Resister

A Story of Protest and Prison During the Vietnam War

By: Bruce Dancis

Narrated by: Elliott Walsh

Bruce Dancis arrived at Cornell University in 1965 as a youth who was no stranger to political action. He grew up in a radical household and took part in the 1963 March on Washington as a 15-year-old. He became the first student at Cornell to defy the draft by tearing up his draft card and soon became a leader of the draft resistance movement. He also turned down a student deferment and refused induction into the armed services. He was the principal organizer of the first mass draft-card burning during the Vietnam War, an activist in the Resistance (a nationwide organization against the draft), and a cofounder and president of the Cornell chapter of Students for a Democratic Society. Dancis spent 19 months in federal prison in Ashland, Kentucky, for his actions against the draft.

In Resister, Dancis not only gives listeners an insider's account of the antiwar and student protest movements of the ‘60s but also provides a rare look at the prison experiences of Vietnam-era draft resisters. Intertwining memory, reflection, and history, Dancis offers an engaging firsthand account of some of the era’s most iconic events. Along the way, Dancis also explores the relationship between the topical folk and rock music of the era and the political and cultural rebels who sought to change American society.

The book is published by Cornell University Press.

©2014 Bruce Dancis (P)2014 Redwood Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"Bruce Dancis, a hero of draft resistance, casts light from fresh angles on the movement's inner life, the course of Cornell's radicals, and the imprisonment that was a price paid for honor." (Todd Gitlin, Columbia University)

"Dancis's impassive, observant tone is essential to who he is: a profoundly decent and thoughtful man, with an unshakable moral compass, and an intent to do the right thing with precision and follow-through." ( Los Angeles Review of Books)