Everybody look what's going down
 

Most of ya'll weren't around during the 1960s. But I was.

I was a teenager. I remember it as one of the most turbulent times in American history. Every night while our family would eat supper we'd watch the NBC Nightly News on tv. And every night we'd see news reports of the Viet Nam war and the daily updates of the number of American soldiers killed.

Presidents Johnson and Nixon both esculated the war as Americans became increasingly frustrated.

The streets became filled with huge anti-war protests as well as thousands of African Americans and women protesting in the streets for equal rights.

Some African Americans eventually became so frustrated with hate and racism that riots broke out all across the counrty. One-hundred fifty cities saw rioting and looting including my own home town. The riots in Detroit were the worst with 43 dead and 7,000 arrested. Thousands of homes and businesses were burned.

Many of the anti-war protests became violent and hundreds were beaten and arrested. During an anti-war protest at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago Americans watched on tv as police clubbed hundreds of protesters and dragged them off to jail.

By 1973 things had settled down and the Viet Nam war finally ended. African Americans and women eventually got equal rights. The 70s and 80s and 90s were quiet in comparison. I never thought I'd ever see times like the 60s again.

Until now.

In 2006 we've got anti-war protesters against the war in Iraq and W Bush is the pro-war president in the whitehouse. And the street protesters are gays and immigrants demanding a chance for the American dream.

Today ( April 29 ) there is a massive anti-war demonstration in New York City where thousands have taken to the streets to bring an end to the war in Iraq. On Monday thousands more will march all across America in support of immigration rights.

There's talk of a demonstration by gay rights activists at the Republican national convention and plans for another national March on Washington in 2008 for GLBT rights. And there was the SoulForce Equality Riders tour this Spring and the non-violent march and vigil planned by Soulforce in Colorado Springs in July.

The tension in America today is not yet what it was in the Sixties but it could be slowly approaching that. People are back in the streets demanding change. Hopefully this time cool heads will prevail and change will come without violence.

These times remind me of that Sixties song by Buffalo Springfield called
"For What It's Worth". The lyrics written in 1966 are of a growing unrest in America. The words "There's a man with a gun over there" refer to the soldiers in Viet Nam. The other words are obvious. These lyrics could have easily been written in 2006:

For What It's Worth - Bullalo Springfield 1966

There's something happening here
What it is ain't exactly clear
There's a man with a gun over there
Telling me I got to beware

I think it's time we stop, children, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down

There's battle lines being drawn
Nobody's right if everybody's wrong
Young people speaking their minds
Getting so much resistance from behind

I think it's time we stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down

What a field-day for the heat
A thousand people in the street
Singing songs and carrying signs
Mostly say, hooray for our side

It's time we stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down

Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep
It starts when you're always afraid
You step out of line, the man come and take you away

We better stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Stop, now, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Stop, children, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down

You're right about this Rick.... I definately wasn't around in the 60's, I'm 15, but I did know the song... I didn't realize that that's what the song was about, but I've always liked it.:D

definitely!
 

I think it's weird how we're fighting the same battles our parents fought, but over different topics, and sometimes our parents are some of our toughest opponents!!

Growing up in the sixties, one might expect our parents to be able to understand better.

To a certain extent, I think this is one thing that will always cycle back - the people cry out and protest when things are going really wrong.

Well and,
 

My parents were young adults in the 60s also, and what I gather from conversations with other people who were was that they learned their efforts were futile. Every time a leader emerged who was capable of effecting real change that the young, progressive people wanted, that leader was murdered. Some significant good came out of that decade, but so did a very organized backlash from the (speaking VERY loosely here) rich white male power structure, and those invested in maintaining it.

They tell me that subsequent generations were taught NOT to speak out, to be good little citizens and not follow in their parents rabble-rousing footsteps. Activist is a dirty word. I've had to get over feeling like I'm being a bad person when I go to rallies, phone my legislators, etc. Some of the folks who were involved in the equality movements in the 60s and/or 70s changed tracks later. My mom for instance, when the ERA failed to pass, dropped out of NOW and the ACLU, blamed "the homosexuals," and turned conservative. No, I can't explain her reasoning, but that IS what she did and when.

So to some extent we are dealing with backlash, and to some extent we are dealing with resignation from those whose experience taught that things in fact, do NOT change (much or at all) despite their efforts.

The Sixties
 

A few monthes ago while channel surfing, I caught a new documentary on PBS called The Sixties. The film was half over, but I watched the last hour and then ordered it on DVD. We have since watched it in our Soulforce local group to try and learn from the events you mentioned, Rick336.

It covers all the major events and then some. It should be required viewing for activists today that didn't live through that time. The footage in the film stirred lots of emotions in me. I was inspired by the civil-rights and peace activists and furious at the violence that claimed so many lives, including MLK Jr. and two Democratic leaders (one president, one candidate). I was also disgusted at the recklessness of some and amazed at the courage of others.

When the 120 minutes was over and the Sixties was ejected and the 2006 news was turned on, there was a suddenly an eerie sense of repetitiveness in the air. I thought about that for a long time afterward.

The Sixties (DVD)

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0...CLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

Why are we going in circles? You would think that people would learn the first time.:rolleyes:

Memorized this years ago...
 

C.S. Lewis--letter To Dom Bede Griffiths. 8 May 1939.
* * *
"The process of living seems to consist in coming to realize truths so ancient and simple that, if stated, they sound like barren platitudes. They cannot sound otherwise to those who have not had the relevant experience: that is why there is no real teaching of such truths possible and every generation starts from scratch."

(I, of course, had to look it up on the Web, cuz I couldn't remember it all, but the impact of that phrase when I first read it has stuck with me. Found it here.

I guess that's true... it seems like everyone has to try things and see for themselves even if they've already been told that it's a bad idea:(

Thanks for that quote, Dash, and so true. It seems so repetitive Jen, why we all have to learn what has been shown to be true long before us. But, we all view the world through our own personal lens, which means we need to view the situation from our own perspective, I think, even before we realize that we have something that we need to learn, or, unlearn, as the case may be. Vanessa :love: