1973 Manhattan Die-In: My First WRL Demonstration
It was the summer of 1973, and I itched to attend an IMPEACH NIXON event in the New York City area. On the edge of my Impeach The President button I saw the phone number for The Committee To Impeach The President. I called that number and asked, “Are there any Impeach Nixon events happening soon?” The volunteer cheerfully filled me in: there was a protest in Federal Plaza, in downtown Manhattan, planned for later that week. It was primarily about the war in Vietnam and Impeach Nixon was a secondary demand. The event was sponsored by The War Resisters League, and co-sponsored by The Living Theatre. It was to be a DIE-IN on the streets of New York City! Congress had (finally) cut off funding for the war in Southeast Asia, but as a sort of consolation prize, Nixon was allowed to continue bombing through August. The theme for the protest was, “If A Bomb Dropped On New York City, Would You Then Realize That The War Was Still Going On?” The scenario was to use street theatre to simulate a bombing, like bringing the war home. I didn’t understand all of the subtle details, but I agreed to participate.
I was told to go to Federal Plaza in Lower Manhattan, and look for an activist who looked like Santa Claus, his name was Eagle. Actually, his real name was Igal Roodenko, but having never heard that name and my ears heard Eagle, like the bird!
(photo: Igal Roodenko at WRL 50th Anniversary Conference, Asilomar, CA, August 1973 by David McReynolds)
I was very young and rarely attended protests outside of my local community in the northern suburbs. Too scared to travel to Manhattan alone in those noisy Conrail commuter trains with the smoking cars, I got a Hagstroms Road Map and walked three hours to get there! I was the first to show up at the protest, a foreshadowing of what was to become a lifelong pattern! I saw no protests, eagles, or Santa Claus, only a group of police officers. I asked them about the whereabouts of the protest and they laughed at me, “Hey kid, are you one of those war resisters? Ha, ha, ha!” I made some smart-ass remark which I can’t remember.
I eventually met Igal and the others. We picketed around in a circle chanting, “Stop The Bombs!” over and over. Then, somebody blew a loud whistle, and everybody in the line began screaming, falling to the sidewalk, and rolling around shrieking as if in great pain! I had no idea what was going on, not knowing what a die-in was, but not wanting to look conspicuous or naive, I began screaming! The whistle was a signal for the die-in to begin—a bomb had just dropped on Manhattan, just like in Vietnam! After the screaming stopped, everybody lay “dead” on the ground. Members of The Living Theatre, who were planted in the group, acted out a body pile up—they gathered several dozen of the “dead bodies” and piled them up onto a human mound in the middle of the plaza. They were professional actors, so it was very impressive and realistic. While I lay “dead” on the ground I overheard a spectator ask another onlooker, “Are they really dead?” Her friend responded, “I think they are just acting.” After some silence, the dead bodies began to roll off of the pile, came back to life, and we re-convened the circle and resumed the chanting, “Stop The Bombs!” Leaflets were handed out explaining the presentation.
(Photo Right: Early 1970s Die-In, WRL Files)
After it was all over, WOR-TV Channel 9 showed up. The young reporter, Bob Teague, apologized for being late and asked us to repeat the entire event for broadcast it on their news program. We repeated the entire thing and, when I got home that evening, it was on TV! That day I returned home with a zillion flyers, leaflets, and newspapers from the dozens of groups that had participated in the protest. I read them all, and noticed most of the groups shared the same addresses: either 339 Lafayette Street, or 135 W. 4th Street, two havens for many of the left-wing groups in New York City. Being young and green to activism, I didn’t understand why there were several groups with very similar names housed at the same locations. If people were working on the same issue, why not belong to one big group? At the church at 135 W. 4th Street, for instance, there was The Indochina Peace Campaign, but also The Indochina Solidarity Committee. When I went to check out the center I asked the groups about that. I soon learned a lot about left-wing politics in America!
THIS LAST YEAR, in 2023, The War Resisters League celebrated its 100th Birthday! WRL was founded by activists who opposed World War I. If they teach anything in schools today about the American anti-war movement, they will say the peace movement began on January 1, 1960, and ended on December 31, 1969. We know, however, that reality is a lot kinkier than that, and that there have been anti-war protests in America since the very beginning! In fact, since before the beginning! Power To The Peaceful! Hi Ho!!!
— Mike Levinson
(Photo: Mike Levinson at 2023 St. Patrick’s Day Parade For All, Queens NY, by Ellen Davidson)
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