May Day 2017 on Women's Magazine: Dissent, Love, Hope Through Writing and Action

L.A. Kauffman Discusses Direct Action

As protests shut down ICE offices, corporations and federal buildings around the country, L.A. Kauffman talks about the history of radical action in the U.S. beginning May Day 1971, when an audacious collection of radical announced that "If the government won't stop the war, we'll stop the government."  The extraordinary story of a nearly forgotten action in Washington, D.C. leads into a discussion of movements from the anti-nuclear power protests of the 1970s and 80s to the AIDS action movement and the 1999 Battle of Seattle, all woven together through a set of organizing structures and tactics heavily influenced by the feminist and radical queer movements.

Kauffman, the author of the new book, DIRECT ACTION: Protest and the Reinvention of American Radicalism, challenges the idea that the effectiveness of protests should be judged either by their size or their ability to directly accomplish their stated objectives.

A longer version of this interview will air in two weeks at the next KPFA fund drive. Tune in to Women's Magazine on May 15th.

Click here to listen to entire show. 59:50 min

Also on today's show:
Carolina de Robertis