Levitating the Pentagon with Nancy Kurshan

About this episode

Nancy Kurshan discusses her life and activism in various movements, including the Black Freedom Movement and anti-war efforts.

Nancy Kurshan invented a robust, creative, and riotous Movement life. From the early days of the Black Freedom Movement and the anti-war struggles against the US invasion of Vietnam, through the Chicago 8 Conspiracy trial, radical solidarity with Puerto Rican independence and Palestinian liberation, and her feminist insistence on speaking up and being heard, Nancy Kurshan is an extraordinary and wise woman. She was a Red Diaper baby, raised as a child of the communist movement, a veteran of demonstrations for racial equality and against nuclear arms while still in high school. Nancy Kurshan was a founding member of the Yippies—the Youth International Party—engaged in wholesale disruption and widespread resistance as well as ridiculing the kings who had no clothes and dramatizing the hypocrisy of the war mongers, the rulers, and the captains of capitalism. She is the author of Levitating the Pentagon and Other Uplifting Stories, and we’re excited to be joined in conversation with her at Pilsen Community Books.

People in this episode

Host: Bill Ayers

Guest: Nancy Kurshan

Topics covered

• Black Freedom Movement
• anti-war struggles
• feminism
• radical solidarity
• Yippies
• Vietnam War
• Palestinian liberation

Keywords

• Nancy Kurshan
• Yippies
• Black Freedom Movement
• anti-war
• feminism
• Chicago 8
• Palestinian liberation
• Vietnam War

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Yippies

Books & works: Levitating the Pentagon and Other Uplifting Stories

Places: Pilsen, Chicago

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