A Radical Line
Friday, 30. November 2007, 19:00:40
I just finished reading a heartbreaking yet sometimes very funny family history of three generations of significant political activism in America. Please let me share it with you; I promise not to spill all the good parts. "A Radical Line" by Thai Jones is a well researched and documented memoir which begins then backtracks to his part in this opera as a toddler fugitive in an FBI bust called “The Horsey Case”.
This is more than an in depth book review as my path has intertwined with both Weathermen in the late sixties and with a man who unsuccessfully searched for them for the FBI. By the way.... you can call the FBI employment office to see if persons who make these claims are legitimate.
The careers of Thai's relatives zigzag coast to coast as they play significant parts in history as political activists. Thai's paternal grandfather, Albert Jones, a Quaker who would not fight in war was eventually called to testify in the House on “Un-American Activities” when he worked for Walt Disney in 1950. Thai's own father, Jeff Jones, was a leader in the notorious Weather Underground of the 1960's. Thai's maternal grandmother, Annie Stein, was beloved by many as a life-long labor and integration activist. Her daughter, Eleanor, followed suit and studied law at Columbia University in Harlem and wrote “The Bust Book: What to do until the Lawyer Comes” after her first year in law school.
It was inevitable that these two died-in-the-wool political activists would meet as each became separately involved in the student takeover at Columbia University in Harlem, Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), Democratic Primary Elections and riots in Chicago, and finally, The Weather Underground.
In retribution for police battering of students at the Chicago convention, and for the death of three students at Kent State by National Guardsmen, the Weathermen take credit for numerous bombs. Three are of the same Policeman Statue, two in police station bathrooms, and one each in a Pentagon and Whitehouse bathroom. No one is hurt but no one is caught, either. At a rally one afternoon, Thai's mother, Eleanor, is attracted to Jeff's powerful speaking against the police at the Chicago riots. They fast become mutual admirers, get close, and get pregnant with Thai Jones.
The last, and most exciting and personal part of the book, tracks Eleanor and Jeff who are now on the FBI’s most wanted list, living underground, and separated from comrades and family for ten years. Maybe most important, this dramatic family history makes clear many details in the evolution and consequence of short term political organizations particularly SDS, The Weather Underground, and a few splinter groups.
"A Radical Line" is called the real "Running On Empty" by that book's author Naomi Gyllenhaal, and "the best account of the Days of Rage" by Kirkus Reviews. Thai Jones, himself, was underground as a child and is the star of the FBI's "Horsy Case". The author is also a reporter for Newsday and a graduate of Vassar College and Columbia University's School of Journalism.
This is more than an in depth book review as my path has intertwined with both Weathermen in the late sixties and with a man who unsuccessfully searched for them for the FBI. By the way.... you can call the FBI employment office to see if persons who make these claims are legitimate.
The careers of Thai's relatives zigzag coast to coast as they play significant parts in history as political activists. Thai's paternal grandfather, Albert Jones, a Quaker who would not fight in war was eventually called to testify in the House on “Un-American Activities” when he worked for Walt Disney in 1950. Thai's own father, Jeff Jones, was a leader in the notorious Weather Underground of the 1960's. Thai's maternal grandmother, Annie Stein, was beloved by many as a life-long labor and integration activist. Her daughter, Eleanor, followed suit and studied law at Columbia University in Harlem and wrote “The Bust Book: What to do until the Lawyer Comes” after her first year in law school.
It was inevitable that these two died-in-the-wool political activists would meet as each became separately involved in the student takeover at Columbia University in Harlem, Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), Democratic Primary Elections and riots in Chicago, and finally, The Weather Underground.
In retribution for police battering of students at the Chicago convention, and for the death of three students at Kent State by National Guardsmen, the Weathermen take credit for numerous bombs. Three are of the same Policeman Statue, two in police station bathrooms, and one each in a Pentagon and Whitehouse bathroom. No one is hurt but no one is caught, either. At a rally one afternoon, Thai's mother, Eleanor, is attracted to Jeff's powerful speaking against the police at the Chicago riots. They fast become mutual admirers, get close, and get pregnant with Thai Jones.
The last, and most exciting and personal part of the book, tracks Eleanor and Jeff who are now on the FBI’s most wanted list, living underground, and separated from comrades and family for ten years. Maybe most important, this dramatic family history makes clear many details in the evolution and consequence of short term political organizations particularly SDS, The Weather Underground, and a few splinter groups.
"A Radical Line" is called the real "Running On Empty" by that book's author Naomi Gyllenhaal, and "the best account of the Days of Rage" by Kirkus Reviews. Thai Jones, himself, was underground as a child and is the star of the FBI's "Horsy Case". The author is also a reporter for Newsday and a graduate of Vassar College and Columbia University's School of Journalism.
