Mark D. Naison
Encyclopedia
Mark Naison is a professor of history at Fordham University
in New York, and a former political activist who was a member of CORE
and SDS
in the 1960s. He is a graduate of Columbia University
and holds a Ph. D. in American History.
section of Brooklyn, New York. As the only child of Jewish intellectuals (both schoolteachers), Mark D. Naison had an easy childhood. Although he was happy as a child, Naison felt different from the other kids because he was ostracized from his peers because his parents put such an importance on intelligence. Naison rebelled and turned to sports as an outlet and to help him fit in better with the neighbor kids.
in the fall of 1962. By the end of his freshman year, Mark began to feel like he had to oppose racial segregation more actively. By the fall of 1963, he joined the Columbia chapter of CORE
. CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) was a civil rights organization that was pivotal in the United States, particularly in the 1950s and 1960s. CORE was started in 1942 and was open to “anyone who believes that 'all people are created equal' and is willing to work towards the ultimate goal of true equality throughout the world." CORE quickly became one of the university’s biggest political-action groups. Naison signed up to tutor and help organize tenants in East Harlem. He earned his BA in American History at Columbia in 1966. and his MA in American History in 1967. Naison went on to earn his Ph.D. in American History in January 1976.
(Students for a Democratic Society). Although Naison was against the Vietnam War
, he had objections to SDS's political style. He felt that they were too wrapped up in Marxist thinking and not concerned enough with the human aspect of the war. In the spring of 1967, SDS held a demonstration against the Reserve Officers Training Corps, or ROTC, on the Columbia campus. Naison participated in the demonstration, but to distinguish himself from SDS members, he wore his athletic jacket and carried a sign saying “jocks for peace”. In February 1968 Naison was arrested for civil disobedience at a protest on the Columbia campus at the proposed Harlem site for the new gym. In April of that same year Naison’s father and Martin Luther King died within two weeks of each other. Both of these deaths had profound impacts on Naison. At this point in his life he decided that he needed to be more involved in radical politics. Two weeks after King
’s death there was another protest against the gym and again Naison participated. This time it was organized by the Columbia chapter of SDS and SAS (Student African-American Society). Mark Rudd
, SDS’s leader, urged the group (of almost 500) to seize buildings to make sure their voices were heard. They soon overtook Hamilton Hall
, giving them leverage that no other demonstration had ever held. During the building occupation, Naison spoke briefly about the historical context of the march. During his speech he said that “the forces opposing university expansion have the upper hand. Let’s not leave this building until we get some serious concessions.” During the protest, Naison realized that while he did not necessarily agree with SDS’s contempt for white protesters, he also felt that their tactics in the gym protest were far more effective, a realization that led him to join SDS after the strike. After he joined, Naison was asked by Rudd
to use his knowledge of African-American and labor movement history to argue that the nationalist impulse was a progressive force in African-American life in SDS's leadership's fight against the Progressive Labor Movement. The PLM (generally referred to as PL) included members of SDS who were arguing the black nationalism
was reactionary and that no revolution could be built with separate black and white wings. By that fall, Naison had taken on an even greater role in SDS, both in the regional offices and nationally. He participated in many protests and attended the SDS national convention in Chicago in 1969.
When the group calling itself Weatherman was instituted at the SDS national convention in Chicago, Naison was there. Naison even joined another member of the group to sign a lease on a house in South Brooklyn. Naison participated in discussions for the Days of Rage
to be held in Chicago in the fall of 1969. On a Saturday in October in 1969 all that changed. Naison was in a park with a group of friends, and while there they met a group of teenagers. They started talking and soon learned that a café across the way would not serve them because they looked like hippies. Furious, Naison and the others marched into the café and demanded that they be served. The police were called and a fight ensued resulting in eleven arrests. After a couple of days in jail, Naison was released on bail (by his comrades) with the assumption that he would contact a gym teacher at a local school to get the word out about the Days of Rage. Naison did not want to put his life on the line and be back in jail within the week. After tangling with members of the Weatherman, Naison ceased associating with the group.
Naison was briefly investigated by the FBI. According to his memoir, the FBI bugged his house electronically and tried to question his neighbors, who, however, refused to say anything about him. After three days, the FBI was satisfied that he was no longer in the Weatherman and they left him alone. Naison lost one of his dearest friends, Ted Gold
, during the accidental explosion of a Greenwich Village townhouse by an amateur SDS bomb-making group. Kathy Boudin
, in the house at the time, had been one of his favorite contacts in the New York Collective, and she survived the blast. In his grief over the loss of Gold, Naison wrote a poem, published in Radical America, as a tribute to his fallen friend.
"I remember Ted Gold best...
"He is dead...
Of a bomb meant for better targets..."
Naison has been on the faculty of Fordham University
in New York City since 1970, where he is Professor of African American Studies and History, Director of the Bronx African American History Project, and has served as Director of Urban Studies. He has written over a hundred articles and published three books on urban history, African-American History, and the history of sports. Naison has also appeared on The O'Reilly Factor
, Chappelle's Show
, and The Discovery Channel's Greatest American Competition. His most popular course at Fordham, From Rock & Roll to Hip Hop: Urban Youth Cultures in Post War America, was the subject of an interview with him on National Public Radio.
