C. Clark Kissinger
Template:Short description Template:Infobox person C. Clark Kissinger (born 1940) was the National Secretary of Students for a Democratic Society in 1964–1965.<ref name="wisconsin"/> He visited the People's Republic of China twice during the Cultural Revolution, and is a devoted Maoist.<ref name="development">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> His writings frequently appear in Revolution, journal of the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA. He was an activist for Refuse and Resist and Not in Our Name, and is an activist for World Can't Wait.
Early life and educationEdit
Kissinger graduated from the University of Chicago in 1960.Template:Sfn He had previously attended Shimer College, a Great Books college then located in Mount Carroll, Illinois.Template:Sfn Subsequently, Kissinger became a graduate student in mathematics at the University of Wisconsin.<ref name="wisconsin">Template:Cite book</ref>
1960s activismEdit
As National Secretary of SDS, Kissinger was the principal organizer of the first March on Washington against the war on Vietnam in April, 1965.Template:Sfn He faced heavy pressure from the League for Industrial Democracy to incorporate opposition to North Vietnam, but kept the motto of the march as simply "End the War in Vietnam", focusing on the need for immediate US withdrawal.<ref name="party">Template:Cite book</ref> He hoped to build SDS by being the first organization to hold a national march against the war.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
In 1968, the Chicago Peace Council hired Kissinger to organize a march against the Vietnam War on April 27.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Later in the year, he helped organize demonstrations against the Democratic Party National Convention, and testified at the trial of the Chicago Seven.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Subsequent activismEdit
In the early 1970s, Kissinger was a founder and national officer of the US China Peoples Friendship Association.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
In 1987, Kissinger co-founded the human rights activist group Refuse & Resist!. He became head of the group's operations in support of Mumia Abu-Jamal.<ref name="speak"/> In that capacity, he became particularly known for successfully lobbying the City Council of Santa Cruz, California to adopt a resolution supporting a new trial for Abu-Jamal.<ref>Template:Cite bookTemplate:Dead link</ref> In 2000, Kissinger served 90 days in jail after being convicted of violating his probation by speaking at a rally against the death penalty in Philadelphia.<ref name="speak">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="backlash">Template:Cite news</ref> The probation had been imposed based on Kissinger's conviction for participating in a peaceful protest in support of Abu-Jamal in Philadelphia.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Kissinger had requested permission from the court to speak at the rally, but it was denied.<ref name="backlash"/>
In the 1990s, Kissinger also drew attention for his position that the participants in the 1992 Los Angeles riots were social revolutionaries rather than rioters as portrayed in the media.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
In 2002, Kissinger was the coordinator of the Not In Our Name statement of conscience against the impending war on Iraq. Pro-war commentators such as Christopher Hitchens<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and Laura Ingraham<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> pointed to Kissinger's involvement as indicating that opposition to the war was being organized by the far left. Subsequently, he was also the convener of the International Commission of Inquiry on Crimes Against Humanity Committed by the Bush Administration.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> When the commission released its findings, he was quoted as saying "We want this to be a step in the building of mass resistance to war, to torture, to the destruction of the earth."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Kissinger is currently the manager of Revolution Books in New York City.<ref name="dissident">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
ReferencesEdit
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- Farber, David. "Chicago '68" Chicago: University of Chicago Press (1988) Template:ISBN.