The Truth Demands Justice-Vol. 1 No. 1-Page 4-April 10, 1978
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Submission Page Text Only Submisson
case concluded
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| July 12,
1977--the eyes of the nation focused in on a drama. A drama taking place at Kent State
University;y on Blanket Hill and the scene of the May 4th 1970 murders. 62 days earlier students had set up Tent City to occupy the site and protest the building of the new gym annex where the murders took place. For 62 days they had been threatened by administrators and slandered by the press, but they had refused to leave the hill, and they were refusing again on July 12, even though a court injunction had been issued and a mass of police had been mobilized to remove them. Since May 4th, 1977 and the 62 days of Tent City had begun, two sides had been clearly lining up. On the one side was the university administration, the press. the courts, and the police. On the other side were the 200 residents of Tent City, and that's not all. On the same side were student governments across the country who sent telegrams of support. Families on summer vacation who stopped at Kent to congratulate the residents of Tent City on their efforts. Donators of one dollar to the May 4th Coalition from every corner of the U.S. School teachers and accountants who were in college during the anti-war movement. The thousands of supporters whose hearts still burned with anger at the injustice that was committed in Southeast Asia by the government and the injustice committed at Kent when the students stood up against that war. Thousands of Kent students had realized it on May 4th, 1977--the gym was an attempt to continue the cover-up of the injustice that happened at our school. Perhaps the administration thought it could get away with the gym in 19777. After all, most students at Kent were just little kids when the shootings took place, what would they care? But their biggest attempt to bury May 4th totally backfired. When 194 people. including some of the parents of the dead and wounded students, were arrested on Blanket Hill last July, they |
represented
more than 194 individuals. And they were willing to face arrest to Move the Gym because
they saw that it was more than just a gym they were fighting. They were fighting against a
whitewash. Against an attempt to bury the crimes of Nixon, Rhodes, DelCorso and Canterbury
under tons of steel and concrete. Against efforts to crush the memory of a powerful
student movement that played a big part in ending the war. on them. July 12th, the day of the 194 bust, was a testament to this. For on that day the police may have been able to cart 194 people off to jail. but the 194 had made Kent into a magnet which would draw hundreds more into the struggle in the months to come and win the sympathy of thousands. In the pages of the press and on national TV, Kent State was once more in the spotlight. The issues surrounding the murders were bought to millions of Americans because of the 194. Construction of the gym was not stopped, as we all know. But the effort and the stand of the 194 made sure of one thing. The gym which stands one-fourth built at KSU today will not be able to whitewash the truth about the crime committed at Kent State. The 194 turned an effort to bury the spirit of Kent and Jackson State into a revival of that spirit. On Friday, March 31 the trial of the 194 began in Ravenna. The two sets of parents who were arrested on July 12the, Mr. and Mrs. Albert Canfora (parents of wounded student, Alan) and Mr. and Mrs. Martin Scheuer (parents of the slain student, Sandy) went to trial as representatives of the entire 194. They said, "You students went to jail for our
children, now we want to go to trial for you". Because of this stand taken by the
parents, along with time and money considerations. most of the 194 forfeited bond and were
found guilty without going to trial. The judge, knowing the reaction he'd get if he sent
the parents to jail, dropped their charges. But for the handful of students who did choose
to go to trial, it was quite a different story. They were given seven day jail sentences.
