Tom Hayden

St. Clair County Community College will host an evening with social activist and writer Tom Hayden, principal author of the Port Huron Statement.  Hayden will speak at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 28, in the Fine Arts Theatre on the college’s Port Huron campus. Tickets aren’t required for the free event.  The visit is one of several speaking engagements Hayden is making to mark the 50th anniversary of the Port Huron Statement, a political manifesto crafted in 1962 by the Students for a Democratic Society.   The group, which Hayden co-founded, became a national leader in protesting various issues in the 1960s, including the Vietnam War and racial segregation.  Hayden drafted the statement, which then was debated and edited by members of the Students for a Democratic Society at their first national convention, held near Port Huron.  Now, five decades later, Hayden will return to Port Huron to discuss the statement and its impact.  It focused on what Hayden describes as “participatory democracy.” He has said the statement was a call to give a voice to the masses, and the issues affecting society as a whole.  Hayden is the author or editor of 19 books and hundreds of articles for various publications, including the Los Angeles Times and Boston Globe. He currently writes for The Nation.  He served 18 years in the California Legislature, chairing key committees on the environment, higher education and labor.  Hayden was born in Detroit and attended the University of Michigan.  As part of his visit to Port Huron, Hayden also will speak to numerous classes at the college.