In Memoriam: Joan Heymont, a communist fighter

Comrade Joan Heymont died on February 26, surrounded by her family and comrades who had become her family, after a valiant battle against interstitial lung disease. A lifelong communist, Joan was an anchor of the New York City Progressive Labor Party collective and a leader of the Party’s education work around the world.
Joan grew up in Rockaway, Queens, the child of two former Communist Party members. She learned strong working-class values and a fighting spirit from her parents, who helped organize the Rockaway community against displacement of Black communities by the city and support for workers harmed by unsafe working conditions.
An excellent student, Joan entered Stony Brook University early and joined Progressive Labor Party there, having met the Party through the anti-war work of Students for a Democratic Society in the 1960s. Joan then spent many years as a hospital laboratory worker, organizing for communism in the unions there.
Communist science teacher
Joan later began to work in the NYC public schools, first as a laboratory specialist, and then as a science teacher. Joan was a dedicated teacher who spent enormous amounts of time thinking about what and how to teach her students, connecting with other teachers to learn from them, and sharing her own ideas and lesson plans at science teacher meetings and online groups. She made the connection between science and politics, knowing that the two are interconnected.
Joan was a leader of the Party’s work in education, helping to lead the struggle for Party teachers to make sure that their pedagogy was as strong as their political agitation and base building. Joan worked to help other communist teachers see that “fighting to learn” and “learning to fight” were equally important, organizing several conferences of Party teachers focused on the connections between our political organizing and planning for our classrooms. She was a mentor to many teachers at the schools she worked at, as well as in the Party.
Union work
Joan represented the Party’s ideas in the teachers union at the local and national levels. She stood on the floor of the UFT Delegates Assembly every month and at NEA and AFT conventions every summer to advocate for working-class politics and struggle. She joined many coalitions and union groups over the years, fighting to move those groups to the left. In every group she participated in, she was respected for her integrity and welcomed as a friend. She was able to build friendly relationships even with those who disagreed with her ideas. Joan didn’t give up on workers; she worked to bring her friends closer to the Party, to win them to communist ideas.
Wherever Joan was, she fought for communism. Wherever the Party was fighting, Joan was there. As much as the workers loved her, the bosses wanted to be rid of her. At Boys and Girls High School, the administration attacked her for organizing students and removed her from her classroom and the school for several months. Joan fought like hell to get back to her work teaching and organizing. She never gave up until she was back in that classroom.
Far beyond the struggles on the job, at the union and in the streets, Joan built a collective life. She and her husband Paul raised four daughters together, trying to develop equality in their home. Many more young people over the years have described Joan as “like a mother” to them - former students, younger comrades, the children of friends. Joan helped raise dozens, there for support and struggle. And anyone Joan knew who had a new baby received a beautiful blanket or sweater, hand knit by her while she led meetings, rode the train or just had 10 minutes to sit still.
Party is red politics and red culture
Joan always said that joining the Party had taught her many things beyond politics and she saw it as her legacy to continue that gift. She remembered older comrades introducing her to cuisines and cultures she had never experienced before and she delighted in doing the same for her students and young comrades. She took joy in sharing a new restaurant, a new recipe, a new neighborhood or museum or city. And Joan made the life of the Party delicious. She loved to cook and bake, both as a scientist looking for the best recipe and a communist recognizing the role of building a collective. Many a potluck, cookout and fundraiser were made successful by Joan’s efforts. As her politics had a strong social aspect, Joan’s social life was political. At her family’s enormous annual Thanksgiving Rehearsal open house, or any other event she hosted, CHALLENGE was offered and communist politics were discussed.
Joan’s comrades, friends and family members all describe her in the same way. She was a steady, tireless and optimistic fighter for the working class. She cared for and educated those around her without letting her ego get in the way of what needed to be done. Joan built networks and collectives in every aspect of her life, and that must now carry her work forward: building collective knowledge and struggle, learning about the world in all its aspects, and fighting the bosses everywhere we can.