The Port Huron Statement is the manifesto of the American student activist movement Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), written primarily by Tom Hayden, then the Field Secretary of SDS, and completed on June 15, 1962 at an SDS convention in Port Huron, Michigan. A manifesto is a public declaration of principles and intentions, often political in nature. ... Students occupying Sheffield town hall over the introduction of higher education fees Student activism is work done by students to effect political, environmental, economic, or social change. ... SDS Button Logo The Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) was, historically, a student activist movement in the United States that was one of the main iconic representations of the countrys New Left. ... Tom Hayden outside the 2004 Democratic National Convention Thomas Emmett Tom Hayden (born December 11, 1939) is an American social and political activist and politician, most famous for his involvement in the anti-war and civil rights movements of the 1960s. ... SDS Button Logo The Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) was, historically, a student activist movement in the United States that was one of the main iconic representations of the countrys New Left. ... June 15 is the 166th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (167th in leap years), with 199 days remaining. ... 1962 (MCMLXII) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar). ... Port Huron is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. ...

The main concerns of the statement included racial bigotry, nuclear weapons, and the gulf between ideals such as "all men are created equal" and the "facts of Negro life in the South and the big cities of the North." Overall, poverty and the civil rights of African Americans were the main concern, while Cold War and peace issues were secondary. Opposition to the war in Vietnam became a central concern of SDS only a few years later. In 1962 it was generally viewed as a US advisory effort. It is mentioned just once. This article is about race as an intraspecies classification. ... A bigot is a prejudiced person who is intolerant of opinions, lifestyles, or identities differing from his or her own. ... The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, 1945, rose some 18 km (11 mi) above the epicenter. ... An ideal is a principle or value that one actively pursues as a goal. ... The quotation All men are created equal (sometimes modified to All people are created equal) is arguably the best-known phrase in any of Americas political documents, as the idea it expresses is generally considered the foundation of American democracy. ... Historic Southern United States. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Regional definitions vary from source to source. ... Civil rights or positive rights are those legal rights retained by citizens and protected by the government. ... An African American (also Afro-American, Black American, or simply black) is a member of an ethnic group in the United States whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Africa. ... For other uses, see Cold War (disambiguation). ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

The statement popularized the idea of Participatory democracy being a democracy rooted in the principles of decision-making being carried on by public groupings, politics being defined as the art of collectively creating an acceptable pattern of social relations as well as having the function of bringing people out of isolation and into community, and the political order being focused on providing outlets for expression of grievances, as well as providing channels relating men to knowledge and power so that private problems are formulated as general issues. Participatory democracy is a broadly inclusive term for many kinds of consultative decision making which require consultation on important decisions by those who will carry out the decision. ...

Cultural references

The SDS was part of the Student League for Industrial Democracy (SLID), the youth group of the League for Industrial Democracy (LID). The LID and its youth group were social democratic organizations that were strongly anti-Communist. Their opposition to Communism came from a left critique of the totalitarian character of the regime. The SDS rejected this left wing anti-communism and without being pro-communist, became anti-anti-communist. One principle they espoused was "participatory democracy." This idea later was translated into "community control" and led to school decentralization in New York, Detroit and other places. The League for Industrial Democracy (or LID) was founded in 1905 by a group of notable socialists including Jack London and Upton Sinclair. ... Participatory democracy is a broadly inclusive term for many kinds of consultative decision making which require consultation on important decisions by those who will carry out the decision. ...

In the 1998 film The Big Lebowski, the main character the Dude claims to have been one of the authors of an early, more radical draft of the Port Huron Statement ("the original Port Huron Statement, not the compromised second draft"). He also claims to have been a member of the Seattle Seven, a group that indeed included Jeff "the Dude" Dowd, the real-life inspiration for the character. 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... The Big Lebowski, a 1998 comedy film written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, chronicles a few days in the life of an unemployed California slacker and recreational bowler after he is mistaken for a millionaire with the same name. ... The Big Lebowski, a 1998 comedy film written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, chronicles a few days in the life of an unemployed California slacker and recreational bowler after he is mistaken for a millionaire with the same name. ... The Seattle Liberation Front, or SLF, was a radical anti-Vietnam War organization in the United States. ... Jeff Dowd (born 20 November 1949) was the basis for the character the Dude, also known as Jeff Lebowski, from the movie The Big Lebowski. ...

The Raleigh-based pop-rock band, The Port Huron Statement, named itself based on the Lebowski reference and an interest in obscure history.

External links

• Sixties Project Primary Documents Archive