-raising for me, as he would read from his notebook to share his current opinions while in highway traffic, but I ultimately felt as confident as he was that we would arrive on time and in one piece, wherever the destination.

We both enjoyed discussing local politics, having the long view of city politicians over three decades. Pope Francis has condemned the "terrorism of gossip," but just between us, in a moving vehicle, it did not seem so nefarious.

Not too long ago, he told me he was learning to crochet. I made him some kufis (skullcaps) to show what could be done just with single crochet. After he saw the infinity scarves I was making in the fall, he picked out some black-and-white yarn and requested one, which I made for him. He wasn't trying to be fashion-forward, he just liked the idea of the infinity scarf. This pursuit of what he liked, regardless of other people's opinions, was and is a lesson to me.

Being around Rasheed for 30 years has reminded me to be less pessimistic and fussy about things. I remember hearing him on the phone to one of his medical practitioners, cracking jokes while I was over-thinking every last detail of my next medical encounter.

Count me among those who will miss him very much.

--Bernice