By Charles McCollester

Among the Battle of Homestead programs planned for 2018 are two marking the 50th anniversary of the momentous year of 1968, You may be interested in participating in the planning for one or both. if so. Contact Charles McCollester  at 412-848-3079

May 12, 2018, “1968: The Heart of the Matter, An Intergenerational Dialogue”

3:30PM, Historic Pump House

Fifty years ago the global world order was shaken by a dramatic series of events: the Tet Offensive in Vietnam; the assassinations of Martin Luther King during the Memphis Sanitation Workers’ strike and Robert Kennedy following California presidential primary victory; Black rebellions in Detroit and other American cities including Pittsburgh; the Paris student revolt; the Czech Spring and its suppression by Russian tanks; mass protests at the Democratic Convention in Chicago; the massacre of hundreds of students in Mexico City prior to the Olympics where medal winners Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised the Black Power salute. This program invites discussion between participants and those impacted by 1968 and a generation of young activists facing a new global crisis.

September 15, 2018, “Vietnam: A Working Class War”

9AM – 3PM, CCAC Allegheny Campus – Co-chairs Jacqui Cavalier & Charles McCollester

The goal of this program is to provide an opportunity for the present generation of young people to learn from and dialogue with those whose lives and politics were profoundly impacted by the Vietnam War. The program will include three panels: Vietnam veterans; anti-war resisters; and one from the Vietnamese perspective. It will conclude with a ceremony at the Vietnam Memorial on the North Side honoring T.J. McGarvey and the Pittsburgh Building Trades who built the memorial with donated labor. Co-sponsored with the Pennsylvania Labor History Society.

Charlie McCollester is a local historian and activist.