University lawyers presided over their prosecution. |
| PALSA... PISSED AT GYM Support for the fight against the seven year whitewash here at Kent State came from an unexpected source this past April Fool's Day. Paul Paulsa, nefarious leader of an ambiguous SMAACK organization at Kent was arrested. Paulsa and his SMAACK organization are the political group which is to the right of only Attila the Hun. This organization up to now has led the fight of two students and a blind gerbil to force construction of the gymnasium. But, alas, on the evening of April 1st Paul Paulsa was arrested in an act of protest at the gym site. It appears that Mr. Paulsa was discovered urinating on he fence surrounding the well-known gym site on the Kent campus. But the courts had a lot of trouble deciding what to charge Paulsa with. First he was charged with possession of a ridiculous weapon, however. this charge was dropped for lack of evidence. Then as he attempted to justify his act it became apparent that Paulsa was concealing a dangerous weapon in the form of his brain. After psychiatric examination the court was forced to reduce the charge to possession of a blunt instrument Despite Mr. Paulsa's protestations that , as he put it to the judge, "Hey, I want the gym to be built. Really", he was fined $100 by the court. Can students here at Kent hope for more support of this kind from Paulsa and Company? Probably not. At least, not open support. But we here at THE TRUTH DEMANDS JUSTICE believe that this recent act confirms what we've suggested all along. Secretly (or subconsciously) Mr. Paulsa supports the fight against the eight year cover-up. In fact he's pissed over the gym issue. |
families of 1970 victims support task force... It is very clear that the current international attention concerning the Kent State Massacre and cover-up is the result of the growing movement to expose the whitewash. The May 4th Task Force has the support of the families of the victims. We should all support these legitimate sentiments of the families. The May 4th Task Force program for May 4th, in accordance with the wishes of the families, will be sponsored by the students and open to the public. At their most recent meeting, these families adopted the following resolution in support of a program OPEN TO THE PUBLIC and SPONSORED BY THE MAY 4th TASK FORCE:
The families of the victims of the 1970 Kent State Massacre are looking forward to their upcoming federal trial this fall. They welcome the support of thousands of people here at Kent State and around the country. The thirteen families oppose Golding's take over and subversion of May 4th on our campus this year. However, the families are confident that ultimately the will of their supporters will prevail and abort Golding's take over attempt. JOIN US ON MAY 4th 1978 |
| another injustice JACKSON STATE... |
| In the aftermath of the Kent
State shootings the United States became the scene of the largest student strike in
history. Dozens of campuses were shut down as thousands of students escalated their
protests against the invasion of Cambodia with a hundred times the anger because of what
had happened at Kent. One of these campuses was Jackson State University in Jackson,
Mississippi. At Jackson State, an all Black university, students held a demonstration against the war and discrimination on May 15, 1970, which ended in the death of two and the wounding of twelve. Jackson city police and Mississippi State troopers had ordered the demonstration, taking place in front of a women's dorm, to disperse. When students started to scatter and run into the dorm, the police opened up a barrage of fire lasting 28 seconds. They fired thirty-five shotguns, five military carbines and anything else they could get their hands on. Phillip Gibbs, a twenty year old junior, and James Earl Green, a Jackson High school student were slain. In the aftermath of their death, the outrage erupting among students and in the Black community was unprecedented in the city's history. The Governor of Mississippi immediately ordered Jackson State to close and for all the bullet-scared panels on the front of the dorm to be removed. But the students there, just like students at Kent. did not want the evidence to be destroyed. Many students refused to leave campus and took over the dorm, setting up 24 hour watches to make sure the panels did not come down. They were joined by white students form nearby Millsaps College, and soon the dorm was covered with signs reading "NO PHYSICAL EVIDENCE REMOVED!" and "CAMPUS SLAUGHTERHOUSE FOR STUDENTS!". The rulers of this country have tried to whitewash and hide the Jackson State murders, just as they've tried to bury May 4th at Kent. Or, while they'll never come out and admit their guilt at Kent, they'll act like Kent State was much more important than Jackson State. This sometimes has had the effect of |
dividing Black and white
students, making them feel that remembering Kent is just something for whites, while
remembering Jackson is just a Black thing. We in the May 4th Coalition say that Kent and Jackson State go together. We raise the slogan, "LONG LIVE THE SPIRIT OF KENT AND JACKSON STATE" for a couple of reasons. One, because May, 1970 and the era it was a part of, was a time when the powers that be were shaken by thousands of Black and whit students in resistance. In fact, in many ways the civil rights and Black liberation movement of the 60's helped spark thousands of white students into action. Second, Kent and Jackson State must be remembered together because the force of Black and white students united should not be just a memory. It's the united, strong force which we need today and in the future. The spirit of Kent and Jackson State is the spirit of people of all nationalities standing up against a common enemy. The May 4th Coalition wholeheartedly endorses the May 4th Task Force for bringing Constance Slaughter, lawyer for the Jackson State families and students to speak this year on May 4th. LONG LIVE THE SPIRIT OF KENT AND JACKSON STATE!
THE MAY 4th COALITION
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