Tom Hayden Speaks in Park Slope

Here's one we missed. Brooklyn For Peace sent us word that political activist Tom Hayden spoke to a standing-room-only crowd of more than 300 people, in an event sponsored by Brooklyn For Peace this past Friday, October 2. The event was held at the Park Slope United Methodist Church, located at the corner of Sixth Avenue and 8th Street.

According to BFP, Hayden was introduced by Carolyn Eisenberg, a professor of US foreign policy at Hofstra University and Vice-Chair of Brooklyn For Peace. Eisenberg said that Hayden had been active “throughout the Sixties and Seventies ... at the forefront of the major struggles of our time, working for social justice, civil rights and for peace.”

Tom Hayden was a founding member of the Students for a Democratic Society and the author of the “Port Huron Statement”- a document, BFP says, which helped to inspire student activism across the country.

Hayden called on activists and others who are concerned about the proposed escalation of the war in Afghanistan with up to 40,000 more U.S. troops to be sent to that conflict, “to turn up the heat on Congress." He noted that recent polls have shown that “75 percent of Democrats and a majority of the American public are now opposed to the war in Afghanistan.” He urged President Obama to reject the advice of his generals and other pro-war forces and begin to quickly lower the U.S. footprint, stating that a military victory is unattainable no matter how many troops are sent.

More at www.brooklynpeace.org.

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