Lately the 60s have been back. Primary debate questions about Bill Ayers (thanks Hillary). 'Black panthers' at Philadelphia polling stations (Fox News got me all excited, but they stayed away from Moore College of Art where I was stationed--apparently art students are not the vanguard of the revolution). Older friends and relatives wishing that RFK was alive to hear our new president's words on election night. We even have an Alinsky-trained president!

Okay, so it is not the 1960s, it's 2008. But clearly there are a lot of battles still to fight. And David Kairys has a lot to teach us about battles old and new.

If you haven't yet, get the Camden 28 documentary from TLA or Netflix. It starts out slow, but when you get to the part where Kairys has the entire Vietnam war on trial, it's a beautiful and crazy thing to see. Howard Zinn testifies about the role of citizen dissent in the American polity. A slide show indicts inner city disinvestment at a time where American money and lives were being bled overseas. And when the mother of one protestor, who lost her other son in Vietnam, testifies about her stance on the war, it is electric and maybe the most moving thing I have ever seen on film.

David Kairys talks TONIGHT, November 10, at 6 pm.

Robin's Bookstore is at 108 S. 13th Street, by 13th and Sansom.