Things Mike Cared About

Mike Katell was a man of deeply held principles who tried with every breath, action, thought, and deed to be the best person he could possibly be. I saw him do this in his professional life, in his activism, in his friendships, and in our private life and our most intimate moments. I have never known a person of such unwavering integrity.He always tried. He didn’t always get everything right, but he did always try, he was persistent, and consistent.,. He genuinely believed that by being the best person he could be, and bringing himself to the task each day, he might help move the dial just a bit towards a better world - a world better than the one that he came into.It was something that we discussed frequently and at length. He was more optimistic than I was. I had become burnt-out and cynical. He gently, but resolutely worked to bring me back round, to re-enter the fight. He understood my cynicism - and sometimes shared it - but nonetheless, he remained committed to turning up each day to be the best person that he could muster. And with that he not only won my heart, but also made me believe it was worth trying again.All of the testimonies that have flooded in from his family, friends, colleagues, lovers, and comrades over these last weeks and months have only served to underline for me what a uniquely special man Mike was. It makes the loss even harder to bear, but it also makes my love for him stronger than ever.With his passing it has become clear to me that I must try to pick up where he left off. And so, as a legacy to him, I have put together a set of causes and charities which were close to his heart. I believe that he would have actively hoped those of us grieving his passing would contribute towards these in his name.

These are the things that Mike cared about:

Small dogs and animalsAnyone who knew Mike can attest to his love of all the animals, great and small. He eagerly accepted every lick from each furry friend (though that time in Kenya, at the giraffe rescue centre.. he was not entirely comfy with the feel of the lick on his hand!). But every time I saw an animal - large or small - climb happily onto his lap (as they often did!), he would smile so broadly, even as they batted his face with their tail, or kneaded their claws into his leg. And in return, even those animals who didn’t seem to like other people always seemed to warm to Mike. He could win over the most aloof cat and the snappiest dog, and have them eating out of his hand in short order.Through the help of a mutual-friend who works in this space, I have identified a small organisation called Save a Stray, which helps find homes for pets who need new humans. Your support for them will be well deserved and put to very good use.To find out more, please visit their
facebook page.To donate, please visit: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/mike-katell-animals

Immigration, no borders, freedom of movementMike was a person living in the UK on a ‘contingent visa’, and that made him acutely aware of how precarious the life of a person is when they don’t have the ‘right’ to live in the place where they are trying to make their home. But even before he arrived in the UK, he worked for many years for a legal firm which represented humans in the US who wanted to live there, but whose status was not recognised by the state.He was very committed to the right of each of us to move freely in this world.Mike and I recently went to a meeting of activists working on a project called Alarm Phone. which runs a hotline for migrants at sea who are in distress. Alarm Phone helps to coordinate their rescue. This incredibly important work is literally a lifeline to thousands of people each day.To donate, please visit: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/mike-katell-immigration

Social and economic justiceThroughout his entire life Mike was completely and totally committed to the causes of social and economic justice. I have never known a person who was so profoundly, utterly, and completely ‘there’ for fighting for justice in this world.I saw him do this in ‘big’ ways, and ‘little’ ways, in private, and in public. He did it when nobody was looking, and often when nobody else cared.He knew that he couldn’t single-handedly overthrow the forces of capitalistism, eliminate racism and the patriarchy. He was a ‘realist’, but he always, always, always, remained committed, resolved, and resolute. Firm in the insistence that we, everyone of us, should be doing everything, every possible thing, that we could, every, every, every possible thing that we could to redress, to make better, to reform, to somehow … in some way… make this world somehow better than it was when we came into it.Earlier this year, Mike and members of the Stop Shopping Choir UK hosted a workshop and led singing at the closing meeting of
‘And Still We Rise’, an event to inspire solidarity and collective action organised by the campaign organisation War on Want. They work on issues such as poverty, climate justice and human rights, and with a focus on anti-capitalism. Crucially, they support and centre those from the Global South, many of whom spoke at the event that the choir sang at in May. We know that this justice-centred approach resonated deeply with Mike’s own values and approach to activism and he was excited to be there, to hear people like Mick Lynch, Jeremy Corbyn and Naomi Klein speak. You can find out more about War on Want here: https://waronwant.org/To donate, please visit: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/mike-katell-economicjustice

