There will be a memorial get-together honoring Wayne Justmann today at 2 PM, at 3049 Adaline Ave. in Berkeley.
I got to know him in 1996, when he was "head of security" at the San Francisco Cannabis Buyers Club… Here's an item from 2005:
… Club Cocomo was filled Sunday night by more than 300 people celebrating Wayne Justmann's 60th birthday. His friends include the poor and the powerless, as well as the pols. Everybody had come to have a good time. Nobody was selling anything. Nobody was there as a customer or a clerk. There was gaiety in the air, and mutual respect based on collective political accomplishment. It's so rare that the class divisions seem to break down, even for a minute, and it sure feels good when they do.
Three cannabis club proprietors and a cultivator had picked up the tab for food and entertainment. Party planner Michael Ramos had made all the arrangements, and Rush and family of Club Cocomo had donated the space. "Wayne has done so much for the movement," one of the organizers explained, "and he's never been in it for the money. When I first moved here three years ago he trusted me and made me feel needed and introduced me to people… He's just a great friend and fun to be with."
Wayne's contributions to the movement include security at Dennis's Market Street club; creation of the Patients Resource Center at 350 Divisadero (urgently needed when Dennis was forced to close); campaign work for Terence Hallinan and other pro-cannabis politicians; mediating internal disputes; making useful connections; effective lobbying at City Hall for a medical marijuana card program run by the Dept. of Public Health; and now Prop S to involve the city in cultivation and/or distribution.
About five years ago Wayne made a serious effort to organize club proprietors, growers, and patient advocates into a political action group. His "consortium" never coalesced, but the monthly meetings he and Randi Webster held at 350 Divisadero fostered a sense of community and enabled people to keep abreast of legal and political developments.
Wayne learned about politics from some hoods who employed him as a bodyguard back in Cicero, Illinois. He's a name-dropper and a back-slapper but he does it like he's playing a part. He's a big man, maybe 6'3, 225, calm and friendly, very much like Alex Karras in "Victor Victoria." (Good flick, BTW.)
Wayne was diagnosed positive in 1988 and here it is 2005 and he looks hale and hearty! The epidemic isn't killing people overnight anymore! What a good reason for a party!
State Sen. Mark Leno read a proclamation honoring Wayne and Wayne pointed to Dennis in the throng and called him "the man who opened the door for us…"
The entertainment was anchored by the Extra Action Marching Band and included a hard-not-to-dance-to rap act, "Los Marijuanos." When the Field Manager of Americans for Safe Access took the stage to do a striptease, Grampa Fred said his goodnights.
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