University of Virginia Library

Davis Meets With SDS, SSOC
On Preparation For Inaugural

By Rick Pearson

"On the eve of the Nixon
administration, we want a mass
turnout of young people to let
Nixon know we want our boys
home now." Began John Davis,
principal speaker at last night's
joint meeting of the Students for a
Democratic Society and the
Southern Student Organizing
Committee.

A member of the National
Mobilization Committee to End the
War in Vietnam, Mr. Davis spoke in
place of John Wilson, who was
scheduled to speak but was forced
to change his plans at the last
moment.

Mr. Davis has just returned from
Budapest. Hungary, where he
participated in talks with the
National Liberation Front, the
political arm of the Viet Cong. He
spoke of the plans his committee
has made for the Inauguration of
President-elect Richard M. Nixon,
and also of the Democratic
National Convention of last August,
one of the events he cited as causes
for immediate mass protest in
Washington.

"At the Convention, the
movement won a substantial
political victory by exposing a
corrupt police state and a
Democratic Party that doesn't want
change," Mr. Davis stated.

He continued, "Yet the
movement also lost one member
as killed, many beaten, and the
police state has continued
functioning. We could not stop it."

Mr. Davis then moved on to talk
about the plans for the
Inauguration. "The National
Mobilization Committee is going to
Washington. We want our boys
back now. We need to be a visible,
vocal force to bring home our
message."

"I think that in 1969 we will see
a settlement to the war in Vietnam.
But I think the war in Laos will
step up, troops will still remain in
Wilmington, Delaware, and little
wars in Latin America will
continue. We have to bring all this
out."

First Day

"Saturday, January 18, will be
the first day of the demonstration
during which there will be a series
of conferences and workshops.
These will be basically for new
people unfamiliar with this kind of
demonstration," Mr. Davis noted.
"The workshops will cover a
number of topics such as GI
organizing, black liberation, and
student power."

"The first day will consist of
three sessions lasting the whole day.
The morning session will be mainly
orientation. The afternoon session
will deal with the problems facing
the movement in the future.

We will discuss the members of the
new Cabinet, how they will affect
the movement, and other issues
facing us," he added.

Evening Session

"At the evening session we will
present a series of speakers to
address the workshop." He noted
that people such as Kathleen
Cleaver will come in and speak on
just about whatever they want.

"The second day, January 19,
will be the major day in terms of
numbers," Mr. Davis instructed.
"First there will be a mass
demonstration in front of the
Ellipse, and then a
counter-inaugural march, moving in
the opposite direction of the later
Inaugural march."

Counter-Inaugural March

"This counter-inaugural march
will be led by active duty GIs." He
continued, "They will be laying
their future on the line by going
AWOL and leading this march. It is
up to us to support them."

He added that the Committee
will hold a Counter-Inaugural Ball
as a play on the Inaugural Ball to be
held by the ruling group the next
night. "At our Ball will be Judy
Collins, Phil Ochs, the Fugs, and
possibly, the Doors and Janis
Joplin.

"Finally"

"Finally on January 20 we will
hold a structured, organized
presence along the Inaugural parade
rote, seeking what leaflets term
'political, not physical
confrontation.' " Mr. Davis
continued, "We hope to get
permission from the Justice
Department to occupy a three or
four block area on the route. There
we will stage a street theater,
recordings of Mr. Nixon's and Mr.
Agnew's comments, and
dramatically show we won't be a
part of Nixon's Consensus."

After Mr. Davis' talk, he
presented the Committee's answer
to Mayor Daley's film, "Trees We
Plant."