NEWS FROM KENT:

Kent May 4 Center & KM4C Director Alan Canfora pursues new strategy & tactics to realize new investigations to determine untimate 1970 Kent State truths. May 4 Movement for Truth & Justice nears victory in 2010.

Your support is needed now! Please send online tax-deductible contributions at http://may4.org/ OR MAIL TO:

Kent May 4 Center
Box 3313
Kent, OH 44240

HUGE NATIONAL NEWS! May 9, 2010: CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER, Ohio's largest newspaper, verifies Alan Canfora's 2007 claim of audio-tape proof of military commands moments before 13 seconds of 1970 Kent State gunfire & calls for new investigation (May 11, 2010). AKRON BEACON JOURNAL also calls for new investigation (May 12, 2010). Alan Canfora delivers digital audio CD to US Attorney in Cleveland on May 11, 2010, requests further investigations in Washington DC & Columbus, Ohio.

May 9, 2010, CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER newspaper: "New analysis of 40-year-old recording of Kent State shootings reveals that Ohio Guard was given an order to prepare to fire".

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NOTICE!
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Alan Canfora memoir book AVAILABLE HERE IN DAYS AHEAD! Stay tuned...(title announced here soon).

*** Soon to be a major motion picture by J2 Films in Hollywood. Our feature film screenplay is written by James V. Hart. Inquire, for details. Starring Evan Rachel Wood as Allison Krause.

*** MY BOOK AVAILABLE IN LATE MAY OR EARLY JUNE 2010 at Amazon.com or here at ALANCANFORA.COM/

Full of accurate, inside information & 1970 photographs of Kent & Vietnam.

*** Canfora book links Kent State & Vietnam tragedies. The only book ever written by a 1970 Kent State eyewitness/leader of the 1970 revolt!

Soon, learn the inside story from one who shed his blood while leading the historic revolt at Kent State during May 1-4, 1970.

Learn all the inside details about the link between one soldier's death in Vietnam & the impact days later at Kent State -- a revolt in the streets of Kent, Ohio, an attack upon the KSU ROTC Building (which burned under suspicious circumstances), the arrival of 1200 armed Ohio National Guardsmen and a culmination in May 4 tragedy as told by a key eyewitness & leader of the student rebellion.

May 4, 1970 -- prelude to tragedy -- my brief description:

My frightened girlfriend stayed in my apartment after I prepared two black protest flags. I purposefully chose black material to match my dark mood of despair and anger following the recent death of my friend Bill Caldwell in Vietnam. Four hundred Ohio national guardsmen (ONG) were in the city of Kent and 800 were on the campus. Leaving my apartment, I walked past many of these soldiers, went several blocks east to the Kent State campus, and joined my friends on the KSU Commons at noon. About 1,000 students had joined the protest rally, but classes were being held on campus as usual.

We assumed we still could exercise our Constitutional rights of freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and freedom to dissent. Immediately as our peaceful anti-war rally began, approximately 75 members of the Ohio National Guard attacked our peaceful gathering. As these guardsmen wearing helmets and gas masks marched and fired tear gas, we ran away from the KSU Commons up over "Blanket Hill" and down into the Prentice Hall dormitory's parking lot.

Alan Canfora extends his condolences to the family of Charles Fassinger who died November 22, 2008, at his home in Tennessee. Mr. Fassinger was being treated for leukemia but died in his sleep unexpectedly at home, according to his daughter Susan Crawford.

On May 4, 1970, Lt.-Col. Charles Fassinger was the highest-ranking uniformed officer on Blanket Hill at Kent State University when a different officer shouted the verbal command ordering Troop G shooters to fire 67 gunshots into a crowd of unarmed student anti-war protesters.

In recent years, Mr. Fassinger was the most visible spokesperson representing the guardsmen. Fassinger visited the campus & spoke casually with KSU students, professors and May 4 Task Force students.

Fassinger extended his hand to Alan Canfora on the KSU campus in April of 2007. On May 15, 2008, Canfora & Fassinger appreared together onstage at an educational forum in Columbus, Ohio, sponsored by the Ohio Historical Society. Again, we had the opportunity to meet privately and speak cordially.

A) a new 2008-2009 Hollywood feature film linking Vietnam & Kent State, partly based upon the soon-published memoir by Alan Canfora, is now on the horizon;

B) a new 2008-2009 international TV program will prove Alan Canfora was correct in 2007 when he revealed audio-recorded proof of the May 4, 1970, verbal ORDER TO FIRE at Kent State University. The militaristic, shouting voice on the recording will be analyzed for positive identification;

C) new investigations of additional hidden Kent State 1970 evidence are coming in Washington and Ohio. We also seek a government-recognized Truth Commission.

