And there was this surprising occurrence: In an almost three hour event, during which a dozen plus speakers ( bold face names among them) held forth, each tethered to the portside of American politics, not once was the name of the current president mentioned. As the two-hour 10-minute movie comes to a close, the judge allows one defendant to speak on the behalf of the seven-man group Tom Hayden. While McCarthy was eloquent about the fiasco in Vietnam, Kennedy offered more hope of uniting the war protestors with union members, minorities and the poor. What a soaring speaker Tom was. I found her inexpressibly lovely and wanted only to tell her things would be all right. Life gets mighty precious when there's less of it to waste. The government did not re-try the case, and thereafter elected to dismiss the substantive charges. We delivered our message demand that Congress cut aid toour puppet regime in Saigonin union halls, churches, editorial boards, oncampuses,to crowds of sometimes 10,000 people. The war in Vietnam was described as an imperial venture fought for oil and other resources. Known best for his major role as an anti-war, civil rights, and radical intellectual counterculture activist, Hayden was the former husband of actress Jane Fonda and the father of actor Troy Garity. Which is why, while we were gathered to memorialize him and his time is now gone, this was and is Tom Haydens moment. In France, the students were joining factory workers in a general strike, and in Communist Czechoslovakia, they were deeply engaged in a reform process called "Prague Spring," which promised "Socialism with a human face." I always wanted to explore the Holocaust on a deeper level. Access the best of Getty Images with our simple subscription plan. In 1974, he appeared in a brief scene as an ER doctor in the film Death Wish. Jane Fonda, a supporter of the IPC, later turned this moniker into a name for her film production firm, IPC Films, which produced in whole or in part, movies and documentaries such as F.T.A. What I'm hearing is an appreciation of real music. Sen. Robert F . "[7] The sponsoring League for Industrial Democracy (LID) took immediate issue. Tom Hayden Dies at 76 | Anti-War Activist Remembered, http://img.youtube.com/vi/_qXP9q1OmcM/0.jpg. As I said in my speech, letsthink about that strategy for today. It was calledthe Indochina Peace Campaign, IPC. Progressive values. He believed in me, Sanchez told the audience as tears rolled down his cheeks. Please read and accept our website Terms and Privacy Policy to post a comment. [13], President of the United Packinghouse Workers of America Ralph Helstein arranged for Hayden to meet with Saul Alinsky. Hayden is a longtime activist and former California state senator. I wrote it down as soon as I got back home, and later sang it for my friends in the little coffeehouse on campus. I made up my mind to vote for a third-party candidate, the comedian Dick Gregory. In the Three Cultures Plaza you gathered to meet. His hair was braided down his back, and he wore a beaded headband and black rubber sandals that the Vietnamese had made out of the tires of a downed U.S. plane. But for his hubris in persisting to escalate the Vietnam War, Johnson might have entered the history books as one of America's greatest presidents, carried there by his commitment to civil rights and the elimination of poverty. Every effort is made to give credit to all the rightful owners of used material.Thank you for your contribution.Without your work this fanpage would be impossible to make. 2005-2023 Bonnie's Pride and Joy. Save my name, email, and website in this browser cookies for the next time I comment. Please give it a try and become a member or subscribe to the newsletter of Bonnies Pride and Joy! You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. [1] Hayden's dismay with Coughlin caused him to break with the Catholic Church as a teenager. The SDS was the vanguard of the student unrest that characterized the decade of the 1960s. A beautifully emotional Alfre Woodard read from Tom's memoir, Ed Begley spoke about Tom's commitment to the environment and how it changed his life, ending by saying that he named his daughter Hayden in Tom's honor. Now, the leading living scion of one of America's most beloved political families was also hammering Johnson from the campaign trail. But by that time, my allegiance had shifted to Bobby. In the course of preparing the memorial, I reread many of his books and speeches, watched films, news footage and interviews of Tom that Troy and Barbara assembled and read letters that friends and colleagues of his were sending in about the impact Tom had