Ady Barkan: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

Ady Barkan is a lawyer and activist who works with the Center for Popular Democracy. Barkan, a 35 year old man, is also dying from ALS, or Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, the terminal illness which is also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. He has made his ALS — and the fact that he is dying — a rallying cry as he advocates for health care access for all. Barkan is among the witnesses who are testifying at a hearing of the House Rules Committee to discuss proposals for “Medicare for All.”

Here’s what you need to know about Ady Barkan:

1. He Was an Avid Runner Before Developing ALS at the Age of 32

Barkan told The Forward that his whole life got turned upside down in the fall of 2016. In October 2016, Barkan said, he was on top of the world. He was working as a lawyer for the Center for Popular Democracy. He was married to his college sweetheart, Rachael Scarborough King
and they had a baby son, Carl. The couple lived in Santa Barbara.

Barkan, an avid runner, loved to job along the beach. He was in great health, but his left hand started to feel strangely weak. Within a month, he was diagnosed with ALS, the degenerative motor neuron disease also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. Barkan told The Forward that all of a sudden, “I was dying of a rapid terminal illness with no cure and no good treatment, and the country was about to be controlled by a fascist, racist kleptocrat. So,” he said. “It was a hard month.”

2. He Has a Wife & a Young Son

Barkan met his wife, Rachael King, when they were both undergraduates at Columbia University. They both worked for the student newspaper — he was a writer, and she was his editor. King is now an English professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, specializing in periodicals from the 18th century.

The couple has a son, Carl, who was born in 2016, shortly before Barkan was diagnosed with ALS. They live in Santa Barbara.

3. He’s a Strong Supporter of Alexandria Ocasio Cortez & Has Been Credited with Helping Her Win Her Congressional Seat

Barkan lives in Santa Barbara now. But he used to live in Astoria, Queens, parts of which are included in Alexandria Ocasio Cortez’s congressional district. While Ocasio Cotez was running for office, Barkan was a strong supporter of hers. He made a small public donation to her campaign, and urged others to do the same. Some believe that his support was a key factor in getting Ocasio Cortez elected.

Ocasio Cortez wrote an introduction to Barkan’s memoir, Eyes to the Wind: A Memoir of Love and Death, Hope and Resistance.

4. He Rose to Fame When a Clip of His Confrontation with Jeff Flake Went Viral

Back in December 2017, Barkan and then-Senator Jeff Flake were flying on the same plane out of DC. Barkan spotted Flake and decided to approach him to talk about a tax bill that had been put forward by Flake’s Republican collegaues. He urged Flake to break with his party and vote against the bill, which, he said, would lead to a bloated deficit, making it impossible for the government to pay for healthcare. He urged the Arizona senator, “Why not take a stand now? You can be an American hero! You really can!” Barkan pleaded. “You could save my life.”

Flake politely disagreed, and the two men had a pretty long conversation about the issue. The whole thing was caught on film by another activist on the plane. After she uploaded the clip to YouTube, it went viral on social media and within days, Barkan was turning into a household name. He was soon interviewed on CNN, Pod Save America and other media.

5. Barkan’s Parents Immigrated to the US from Israel & He Holds Dual Citizenship

Barkan told The Forward that he grew up in “a secular Jewish household.” His parents met in Israel; his mother was born in Romania but moved to Israel. The couple immigrated to the United States before Barkan was born. Barkan also holds Israeli citizenship.

Barkan was interested in social justice from the time he was a teenager, when he became an activist on behalf of LGBT equality. He continued to campaign for social justice while an undergraduate at Columbia University, and his activism helped inspire him to become a lawyer.