Thorne Webb Dreyer, Editor

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Tag Archives: Sixties
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To love we must fight: Serving the people mind, body, and soul, 1969-’76
Through Rising Up Angry, our message, influence, and notoriety ricocheted from kid to kid in neighborhoods across the city and beyond. By Michael James | The Rag Blog | April 23, 2014 [In this series, Michael James is sharing images … Continue reading
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Fifty years ago and counting
For a white kid graduating from high school in 1963 and already involved in civil rights, seeing Dr. King at the Washington Monument highlighted a momentous year. By Leslie Cunningham | The Rag Blog | April 3, 2014 “We missed … Continue reading
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Jim Retherford, the ‘Man in a Red Devil Suit’
Jim has been a fearless New Left editor, a political performance artist, part of a guerrilla theater troupe, and has worked with some of the legendary figures of the ’60s. By Robert Sharlet | The Rag Blog | February 19, … Continue reading
Posted in RagBlog
Tagged Abbie Hoffman, Austin Activists, Bloomington, Direct Action, Guerrilla Theater, Indiana University, James Retherford, Jeff Sharlet, Jerry Rubin, New Left Reunion, Political Performance Art, Progressive Journalists, Radical Activists, Rag Bloggers, Robert Sharlet, SDS, Sixties, The Rag, The Rag Blog, The Spectator, Thorne Dreyer, Underground Press, Yippies
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‘Rising Up Angry’: Porch climbers, greasers, popcorn girl, and a family, 1968-’69
After my work in Uptown, I focused on bringing the movement, the revolution, to working class white kids, who had been overlooked by organizers. By Michael James | The Rag Blog | March 12, 2014 [In this series, Michael James … Continue reading
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VIDEO | Austin’s ‘Underground Goes Overboard’ with Ayers and Dohrn
Bill and Bernardine lead an engaging and often very funny community conversation at The Rag Blog’s launch party — all captured on Bob Simmons’ video! Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn host an entertaining and provocative discussion at The Rag Blog‘s … Continue reading
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Poor whites respond to Black rebellion, plus Buffalo Gap and the Klan, 1967-’68
The summers of 1967 and ’68 were hot — real hot — and we were in the ‘guts of the ogre.’ By Michael James | The Rag Blog | March 3, 2014 [In this series, Michael James is sharing images … Continue reading
Posted in RagBlog
Tagged 1968 Democratic Convention, Black Power, Black Uprising, Civil Rights Movement, Community Organizing, Fannie Lou Hamer, JOIN Community Union, Memoir, Michael James, New Left, nostalgia, Peace Movement, Peggy Terry, Pictures from the Long Haul, Rag Bloggers, Rennie Davis, Rising Up Angry, SDS, Sixties, SNCC, Travel, Uptown Chicago, Vietnam War
3 Comments
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Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn spark lively and thoughtful exchange on Rag Radio
Video and Podcast: Activist/scholars Ayers and Dohrn, former leaders of SDS and the Weather Underground, join Thorne Dreyer on Rag Radio. Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn interviewed by Thorne Dreyer on Rag Radio, Friday, January 17, 2014. Video produced … Continue reading
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In and out of Uptown, the ‘Appaloosa Mother,’ and meeting Dr. King, 1967
Sonny gave me this advice: ‘Just make sure you’re not hanging out in these same bars 20 years from now.’ By Michael James | The Rag Blog | February 12, 2014 [In this series, Michael James is sharing images from … Continue reading
Posted in RagBlog
Tagged Bernardine Dohrn, Chicago, Community Organizing, David Meggyesy, JOIN Community Union, Martin Luther King, Memoir, Michael James, New Left, nostalgia, Peace Movement, Peggy Terry, Pictures from the Long Haul, Rag Bloggers, SDS, Sixties, Travel, Uptown Chicago, Vietnam War
3 Comments
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Progressives need to remember that history is complicated
In the words of Pete Seeger, “Though it’s darkest before the dawn, These thoughts keep us moving on…” By Harry Targ | The Rag Blog | January 28, 2014 [This essay by Harry Targ first appeared at The Rag Blog … Continue reading
Posted in RagBlog
Tagged American History, Arlo Guthrie, Folk Music, Harry Targ, New Left, Pete Seeger, Progressive Movement, Rag Bloggers, Sixties, Social Change
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Remembering Judy Smith
Judith Hart Smith, 1944-2013 Judy Smith was the face of feminism at The Rag for many years. Judy Smith, who had a great and lasting impact on all who knew and worked with her, died November 6, 2013, in Missoula, … Continue reading
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Bill Ayers’ ‘Public Enemy: Confessions of an American Dissident’
In his ongoing journey, and with his new memoir, ‘Public Enemy,’ Bill Ayers continues to bring the radical ‘spark’ forward. By Alan Wieder | The Rag Blog | January 7, 2014 Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn will speak at “Underground … Continue reading
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Like a Bruegel Painting, 1966
The JOIN Community Union was our effort in Uptown, Chicago, to build solidarity and create an organized force for change, especially among poor people of Southern origin. By Michael James | The Rag Blog | January 6, 2014 [In this … Continue reading
















