Looking around UCLA, protesters and dissidents fill the campus.
However, it’s often easy to forget the people who fought for
their beliefs on the same soil generations ago.
Dorothy Jones, a UCLA 1959 alumna, recaps her days as a radical
during the McCarthy era in her second novel, “When Shadows
Fell.” Beginning Saturday, she will be in Los Angeles doing
signings and readings.
Jones considers herself someone who always speaks her mind and
doesn’t conform to the ideas of the masses.
Recalling her youthful days with nostalgia in her voice, Jones
remembers listening to her father (a capitalist) and her uncle (a
socialist), argue about political issues. Because of this exposure,
Jones said she started becoming involved in politics at the young
age of 10.
“My big step was a test in my Sunday school confirmation
class,” Jones said. “The question was “˜What is
God?’ and I knew they wanted me to spit out what they said,
but instead I wrote, “˜God is an Opium of the masses’
““ they expelled me.”
From then on, Jones was an avid political activist. Her
political arenas ““ ranging from communism to feminism to
peace movements ““ have opened her eyes to an array of
perspectives on today’s society. She has learned you
can’t change the whole world all at once, but you can make a
difference ““ little by little, movement by movement.
“During the 1950s and the age of McCarthyism, I saw
people’s civil liberties rolled over in the name of national
security and witnessed the intimidation and fear spread like
wildfire ““ I decided then to make a difference,” Jones
said. “I joined the Communist Party, which, back then was
viewed as the youthful way of dissent, hoping to make a change in
the world.”
Jones left the party after being disillusioned by
Khrushchev’s revelations about Stalin’s brutality and
the Soviet Party’s subsequent silence. But her spirits
remained strong and she continued her political advancements.
Now, many years later, Jones’ second novel acts as a means
of expressing her true feelings regarding the McCarthy era. The
novel recounts the main character’s struggle to express
herself and build a relationship with her family during the Red
Scare and McCarthyism ““ something closely related to
Jones’ real-life experiences.
“I wrote about an intense experience in my life when the
FBI stormed my house because of my political stance, threatened my
life and terrified my children ““ I wanted to show the real
experience of the terror of McCarthyism,” Jones said.
“When Shadows Fell” was published at an opportune
time. According to Jones, it’s important for people to learn
how history repeats itself. In the aftermath of Sept. 11. 2001,
when people are sometimes afraid to express their beliefs, this
novel paints a situation doused in the colors of fear and silence
that describes numerous book burnings and victimization that
occurred during McCarthyism and continue today.
“People, especially youngsters, need to realize that they
can’t walk around being afraid of what people might do to
them because of what they say,” Jones said.
Jones will be at the Southern California Library for Social
Studies and Research, 6120 S. Vermont, on Nov. 2 at 2 p.m. and at
the Midnight Special Bookstore, 1318 3rd St. Promenade, Santa
Monica, on Nov. 6 at 7:30 p.m. for “When Shadows
Fell”