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Barry
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Home Where to order: www.haymarketbooks.org
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Barry Sheppard was a member of the US Socialist Workers Party for 28 years, and a central leader for most of that time. This is the first of two volumes recounting his life in the party. It is a case study in the inspiration and difficulties involved in building the nucleus of a revolutionary socialist party. This book covers from 1960 to 1973, the period of radicalization known as "The Sixties". Walking picket lines for Black civil rights, helping to organize the anti-Vietnam-war movement, interviewing Malcolm X, meeting with US soldiers in Vietnam, defending the Cuban revolution, collaborating with socialists worldwide including in Australia, India, France and Japan - Barry Sheppard has lived a life enriched by contact with and involvement in popular struggles around the world.
"I first met Barry Sheppard as a freshman at MIT in 1958. He was a senior and the best read, most knowledgeable person I had ever met. Before all else he believed in rational thought, in science. He rejected all the superstitions now so popular among a growing minority of rightists and all the myths and covers used by those who want to believe some people are superior to others. His book is the story of a life committed to social justice, that is, democracy and human values. Many of "The Sixties" generation will see themselves in his story. Youth today how are repulsed by all the hypocrisy around them will find an Barry Sheppard's journey the story of a person of principle who never wavered in his commitment to truth." Peter Miguel Camejo, Green Party candidate for governor of California in 2002 and 2003, and candidate for Vice-President on Ralph Nader's independent ticket in the 2004 Presidential elections in the United States.
"Barry Sheppard's political memoir provides us with an important side of the mass antiwar and Black liberation struggles of the 1960s and 1970s. Sheppard's detailed account reminds us of the important role that the Marxist left played in organizing the hundreds of thousands who marched against the war, a story which has been absent from more conventional accounts. Unlike many former SDS activists-turned-academic pundits who utilize flirtation with the left to attack contemporary anti-globalization/anti-imperialist movements, Sheppard provides important links between "The Sixties" and the burgeoning struggles today. Sheppard's memoir reminds us of the importance of personal integrity in keeping the faith in people's struggle for social and political emancipation." James Petras, freelance writer, activist and author of 53 books.
"The Socialist Workers Party was among the more important left currents during the tumultuous 1960s. in this memoir former party leader Barry Sheppard offers an insider's account of the SWP's outlook, functioning and practical work, aimed especially at activists who share his view that the 1960/'70s SWP provides a positive model for eventually constructing a new US revolutionary party." Max Elbaum, author, Revolution in the Air. Sixties Radicals Turn to Lenin, Mao and Che.
To request a review copy, contact Barry
Sheppard at: lundshep@comcast.net
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