The Vietnam War Is Not Just A Memory: Lessons for Movement Building Today

Many people think of “Vietnam” as a war long past, a distant memory we do not need to recover. How can we build upon the massive grassroots movement against the Vietnam War to support a wide range of movement-building today?

Karin Aguilar-San Juan and Frank Joyce are co-editors of a new bookentitled, The People Make the Peace: Lessons from the Vietnam Antiwar Movement (http://justworldbooks.com/the-people-make-the-peace/), whichoffers reflections from nine antiwar activists and five combat veterans.

Peter Snoad’s new play The Draft, based on Tom Weiner's book, Called to Serve: Stories of Men and Women Confronted by the Vietnam War Draft(www.calledtoserve.com), highlights the moral choices writ large for those young people forced to fight a war they did not believe in. 

Jason Hurd served as a medic in the US Army for ten years. He joined Iraq Veterans Against the War on the day he was discharged.  He has been a part of Operation First Casualty, the Winter Soldier hearings and developing IVAW’s current Values, Vision and Mission statement.  

On Saturday October 24 from 1-3 pm, Karin, Peter and Jason will talk about their projects. They will ask: How can we make draft resistance and the Vietnam antiwar movement more than a dead history lesson? Please join them in Jamaica Plain for an inter-generational discussion about building a movement against war, racism, and violence in the 21st century.

Sign up at https://www.facebook.com/events/173959509611702/ if you plan to attend.

RSVP to psnoad@yahoo.com for directions and additional information.