on their lives. You watched them in the sky. Although their casualties in the so-called "Tet Offensive" were enormous, the Vietnamese struck fear into American troops and their supporters back home. Nicholas Lemann, the former Dean of Columbia Journalism School declared that "Tom Hayden changed America". Might he have a chance? Those who didnt know him didnt really get it, but Hayden, though often accused of arrogance, didnt put on airs. Pallbearers will be the employees of Smith Lumber Company: Murray Abendroth, Chris Stark, Carol Kennedy, Daniel Jarrett, Jason Tatum, Josh Hofstetter, Kevin Stegall, Kenneth Blevins, Jimmy Boyd and Jarren Robertson. Now is Tom Haydens momentand it always was. Raitt contributed to a new album, If You're Going To The City: A Tribute To Mose Allison, which celebrates the late singer and pianist, who famously blended the rough-edged blues of the Mississippi Delta with the 1950s jazz of New York City. Several of the black students were fighting back tears; knowing the anger they must be feeling. Those who spoke, led by his wife, Barbara Williams, covered the waterfront of a remarkable life: Tom Haydens achievements as a radical American reformer (in the words of his friend, Steve Wasserman); his contrarian nature, seen early on from Detroit and Ann Arbor days; his relentlessness and prescience, from his work in Georgia to Newark, Chicago to California; overall, his giftedness and singular voice all evoked with admiration and affection. [25][26] Hayden and Fonda divorced in 1990. President Johnson had claimed we were winning the war and our enemies would soon be on their knees. "[3], Hayden grew up attending a church led by Charles Coughlin, a Catholic priest noted for his anti-Semitic teachings, and who was also known nationally during the time of The Great Depression as the "radio priest". Grow your brand authentically by sharing brand content with the internets creators. Shockingly, I also overheard several fraternity boys at one table suggesting that King had gotten what was coming to him. Soft-spoken and anything but radical, he impressed on us the necessity of cutting long hair and beards and putting on white shirts and ties to go "Clean for Gene" when we knocked on doors to get out the vote. Millions of high-quality images, video, and music options are waiting for you. The Getty Images design is a trademark of Getty Images. It seemed to be emerging in places like Sweden and Czechoslovakia. Two months later, a gunman killed New York Sen. Robert F. Kennedy in Los Angeles on the night he won California's Democratic presidential primary. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images). She recalled traveling to college campuses around the country with Hayden in the early 1970s in their campaign to end the war and the homes of activists who let them spend the night. I know that we all came away with a renewed commitment to making Toms vision of a true Democracy into a reality. Bonnie Raitt Wins Song of the Year for Just Like That at Grammy Awards. Delores Huerta spoke. I grew up in Los Angeles in a Quaker family, and for me being Quaker was a political calling rather than a religious one. Please give it a try and become a member or subscribe to the newsletter of Bonnies Pride and Joy, Bonnie Raitt Charts Her Second Career No. With his big victory in California, Kennedy would surely have sailed to the Democratic nomination and almost certainly defeated his Republican opponent. He mounted a bid in the Democratic primary for California Governor during 1994 on the theme of campaign finance reform and ran for Mayor of Los Angeles in 1997, losing to incumbent Republican Richard Riordan. Our message was that Nixon was lying about ending the war. Berkeley, Social and political revolutions, http://img.youtube.com/vi/2Pq6G5bS8Yk/0.jpg. Fifty years have passed since the one that changed everything for my generation, the crucial turning point when the promise of the 1960s turned to a defeat and despair that still weighs on our thoughts of what might have been. He enjoyed making music, going to church, attending Wheeler basketball games, Ole Miss athletics, watching Westerns and spending time with his grandchildren. "The radicalism of the 1960s is fast becoming the common sense of the 1970s", The New York Times reported him saying at the time. In this extended interview, Hayden speaks about how Texas "is going nowhere," the strength of the progressive spirit in the country and how what ails the US are social and political demarcations founded on histor, Abalone Alliance Rally - San Luis Obispo, CA, Tom Hayden Democracy Against Empire | Bioneers, http://img.youtube.com/vi/6_Qu9hzk0ME/0.jpg. Their