Fordham University
Fordham University is a private, nonprofit, coeducational research university in the United States, with three campuses in and around New York City. It was founded by the Roman Catholic Diocese of New York in 1841 as St...
in New York, and a former political activist who was a member of CORE
Congress of Racial Equality
The Congress of Racial Equality or CORE was a U.S. civil rights organization that originally played a pivotal role for African-Americans in the Civil Rights Movement...
and SDS
Students for a Democratic Society
Students for a Democratic Society was a student activist movement in the United States that was one of the main iconic representations of the country's New Left. The organization developed and expanded rapidly in the mid-1960s before dissolving at its last convention in 1969...
in the 1960s. He is a graduate of Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
and holds a Ph. D. in American History.
Early life
Mark D. Naison was born in 1946 in the Crown HeightsCrown Heights, Brooklyn
Crown Heights is a neighborhood in the central portion of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The main thoroughfare through this neighborhood is Eastern Parkway, a tree-lined boulevard designed by Frederick Law Olmsted extending two miles east-west.Originally, the area was known as Crow Hill....
section of Brooklyn, New York. As the only child of Jewish intellectuals (both schoolteachers), Mark D. Naison had an easy childhood. Although he was happy as a child, Naison felt different from the other kids because he was ostracized from his peers because his parents put such an importance on intelligence. Naison rebelled and turned to sports as an outlet and to help him fit in better with the neighbor kids.
Early Days at Columbia University
Mark entered Columbia UniversityColumbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
in the fall of 1962. By the end of his freshman year, Mark began to feel like he had to oppose racial segregation more actively. By the fall of 1963, he joined the Columbia chapter of CORE
Congress of Racial Equality
The Congress of Racial Equality or CORE was a U.S. civil rights organization that originally played a pivotal role for African-Americans in the Civil Rights Movement...
. CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) was a civil rights organization that was pivotal in the United States, particularly in the 1950s and 1960s. CORE was started in 1942 and was open to “anyone who believes that 'all people are created equal' and is willing to work towards the ultimate goal of true equality throughout the world." CORE quickly became one of the university’s biggest political-action groups. Naison signed up to tutor and help organize tenants in East Harlem. He earned his BA in American History at Columbia in 1966. and his MA in American History in 1967. Naison went on to earn his Ph.D. in American History in January 1976.
Students for a Democratic Society
By 1967, Naison was participating in anti-war activities sponsored by SDSStudents for a Democratic Society
Students for a Democratic Society was a student activist movement in the United States that was one of the main iconic representations of the country's New Left. The organization developed and expanded rapidly in the mid-1960s before dissolving at its last convention in 1969...
(Students for a Democratic Society). Although Naison was against the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
, he had objections to SDS's political style. He felt that they were too wrapped up in Marxist thinking and not concerned enough with the human aspect of the war. In the spring of 1967, SDS held a demonstration against the Reserve Officers Training Corps, or ROTC, on the Columbia campus. Naison participated in the demonstration, but to distinguish himself from SDS members, he wore his athletic jacket and carried a sign saying “jocks for peace”. In February 1968 Naison was arrested for civil disobedience at a protest on the Columbia campus at the proposed Harlem site for the new gym. In April of that same year Naison’s father and Martin Luther King died within two weeks of each other. Both of these deaths had profound impacts on Naison. At this point in his life he decided that he needed to be more involved in radical politics. Two weeks after King
King
- Centers of population :* King, Ontario, CanadaIn USA:* King, Indiana* King, North Carolina* King, Lincoln County, Wisconsin* King, Waupaca County, Wisconsin* King County, Washington- Moving-image works :Television:...
’s death there was another protest against the gym and again Naison participated. This time it was organized by the Columbia chapter of SDS and SAS (Student African-American Society). Mark Rudd
Mark Rudd
Mark William Rudd is a political organizer, mathematics instructor, and anti-war activist, most well known for his involvement with the Weather Underground. Rudd became a member of the Columbia University chapter of Students for a Democratic Society in 1963. By 1968, he had emerged as a leader...
, SDS’s leader, urged the group (of almost 500) to seize buildings to make sure their voices were heard. They soon overtook Hamilton Hall
Hamilton Hall
Hamilton Hall was a hall of residence for the University of St Andrews, Scotland, between the years of 1949 and 2006.-History:The building that would become Hamilton Hall was originally opened as a hotel in 1895 to capitalise on the rapid expansion of St Andrews as a popular tourist destination...
