Fifty years ago, the American War in Viet Nam was at its height. There, people had fought against Japanese and French colonial rule, and now, the U.S. attempt at domination was once again, turning family members, friends, and neighbors against each another.
For the U.S. government, this was just another Cold War battleground, and deaths of 2.1 – 3.8 million Vietnamese people were seen as collateral damage to establishing U.S. rule over the region. But people of color around the world saw the resistance in Vietnam as a source of inspiration.
On today’s Making Contact, we hear excerpts from an intergenerational teach-in held by the Vietnam Victory coalition in 2015 called The Spirit of Viet Nam is Stronger Than U.S. Bombs.
Featuring:
Thuỳ Trang Nguyễn (VietUnity)
Rabab Abdulhadi (SFSU Ethnic Studies Department)
Emory Douglas (former Minister of Culture of the Black Panther Party)
Nhàn Thanh Ngô (Union of Vietnamese)
Alex Hing (Rainbow Council of Elders)
Prishni Murillo (Xicana Moratorium Coalition)
Music:
Live performance by Nhàn Thanh Ngô
Photo:
Colonialists, International Traitors, Think Carefully Before You Take Vietnam – To Lien (1978) Courtesy of the Vietnam Victory Coalition
Credits
Host: Marie Choi
Making Contact Producers: Anita Johnson, Monica Lopez, Marie Choi, RJ Lozada
Executive Director: Lisa Rudman
Web Editor and Audience Engagement Director: Sabine Blaizin
Development Associate: Vera Tykulsker
Special Thanks to Thuy Trang Nguyen and the Vietnam Victory Coalition for their organizing and for allowing us to air excerpts of this intergenerational teach-in on Making Contact.
For More Information
Vietnam Agent Orange Relief and Responsibility Campaign
SPEECH: Martin Luther King Why I am Opposed to the War in Vietnam
Huey Newton’s Letter to National Liberation Front of South Vietnam
FULL AUDIO The Spirit of Viet Nam is Stronger Than U.S. Bombs: An Intergenerational Teach-In
BOOK: The People Make The Peace edited by Karin Aguilar San Juan and Frank Joyce
INTERVIEW: An Interview with Alex Hing
INTERVIEWS: 40th Anniversary of Ending the U.S. War in Viet Nam featuring Thuy Trang Nguyen (VietUnity), Michael Wong (Veterans for Peace, Chapter 69), Armael Malinis (Migrante SF)