50th Anniversary of the Port Huron Statement at the University of Michigan

The University of Michigan will host a conference (October 31-November 2, 2012) that marks the 50th anniversary of the Port Huron Statement.

In June 1962, dozens of activists belonging to Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) met in Port Huron, Michigan, to draft a manifesto for a new era of protest. The Port Huron Statement grasped the spirit of the Black Freedom Struggle, the peace movement, and the anti-colonial revolution abroad. It presented a radical vision of social justice and what democracy in action could mean—and it spread the word about an awakening New Left (1958-1965) that would soon shake the world.

“A New Insurgency: The Port Huron Statement in Its Time and Ours” is free and open to the public. Leading activists past and present as well as distinguished scholars will examine the radical movements of the late 1950s and early 1960s and compare them with today’s “new insurgency”—from the Arab Spring to Occupy Wall Street, the “indignados” and anti-austerity rallies of Europe, and mass student campaigns from Chile to Quebec.

Click here for the Residential College Summer Read of The Port Huron Statement and The Sharon Statement.

This would be a great event to attend for those persons interested in social movements, community organizing, and participatory democracy.

• UPDATE (10/31/12): At U-M, '60s radicals meet to reflect
• UPDATE (10/31/12): Port Huron Statement 50 years later
• UPDATE (10/31/12): U-M conference marks Port Huron Statement 50th birthday 
• UPDATE (10/30/12): '60s student 'radicals' return to U-M for 3-da7 conference