Seen, Heard & Woke
PERSPECTIVE: The Baby Boomer generation fought for fundamental rights & liberties. We spoke up & spoke out. Now, we have perspective, experience & wisdom. We still want to be seen, heard & 'woke.'
Today, May 4th, is the anniversary of the 1970 killings at Kent State University by the Ohio National Guard. It is a day that should never be forgotten. It is a day when I cry.
For those too young to have learned of the shootings and those who may have forgotten, this is the background from Wikipedia:
The Kent State shootings (also known as the May 4 massacre and the Kent State massacre) resulted in the killing of four and wounding of nine unarmed college students by the Ohio National Guard, on the Kent State University campus. The shootings took place on May 4, 1970, during a peace rally opposing the expanding involvement of the Vietnam War into Cambodia by United States military forces as well as protesting the National Guard presence on campus. This incident marked the first time a student was killed in an anti-war gathering in United States history.
Twenty-eight National Guard soldiers fired about 67 rounds over 13 seconds, killing four students and wounding nine others, one of whom suffered permanent paralysis. Students Allison Krause, 19, Jeffrey Glenn Miller, 20, and Sandra Lee Scheuer, 20, died on the scene, while William Knox Schroeder, 19, was pronounced dead at Robinson Memorial Hospital in nearby Ravenna shortly afterward.
Krause and Miller were among the more than 300 students who gathered to protest the expansion of the Cambodian campaign, which President Richard Nixon had announced in an April 30 television address. Scheuer and Schroeder were in the crowd of several hundred others who had been observing the proceedings more than 300 feet from the firing line; like most observers, they watched the protest during a break between their classes.
The fatal shootings triggered immediate and massive outrage on campuses around the country. It increased participation in the student strike that began on May 1. Ultimately, more than 4 million students participated in organized walk-outs at hundreds of universities, colleges, and high schools. The shootings and the strike affected public opinion at an already socially contentious time over the role of the United States in the Vietnam War.
I am of that time, a Baby Boomer. I became of age, became engaged and became enraged in the Sixties. I saw a lot. I learned a lot. I know a lot. I still have useful perspectives to share. Even as the issues of the day evolve, I’d like to be seen & heard by the new generations. I think I’m fairly ‘woke.
I haven’t quite gotten used to the insult “Ok, Boomer” by those who have dismissed my lived experiences and acquired wisdom. I usually shrug it off as emanating from someone who is simply not an informed student of recent American history.
Do generations X, Y (Millennials), Z (iGen) & Alpha truly know how the Baby Boomers changed the world for the better? We made mistakes, of course. Every generation does. But what we accomplished in the Sixties is staggering. The culture change was monumental. The progress was significant and important. It should be honored, not derided. We, the Baby Boomers, should be respected. Seen and Heard.
I am more than proud of my generation. We rebelled. We spoke up and spoke out. We fought for freedom from societal restraint. We fought against war and militarism. We fought to protect wildlife and our home planet. We fought for the rights of women, gays, workers, migrants, indigenous people, students - the poor, the ill, the elderly.
These are deep and worthy causes that we helped determine, illuminate, articulate and champion. Do not forget that we took to the streets for liberty & justice. Do not forget the foundations of freedom that we built, that young people now enjoy.
But, now there are new foundations to be built. A new American social infrastructure, if you will. And that national renewal will be driven by young people who are impassioned and skilled and impatient.
Do Baby Boomers have any skills to lend to the construction of an even more fair, just, equitable, inclusive, expansive & prosperous United States of America? I’d say to my young descendants, absolutely, YES!
There are still endangered communities in America. We all know this. And there are new generations of young people taking on new battles. I say this to the youth: If there are Baby Boomers who don’t quite get what you are trying to articulate, trying to foster, trying to shake loose, speak to them with respect and open-mindedness. Don’t be dismissive. Be persuasive.
The descendants of the Baby Boomer generation are wonderfully woke, in the very best sense of that word. They are indeed alert to social & racial injustice.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary: Aware of and actively attentive to important societal facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice).
Cambridge Dictionary: Aware, especially of social problems such as racism and inequality.
Collins Dictionary: Someone who is woke is very aware of social and political unfairness.
Wikipedia: Woke is an adjective derived from African-American Vernacular English (AAVE) meaning "alert to racial prejudice and discrimination."
(To make it quite clear, woke is not defined by right-wing extremists, MAGA Republicans and some radical progressives. They have perverted its meaning and have used the word as a political weapon to actually shut down discourse & debate.)
There is no stopping the evolution of society, the adapting of mores, the advancement of rights, the tolerance of diversity, the acceptance of change. And there is no stopping the harsh reality that there will always be forces working against the advancement of ‘the other.’
So, on this day I remember that sanctioned soldiers of the state raised their weapons of war and gunned down unarmed American students who were legally protesting the immoral actions of their own government. Americans literally took up arms against other Americans, and it turned deadly. In a nation now so heavily armed, it can happen again. Especially when so many are woefully and willfully ignorant.
We now live in the era of misinformation & disinformation. Lies are told intentionally, incessantly & effectively. Power-hungry players are gaming the system for their own malicious ends - distorting it, corrupting it. Norms are falling. Institutions are failing. Governments are faltering. Democracy is weakening.
It is difficult to separate the fake from the real, the falsehoods from the truth. But, we must. There are indeed truth-tellers out there - in science, the media, academia, even government. We must seek them out, point them out and elevate their honest reporting. We must trust them.
Those who seek to sow misinformation want to weaken trust in ethical journalism, in scientific inquiry, in educational challenge, in expert analysis. They are succeeding in replacing truth with ‘belief.’ And they are targeting young, impressionable minds.
My honest belief is that this willful dissemination of disinformation is the greatest danger of my lifetime. And I worry for my children and grandchildren. I’m worried that they are being ‘groomed,’ if you will, to distrust everything they see and hear. I’m worried that they see the structures of society & civilization as inherently unjust.
I’m worried that young minds are being cynically ‘pushed’ & ‘clicked’ & ‘triggered’ & ‘influenced’ & ‘engaged’ into accepting chaos as the norm. I’m really, really worried.
I have deep sympathy and empathy for the young people of this nation. Their classrooms are killing fields. Their schools are battlegrounds of censorship. Their campuses are grounds for intellectual suppression. Their private lives are being invaded by algorithmic greed. Their screens are rife with manipulation. Their explorations of gender fluidity are being attacked, politically & physically. And their planet is dying.
No wonder that they are demanding to be recognized and heeded. When I was a child in the Fifties, the common phrase was that “children should be seen and not heard.” I heard that throughout my entire childhood, as did most all of the children of the Greatest Generation.
The men and women of World War II literally fought and died to save the world from fascism. When they returned home they wanted the ‘American Dream.’ They wanted families and prosperity. They wanted houses and cars. They wanted jobs and communities. They wanted peace and quiet. And, damn it all to hell, their kids grew up and wanted to be seen and heard. Now, the children and grandchildren of the Baby Boomers want to be seen and heard. We should be listening.
I, for one, stand with those who join in rebellion for legitimate social justice. The first virtue children learn is fairness. Every child has known and repeated the phrase: “That’s not fair.” I believe in both individual rights and representative governance. I think both are fair and just when championed by people who are fair and just.
What I won’t stand for are any actions meant to silence thought or speech - whether from the Right or the Left. Every idea has a right to be expressed, even vile ones. Then it can be heard for what it is - analyzed, debated, challenged, amended. Ultimately, it can be embraced or dismissed. Even denigrated. But first, it must be heard.
So, on this tragic anniversary, let’s remember those in every generation who have fought for what is right and just. Let them all be seen and heard.