Having come of age in the 1960s when I attended college and served three years in the US Army, I vividly recall that turbulent decade in US history. Campuses were consumed by anti-government, anti-establishment demonstrations, often erupting in violence. Racial unrest erupted even as the Civil Rights Movement was in progress. Of course, the Viet Nam War was in full swing and opposition to that war was largely based on university campuses. The most notable incident was the shooting at Kent State, where National Guardsmen opened fire on rock-throwing students, killing four of them in the process. In addition, revolutionary organizations, like the Black Panthers, Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and Weather Underground, were born, adding more fuel to the fire and keeping the police and FBI busy.
To a younger generation, the 1960s are ancient history, but to our generation, that decade represents a formative period in our lives. We won't easily forget what was going on in our nation in those days, nor we will forget many of the figures who played a role. Many have since passed on, some in a violent manner. Others are still around, in some cases, having spent some time in prison, in other cases, simply surviving and moving on with their lives. In this essay, I would like to focus on a few who are not only still alive, but very active in the field of education.
1 Bernadine Dohrn
Ms Dohrn is currently a law professor at the Northwestern University School of Law in Chicago and director and founder of the Children and Family Justice Center. Much of her work has centered around juvenile law. If you look at her faculty profile, you see a neatly-groomed lady with an impressive resume which describes her degrees, publications and teaching activities. Nothing on the school's website describes the part of her life that made her famous decades ago.
Dohrn graduated from the University of Chicago in 1963 and followed that up with her law degree in 1967 from the University of Chicago School of Law. It was at the end of the 1960s, when Dohrn became active in revoltionary movements, first as a leader of the Revolutionary Youth Movement (RYM), a radical faction of the SDS. This group evolved into the Weather Underground, which issued a "Declaration of War" against the US Government. The organization became involved in a series of violent incidents including bombings and armed robberies, all in the name of the Revolution. Dohrn herself, lived as a fugitive until 1980 when she and her husband, Bill Ayers, surrendered to police. Some of the charges against her were dropped, but she pleaded guilty to aggrevated battery and bail jumping and was given probation. After subsequently refusing to testify against another Weatherman member in an armed robbery case, she was jailed for less than a year. (Wikipedia)
After her release, Dohrn entered the field of law, later joining the Northwestern University Law School. In addition to Northwestern University she has also worked as a visiting professor at Leiden University and the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam (Netherlands).
2 Ron Karenga
Karenga was born in Maryland in 1941 but moved to California in the 1950s. At Los Angeles City College, he became student body president. He later studied at UCLA and eventually got a PHD from US International University (now Alliant International University). He obtained another PHD from USC in 1994. Today he is a professor in the Black Studies Department at California State University at Long Beach. Karenga is also known as the founder of Kwanzaa (1967).
During the 1960s, Karenga became involved in black nationalist movements in the US including the Black Panthers. In 1969, a factional dispute between the Panthers and Karenga's group (US Organization) led to a shooting at UCLA, whereby two Panthers were shot to death.
In 1971, Karenga and two others were charged and convicted for felony assault and false imprisonment, which involved the assault and torture of two female followers. According to his bio in Wikipedia, during his trial, a psychiatrist reported that Karenga's sanity was in question due to his bizaare behavior, which he characterized as paranoid and schizophrenic.
In 1975, Karenga was released from prison and resumed his African-centered activity, which included organizing and writing, as well as furthering his academic career. As mentioned above, he is currently teaching black studies at CSU-Long Beach. From 1989 to 2002, Karenga was the chairman of the department.
3 Kathleen Cleaver
Kathleen Cleaver (nee Neal) was born in Dallas in 1945. Her father was a university teacher and later foreign service officer. Thus, Cleaver grew up being posted with her family to various countries in Africa and Asia. In the 1960s, she returned to the US to study in college and began her involvement in civil rights issues. In 1967, she left school to work for the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Soon after she met Eldridge Cleaver, whom she married and with whom she re-located to San Francisco where they joined the Black Panther Party. With the Panthers, Kathleen served as National Communications Secretary.
In 1968, Eldridge Cleaver was wounded in a shootout with the Oakland Police. Charged with attempted murder, he was given bail. In November 1968, both Cleavers left the US, first to Mexico, then to Cuba and Algeria. Eldridge returned to the US in 1975 to face charges. He was sentenced to probation.
Back in the US, Kathleen resumed her studies at Yale in 1981, where she eventually received her bachelors and law degrees. In 1985, she divorced Eldridge Cleaver, who has since died. She currently teaches Law at Emory University in Atlanta.
4 Angela Davis
Angela Davis was born in 1944 in Birmingham. During the 1960s in California, she was a political activist, associated with the Black Panther Party, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and the Communist Party.
Davis was educated at Brandeis University, where she began her interest in the Communist Party. During her student years, she made connections with various socialist figures, including Professor Herbert Marcuse. Davis eventually studied overseas in Paris and Frankfurt. After getting her masters degree at UC San Diego, she returned to Germany for a PHD in philosophy from Humboldt University in East Berlin.
Back in the US, Davis found employment at UCLA as an assistant acting professor in philosophy, beginning in 1969. She became controversial in California because of her association with the Communist Party and the Black Panthers.
One of her activities in connection with the Black Panthers was her effort to gain the release of George Jackson and two other Panthers, known as the "Soledad Brothers". (They were incarcerated at Soledad Prison in California.) On August 7, 1970, Jackson's brother, Jonathon, and two others broke into the trial of an associate, James McClain, and took hostages, including the presiding judge, Harold Haley, demanding the release of the "Soledad Brothers". During the ensuing shootout, Judge Haley was killed by a shotgun blast that had been taped to his throat. Jackson and one accomplice were killed. A prosecutor was paralyzed in the shootout. (George Jackson was later killed during an attempted prison escape.)
One of the weapons used in the incident was connected to Davis, and a warrant was issued for her arrest as an accomplice. Davis fled the state and was a fugitive for over a year until her arrest in New York. Brought back to California, she was put on trial and found not guilty in 1972.
Following her release, Davis moved for a while to Cuba, where she was received enthusiastically. Later, in the US, she ran for the office of vice-president on the Communist Party ticket in 1980 and 1984. Though no longer a member of the Communist Party, she is still an activist lobbying for such issues as the abolition of prisons. She is currently the chair and professor of History of Consciousness Department and Director of the Feminist Studies Department at the University of California at Santa Cruz.
These are four figures from a somewhat bygone era. I say bygone because the 1960s have left a mark on the US that perseveres to this day. In my view, with the notable exception of the Civil Rights Movement, most of the carry-over effects have been negative.
I have tried to be fair to the above people in this posting. What I have written above comes from public sources. I have never attended one of their classes, never interviewed them, never met them. I have no information to indicate that they have been anything other than law-abiding citizens during the decades since they were gaining headlines and notoriety. To my knowledge, Cleaver was never charged with a crime, nor has Davis ever been convicted of a crime. I can't even say what their current feelings are about their past-whether they have changed or not. I will leave that for those who have done more research. I can only hope that with time, they have modified their attitudes somewhat. Why do I hope so? Because, in answer to the question,
"Where are they now?", they are in our universities, and they are teaching our sons and daughters.
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