We are sad to announce the recent passing away of comrade Kenny Brown – a militant class fighter, and a loyal, dedicated supporter of Socialist Appeal. Rob Sewell pays tribute to Kenny, who will be greatly missed by all those who knew him.
We recently received the news of the death of our friend and comrade Kenny Brown. He will be sorely missed.
I first met Kenny in the early 1980s, at a Militant meeting in Glasgow, where I was speaking on the relevance of the general strike. Afterwards, at the bar, I was introduced to a short stocky man, who worked in the cleansing department.
He smiled, and his first words were: “So you’ve come up from London to tell us, have you?”
This comment took me by surprise. But it was Kenny’s own blunt way of introducing himself. He wasn’t anyone’s fool. From then on, we became close friends until his death.
Kenny was a proletarian Glasweigian. In his youth he had been a boxer, and was clearly a bit of a bruiser. He told me he needed to defend himself in the rough environment he was brought up in. He lived in Easterhouse, a large working-class estate on the outskirts of Glasgow. It was there that I often stayed when I visited the area.
Kenny was a proud member of the GMB union, and proud of his working-class roots. Known to everyone, he was a loyal and popular member of Militant.
After the split in Militant in 1992, Kenny sided with the minority and became a member of Socialist Appeal.
In these difficult years, he was a dedicated comrade who helped keep the flame of Marxism alive.
He attended all the meetings and conferences, including our international events in Spain and Italy. He even came on a visit with me a few years ago to visit the Pakistan section of the International Marxist Tendency. I must say, Kenny was very popular in Pakistan.
He often traveled to visit our comrades in New Zealand and Australia.
Unfortunately, his health began to fail in later years. But this didn’t prevent him from travelling. He seemed to relish the challenges.
Kenny was a fine man and a great comrade. He was a wonderful friend – the salt of the earth – and will be greatly missed.
We send our deep-felt condolences to his brother, James, and his mother.
