Chesa Boudin

Chesa Boudin (born August 21, 1980) is an American progressive writer and lecturer, focused on Latin American issues. A Rhodes Scholar, he graduated from Yale Law School in 2011.

Early Life and Family

Chesa Boudin was born in New York, NY, on August 21, 1980. His parents, Kathy Boudin and David Gilbert, were radical anti-war activists and members of the Weather Underground. His mother's family had a long left-wing history. His great-great-uncle was Louis Boudin, a Marxist theorist, lawyer, and author of the acclaimed Government By Judiciary.^[1] His grandfather, attorney Leonard Boudin, had represented such controversial clients as Judith Coplon, Fidel Castro, and Paul Robeson.^[2] Chesa Boudin's great uncle was the famed independent journalist I.F. Stone.^[3] Chesa Boudin's uncle, Michael Boudin, is currently a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.^[4]

When Chesa Boudin was 14 months old, his parents were arrested for their role in the fatal Brinks Robbery (1981) in Rockland County, New York. His mother was sentenced to 20 years to life and his father to 75 years to life. Chesa Boudin was adopted by Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn, and raised as one of their three sons. His mother, Kathy Boudin, was released under parole supervision in 2003.^[5]

Education

Chesa Boudin attended the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools for high school and Yale University for undergrad, where he majored in history. After college he went to Oxford University on a Rhodes Scholarship. At Oxford he earned two masters degrees, one in Forced Migration and the other in Public Policy in Latin America.

Public Life

The front page of the NY Times^[6] profiled Boudin when he won the Rhodes Scholarship in 2002. He has also been interviewed on CNN^[7] and in dozens of newspapers and radio programs. He lectures in English and Spanish at venues across the US and on three continents on topics including the impact of parental incarceration, Latin American politics, community service in universities and US foreign policy. He has contributed to The Nation magazine, and several other periodicals.^[8]

Boudin translated Understanding the Bolivarian Revolution: Hugo Chavez Speaks with Marta Harnecker into English (Monthly Review Press, 2005),^[9] co-edited Letters From Young Activists: Today's Young Rebels Speak Out, (Nation Books, 2005),^[10][11] and co-wrote The Venezuelan Revolution: 100 Questions – 100 Answers (Thunder's Mouth Press, 2006).^[12] His latest book, Gringo: A Coming of Age in Latin America, was released in April 2009 from Scribner, an imprint of Simon & Schuster.^[13] The book received largely negative reviews in several national papers including the New York Times,^[14] the Washington Post,^[15] and the San Francisco Chronicle.^[16] The Times wrote that Boudin's "prose sounds more than anything like a college admissions essay" that "belongs in a yoga magazine, not between hard covers."^[14] The Post called the book a "mind-numbing rant" with "nothing passionate, incandescent or even remotely revelatory."^[15] According to the review, the "typically uninspired" book "reveals a remarkable lack of sophistication, both as an argument against free-market imperialism and as a work of travel journalism."^[15]

References

1. ^ Questia Library
2. ^ Underground Woman
3. ^ I.F. Stone online
4. ^ Federal Judicial Center listings
5. ^ With Bouquet And a Wave, Boudin is Free 22 Years Later
6. ^ From A Radical Background a Rhodes Scholar Emerges
7. ^ Paula Zahn transcript
8. ^ The Nation author bios
9. ^ Monthly Review Press
10. ^ The Nation Books
11. ^ Letters From Young Activists webpage
12. ^ Amazon.com listing
13. ^ Simon and Schuster listing
14. ^ ^{a b} New York Times' review
15. ^ ^{a b c} Washington Post review
16. ^ San Francisco Chronicle Review

External links

• Gringo: A Coming-of-Age in Latin America, by Chesa Boudin A Review by Richard Gonzales, San Francisco Chronicle, April 26, 2009

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Name	Boudin, Chesa
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Date of birth	August 21, 1980
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