Tom Hayden: Listen, Yankee: Why Cuba Matters

Fresh insight about one of history’s most enigmatic relationships between neighboring countries is presented by one of America’s best known voices of political activism. While many know Tom Hayden as a hero of the student movements of the sixties and a former California Assembly member and State senator, few know that in recent years Hayden has become one of the world’s foremost experts on the United States’ relationship with Cuba.

With intimate access to backroom politics, extensive experience traveling through both countries, and a nuanced analysis long in the making, Hayden is peerless at untangling all that has led to the recent crucial change in the nations’ relationship. He documents the remarkable influence Cuba has had across Latin America. He examines the writings of Che Guevara, Regis Debray, and C. Wright Mills. He discusses the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Weather Underground, the assassination of JFK, and the strong historical links between Cuba and Africa. Both the Carter and Clinton eras are viewed by Hayden, as are the Cuban 5, Elian Gonzalez, and the possibilities for both nations in the new accord.

Tom Hayden, principle architect of the New Left, is one of the most recognizable, tireless, and courageous voices of the movements of the sixties. He was the chief author of the Port Huron Statement, and was president of Students for a Democratic Society from 1962 to 1963. In 1969, he was indicted as one of the “Chicago Eight” for his role organizing the protests that disrupted the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. In 1982 he was elected to the California State Assembly, and in 1992 to the California State Senate. His previous books include The Other Side, Trial, The Love of Possession is a Disease With Them, Irish Hunger, Rebel, and Ending the War in Iraq.

Presented by KPFA Radio 94.1FM

Hosted by Gloria LaRiva, a longtime activist, has been a candidate for President, Vice-President and Governor of California in various elections for the Peace and Freedom Party and the Party for Socialism and Liberation. She translated Fidel Castro’s book, Cuba at the Crossroads, and produced documentary videos Nato Targets, Workers’ Democracy in Cuba and others.

$12 advance tickets: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/1262201
800-838-3006 or Pegasus (3 sites) Moe’s, Walden Pond Bookstore, Diesel a Bookstore, Mrs. Dalloway’s Books SF: Modern Times, $15 door, KPFA benefit http://www.kpfa.org/events