Ayers, Dohrn urge students to be politically active
http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2010/10/ayers-dohrn-urge-students-to-be-politically-active.html
October 25, 2010
Rex Huppke
Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn, former members of the 1970s radical
group the Weather Underground, showed students at Kennedy-King
College today that they haven't lost their passion for rebellion, or
their belief that youth should make their voices heard.
"I think this younger generation is more politically conscious than
we were," Dohrn said during a question-and-answer session that
touched on topics ranging from race to war to education as a human
right. "I think they're more globally conscious than we were."
Ayers echoed Dohrn's enthusiasm, asking the students: "What world is
possible? What do we imagine?"
Though they transitioned to academia years ago, Ayers and Dohrn have
long been criticized for their involvement with the Weather
Underground, a group that conducted a series of bombings in public
buildings to protest against the Vietnam War. Those activities didn't
come up during Monday's lecture, though both were quick to express
their disgust with America's military involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Dohrn cited Martin Luther King Jr., who once said the United States
is "greatest purveyor of violence" in the world.
"I think the greatest purveyor of violence on the Earth is still my
own country," Dohrn said. "We're spending trillions on these terrible
wars that we're sending out young people to rather than using that
money to rebuild our cities."
Ayers, who recently retired from the University of Illinois at
Chicago and was denied professor emeritus status, said people of all
walks of life should view education as a basic human right, and not
settle for anything but the best.
"An education is something you must seize for yourself," he said.
"You have to find a way to say, 'I'm here to take my education. I'm
not going to wait for you to give it to me.'"
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