In the early days of May, Anarchist elder Ben Morea passed peacefully doing what he loved, preparing for ceremony. Ben was an illuminating flame of the underground, radicalized in prison, an artist-combatant of Black Mask, the Motherfuckers and the counterculture at large. He revived the proposal of affinity, occupied Columbia university, and gave Valerie Solanas the gun she used to shoot Andy Warhol. After spending half his life in clandestinity, Ben resurfaced in the early years of this millennium to share his experiences and insights, many gleaned from the native peoples of Turtle Island. He framed his message in terms of revolutionary animism. Ben remained active until the very end: in his ceremonial duties as a lineage carrier, joining the student occupations in solidarity with the Palestinian resistance, painting, and traveling to speak wherever he was invited. Ben leaves behind a wide extended family, countless friends and comrades around the world, a vast corpus of paintings, and the stories cherished by those blessed enough to have spent time with him.
His life is attested in numerous publications including Full Circle: A Life in Rebellion (Detritus Books, 2025) and Opposition: Black Mask, Ben Morea, & U.A.W.M.F. (Boo-Hooray and Fugitive Materials, 2023).
[painting by Ben Morea – April 2026]