Protest Nation Launches

A crowd of 50 or so gathered in the posh rooftop residence of the Quincy House Masters on Thursday evening to celebrate the release of the book Protest Nation: Words that Inspired a Century of American Radicalism. Guests included undergraduates, alumni, graduate students, and faculty—mostly friends and acquaintances of authors Timothy P. McCarthy, Quincy House tutor and Lecturer on History and Literature, and John C. McMillian, Quincy House tutor.

Protest Nation, released earlier this week, is a collection of speeches, letters, broadsides, essays, and manifestos from all activists who shaped the backbone of America's radical movements and tradition of activism. In the vein of McCarthy and McMillian's previous book, The Radical Reader, the new book focuses on activist movements that challenged the country and changed history.

At the party, McCarthy spoke to guests about the ideas that inspired the book. He said that we should love our country enough to criticize it. "Obama's election represents the symbolic end of the twenty-first century civil rights movement," said McCarthy. He continued, "now it's time for another movement. It's time for us to critique our nation in order to make it better."

Protest Nation is meant to inspire readers to do just that. Rebecca J. Cohen '12, who had McCarthy as an expos preceptor and spent her past two spring breaks on his alternative spring break program, said that the book will inspire anyone interested in advocacy, from civil rights, gay rights, to even environmentalism. "McCarthy is a huge inspirational model. It's great to see his work show on a national level."

Protest Nation, along with McCarthy and McMillian's other books, can be purchased at most national bookstore chains, online, or locally at The Harvard Bookstore.

Photo by Jessie J. Jiang/The Harvard Crimson