Socialists in Utah are proud of your work, Dayne. Keep it up. Allan Ainsworth
> On Aug 23, 2020, at 6:46 PM, Dayne Goodwin <[email protected]> wrote: > > Utah's Gandhi Alliance for Peace* (which i have worked with in anti-war > coalitions and occasional peace projects) gives an annual award to someone > each year around Gandhi's birthday (October 2). I learned recently that they > decided to give me the 2020 peace award. I was asked to write a brief 'peace > movement bio' which you might find interesting. I've copied it below. > Dayne > > > I had been sympathetic to the civil rights and anti-Vietnam war > movements before i got involved with the 1967 "Vietnam Summer" project > (initiated nationally by the American Friends Service Committee) > canvassing door-to-door in Logan, Utah to promote community discussion > about the war. In September a few of us from our small peace group > drove to Salt Lake to help with the Peace Torch Marathon, taking turns > carrying the torch which had been lit at Hiroshima up Parleys Canyon > on its way to Washington, D.C. for the October 21 demonstration at the > Pentagon. We had a busy October in Utah with a protest against Dow > Chemical (manufacturer of napalm) recruiters at USU and a peace march > in Salt Lake City where i met and walked and talked with Ammon Hennacy > of the Catholic Worker "Joe Hill House." > > That fall I was among the young radicals who launched a mimeographed > 'underground newspaper' "The Pot" at USU. My article "Why Do Mormons > Kill?" in the first issue recounted my recent discussions about the > Vietnam war that started with my local bishop who referred me to W.W. > Richards, Director of the LDS Institute at USU, who arranged for me to > correspond with General Authority Marion D. Hanks. I was pressing > them that a good Christian couldn't participate in the war in Vietnam. > Richards' advice that it is wisest to 'go along to get along' and > Hanks' information that there was an all-Mormon Marine battalion where > i wouldn't be exposed to swearing, drinking, drugs and other sins > (while we killed Vietnamese people) had not impressed me. > > My antiwar sentiments had been emboldened when Martin Luther King, Jr. > spoke out against the war in April 1967. I was excited by King's work > to organize a multi-ethnic Poor People's Campaign in early 1968 and > his assassination in April strengthened my allegiance to the project. > In early May, Andy Zipser, J.J. Platt and i drove out from Logan in > JJ's 1953 Chevy to participate in the Poor People's March on > Washington, D.C. At the "Resurrection City" camp on the National Mall > i got an unconventional education. There were daytime "Freedom > Schools" run by young Black activists and nightly programs featuring > well-known musicians and a spectrum of activist leaders. > > One of the contingents of the Poor People's Campaign was a large SDS > (Students for a Democratic Society) inspired group of people who wore > "JOIN" buttons, "Jobs or Income Now." They had organized in > Appalachian migrant working class areas of Chicago. I was intrigued > that they sometimes called their vision of a humane society of > economic security and individual freedom "socialism." Back in Logan i > helped to start a local SDS chapter but that fall newly arrived USU > faculty member Sterne McMullen advertised public talks at his home on > the Cuban revolution, the Vietnam war and Black liberation where he > said he was a Marxist and criticized SDS for not being serious enough. > > I lost interest in the university curriculum and began reading and > studying about Marxism. I was impressed with Marx's 1845 "Theses on > Feuerbach" written in preparation for he and Engels' 1846 work "The > German Ideology" where they first worked out their new philosophical > perspective. "Philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various > ways; the point is to change it", the famous Eleventh Thesis on > Feuerbach became my unspoken credo. I joined the first of a series of > socialist organizations - some nationwide, some local creations - but > always prioritized activism, participating in scores of projects and > movements over the years. > > The international solidarity and peace movements got the preponderant > portion of my time and energy. I am proud of two antiwar > mobilizations in Salt Lake that took place thirty-five years apart. > Local pro-war and right-wing politicians expected that President > George W. Bush's August 2006 visit to Salt Lake to speak at the > American Legion Convention would deliver a severe blow to Salt Lake > Mayor Rocky Anderson who had foolishly criticized the president and > called for a protest. Our broad Wasatch Coalition for Peace and > Justice http://wasatchpeaceandjustice.org/index.htm > <http://wasatchpeaceandjustice.org/index.htm> became an > energetic part of the even wider coalition that organized a rally and > march of about 5,000 in downtown Salt Lake led by Anderson. The > pro-war rally in Liberty Park attracted about 200 people. > > Starting with a small group in Logan in the summer of 1970 we built > the regional Wasatch Peace Action Coalition which organized Utah's > largest demonstration against the Vietnam War on May 15, 1971; i > carefully counted over 7,000 marching down from the Capitol and over > to Pioneer Park for the rally. Fortunately for historical truth about > the antiwar movement's relationship with soldiers, the May 16 Salt > Lake Tribune published a photograph of the front of the march coming > down the hill and arriving at North Temple. You can see the lead > contingent with their banner stretching across the street "Active-Duty > GIs Against the War", some in uniform. You can also see the second, > much larger contingent behind with their banner "Vietnam Veterans > Against the War." Although you wouldn't recognize him as a 25-year > old, you can also see Dayne Goodwin at the front of the march with a > walkie-talkie radio. I was communicating with other organizers along > the march to pace it, keep it together and flowing smoothly. > > * Deb Sawyer is a leader of the Gandhi Alliance. She is a niece of Myra > Tanner Weiss who was the SWP's candidate for VP of the U.S. in 1952, 1956 and > 1960. > -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. 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