He would never accept conventional ideas – even progressive ideas – without interrogation. Tommy was at least five years younger than any of them – yet somehow he was the one who took responsibility for making sure everyone was doing okay, that no one felt left out, that everyone was connected.Īnd Tommy’s intellectual rigor was uncompromising. The others in our intern cohort that summer were all college students – juniors and seniors, maybe a couple of graduate students. And beyond that, he held a rare level of empathy and compassion. Intellectually curious, open, eager for new ideas to challenge his steel-trap mind. Marc assured me that Tommy was an exception to all the rules. Marc was the co-founder of IPS, of course, and had been my mentor for many years - but really, Tommy was only in high school. When Marc Raskin persuaded me ten years ago to have his grandson Tommy come to the Institute for Policy Studies to do a summer internship with me, I worried I’d regret it. The below words are written by IPS fellow Phyllis Bennis, who worked closely with Tommy and knew him well. We send to all the Raskins our love, our tears, and our commitment to live up to the spirit and power of the light of Tommy’s life. Tommy was part of our IPS family, along with his grandfather and IPS founder Marc Raskin, and all the amazing Raskins of now four generations. All of us here at IPS are grieving with the Raskin family for the loss of their son, brother, grandson, nephew, cousin, uncle and more.
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