“ALL WE ARE SAYING”
"This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it, or their revolutionary right to dismember or overthrow it."
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
In 1979, along with two close friends, I staggered out of the movie theater. We had just watched “The Deer Hunter”. No one spoke. We proceeded to a café. Gently, we found words. “At least this is an anti-war movie.” My friend Robert had been to war. “No, it isn’t. This movie stirs up young men.”
John Simon, film critic, agreed: "For all its pretentions to something newer and better, this film is only an extension of the old Hollywood war-movie lie.” Robert shared a personal war story and then lamented: “These films fuel men to blindly accept military commands.“
Only fifteen years before “The Deer Hunter,” Americans were on their knees in prayer. Across America, the response was instantaneous: “NO” to war. By 1970 some 4 million students protested the National Guard’s killing of Kent State students. Over 900 American universities and colleges closed during the subsequent student strikes. 40 per cent of the American population participated in the anti-war movement.
Chants rang out: “Hell no! We won’t go! We don’t want your stupid war!” “All we are saying is give peace a chance.” When we marched, we KNEW we had a VOICE. We knew that America needed one: “All we are saying is give peace a chance.”
In 1974, Holly Near belted out “It Could Have Been Me” to a packed auditorium. The audience was stunned, hushed. Teardrops fell. We sat remembering. We sat in hope, a trembling hope, but hope enduring. Peace was still the answer. http://youtu.be/CadP4dRemYk
It was a long moment in America’s history, but it came down to simple equations.
There are Americans who believed in going to war. They believed in Government calling the shots. Overnight, a flowering force of Americans sprung up saying, “We WILL NOT go.” WE do not believe in governments who send their children to die in war.
It was a time of voting with your conscience. It was being a part of something noble that did not hang back. It was a moment of taking a stand...standing for something bigger than our personal lives. It was being at risk for a better world. It was the quintessential ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITY.
This organization was made up of The Civil Rights Movement: universities and colleges, parents, those sickened by war, flower children, The Women’s Movement, doctors, lawyers, clergy, Quakers, Mennonites, Amish, administrators, meditators, Yogis, journalists, artists and musicians.
The media broadcasted the war AND America’s discontent. Everyone was on stage. Protesters were being graded. A force drove those seeking peace. It was more powerful than any division. We stood as ONE FORCE. WE made a difference.
This moment took root. New life grew. Where were you, dear Reader? How did this TRANSFORMATION impact YOUR life?
3 comments:
Ashok said:
Karla nice thought provoking blog once again. Perhaps there are really two issues in all this. The first is our own attitudes to violence as individuals. As I had mentioned elsewhere evolution does mean we discard such tendencies and move away from them. The second issue here is what governments decide and push people into and that seems to be a whole new ball game. Many a times the attitude of governments is not in synch with those of the people. Yet, there are occasions when violence has to be employed and perhaps required, that is for self defense and protection of the vulnerable. Perhaps it is is this latter justifications that governments can at times distort or use as a pretext for unleashing was even though the intention may be something different, perhaps even as vile as helping an arms industry sell their products.
Thanks, Ashok. Would you when you have a moment repost your comment. I copied it herein. (Computer glitch. Mine likely.)
Thanks for your clear reflections. Yes as Gandhi said we each need be the peace we want to see.. the change we want to see. Sooo, it is not governments or institutions that can create it, just the individuals, there and here, like you and me who will stand for LOVE AND PEACE.
thanks so much!
Post a Comment