D) the cover-up of intentional murder at Kent State is now destroyed and will be more fully revealed in days, weeks and months ahead.

Stay tuned here at alancanfora.com and at the educational web site of KENT MAY 4 CENTER: http://may4.org/

Click here for Alan's earlier site with PHOTOS

*Text of May 4, 2009, speech delivered on The Commons of Kent State University by Alan Canfora, Director of the Kent May 4 Center since 1989. Canfora was shot through his right wrist by an M1 bullet fired by the Ohio National Guard on May 4, 1970 during an anti-war demonstration.*

“TASKS OF THE MAY 4 MOVEMENT”

On this solemn May 4 day of commemoration in 2009, as we have for each of the past 39 years, with respect & determination we pause to pay tribute to our fallen sisters and brothers: Allison Krause, Sandra Scheuer, William Schroeder & Jeffrey Miller.

Allison Krause, the brilliant young artist in the KSU Honors College, killed 343-feet away because she, along with her lover Barry Levine, dared to cry out against war and the National Guard invasion of our campus on May 4, 1970, only one day after she declared to a National Guard officer: “…flowers are better than bullets”.

“RIGHT HERE, GET SET, POINT, FIRE!” – exact words of the recently-discovered Ohio National Guard verbal command to shoot unarmed Kent State students on May 4, 1970. Seconds before the massacre, which ONG officer shouted this order? General Robert Canterbury? Lieutenant Colonel Charles Fassinger? Major Harry Jones? COVER-UP ENDED May 1, 2007 when Alan Canfora announced his discovery!

NEW YORK TIMES newspaper: "Kent State Tape Is Said to Reveal Orders", May 2, 2007

Click here for EXCLUSIVE April 30, 2007, Alan Canfora preview announcement of proof of 1970 ORDER TO FIRE by KBOO radio in Portland, Oregon -- audio file (Windows Media)

NPR: National Public Radio audio, Alan Canfora announcement, two versions audio

ROBBY STAMPS MEMORIAL TRIBUTE:

Join us at Kent State University, Saturday, October 4, 3:30pm, in the Governance Chamber on the 2nd floor of the Student Center.

Sponsored by the KSU students of the May 4 Task Force and the Kent May 4 Center, we welcome your attendance. This event is free and open to the public. Video and photo images of Robby will be presented and public tribute comments will follow.

The event will conclude with a walk outdoors to the May 4 site where Robby was shot in 1970.

Robby Stamps died in June of 2008 after suffering the deadly effects of Lyme Disease. One of the nine KSU students shot and wounded by bullets at KSU on May 4, 1970, Robby was a longstanding outspoken advocate seeking truth and justice at Kent State.

Robby is the second of our 1970 injured casualties to pass away. Jim Russell died of a heart attack in Oregon in June of 2007. Russell's family will join us again on Saturday in Kent.

Join us in Kent May 1-4, 2010. 40th Annual Commemoration. Sponsor: May 4 Task Force, http://m4tf.org/
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:

Saturday, May 1, & Sunday, May 2:
National Student Activism Conference, "Roots of Resistance: Continuing the Struggle", sponsored by KSU student and Kent community organizations including Anti-Racist Action (ARA), Kent State Anti-War Committee (KSAWC), May 4 Task Force (M4TF), The Crooked River Collective and others.

May 1 focus: anti-racism student action;
May 2 focus: modern student activism.
NOTE: Mark Rudd & other local/national ex-SDS members & leaders will participate as decided by modern students at the conference. Former SNCC activists & Black Panthers are also welcome*
NOTE: please send all Student Action Conference unquiries to: rootsofresistance@gmail.com including all questions, workshop ideas, or anything else.

SEE ACTIVISM CONFERENCE SCHEDULE: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/event.php?eid=114897455200965&ref=mf

Saturday, May 1:
off campus Kent State SDS (1968-69) Reunion, featuring many Kent SDS veterans & national SDS leaders including Mark Rudd & others.
Saturday, May 1:
7:30pm, KSU Kiva Auditorium, KSU Student Center: excellent new Kent State activism history documentary film premier, "Fire in the Heartland", by Danny Miller. Free.

Sunday afternoon, May 2:
2PM: KSU Kiva auditorium, KSU Student Center: Country Joe McDonald presents 3 films: "Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans", "Vietnam, The Secret Agent (Orange)" & "Vietnam Experience", followed by Country Joe McDonald & Vietnam Veterans Against the War (http:vvaw.org/) as leaders of a discussion session. All US military veterans are welcome to attend & participate in this healing educational event. Free.

