Bill Ayers, one of the more controversial speakers to appear on the Monmouth College campus, delivered a convocation to the College’s I.ntroduction to Liberal Arts classes on Tuesday, Oct. 30 in the Dahl Chapel and Auditorium. The title of his talk was “Emancipate Yourselves from Mental Slavery: Learning & Living in a Democracy,” derived from lyrics of a well-known song,  “Redemption Song,”  originally produced by the legendary, revolutionary singer/songwriter, Bob Marley.

Ayers has had an intriguing but contentious history. He is best known as a political activist and, more specifically, as a prominent member of the Weather Underground in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

The Weather Underground was a group whose goal was to achieve a revolutionary movement and overthrow the United States government, which they believed to be corrupt. In particular, the group was distraught with the country’s involvement and conduct in the Vietnam War, and, in protest of the war, the group bombed various government buildings.

Ayers has been arrested many times, and he is still considered a significant political activist. He was born into a wealthy family and was educated at the University of Michigan, Bank Street College of Education in New York and Columbia University.  He is currently an education professor at  the University of Illinois at Chicago.

With his radical background, one could easily see why Ayers would be a controversial speaker at Monmouth College, where he spoke once before in 2005. A number of Monmouth College students have voiced their opposition to Ayers’ visit by printing pamphlets and writing on the sidewalks, calling Ayers a “terrorist.”

To the protestors, Ayers’ life is anything but exemplary. When asked about the campus protestors and what a person who does not share his views could learn from his life, Ayers offered his own interpretation of what is meant by the term “exemplary life.”

“I think the concept of exemplary lives has both a positive and negative aspect to it. It’s positive in that we should wonder: who do I  look out there and see that’s somebody I would like to be like or that’s somebody I would not like to be like, so that’s completely legitimate,” Ayers said. “On the other hand, we also should note that every one of us has lives that we’re leading, and we’re going to be examples to others. We are each other’s harvest; we are each other’s magnitude and bond.”

As for Ayers’ lecture, his main focus was to determine what it means to be an educated person and a moral person.

He encouraged students to open their eyes and become aware of problems in the world, such as African epidemics, the hardships suffered by American troops in Iraq and the distribution of wealth in America.

“You cannot be a real citizen, you cannot be educated and you cannot be moral if you don’t open your eyes,” Ayers said.

He also introduced the concept that everybody is a work in progress, and an individual should always be striving to become a better person, regardless of age.

Ayers’ lecture did not address his involvement in the Weather Underground, but he did offer an opinion on the current war on terrorism. Ayers pointed out how ambiguous the war on terror is because the enemy cannot be limited to one group, since a terrorist group can be composed of anybody. In a sense, it is a war that can never really end. With more than a hint of sarcasm, he suggested that the war on “terror” is similar to a war on “nervousness”.

In a concluding thought, Ayers said that there is a difference between being educated and being smart, and people should demand the truth about issues they find important. According to Ayers, people need to act on their beliefs.  “You don’t have to do everything, just anything,” he said.

Ayers gave encouragement to Monmouth College students by saying that each of us leads an exemplary life.

“Everybody in Monmouth has an exemplary life but the question is—that’s what I was trying to raise [in the lecture]—let’s ask ourselves what it means to be democratic citizens,” Ayers said.

Monmouth College students are not obligated to agree with all of Ayers’ actions, but they are encouraged to be open-minded about his views and try to make a difference in their world. However, his open-minded approach must come from within. As Bob Marley sings in “Redemption Song:”   “None but ourselves can free our minds.”

Listening to Ayers’ “songs of freedom” is a good place to start.

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