Marissa Johnson: Remember the famous chopper in the 1969 movie Easy Rider? An African American man named Benjamin “Ben” Hardy built that.
Often, Cliff Vaughs gets credit for building the chopper. He is also an African American man, but his role was to be in charge of obtaining the motorcycles and hiring the labor to work on the motorcycles. Vaughs was a civil rights activist and a member of SNCC (the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee), aka "Snick".
So, it is not a surprise that he would recognize the talent of a fellow African American man and hire him to build the iconic “chopper.”
Sometimes, Ben Haggerty, a white man, gets the credit for building the chopper, but he was simply the man who repaired the chopper and often was the bike’s handler. Plus, Cliff Vaughs and his crew were fired and replaced early on during the production of the film.
Cliff Vaughs worked for a news outlet when Peter Fonda, the film’s star who rode the Captain America chopper, was arrested for “pot.” Vaughs was covering the story. He met Fonda, told him about his passion for “chopper” building, and told him he could be found on any given day in his back yard working on bikes. Fonda visited his home when he was released from prison, and Vaughs was put in charge of obtaining the bikes for the film.
Surprisingly, the Easy Rider bike was made from a two decades old up-cycled Harley Davidson. It, and the other choppers from the movie, were bought at a police auction. The movie is credited with making choppers popular across the world in Russia and in Asia.
The chopper’s true creator, Ben Hardy, died in 1994 before he’d gotten the credit he deserved. Nevertheless, the bike was auctioned off and was estimated to be worth between 1 million and 1.2 million dollars. Also, it is the only surviving authentic chopper from the movie as the three other choppers were stolen before the film’s release.
"Cliff Vaughs was a civil rights activist and a member of SNCC (the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee)", aka Snick. Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, speaking in Harare in July 2015, drew on historical references to highlight parallels between the civil rights struggles of African Americans in the US and the fight for independence in African countries. In this powerful address he mentioned legends such as Kwame Nkrumah a.k.a. Stokely Carmichael, SNCC leader, noting that the work of early pioneers of Pan-Africanism, all based abroad, had become precious African history. He expanded on this by quoting Jamaican Pan-Africanist, Marcus Garvey.
Easy and (SN-)CC Rider - Easy To Lose Your Shoes
33.9 per cent said that they had been born in the Dominican Republic. 8.2 per cent said that they had been registered in the Dominican PNRE(certified by DR government as not to be deported)...some deported BY ***CIVILIANS***!!!
From 16th June to 3rd July 2015, IOM monitoring teams were present at nine different border crossing points along the Haiti-DR border. IOM field teams interviewed 1,133 individuals, corresponding to 349 households, who had crossed the border under varying conditions.
408 persons (or 36.0 per cent) said that they had been deported by different entities, including the military, police, immigration officials and ***CIVILIANS***!!!
Approximately half of those assessed (579 persons or 51.1 per cent) said that they were born in Haiti, while 380 persons or 33.9 per cent said that they had been born in the Dominican Republic. 93 individuals (or 8.2 per cent) said that they had been registered(certified by DR government as not to be deported) in the Dominican PNRE.
40,000 supposedly left voluntarily, but, why then did they not have their shoes, or any other belongings?--consistent with being involuntarily deported by civilian vigilantes with considerable HAZING--
If We Must Die BY CLAUDE MCKAY, September 15, 1889 – 22 May 22, 1948
If we must die, let it not be like hogs
Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot,
While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs,
Making their mock at our accursèd lot.
If we must die, O let us nobly die,
So that our precious blood may not be shed
In vain; then even the monsters we defy
Shall be constrained to honor us though dead!
O kinsmen! we must meet the common foe!
Though far outnumbered let us show us brave,
And for their thousand blows deal one death-blow!
What though before us lies the open grave?
Like men we’ll face the murderous, cowardly pack,
Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back!
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