Kent State killings 5O anniversary next year

Long-time activist for social change Susan Lamont just sent out the following email:

Next year will be the 50th anniversary of the killings at Kent State. So far, those appointed to organize the 50th anniversary commemoration are people from the CIA, the Ohio Army National Guard and the Nixon Library! There is a campaign to ask the president of Kent State, Beverly Warren, to change course. Below is the letter I sent - based on the letter written by Laurel Krause, sister of Allison Krause who was killed that day, but cut back - hers is very long.


If you have the time and inclination, please write to Dr. Warren at [email protected] - feel free to copy mine or write your own.


I realize that there are many issues to address out there. I'm writing to you about this because it is not getting publicity and is flying under the radar. My apologies for duplications. For those of us who remember that day very well.....


Dear Dr. Warren,
I am writing to protest your appointment of Stephanie Dane Smith for Chair of Kent State University’s 50th commemoration of the Kent State massacre where, on May 4, 1970, four students were killed, nine wounded by Ohio National Guard gunfire at an antiwar protest against the Vietnam War.

We see Ms. Smith’s appointment and career background as “a travesty and an insult to all those that seek peace and social justice.” --from CommonDreams article, May 10, 2019 “CIA Veteran to Chair Kent State 50th May 4 Commemoration Advisory Committee” READ http://bit.ly/2HfOb4y

Whether Ms. Smith has stepped away from the CIA's violent model or not, the appointment is completely inappropriate in the face of what the CIA has done and continues to do. A person coming from a culture of secrecy and violence should never be the face of this commemoration. The CIA was one of the organizations being protested and this is an insult to those who died that day.


Appointing Ms. Smith obstructs the participation of Kent State massacre survivors, disrespects the original Kent State protesters’ stand for peace and, 49 years later, what loved ones died for and the wounds all Kent State survivors carry.


Dr. Warren, your administration has pledged a commitment to transparency to the Kent State massacre surviving families, the M4TF and the greater Kent State University community. How will your chosen military and government professionals at Kent State commemorate the peace protesters massacred by the same military and government?
Dr. Mindy Farmer, of your May 4 Visitors Center, worked for 5 years at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum. The Executive Director of University Media Relations, Eric Mansfield, is a retired major with the U.S. Army and the Ohio Army National Guard. Where are the representatives for peaceful protest and against war who should be front and center in this 50th anniversary commemoration of the killing of peaceful protestors by the Nixon administration and the Ohio Army National Guard?


I repeat that this is an insult to those who died that day and an exoneration of those who killed them.

I respectfully demand that you rescind the appointment of Stephanie D. Smith and look to the peace community for a replacement.
Yours in peace, Susan Collier Lamont
Peaceful protestor since the 1960's and 1970 graduate of Brown University

Ms. Smith has resigned. The rest have to go as well. Jude

Quote:

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Posted in reply to the post by Shepherd:

...I am writing to protest your appointment of Stephanie Dane Smith for Chair of Kent State University’s 50th commemoration of the Kent State massacre where, on May 4, 1970, four students were killed, nine wounded by Ohio National Guard gunfire at an antiwar protest against the Vietnam War....

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SOME GOOD news: Facing Growing Backlash CIA Veteran Stephanie Smith Steps Down As Chair of Kent State 50th May 4 Commemoration Advisory Committee