Bill Ayers facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Bill Ayers
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Ayers in 2012
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William Charles Ayers
December 26, 1944 Glen Ellyn, Illinois, U.S.
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| Education | University of Michigan (BA) Bank Street College of Education (MEd) Columbia University (MEd, EdD) |
| Known for | Founder of the Weather Underground Urban educational reform |
| Spouse(s) | Bernardine Dohrn |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Education |
| Institutions | University of Illinois at Chicago |
William Charles Ayers (born December 26, 1944) is an American retired professor. He was once involved with a group called the Weather Underground. In 1969, Ayers helped start this group. They wanted to change the United States government because they felt it was involved in American imperialism.
During the 1960s and 1970s, the Weather Underground used bombings against public buildings. They did this to protest the Vietnam War. These bombings mostly caused property damage. No one was killed, except for three group members when one of their bombs accidentally exploded. The FBI called the Weather Underground a domestic terrorist group. Ayers was a fugitive for several years. The charges against him were later dropped because FBI agents had acted illegally while trying to catch him.
After this, Ayers became a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He taught in the College of Education. During the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign, some people talked about his past connections with Barack Obama. Ayers is married to Bernardine Dohrn, who was also a leader in the Weather Underground.
Contents
Growing Up and Early Activism
Ayers grew up in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, a suburb near Chicago. He went to public schools for a while. Then he transferred to Lake Forest Academy, a private prep school. In 1968, he earned a degree in American Studies from the University of Michigan.
Joining Student Groups
In 1965, Ayers attended a meeting against the Vietnam War. There, a student leader asked, "How will you live your life so that it doesn't make a mockery of your values?" Ayers later wrote that he felt he had to act. He believed that doing nothing was wrong.
He joined a protest against a restaurant that would not serve African Americans. He was arrested for the first time for a sit-in at a local draft office. This led to ten days in jail. Soon after, he started teaching at a small preschool. The school was part of the "free school movement." These schools had no grades and focused on cooperation. Ayers became the director of the school at age 21. There, he met Diana Oughton. She became his girlfriend and later died in 1970 when a bomb exploded.
Ayers became involved with the New Left and the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). He became a national leader in SDS in 1968 and 1969. He led a group called the "Jesse James Gang."
The Weather Underground Years
The group Ayers led in Detroit, Michigan, was one of the first parts of what became the Weathermen. In June 1969, the Weathermen took control of the SDS at their national meeting. Ayers was chosen as Education Secretary.
Why the Group Formed
The Weathermen decided to start a violent fight against the government. They planned bombings and robberies. They wanted to create secret groups in big cities. An FBI informant named Larry Grathwohl said that Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn had the most power in the Weathermen.
In 1969, Ayers helped plant a bomb at a statue in Chicago. The statue honored police officers who died in the 1886 Haymarket affair. The blast broke many windows. The statue was rebuilt but bombed again later by other Weathermen.
Life as a Fugitive
In 1970, a bomb exploded in a house in Greenwich Village. Ayers's girlfriend, Diana Oughton, and two other members were killed. They were building bombs for an event at Fort Dix. After this, Ayers and others avoided being caught by the police. Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn got married while they were fugitives. They kept changing their names, jobs, and places to live.
Ayers said in his 2001 book, Fugitive Days, that he took part in bombings. These included the New York City Police Department headquarters in 1970, the United States Capitol building in 1971, and the Pentagon in 1972.
In 1973, Ayers helped write a book called Prairie Fire. It was dedicated to many people, including Harriet Tubman and John Brown. It also included Sirhan Sirhan, who was convicted of killing Robert F. Kennedy.
Later, it was found that the FBI had used illegal methods against the Weather Underground. These methods included wiretaps and searches without warrants. Because of this, the government dropped many charges against the Weather Underground members, including Ayers. However, some state charges against Dohrn remained. She turned herself in in 1980 and received a fine and probation.
