Ravens in the Storm

the long version

In 1964, almost by accident, Carl Oglesby became president of the now-legendary protest movement Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). Here, he shares the triumphs and tribulations of an organization that burgeoned across America, only to collapse in the face of surveillance by the U.S. government and infighting. Oglesby spoke on the same platform as Coretta Scott King and Benjamin Spock at the 1965 antiwar demonstration in Washington; traveled to Vietnam and to the international war crimes tribunal in Scandinavia; helped initiate the Venceremos Brigade, which dispatched thousands of American students to bring in the Cuban sugar harvest; and reluctantly participated in the protest outside the 1968 Democratic National Convention. Eventually, after extensive battles with other SDS members over the future course of the organization, Oglesby was drummed out--shortly before it collapsed. This memoir captures the joy of joining together to take a stand for what is right and just.--From publisher description.