The hidden 1970s : histories of radicalism

318 Pages·2010·1.009 MB·English

by  Berger, Dan

The Hidden 1970s

The Hidden 1970s
Histories of Radicalism
EDITED BY
DAN BERGER
RUTGERS UNIVERSITY PRESS
NEW BRUNSWICK, NEW JERSEY, AND LONDON
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
The hidden 1970s : histories of radicalism / edited by Dan Berger.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978–0–8135–4873–9(hardcover : alk. paper) — ISBN 978–0–8135–4874–6
(pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Radicalism—United States—History—20th century. 2. Social movements—
United States—History—20th century. 3. Political culture—United States—
History—20th century. 4. United States—Social conditions—1960–1980.
I. Berger, Dan, 1981–
HN90.R3H53 2010
303.48(cid:2)4097309047—dc22 2009052305
A British Cataloging-in-Publication record for this book is available
from the British Library.
Gil Scott-Heron, “Bicentennial Blues” and “A Poem for Jose Campos Torres,”
from Now and Then: The Poems of Gil Scott-Heron(Canongate, 2000), reprinted
by permission of the publisher.
This collection copyright © 2010by Rutgers, The State University
Individual chapters copyright © 2010in the names of their authors
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Visit our Web site: http://rutgerspress.rutgers.edu
Manufactured in the United States of America
For B. Loewe and in memory of Alan Berkman
—conjurers of freedom and possibility

CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ix
List of Abbreviations: North American Leftist Organizations in the 1970s xi
Introduction: Exploding Limits in the 1970s 1
DAN BERGER
PART ONE
Insurgency
1
Improvising on Reality: The Roots of Prison Abolition 21
LIZ SAMUELS
2
Sick of the Abuse: Feminist Responses to
Sexual Assault, Battering, and Self-Defense 39
VICTORIA LAW
3
“The Struggle Is for Land!”: Race, Territory,
and National Liberation 57
DAN BERGER, WITH ROXANNE DUNBAR-ORTIZ
4
Canada’s Other Red Scare: The Anicinabe Park
Occupation and Indigenous Decolonization 77
SCOTT RUTHERFORD
PART TWO
Solidarity
5
“A Line of Steel”: The Organization of the Sixth
Pan-African Congress and the Struggle for
International Black Power, 1969–1974 97
FANON CHE WILKINS
vii
viii CONTENTS
6
How Indigenous Peoples Wound Up at the United Nations 115
ROXANNE DUNBAR-ORTIZ
7
“Hit Them Harder”: Leadership, Solidarity, and
the Puerto Rican Independence Movement 135
MEG STARR
8
Unorthodox Leninism: Workplace Organizing and
Anti-Imperialist Solidarity in the Sojourner Truth Organization 155
MICHAEL STAUDENMAIER
PART THREE
Community
9
Play as World-making: From the Cockettes to the Germs,
Gay Liberation to DIY Community Building 177
BENJAMIN SHEPARD
10
“We Want Justice!”: Police Murder, Mexican American
Community Response, and the Chicano Movement 195
BRIAN D. BEHNKEN
11
Rising Up: Poor, White, and Angry in the New Left 214
JAMES TRACY
12
The Movement for a New Society: Consensus,
Prefiguration, and Direct Action 231
ANDREW CORNELL
13
Hard to Find: Building for Nonviolent Revolution
and the Pacifist Underground 250
MATT MEYER AND PAUL MAGNO
14
“The Original Gangster”: The Life and Times of
Red Power Activist Madonna Thunder Hawk 267
ELIZABETH CASTLE
Notes on Contributors 285
Index 289
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Well before we had ever met, Daniel Burton-Rose called me out of the blue in
August 2006to talk about the hidden histories of the 1970s. This book emerges
out of that conversation and the many he and I have had since. I thank him for
that, even if our attempts at co-editing the project did not pan out. I thank him as
well for helping cover the costs of copyediting an early version of the manuscript.
An enormous thank you to the contributors for their research, patience, and
commitment. Regardless of the stage at which they joined the project, everyone
shared an excitement for their work and the bigger project of which it is now a
part. Likewise, Leslie Mitchner was wonderfully devoted to the book from concep-
tion to completion. It was a pleasure to work with her and all the fine folks at
Rutgers University Press. Felicia Kornbluh and Dylan Rodríguez proved gracious
and critical readers for Rutgers, and I thank them for the many ways their com-
ments strengthened the manuscript. Special thanks to Felicia for reading two dif-
ferent versions with great precision. Natasha Zaretsky assured me that the
introduction was ready for the outside world. Suzy Subways tackled a penultimate
draft of the manuscript with her unparalleled skills as both copyeditor and critical
reader. Bob Brown copyedited the final version for the press with extreme care.
I’m grateful to Laurie Prendergast for preparing the index. Josh MacPhee of the
Just Seeds artist cooperative (www.justseeds.org) designed the cover with speed,
skill, and humor. I thank him for his prodigious efforts to make and celebrate
people’s history.
For trying, successfully or otherwise, to connect me with potential authors,
I thank Daniel Burton-Rose, Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, Bill Fletcher, Matt Meyer,
Lorena Oropeza, Meg Starr, and James Tracy, along with Bob Brown, Trevor Griffey,
Tommi Avicolli Mecca, Paul Longmore, Akinyele Umoja, and Linda Watts, whose
work and wisdom have much to offer those interested in the 1970s. Dana Barnett
won my heart long before she helped solve an ongoing title conundrum, but
I thank her for that as well, along with the incredible support she has given me
and many others in our community.
Gil Scott Heron deserves special mention for providing the soundtrack for the
book. Along with Suzanne Hitchman, Rob McBride wonderfully provided me with
a sampling of other music from the decade as I was finishing the project. He also
ix