Looking Back at the Past
What He Said Then and Now
In 2001, Ayers published his book, Fugitive Days: A Memoir. He said it was his personal memories, not a research project. Some people have questioned how accurate or fair the book was.
A controversy started from an interview Ayers gave in 2001. The reporter quoted him as saying, "I don't regret setting bombs" and "I feel we didn't do enough." Ayers later said these quotes were taken out of context. He explained that when he said "no regrets" and "didn't do enough," he meant his efforts to stop the Vietnam War were not enough. He did not mean he wished they had set more bombs.
In 2008, Ayers told The New Yorker that he never meant to suggest more violence. He said he was never responsible for hurting people. He stated, "We killed no one and hurt no one. Three of our people killed themselves." He also said their actions were "extreme radicalism against property."
Ayers has said he condemns all forms of terrorism. He also condemned the September 11 terrorist attacks. In 2004, he was asked if he would do it again. He replied that he had many regrets in life. But he didn't think what they did was "horrendous." He felt they were responding to a terrible situation.
A Career in Education
Ayers is a retired professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He focused on teaching for social justice and improving schools in cities. He also studied children who get into trouble with the law.
He started teaching at the Children's Community School while in college. After his time with the Weather Underground, he earned several master's degrees and a doctorate in education.
Teaching and Writing
In 2008, Ayers was elected vice president for curriculum studies by the American Educational Research Association. Another professor, William H. Schubert, said this showed how respected Ayers was in education.
Ayers has written and edited many books and articles about education. His book To Teach: The Journey of A Teacher won awards in 1993 and 1995. He retired from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2010.
Awards and Challenges
On September 23, 2010, the University of Illinois denied Ayers the honorary title of "professor emeritus." This decision was made after a speech by the board chairman, Christopher G. Kennedy. Kennedy said he voted against it because Ayers's book Prairie Fire was dedicated in part to Sirhan Sirhan. Sirhan Sirhan was convicted of murdering Kennedy's father, Robert F. Kennedy. Ayers denied dedicating the book to Sirhan Sirhan. He said it was a rumor started by others.
Public Life and Beliefs
Helping Schools in Chicago
Ayers worked with Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley to improve the city's schools. He helped write a proposal that won $49.2 million for public school reform in 1995. In 1997, Chicago gave him the Citizen of the Year award for this work. Since 1999, he has been on the board of the Woods Fund of Chicago. This foundation helps fight poverty. A columnist named Thomas Frank praised Ayers as a "model citizen" and a respected scholar.
Sometimes, Ayers's past still affects him. In 2006, he said he was asked not to attend a conference because organizers didn't want to be linked to his past. In 2009, he was not allowed into Canada. He was going to speak about education reform. He said he had traveled to Canada many times before. The border agent said he had a felony conviction from 1969, but Ayers says he only had misdemeanor arrests, not felonies.
His Political Ideas
In a 1995 interview, Ayers described his political beliefs. He called himself a "radical, Leftist, small 'c' communist." He said he was never part of the official Communist Party. He said the ideas of communism still appealed to him.
The Weathermen group wanted to destroy "US imperialism" and create a "classless world: world communism." Larry Grathwohl, an FBI agent who was undercover in the Weather Underground, said Ayers told him where to plant bombs. Grathwohl said Ayers wanted to overthrow the government. Ayers responded that he destroyed government property but did not hurt or kill people.
In 2013, Ayers said that every president in this century should be tried for war crimes. This included President Obama for using drone attacks, which Ayers sees as an act of terror.
Family Life
Ayers is married to Bernardine Dohrn. She was also a leader in the Weather Underground. They have two adult children, Zayd and Malik. They also had legal guardianship of Chesa Boudin. Chesa's parents were former Weather Underground members who were later convicted of murder for their roles in a robbery. Chesa Boudin later became the District Attorney of San Francisco. Ayers and Dohrn live in Chicago. Their son Zayd is married to actress Rachel DeWoskin. He teaches at Northwestern University.
