Saturday, September 30, 2006

Students Unite! -- SDS reincarnates

Mikaela re-posts a letter from Mark Rudd:

Dear Friends: Perhaps you've heard that Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), a defunct sixties rock group, has been resurrected from the grave. It's true!

Myself, I've kept my distance up to now, thinking that they don't need any stupid old people hanging around to screw things up, like we did forty years ago.

But I have been watching the growth of this new SDS, with more than 130 chapters on college and high school campuses. You can check out what they've been up to here.

Last month I was recruited to join the SDS old people's auxiliary, Movement for a Democratic Society (MDS). The original MDS was founded around 1967 to provide an organizational framework for post-campus organizers. This one is intended to help the young SDS organizers with bail, fund-raising, advice (only if asked), logistical support, and who knows what else. The president of MDS is our old founder, Al Haber, one of the authors of the Port Huron Statement.

Somehow, I was immediately put on MDS' board upon joining. When I looked on the website to try to figure out what the duties of board members are, I found my name alongside those of other several old comrades, among others: Tom Hayden, Carl Davidson, Bernardine Dohrn, Charlene Mitchell, Michael Rossman, Michael James, HOWARD ZINN and NOAM CHOMSKY!!!! Now I know what it feels like to be on the same board with both God and Jesus Christ.

A lot of the start-up SDS support work in the last year has been done by Paul Buhle, at Brown, and Tom Good, of New York City. Tom edits a website called Next Left Notes . He has a bunch of great stuff there, plus links to everything under the sun. Check out especially Paul Buhle's reports and essays.

My deepest hope is that the new SDS flourishes and helps build the broadest possible anti-war movement and even a new radical movement to challenge the violent fascist clique now in power in Washington.

One requisite is that they and we avoid the stupid ideological infighting, sectarianism, name-calling, and "correct lineism" that killed the old SDS. (For my mea culpas, check out my website at www.markrudd.com). [I]n response young organizers will probably just change the channel, but old people like me will certainly be repulsed and withdraw because we have better things to do with the little time left us on this mortal coil.

Let's hope this is the last instance of the poison which is guaranteed to kill us off. Or are we incapable of learning from our mistakes?

Anyway, the purpose of this long message, please forgive me, is to ask you to investigate joining SDS (if you're a student or young person) and MDS (if you're a veteran or off-campus). We need help getting these organizations going. The intergenerational aspect of the work can be a plus, especially if the old people don't act as a heavy hand on the young.

Feel free to write me with your response at mark@markrudd.com

For peace, justice, and freedom, and a new and better SDS,

Mark