Having been a teenager in the sixties, I have always felt lucky to have been a part of it. Even in a small Missouri Ozark town. Just because we were miles from the city, that did not prevent us from "knowing" what was "happenin" all over the United States. Because we were a tourist town, and really a "boom" town on our own back then. I am talking the years of 1962-1973. It was wonderful, tragic, open, brave, and some times, some of it was illegal. But think about the Prohibition Era. This time was our "Prohibition Era" to me, and here are some of the stand out situations, and real movements that changed the world as far as I am concerned. They say the country was divided then, I say that some feared change, and that the youth of this country somehow knew we had to go forward, and sometimes politics and very important leader's in this country, went along with what we were saying.
One of my favorite movements, was the birth of the Women's Movement. To me it was the completion, of what was started during the time, of the ladies who fought to bring the vote to women. Putting their foot down, validating our ability to understand politics, have a say in what affected our children, and demanding equality in the workplace. Off came the bra's, the make-up, out came the falsies, and off with sensible shoes, and boring clothes, just to "belong" to that "Group". The acceptably dressed, that knew how to appear, to dress for success and it you did not conform, your advancement was out the window. And at that time, if you did not follow the accepted position women were given in society, and in the home, you were given a pretty nasty name, of some sort. I was pretty young then, and a large part of my participation was involvement in other scenario's, but I knew these "break-a-way" radical women and young girls, were opening the doors, and paving the way for all of us "ladies" of the future. For our future. Demanding ,that the intelligence we had, to be cseen as the "great woman behind the great man," was a stereotype, and we should be seen for ourselves. Not standing in the shadow of a man, or the notion we had to adhere to the old ways of the role of women in the world. It was the struggle to be acknowledged as equals, except in the physical sense, and some could even do that. I heard recently, that women are still paid two cents less than men for the same job. It has been a long haul, and tough climb for women, but look where we are now. In every field you can think of, great success stories, and more to come, and the "movement" goes on. Think about it, without that demand, do you think Hillary would be running for the most esteemed and important job in the United States? Those ladies did a great service to the women, mothers, and all females of our century. It is a credit to what women can do, when united for good, and all the slurs that describe us, jealous, spiteful, bitchy, spoiled , all of those, have been replaced, with competent, intelligent, capable, strong, and progressive. We are no longer tied up in the apron,. Or eye candy, or totally dependant on the success of our man, or any man. God bless those ladies.We now freely contribute to the world, just as men, and many wonderful accomplishments have come about.
My next most memorable movement that changed the world, was the Civil Rights Movement. Being a resident of the near South,this had to be for me, one of the most important changes, and one that carried the highest price for many a youth back in those days.. What an explosive situation it was. As the youth, and college age young men and women finally could no longer sit in churches, or know that their parents did, while other human beings were going thru the hell that they did.. Many united to stop the unfairness,, the inhumane practices of justice. In our lifetime that battle still wages, and their are many that remember the KKK activities, the vicious murders and beatings, on both sides, again, a battle for equality. We saw the Black Panther's emerge. And those who had been involved in perpetuating this evil, where afraid. This time, basic human rights were on the line, in the open, and many demanded to know why this archaic and inhumane way of treatment to an entire race, exsisted in our world. We did not want it. And those of us who became involved, in truly practicing what we had learned, in the schools and churches our parents sent us to, suffered in many ways. This battle also still goes on. It has remained three steps forward, and two back. I often wonder what the main difference in our children might be, as they do not work for the unity in the America I saw back then, it was beautiful and many still fight hard. And many still suffer, and a lot of the work is done quietly, and out of public view. This is a sad testimony, to the prove the "fear factor" that resides in the hearts of those who really have no reason to believe change would harm them.
Another powerful emergence that defined a genration, in my humble opinion, was our music. We played it loud and proud, and we believed in our lyrics, and really listened to those we were in disagreement with, or happily whole heartedly did. That is one movement that has carried over to this day, basically untouched, and progressing all the time. The music industry has grown and still is a vehicle for youth to express their opinions, their feelings, and their hopes. They do this. and get their personal messages across about War, Love, Hate, Crime, Sex, Drugs, Politics, Parents, Authority, our own behavior, everything in their lives, that they can no longer congregate and discuss in public, things are different, and after the Chicago Police Riots, and the fact that several movements across this country have been put down, it has removed the spirit that we once had, to unite, and be heard. The joy of being together and speaking out,, and if no one would listen, we had each other. That is no longer seen too often, unless it is at a concert, sharing the love for a form of expression, that thankfully has flourished. It's still Rock n Roll to me, even now, and I am 58 years young.
There were many situations, the birth of many new ways to think and belong, and if I could I would tell you what I think. But you have asked for three, and these are the upshot of that request. I hope I have given the postitve side of a few movements here, and as it is not in my article, I hope the negative is forgotten, to some extent. I believe that is called taking the best, and leaving the rest behind. Something I still pray that is still the Creed, of those times and now, of young intelligent and thinking adults and our up and coming youth, the future for many of us, and something America is, and should be famous for, forever. Ellen B
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Comments: 19
If you have no idea what the war is about then why are you supporting it?
Why can't I choose any career that I want?
Why can't black people go to the same schools as white people?
The times were a-changin
I agree about the Civil Rights movement, not to ever be confused with my reading room movement, and about the music. The creative variety was astounding. My third would be going to the moon. No not that done by some hear on Earth, but up in the sky where you can watch a UFO. The moon mission sparked an outburst of new technology that is still growing.
Harry Chapin's wonderful song, "Remember When the Music" restates your third point.
Civil Rights was also crucial: America was already a global empire, inevitably to become "the" global empire, and not to recognize the intrinsically equal worth of every human is to poison any global undertaking. (We still need to get off the "empire" track and come up with something more worthy of human beings.)
And yes, the music, which for me was Bob Dylan, the Beatles, and Leonard Bernstein conducting the "obscure and difficult" symphonies of Gustav Mahler -- the first time they were all recorded, and done with passion, confidence and joy.