Sunday evening, May 2:
The Kent Stage, 175 E. Main St., downtown Kent: Opening acts: 5pm, KSU Theatre Students play: "Blanket Hill";

6:30-8pm, Live rock band, MAYS GONE, featuring M4TF student singer Ashley Foster & band live onstage.

8pm: $5/ticket, Kent film premier, "Disturbing The Universe", tribute to America's most outstanding radical attorney, William Kunstler, documentary film by his daughters, Emily & Sarah Kunstler, followed by a panel discussion featuring the Kunstler sisters/filmmakers & Kent activists who worked with Bill Kunstler during 1970-1977.

Monday, May 3, 6pm-7:30pm, US Congressman John Lewis speech, KSU Ballroom. A KSU event. Free.

Monday, May 3: 8:00pm, Bobby Seale speaks, Pan African Affairs Dept., Oscar Ritchie Hall, a M4TF event.

Monday, May 3, 2010: 10:30pm, gather for 11pm Candlelight March & Vigil which starts at 11pm on the KSU Commons at Victory Bell.

Tuesday, May 4 morning,
8:30am: traditional private breakfast gathering of 1970 May 4 victims' families & May 4 Task Force students & May 4 Commemoration speakers;
10am: public news conference: families of 1970 KSU victims & May 4 Commemoration speakers, KSU Student Center.

Tuesday, May 4: 40th Annual Commemoration, KSU Commons, noon-3pm, featuring speakers/musicians, including: keynote speakers Black Panther leader Bobby Seale & Gerald Casale of DEVO; music by Country Joe McDonald & Shadowbox Theater; speakers: Mary Vecchio, May 4 eyewitness; John Filo, esteemed 1970 KSU photographer; Gene Young, Jackson State massacre eyewitness; Russ Miller, brother of KSU martyr Jeff Miller; Florence Schroeder, mother of KSU martyr William Schroeder; Joe Lewis, May 4, 1970 eyewitness/casualty; Chic Canfora, May 4 eyewitness; Buddhist Lama Surya Das, 1970 friend of KSU martyrs; Bernardine Dohrn & Mark Rudd, ex-SDS leaders; & Sanford Rosen, attorney for KSU casualties' families.

Tuesday, May 4: 3:30pm-5pm, open reception, Room 306, KSU Student Center.

Tuesday, May 4, 5pm: KSU Student Center, documentary film by KSU Prof. Drew Tiene, "The Story of the Kent State Shootings."

Tuesday, May 4, 7pm: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum Comes to Kent: " . . . Next Stop Is Vietnam: The War on Record". The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum’s Education Department will present a special edition of the monthly Rock and Roll Night School program on music and the Vietnam war. This panel discussion is geared toward adults interested in gaining more knowledge about rock and roll history and will explore the history of rock and roll from its roots to its current incarnations; special attention is given to the music’s impact on society, its reception by fans, and its most innovative practitioners. Also discussed will be the representation of the war in popular music throughout the 1960s, from music that is both explicitly about the war (e.g., Edwin Starr’s “War,” Jimi Hendrix’s “Machine Gun”) to music that was adopted to represent conditions in Vietnam (The Animals’ “We Gotta Get Out of This Place”; Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Run Through the Jungle”). The program includes video, audio, and a content-rich Power Point presentation.

Included on the panel will be singer-songwriter Country Joe McDonald, a veteran himself and an activist against the war and Hugo Keesing, who has curated a cd box set that will be released by Bear Family records later this spring: …Next Stop Is Vietnam: The War On Record, 1961-2008, a thirteen-cd set of music and the war that also includes an extensive book on the subject. Dr. Keesing is a professor at the University of Maryland and a popular culture scholar. He has assembled all of the extensive materials for the box set.

8:30pm: LIVE PSYCHEDELIC CONCERT & DANCE PARTY featuring COUNTRY JOE McDONALD & THE SHADOWBOX THEATER, KSU Student Center Rathskellar. Free/donation.

See also, KSU official list of various events: http://www.kent.edu/about/May4Commemoration/Events-Listing.cfm

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May 4, 2009: JOIN US at noon -- Kent State University -- 39th ANNUAL COMMEMORATION of 1970 Kent State tragedy.

