Since the May 4 shootings, Kent State alumnus Alan Canfora has become what he calls “a lifelong May 4 activist, student organizer and political activist” who promotes positive social change.
Mr.Canfora was the May 4 student-protester who waved a black flag in the iconic images taken just before the National Guard shootings that killed four students and wounded nine. Mr. Canfora did not escape harm that tragic day – he was 225 feet from the National Guard and a bullet tore through his right wrist as he knelt behind a tree.
“At Kent State University on May 4, 1970, until a bullet pierced my right wrist, I waved my black flag of despair and anger only 10 days after I attended the funeral of my childhood friend who was killed in the Vietnam War,” Mr. Canfora says on his website. His website includes a compilation of pictures, quotes, articles and other resources about the May 4 incident.
However, since the tragedy, Mr. Canfora has provided education to the public about the events of May 4 and other topics such as, student activism and peaceful conflict resolution.
Mr. Canfora went on to graduate from Kent State earning a Bachelor’s degree in general studies and a Master’s degree in Library Science. While pursuing his graduate studies, he was a founding member of the May 4 Task Force student organization.
He is the director of the Kent May 4 Center, a non-profit educational organization described on its website as “the leading national & international organization seeking truth & justice regarding the Kent State massacre of May 4, 1970.”
Mr. Canfora is director of the Akron Law Library at Summit County Courthouse.