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GRATEFUL DEAD
M.I.T. 1970 [no label, 2CD]
Live at the Kresge Plaza, M.I.T. (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Cambridge, MA; May 6, 1970. Very good mono soundboard.
The band provided [free, afternoon] entertainment during the student strike that followed Nixon’s announcement of the bombing of Cambodia, the Kent State killings of students by National Guard soldiers, and other less famous protests or repressive acts by actors on both sides of the fence.
Decades Later, No Justice For Kent State Killings
By Laurel Krause
On May 4, 1970, members of the Ohio National Guard fired between 61 and 67 shots into a crowd of unarmed anti-war protestors at Kent State University in Ohio, killing four students and wounding nine others. My 19-year-old sister, Allison Krause, was one of four students shot to death by the Ohio National Guard in the parking lot of her university campus as she protested the Vietnam War. I was 15 years old at the time.
It has been 44 years, and the US government still refuses to admit that it participated in the killing of four young students at Kent State. There has not been a credible, independent, impartial investigation into Kent State. No group or individual has been held accountable.
In 2010, after undeniable forensic evidence emerged pointing to direct US government involvement in the killings, Emily Kunstler and I founded the Kent State Truth Tribunal (KSTT). Our hope was to finally receive a full account of the tragic events and to see that the victims and their families receive redress. In 2012, the US Department of Justice refused to reopen the case, claiming there were “insurmountable legal and evidentiary barriers.”
But justice for Allison doesn’t have to end there. To that end, we are traveling to Geneva, Switzerland, next week to demand accountability for the Kent State massacre before the United Nations Human Rights Committee, which will be reviewing US compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), one of the few human rights treaties ratified by the United States.
The right to assemble and protest is a cherished American value and is a universal human right. But the United States - and so many other proclaimed democracies around the world - repeatedly and shamelessly commits gross violations of this human right. We were recently reminded of extensive US government surveillance of anti-war activists in the 1960s, but sadly, such dangerous activity isn’t a thing of the distant past. As recently as 2011, with the start of the “Occupy” movement, protestors were labeled “domestic terrorists,” surveilled by the FBI, and arrested in massive numbers for nonviolent demonstrations and assemblies.
The Kent State precedent has cast a shadow over our democracy for over 40 years. If Kent State remains a glaring example of government impunity, it sends a message that protestors can be killed by the state for expressing their political beliefs. This lack of accountability and hostility towards peaceful expression flies in the face not only of our Constitution, but also our international human rights commitments.
Though we are a small organization, KSTT is committed to seeking justice for the victims of the Kent State massacre. Next week, representatives from KSTT will be briefing the UN Human Rights Committee about the United States’ failure to provide full accountability for the Kent State massacre. We hope the Committee will ask our government to provide answers regarding its complicity in the killing of peaceful protesters, or at the very least acknowledge its failure to conduct a thorough and credible investigation. We intend to make it clear that we have not forgotten the horrific event that took place at Kent State.
“Allison stood for peace and died for peace. May no other protestor in the US ever have to pay the price she paid for her peaceful political expression and dissent.” - Tribunal founder Laurel Krause, sister of 19-year-old Allison Krause, killed “by US bullets” while protesting US military violence.
Note: Laurel Krause is the Co-founder and Director of the Kent State Truth Tribunal. The above article was posted on March 8, 2014 at Information Clearing House.
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Thanks to Zoticus for sharing the tracks on the net.
Uploader’s notes:
This is a monophonic soundboard recording but the sound quality is that of a very good radio broadcast. It has real punch, not dynamically flat as some two-track soundboard recordings of this band often are. Recorded from Sirius Satellite Radio’s Grateful Dead channel - in stereo this would be unlistenable due to their heavy compression, but this one sounds as good as the version I downloaded long ago from the Internet Archive (which is the same tape, seeded by David Gans who does the commentary on this broadcast). There is lots of chatter from the band on this recording, recalling a time when they actually enjoyed (or suffered) genuine interaction with their audience.
Front cover picture posted at mitadmissions.org; back cover (Kent State shooting) picture by John Filo - Thanks!
Click on the highlighted tracks to download the MP3s (224 kbps). As far as we can ascertain, these tracks have never been officially released on CD.
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This show will only be available for sharing for two weeks.
Disc 1
Track 101. Sirius GD Channel Intro by David Gans 1:39 (2.8MB)
Track 102. Dancing In The Streets 16:58 (28.5MB)
Track 103. China Cat Sunflower/I Know You Rider 10:31 (17.7MB)
Track 104. Next Time You See Me 4:36 (7.7MB)
Track 105. Morning Dew 11:21 (19.1MB)
46 mins
Disc 2
Track 201. Good Lovin’ 14:55 (25.1MB)
Track 202. Casey Jones 5:22 (9.0MB)
Track 203. St Stephen 3:39 (6.1MB)
Track 204. Not Fade Away 14:20 (24.1MB)
Track 205. Sirius GD Channel Farewell by David Gans 0:27 (767k)
39 mins
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