Tom Hayden's Blog, page 6

A Young Generation With Cameras Makes Everything Possible

BALTIMORE. May 3. As thousands marched through downtown streets here, officials retreated from their nighttime curfew and National Guard occupation. The only question now are where and when another surge of angry protestors will respond to another death at the hands of police, and who will lead us toward a better vision for our cities.

Hillary & The Peace Movement

The absence of a powerful Peace Lobby, on the scale of the civil rights, women's and labor lobbies in Washington, leaves a vacuum allowing Hillary Clinton to drift towards neo-conservative military views. Certainly there are admirable peace groups lobbying Washington today, but none compare with the NAACP for African-Americans, MALDEF for Mexican-Americans and immigrants, the NRDC for environmentalists, nor with NOW, the Feminist Majority or the AFL-CIO.

The Forgotten Power of the Vietnam Protest, 1965-1975

THE FORGOTTEN POWER OF THE VIETNAM PROTEST, 1965-75 

By Tom Hayden 

Submitted to the conference on the "Vietnam War Then and Now, Assessing the Critical Lessons"

NYU Center, Washington DC, April 29-May 1, 1975  

The era of protest against Vietnam - 1965-75 - was unique as the emergence of a nationwide peace movement on a scale not seen before in American history. There were previous war resisters, for example, the Society of Friends, the opponents of the Mexican War and the Indian wars, critics of the imperial taking of Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines, and opponents of World War I, numbering in the many thousands. But no peace movement was as large-scale, long lasting, intense, and threatening to the status quo as the protests against the Vietnam War.

The Alternative to Obama's Trade Deal

President Obama's recent progressive initiatives - pursuing diplomacy with Iran, opening relations with Cuba, protecting undocumented immigrants, lifting the federal minimum wage, extending Medicaid benefits to millions of uninsured Americans, imposing tough regulations on coal - are facing furious Republican opposition on every front. That's why it's peculiar that he persists in pushing pro-corporate trade agreements over the objections of a majority of Democrats, unions and environmentalists.

Watchdog or Lapdog of Big Oil?

Originally published by the San Francisco Chronicle on April 24, 2015

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[image error]Lost Hills, CA (Photo: 2015 David McNew, Getty Images)

Jerry Brown perhaps should put his DOGGR to sleep. Not his family dog, Sutter, but DOGGR — the Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources — the 100-year-old agency that’s been handing out permits for drilling in the Central Valley without records, oversight or enforcement of 21st century environmental laws.

De Blasio Staking Out Progressive Leadership

New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio is staking out a critical leadership role in the Democratic Party as a fighter against economic inequality and for climate justice. De Blasio is scheduling appearances in Iowa and other primary states in a conscious effort to build the party's labor and progressive base into a greater force. In doing so, he complements the voice of Sen. Elizabeth Warren and echoes the legacy of past NY mayors like Fiorello La Guardia.

Who Will Tell Our Story? A Call to the Vietnam Peace Commemoration May 1-2, Washington D.C.

Who will tell our story when we are gone? So much was never remembered, and now the time is rapidly passing.

We need to resist the military occupation of our minds. Once-discredited falsehoods are being resurrected again. As one example, the recent acclaimed film "Last Days of Vietnam" depicts the Vietnam war as one of aggression from the North with a green dagger of invasion pointed to the South. That's was the claim of the State Department's "white paper" which we debunked in 1965.

Washington Gov Building Green Bridge with California

Washington Governor Jay Inslee, a key figure in the emerging Green Bloc of clean-energy states, visited Los Angeles this week to promote the importance of governor's races to the progressive agenda. Prominent donors on Los Angeles' Westside are more used to writing checks for presidential and senate candidates from around the country than for governors. That has to change, Inslee insisted, because two-thirds of gubernatorial races take place in odd-numbered years, giving Republicans a major national advantage.

 

Join Us in D.C. May 1-2, 2015

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Environmental Justice Caucus Growing

[image error]LA RIVER CENTER, April 8. Rep. Raul Grijalva launched a series of congressional forums on raising awareness of climate change in communities of color, starting with a forum drawing over 100 local residents to the LA River Center along the winding path of the LA River restoration project here today.