Join us at Kent State University, May 4, 2009, for the 39th annual commemoration of the May 4, 1970 tragedy. At noon, outdoors on the KSU Commons, join the modern KSU students of the May 4 Task Force and their invited guest participants/speakers, including:

May 4 eyewitness Mary Ann Vecchio; Pulitzer-prize winner photographer John Filo; 1969 Ann Arbor White Panther leader Pun Plamundon; Laurel Krause, sister of Allison Krause; May 4 casualty Alan Canfora; 1970 eyewitness Steve Drucker; May 4 eyewitness Chic Canfora; & other speakers & musicians.

May 3 evening events:
7pm: Kiva, Student Center, POETRY readings.
11pm: CANDLIGHT MARCH departs KSU Commons.
CANDLELIGHT VIGIL all night long: sign up with M4TF students to reserve your 30-minute vigil spot.

For more information, contact the May 4 Task Force students: http://dept.kent.edu/may4/

See also, regarding the 2009 May 4 Symposium sponsored by the KSU administration: http://www.kent.edu/About/History/May4/Democracy/index2.cfm

Finally, KSU is planning a new May 4 Site Visitor's Center in Taylor Hall:
http://www.kent.edu/may4/

JOIN US. All events are free & open to the public. *In case of rain, May 4 Commemoration will be held in the KSU Student Center Ballroom.

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May 3-4, 2008: JOIN US in Kent
38th annual Commemoration -- all events free and open to public -- sponsored by May 4 Task Force students at KSU: http://dept.kent.edu/may4/

May 3: 7pm, Kiva Auditorium of the KSU Student Center, RON KOVIC will introduce his film, BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY. Kovic will also answer audience questions after the film. A brief poetry reading session will occur to start the program.

May 3: 11pm-midnight: Annual candlelight march across the KSU campus. March culminates at Prentice Hall Parking Lot where our martyrs died in 1970. All-night vigil from midnight to noon. Contact May 4 Task Force students to sign-up for your 30-minute vigil reservation: http://dept.kent.edu/may4/

May 4: 11am-noon: pre-Commemoration music by Tropidelic Band.
May 4: Noon-2pm: 38th annual commemoration event sponsored by the dedicated KSU students of the May 4 Task Force.
Speakers include: Scott Ritter, former UN Weapons Inspector, expert on Iraq/Iran crisis; Ron Kovic, anti-war activist Vietnam Veteran and author; the family of revolutionary hero & attorney William Kunstler; 1970 KSU wounded students Dean Kahler and Joe Lewis, Jr.; other speakers to be announced. LONG LIVE THE SPIRIT OF KENT AND JACKSON STATE!

NOTE: the annual anti-Iraq War march from KSU to downtown Kent will follow the commemoration.

May 4: 6pm: The Kent Stage, East Main Street, downtown Kent: music event with several live bands and more.

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MAY 4 TASK FORCE
"Truth: The First Casualty of War"

May 2 - 4, 2007
Kent State University

NOTE: Mary Ann Vecchio will be the guest of the Kent May 4 Center in Kent, Ohio, during May 1-5, 2007. She will offer a comment on May 4 at the noon commemoration.

May 2: 3:45-5 p.m. Guided Campus Tours with Thomas Hensley and May 4th State Historical Marker Commemoration, Kiva, KSU Student Center.

INVITATION: Our dear friend, my blood-brother, Dr. Tom Grace, our esteemed comrade and historian, will deliver an oration upon the dedication of the Ohio state historical marker at the Kent State University campus on the afternoon of May 2, 2007. You are invited! Join us.

Beware of California tourist-guide author William A. Gordon.

Beware of his misleading books about Kent State 1970: FOUR DEAD IN OHIO and also THE FOURTH OF MAY. Both are the same bogus 1981 book sold with two titles in 1990 and 1995.

Beware of his repeated attacks against Alan Canfora, Kent May 4 Center (KM4C), May 4 Task Force (M4TF) students, KSU professors and many others.

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William A. Gordon's Kent State vendetta: 1984-2010

During 40 years of our ongoing May 4 Movement for truth and justice at Kent State in Kent, Ohio, one peculiar individual has maintained a perpetual vendetta against Alan Canfora, Kent May 4 Center, May 4 Task Force, Kent State University, KSU Professor Jerry M. Lewis, the late KSU Professor Glenn Frank and others too numerous to mention here.

William A. Gordon, aka Bill Gordon, was born and raised in Akron, Ohio, and attended Akron University as a freshman when the students were killed at Kent State in 1970. Bill Gordon transferred to KSU, curried favor with KSU student government leaders and, for a brief time, played a small role in the early KSU movement seeking truth and justice until he graduated KSU in 1973.