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Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Forty Years Ago Today in Brooklyn: May 11, 1970: Brooklyn College reacts to Kent State


From our diary:

Monday, May 11, 1970

A hot, sunny day. Marc went to school [James Madison High School] but there was a strike and he came home. The Board of Higher Education opened the City University, but Pres. Kneller closed Brooklyn.

Dr. Wolk [my psychologist] and I discussed my role in all of this. He's pleased that I'm making excellent progress. His new book,
The Right to Lie, has been published.

When I got back on campus, I went into a crowd that included Janet, Effie, Rose Levine and Prof. Levine and heard Abbie Hoffman speak. I never heard so many "fuck"s in my life. The speech was filled with bad logic, revolutionary rhetoric and some humor - I did not applaud with the others.

Hoffman's a showman. I doubt if he wants peace and hope not too many are fooled by him.

Then I went to the
Spigot [The Ol' Spigot, the student government newspaper] office. The [student government] elections have been officially cancelled.

Steve Denker, who appointed me [elections commissioner] chaired a meeting that included José and Mitch Pasin. A quasi-official student government committee was set up to contact local organizations.

I may take Paul up on his offer to join the Spigot staff. José told me there are advantages to being nice to Ricki: "she's very liberal about sex."

At home, I spent the afternoon sunning myself and reading
The Deer Park. I stopped by the Dashes tonight. Sid and Charlotte Rothenberg reported that Joey Fisher wants to quit [high] school and fight the hardhats. We decided that the best way to express dissent was at the ballot box.

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