Books by Bill Ayers
- Education: An American Problem. Bill Ayers, Radical Education Project, 1968
- Hot town: Summer in the City: I ain't gonna work on Maggie's farm no more, Bill Ayers, Students for a Democratic Society, 1969
- Prairie Fire: The Politics of Revolutionary Anti-Imperialism, Bernardine Dohrn, Jeff Jones, Billy Ayers, Celia Sojourn, Communications Co., 1974
- The Good Preschool Teacher: Six Teachers Reflect on Their Lives, William Ayers, Teachers College Press, 1989
- To Teach: The Journey of a Teacher, William Ayers, Teachers College Press, 1993
- To Become a Teacher: Making a Difference in Children's Lives, William Ayers, Teachers College Press, 1995
- City Kids, City Teachers: Reports from the Front Row, William Ayers (Editor) and Patricia Ford (Editor), The New Press, 1996
- A Kind and Just Parent, William Ayers, Beacon Press, 1997
- A Light in Dark Times: Maxine Greene and the Unfinished Conversation, Maxine Greene (Editor), William Ayers (Editor), Janet L. Miller (Editor), Teachers College Press, 1998
- Teaching for Social Justice: A Democracy and Education Reader, William Ayers (Editor), Jean Ann Hunt (Editor), Therese Quinn (Editor), 1998
- Teacher Lore: Learning from Our Own Experience, William H. Schubert (editor) and William C. Ayers (editor), Educator's International Press, 1999
- Teaching from the Inside Out: The Eight-Fold Path to Creative Teaching and Living, Sue Sommers (author), William Ayers (Foreword), Authority Press, 2000
- A Simple Justice: The Challenge of Small Schools, William Ayers, Teachers College Press, 2000
- Zero Tolerance: Resisting the Drive for Punishment, William Ayers (editor), Rick Ayers (editor), Bernardine Dohrn (editor), Jesse L. Jackson (author), The New Press, 2001
- A School of Our Own: Parents, Power, and Community at the East Harlem Block Schools, Tom Roderick (author), William Ayers (author), Teachers College Press, 2001
- Refusing Racism: White Allies and the Struggle for Civil Rights, Cynthia Stokes Brown (author), William Ayers (editor), Therese Quinn (editor), Teachers College Press, 2002
- On the Side of the Child: Summerhill Revisited, William Ayers, Teachers College Press, 2003
- Fugitive Days: A Memoir, Bill Ayers, Beacon Press, 2001
- Teaching the Personal and the Political: Essays on Hope and Justice, William Ayers, Teachers College Press, 2004
- Teaching Toward Freedom: Moral Commitment and Ethical Action in the Classroom, William Ayers, Beacon Press, 2004
- Sing a Battle Song: The Revolutionary Poetry, Statements, and Communiques of the Weather Underground 1970-1974, Bernardine Dohrn, Bill Ayers, and Jeff Jones, Seven Stories Press, 2006.
- Handbook of Social Justice in Education, William C. Ayers, Routledge, June 2008
- City Kids, City Schools: More Reports from the Front Row, Ruby Dee (Foreword), Jeff Chang (Afterword), William Ayers (editor), Billings, Gloria Ladson (editor), Gregory Michie (editor), Pedro Noguera (editor), The New Press, August 2008
- To Teach: the journey, in comics, William Ayers and Ryan Alexander-Tanner, Jonathan Kozol(Foreword), Teachers College Press, 2010
- Public Enemy. Confessions of an American Dissident, Bill Ayers, Beacon Press, 2013
- Demand The Impossible: A Radical Manifesto, William Ayers, Haymarket Books, 2016
- "You Can't Fire the Bad Ones!": And 18 Other Myths about Teachers, Teachers Unions, and Public Education, William Ayers, Crystal Laura, Rick Ayers, Beacon Press, 2018
See also
In Spanish: Bill Ayers para niños