hopes were buoyed by the July publication of Soviet physicist Andrei Sakharov's samizdat, On Progress, Peaceful Co-existence and Intellectual Freedom. The New Left would splinter and descend into violence as Nixon escalated the war. [23] The next year he married Fonda and they had one child, Troy Garity, born on July 7, 1973. While the resistance is both more and less than a Sixties-like movement, one would guess it will prove large and broad- based, and will shape politics (electoral, included) for a decade or more. On April 2, I voted in my first election ever. Dave Dellinger, Abbie Hoffman, and Jerry Rubin were indicted on federal charges of conspiracy and incitement to riot as part of the "Chicago Eight", a.k.a. Tom Hayden with his then-wife, Jane Fonda, and their son, Troy, Santa Monica, California. For three years in Newark, he worked with a community union to organize poor black residents to take on slumlords, city inspectors and others. His book Hell No: The Forgotten Power of the Vietnam Peace Movement, completed in the months before his death in October 2016, was published on January 31, 2017, by Yale University Press. Even Tom Hayden, the SDS radical, was a pallbearer. Direct to your inbox. "[17], In 1965, while still committed in Newark, Hayden, along with Communist Party USA member Herbert Aptheker and Quaker peace activist Staughton Lynd, undertook a controversial visit to North Vietnam. [31] Starting far behind, Hayden mounted a spirited campaign and finished a surprisingly close second in the Democratic primary. All rights reserved. With the war over, Tom could see that the Watergate scandal had created cracks in the walls of the establishment and that now was the time for progressives to squeeze through those cracks and run for office. "Now don't disturb the Olympics," the imperial orders came. Along with her son with Tom, Liam Hayden,Barbara ended the program by performing her song, Push That Rock. The most revered of the speakers was a man I'd never heard of until then. Announcing of new fansite about the GREAT Bonnie Raitt !! [3] As a result, when he graduated in 1956,[4][1] he was banned from attending his graduation ceremony and only received a diploma.[3]. Bandana Blues is and will always be a labor of love. But there were many others who still believed in the system and had worked hard for McCarthy or Kennedy. Obituary. He was a member of. I Cant Make You Love Me : A 25th Anniversary Oral History, MUSICIANS ON MUSICIANS Bonnie Raitt & Brandi Carlile, Joan Baez and Bonnie Raitt Tree-Sit In Protest, Together we can make this a great community and make many new friends. [38], Hayden was known widely in California as a staunch endorser of animal rights and was responsible for writing the bill popularly known as the Hayden Act, which improved protection of pets and extended holding periods for pets confined as strays or surrendered to shelters. Tom Hayden, Contributor. SDS Founder, Tom Hayden on Participatory Democracy From Port Huron to Occupy Wall Street, http://img.youtube.com/vi/AJeAF3E2yl0/0.jpg, DemocracyNow.org We speak with Tom Hayden, principal author of the Port Huron statement 50 years ago, the founding document of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). [33] During this time, he was frequently protested by conservative groups, including Vietnamese refugees, military veterans, and members of Young Americans for Freedom. The ones who are born then will sing in the rain. Hayden was called to a meeting where, refusing any further concession, he clashed with Michael Harrington, as he later would with Irving Howe. It was her only positive memory of the games. the "Chicago Seven" after Bobby Seale's case was separated from the others. There's a generation looking for a new beginning, And our sparkling eyes and songs prophesize, Are adding our bodies to the protest line. Tom Hayden once said that whenever it looked like the progressive majority was coming to power in the 1960s, it was interrupted by killings, killings performed by unknown forces. Los Angeles, Downtown L.A stabbing sends six to hospital; 1 arrested, San Diego Roman Catholic diocese facing yet another lawsuit from its insurance company, K-Pop isnt the only hot ticket in Koreatown how trot is captivating immigrants, Los Angeles is suddenly awash in waterfalls, Officials unprepared for epic mountain blizzard, leaving many trapped and desperate. [citation needed]. Distributed by ADA. Tom knew that the recent release of the Pentagon Papers had changed the national landscape and that it was time to pull back from radical action and take the anti war message right into the heart of middle America.