David Fishback's Blog: High School Graduation 1965, Boomer Edition

Thursday, May 26, 2022

High School Graduation 1965, Boomer Edition

In 2015, I wrote a blog post on my commencement speech at my 1969 college graduation, as a way to look back on my 21 year old self.

In this graduation season, I have been thinking about how 2022 high school student graduation speakers see our present and future through a different lens, forged by experience, than I did as a student speaker at my high school graduation in 1965. Sadly, the other two speakers (and my good friends) Steve Goldberg and Gary Yudkoff are no longer with us. Also sadly, I was so wrapped up in my own words, being a self-absorbed teenager, that I do not recall what they said. Steve and Gary were both smarter and wiser than I. I wish I had their speeches to look back upon.

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David S. Fishback, a retired attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice, is Advocacy Chair for the Metro DC Chapter of PFLAG (Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays). His involvement in social justice efforts began as a college student in the 1960s, when he ran a tutoring program in Washington, DC. Following a year as a VISTA volunteer at a prison in Memphis, TN, he went to Harvard Law School and worked on Democratic Party reform issues.

After graduation, he joined the Office of General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board. In 1983, David went to the Civil Division of the Department of Justice, where he litigated environmental tort matters, most notably the government's successful defense against lawsuits brought by asbestos product and Agent Orange manufacturers, who were seeking to shift their tort liability to the federal taxpayers.

In 1984, David became co-president of the PTA at a magnet integration primary school in Silver Spring, MD, beginning his efforts as an education activist in Montgomery County. He began advocating for LGBTQ youth in 2002 when he was appointed to the County Board of Education's Citizens Advisory Committee on sexuality education issues. During his time as chair of that committee and later through PFLAG, he was integrally involved in the ultimately successful effort to bring intelligent discussion of LGBTQ topics into the secondary school health curriculum and guidance offices.

A past member of the Temple Emanuel of Kensington MD Board of Trustees, David and his wife Bobbi co-founded and co-chaired (from 2002 to 2019) the Temple's Kulanu Committee for LGBTQ outreach. He is also a long-time member of the Temple's Social Action Council. In 2020, David was appointed to the Commission on Social Action of Reform Judaism.