, giving them leverage that no other demonstration had ever held. During the building occupation, Naison spoke briefly about the historical context of the march. During his speech he said that “the forces opposing university expansion have the upper hand. Let’s not leave this building until we get some serious concessions.” During the protest, Naison realized that while he did not necessarily agree with SDS’s contempt for white protesters, he also felt that their tactics in the gym protest were far more effective, a realization that led him to join SDS after the strike. After he joined, Naison was asked by Rudd
Rudd
The common rudd Scardinius erythropthalmus is a bentho-pelagic freshwater fish, widely spread in Europe and middle Asia, around the basins of the North, Baltic, Black, Caspian and Aral seas.-Artificially introduced:...
to use his knowledge of African-American and labor movement history to argue that the nationalist impulse was a progressive force in African-American life in SDS's leadership's fight against the Progressive Labor Movement. The PLM (generally referred to as PL) included members of SDS who were arguing the black nationalism
Black nationalism
Black nationalism advocates a racial definition of indigenous national identity, as opposed to multiculturalism. There are different indigenous nationalist philosophies but the principles of all African nationalist ideologies are unity, and self-determination or independence from European society...
was reactionary and that no revolution could be built with separate black and white wings. By that fall, Naison had taken on an even greater role in SDS, both in the regional offices and nationally. He participated in many protests and attended the SDS national convention in Chicago in 1969.
When the group calling itself Weatherman was instituted at the SDS national convention in Chicago, Naison was there. Naison even joined another member of the group to sign a lease on a house in South Brooklyn. Naison participated in discussions for the Days of Rage
Days of Rage
The Days of Rage demonstrations were a series of direct actions taken over a course of three days in October 1969 in Chicago organized by the Weatherman faction of the Students for a Democratic Society...
to be held in Chicago in the fall of 1969. On a Saturday in October in 1969 all that changed. Naison was in a park with a group of friends, and while there they met a group of teenagers. They started talking and soon learned that a café across the way would not serve them because they looked like hippies. Furious, Naison and the others marched into the café and demanded that they be served. The police were called and a fight ensued resulting in eleven arrests. After a couple of days in jail, Naison was released on bail (by his comrades) with the assumption that he would contact a gym teacher at a local school to get the word out about the Days of Rage. Naison did not want to put his life on the line and be back in jail within the week. After tangling with members of the Weatherman, Naison ceased associating with the group.
Naison was briefly investigated by the FBI. According to his memoir, the FBI bugged his house electronically and tried to question his neighbors, who, however, refused to say anything about him. After three days, the FBI was satisfied that he was no longer in the Weatherman and they left him alone. Naison lost one of his dearest friends, Ted Gold
Ted Gold
Theodore "Ted" Gold was a member of Weatherman.-Early years and education:Gold was a red diaper baby. He was the son of Hyman Gold, a prominent Jewish physician and a mathematics instructor at Columbia University who had both been part of the Old Left. His mother was a statistician who taught at...
, during the accidental explosion of a Greenwich Village townhouse by an amateur SDS bomb-making group. Kathy Boudin
Kathy Boudin
Kathy Boudin is a former American radical who was convicted in 1984 of felony murder for her participation in an armed robbery that resulted in the killing of three people. She later became a public health expert while in prison...
, in the house at the time, had been one of his favorite contacts in the New York Collective, and she survived the blast. In his grief over the loss of Gold, Naison wrote a poem, published in Radical America, as a tribute to his fallen friend.
"I remember Ted Gold best...
"He is dead...
Of a bomb meant for better targets..."
Presently
Asked about his arrest during the Columbia incident, Naison replied, "Getting arrested to protest Columbia's attempt to build a gym in a Harlem Park was something I was proud of at the time—and am still proud of now.” Naison claims that his only regret in life has been not leaving Weatherman when they started talking about getting rid of monogamy.Naison has been on the faculty of Fordham University
Fordham University
Fordham University is a private, nonprofit, coeducational research university in the United States, with three campuses in and around New York City. It was founded by the Roman Catholic Diocese of New York in 1841 as St...
in New York City since 1970, where he is Professor of African American Studies and History, Director of the Bronx African American History Project, and has served as Director of Urban Studies. He has written over a hundred articles and published three books on urban history, African-American History, and the history of sports. Naison has also appeared on The O'Reilly Factor
The O'Reilly Factor
The O'Reilly Factor, originally titled The O'Reilly Report from 1996 to 1998 and often called The Factor, is an American talk show on the Fox News Channel hosted by commentator Bill O'Reilly, who often discusses current controversial political issues with guests.The program was the most watched...
, Chappelle's Show
Chappelle's Show
Chappelle's Show is an American sketch comedy television series created by comedian Dave Chappelle and Neal Brennan, with Chappelle hosting the show as well as starring in various skits. Chappelle, Brennan and Michele Armour were the show's executive producers. The series premiered on January 22,...
, and The Discovery Channel's Greatest American Competition. His most popular course at Fordham, From Rock & Roll to Hip Hop: Urban Youth Cultures in Post War America, was the subject of an interview with him on National Public Radio.
External links
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRN7oZPmZRM
- http://www.temple.edu/tempress/authors/1532_qa.html
- http://www.temple.edu/tempress/titles/1532_reg.html
- http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_38/b3951151.htm
- http://scholar.library.miami.edu/sixties/videos.php?seriesTitle=Civil+Rights+Movement&category=Civil+Rights+Movement