Digital rightsHaving done a PhD in technology ethics, Mike cared deeply about all of our rights in the digital realm. In both his professional life, and in his political work, as well as his personal choices, he strove to communicate the risks, dangers, and potential opportunities that digital technology posed.The donations for this cause will be split between two organisations that Mike passionately supported:

To donate, please visit: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/emily-james-digital-rights

The UK Stop Shopping ChoirMusic was always a huge part of Mike’s life. We all know that. But the UK Stop Shopping Choir was his most recent musical endeavour (alongside All The Things).The UK Stop Shopping Choir is an Earth-loving, anti-capitalist direct-action choir based in London. We use our singing as a tool in the fight for climate justice, singing against corporations and borders, and to express the joy that can be found in fighting for justice. We sing in support of, and in solidarity with, activists from London and around the world, aiming to amplify their voices and struggles. We don’t stand on the side-lines of protests – we take targeted action, with our original songs composed by members of the choir, that express and are a means for our creative, radical resistance.Mike and I were on a joint zoom call, re-drafting a funding application for the UK Stop Shopping Choir until 8:45pm on Tuesday, the 30th of July, the night he collapsed from his stroke at around 9:15pm. It was the last time that I saw him. He would probably like to know that the last hour of his life was not spent in vain.To donate, please visit: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/mike-katell-stopshopping

Education and reaching down to help those below us on the ladderMike was a passionate advocate for the power of education to change lives; he went back to get a Ph.D. late in life, and it opened the door to a whole new chapter for him. He was acutely, actively aware of his privilege as a middle class, white, American man, able to access education far more easily than other people in other places. He and I had many deep conversations - particularly when we were travelling in South Africa and Kenya - about our moral duty to directly, meaningfully leverage our privilege to help redress colonialism, extractive capitalism and white supremacy. As with so many of the causes that Mike was committed to, he looked these uncomfortable issues in the eye and asked: ‘What can I do to make this better?’When we were in Kenya in January, we were fortunate enough to be given a tour of Nairobi’s Kibera slum - the largest in Africa - by a young woman named Benter Akiny. Benter grew up as an orphan in Kibera, and now teaches in a school there, which we had the honour of visiting. Benter has a young daughter, Audrey, who was 3 when we met her. Mike and I had planned to start a fund to help pay Audrey’s school fees. Unlike Mike and I, who were lucky enough to be born in countries where a decent, free elementary and high school education is considered a right that the state must provide, young Audrey will only be able to go to school if she pays school fees. These fees come to amounts that - relative to most of our salaries - don’t seem like much, but for her mother Benter they are far out of reach. We intended to channel some of our wealth, and that of our friends and families, to help Audrey access her fundamental right to an education. I hope that you will help us make this happen for her.To donate to Audrey's school fees, please visit: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/mike-katell-education

The Mike Katell TrustThere are further plans to create a trust in Mike’s name.There exists a nexus of ‘issues’ that are all basically the same problem, and he knew this - intersectionality was a concept that he had long since got his head around. Oppression, to put a word on it. I might add (and feel he would support this) Capitalism … but let's be frank, Capitalism and Oppression are just comfortable bedfellows, right? Who knows which came first? (wait, I forgot to mention that whole colonialism thing, good grief!) Oh, and let’s not neglect to mention the patriarchy, white supremacy, and classism. Right? And we haven’t even gotten on to the climate crisis (!), the planet, the ecology, and the poisoning of our (one and only!) planet that all of these other forces of evil have wreaked upon this remarkable, precious earth of ours. How on earth do we do something anything truly meaningful and effective about this? My goodness, is that not the ‘question of the hour?And so, to the extent that I am able, I intend to create a trust in Mike’s name, through which I hope that I might be able leverage some of the wealth and privilege of the people who loved and cared for him - and indeed perhaps those who did not know him but who agree with the mission - towards pushing back on these forces of evil, and trying to move the dial, just a bit, towards a world that Mike would be happy to see if he were able.To donate to kicking off this trust, please visit:https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/emily-james-mike-katell-trust

In MemorialIn addition, We have set up a memorial website for MIke where you can share stories, memories and photos from your time with Mike.Please visit mikekatell.muchloved.com to contribute there.mikekatell.muchloved.com