AADL Talks To: Hiawatha Bailey, Founder of the Punk Band Cult Heroes, Former Community Activist, and Member of the White Panther Party

Thu, 12/05/2024 - 1:42pm

Hiawatha Bailey lived in one of the legendary Hill Street houses at 1510 and 1520 Hill Street where he was a member of the Trans-Love Commune, the White Panther Party, and later the Rainbow People’s Party. In this episode, Hiawatha traces his political awakening and community activism in Ann Arbor’s countercultural heyday during the late 1960s and shares stories of living and working in the commune, including the day he hung up on Yoko Ono and got a follow-up call from John Lennon. He also takes us through his musical journey as a roadie for the local rock band The Up and Detroit's Destroy All Monsters to founding his own punk band, Cult Heroes.

AADL Talks To: Rick Ayers, Former U-M Student Activist and Member of the SDS and Weather Underground

Wed, 07/10/2024 - 9:29pm

In this episode, AADL Talks To Rick Ayers. Rick is faculty emeritus at the University of San Francisco where he was an associate professor of education focusing on English language arts and teacher education. In the late 1960s, Rick followed his older brothers to the University of Michigan and was soon radicalized by the civil rights and anti-war movements, participating in protests and demonstrations with the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and the Weather Underground. Rick traces his fascinating journey as a draft dodger working with deserters in Canada through his decision to enlist in the U.S. Army where he would eventually go AWOL and live as a fugitive for seven years. Rick also shares his memories of the vibrant campus film culture and the people -- including girlfriend Gilda Radner -- who shaped his student experience at the university, and he reflects on the legacy of the 1960s protests in light of today’s political environment.

AADL Talks To: Skip Taube, Former Member of the SDS, White Panther Party, and Community Organizer

Sat, 06/15/2024 - 9:30pm

In this episode, AADL Talks To Milton 'Skip' Taube. Skip came to Ann Arbor in 1965 and quickly became involved in radical politics as a student at the University of Michigan. He was involved with the SDS and the White Panther Party, doing both community organizing and participating in “adventurism”. Skip recalls the people and events from his time in Ann Arbor and discusses the political and cultural forces that influenced the course of his life.

AADL Talks To: Bill Ayers, Former U-M Student Activist and Member of the SDS and Weather Underground

Wed, 04/03/2024 - 10:21am

Bill Ayers is a retired Distinguished Professor of Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago. During his time in Ann Arbor during the 1960s, he served as director of Ann Arbor's experimental Children's Community School; Education Secretary for the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS); and co-founder of the militant Weather Underground organization, which originated in Ann Arbor in 1969 as a far left-wing revolutionary party. 

Ayers traces the path of his political awakening from wide-eyed college freshman to seasoned student organizer and educator. He reflects on the tumultuous moral dilemma he and many activists faced as the Vietnam War raged on in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He discusses the factionalism within the SDS leadership that resulted in the formation of the Weather Underground; how the strands of student activism during this turbulent time were rooted in the moral agenda outlined by Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.; and his lifelong pedagogic commitment to education.