Private Screening of the film The Movement and the “Madman” by filmmaker Robert Levering 2022.11.30
Wednesday, November 30 at 5:30pm
Humanities 135
Featuring an introduction to the film by filmmaker Robert Levering (Executive Producer), and discussion and Q&A with Sam Brown and Steven Dike (ƷSMӰƬ Honors) after the screening.
This film tells the little-known story of one of the most dramatic and consequential showdowns in American history between a protest movement and a president.
The film reveals how two antiwar demonstrations in the fall of 1969 — the largest the country had ever seen — helped prevent a massive escalation of the U.S. war in Vietnam, including the threatened use of nuclear weapons. At the time, protestors had no idea what they had prevented and how many lives they had saved.
It’s an inspiring story, one that offers hope in a time when autocracy threatens democracy, war rages in Ukraine, and we all face an impending global climate catastrophe.
This event is the first in a series that will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Vietnam Peace Accords. Additional events are planned for late January and early February of 2023.
Robert Levering is a journalist who has written dozens of articles and authored eight books about the corporate workplace. He coauthored Fortune magazine’s annual “100 Best Companies to Work For” article, and founded Great Place to Work Institute, a global research and consulting firm. He was on the New Mobilization staff for the Nov. 15, 1969, demonstration and was a staff organizer for other national antiwar actions.
Sam Brown was one of the principals of the “Dump Johnson” movement which successfully opposed the renomination of Lyndon Johnson in 1968 because of his war policies. In 1969 he was a founder and co-coordinator of the Vietnam Moratorium, the largest anti-war demonstration in American history. He was later elected State Treasurer of Colorado. President Carter appointed him and he was confirmed by the Senate to serve as head of U.S. volunteer agencies, including Peace Corps and VISTA. He was appointed by President Clinton to serve as U.S. Ambassador to the Organization for Security in cooperation in Europe; and was appointed to the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board by President Obama.