Lisa Kalvelage is a German immigrant from Nuremberg who moved to the United States when she was 22, just after theSecond World War. Upon her arrival, she was repeatedly asked what her parents, friends, and teachers had done tostop the atrocities of the Nazi regime. The questioning had an effect on her: when she began to see atrocities beingcommitted again, this time during the Vietnam War, she took action. She and her friends engaged in civildisobedience to try to stop a shipment of napalm and to raise consciousness about the issue.
Her story inspired the folksinger Pete Seeger to write a song about her, and Ani DiFranco to sing a cover of thatsong.
Guest:
- Lisa Kalvelage, anti-Vietnam war activist. Kalvelage is now 78 and lives in San Jose, CA.
Related Story
StorySep 11, 2025“Moment of Great Peril”: Jeff Sharlet on Killing of Charlie Kirk & Rising Political Violence in U.S.The original content of this program is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Please attribute legal copies of this work to democracynow.org. Some of the work(s) that this program incorporates, however, may be separately licensed. For further information or additional permissions, contact us.
Top
Media Options