History is Not Only About the Past

Have any of you noticed how history keeps happening every day? This was the premise of my book, Looking Back: Boomers Remember History, which noted many of the historical moments that have happened during the timespan from the 40s to the present. Of course, it couldn't cover every historical moment, but it does cover the important history-making events that 19 writers and I remember most vividly. We lived through it, we remember it, and we think it's important that those who weren't alive then understand the effect it had on our lives and theirs.

The most important point is that this book covers history as seen through the eyes of those who lived through it.

Lately, it seems that the most reported news emphasizes celebrities dying over true, important historical facts. Of course, the death of any person is important, but is it really newsworthy or will it make history?

We recently celebrated the anniversary of the Berlin Wall falling, when families in East and West Germany were finally reunited after being separated by a wall that the Communists built after World War II to keep their people from escaping to freedom. Lesson from history: if a country has to construct a wall to keep its people in, or to keep news from the outside world from filtering in, then something is terribly wrong. This was one wrong in our lifetime that was finally righted in our lifetime.

There are many lessons to be learned from history, but first we must all know what our history is. We can't ignorantly and blindly exist without concern for what has gone on before and what is happening now. It all matters!

If you haven't picked up a good historical non-fiction book lately, there's no time like the present to do it. I recommend my own book, of course, if you want to know the emotional toll some events in history have taken on the writers who penned their stories so eloquently. Or if you like a history book that is strictly facts full of dates, names and places, there are many such books in your local library.

And yes, I know how boring history lessons in school were to most of us. At the time we hadn't lived through much history, and all those dates and names just cluttered our brains with what we thought were useless facts at the time. However, history doesn't have to be boring! Most of us had teachers who were there to do a job, which was fill us with facts that we were somehow sure we would never need again. A little inspiration might have helped them do their jobs better, or accountability to the school board to make their lessons more challenging and compelling.

Try to find history books that tell the story of the past from the viewpoint of those who witnessed it. It's anything but boring when told more like a story than a book of dates and names. There are many books on politics that are written by people who were on the inside looking out, and they enlighten us with their view of what was happening at the time. Even books written about the distant past come alive when told by someone who writes about the people and events within the context of the times -- i.e.: through solid research into how people lived then, what their daily concerns were, what they ate and even how they raised their own livestock and food, and their housing and transportation.

History is not boring if it's told from a personal perspective. Characters should come to life. Scenes from the past should be filled with the sights and sounds of settings in which historical moments took place. Teachers should be able to bring history to life, and so should history writers.

Make a date soon with a good history book, and then watch to see how events portrayed there and then reflect on current issues. You'll be surprised at how much more interesting today's news events become to you as you come to better understand the past. And you'll be amazed at how much more you retain that you did as a student in history class!

Two Leaders, Two Centuries Apart

I just finished the book, John Adams by David McCullough, and on the same day I found out we had lost another of America’s most significant politicians. Somehow, the fact that both happened on the same day compelled me to compare their two lives. Although one was a President and one a Senator, both were from the State of Massachusetts, both made an indelible mark on history, and both served the nation unselfishly throughout important but troubled times.

What surprised me most about the book, John Adams were the similarities with today’s political climate in the United States. Even then, members of the Continental Congress disagreed vehemently about some issues, even whether to declare independence. John Adam emerged as a leading founder of our country and a great man who sometimes disappointed American citizens, but remained steadfast in his determination to forge a new nation, independent and free.

Unlike Adams, Senator Edward Kennedy followed the legacy of his older brothers, and had been expected to follow in their footsteps and run for president. The shock of their deaths by assassins surely produced inner turmoil and ambiguous feelings that frightened him beyond the average person’s capacity to understand. He never asked for the role as head of a large, extended family, and he must have been horribly frightened at the prospect of living up to his family’s and the Democratic party’s political expectations. So while being pushed to embrace his brothers’ legacy, he rebelled by making terrible lifestyle choices and exhibiting immature, unacceptable behavior that ruined his chances of someday successfully running for president.

He had a family duty to serve as a role model to his own children and all of his fatherless nieces and nephews, yet he was obviously conflicted about the role at a time when his own emotional life was in turmoil. He had suffered great loss at the deaths of his older siblings, and now he was expected to be strong and lead his family. Maybe it wasn’t intentional that he destroyed his future as the leader of the United States, but possibly on some subconscious level he feared becoming another Kennedy caught in the crosshairs of an assassin. Whatever his motives for making huge mistakes in his political career, he still managed to become one of the nation’s longest serving Senators, as well as an effective spokesman for civil rights for minorities, as well as rights for the elderly, the poor and hopeless, and for everyday, ordinary working men and women. His last cause was for healthcare reform that would give all Americans, no matter how poor or sick, the same level of care as anyone else. To him, healthcare was a right, a human right, rather than a privilege only for the well-off and gainfully employed.

Ted Kennedy could have turned his back on public service after the devastating losses he and his family endured, and as a man of wealth, he could have ignored those poorer than he. He could have easily, and without guilt said, “Enough! This family has sacrificed enough for our country.” Yet he continued to serve, standing up for, and fighting sometimes hopeless battles for those who couldn’t fight for themselves, and for those who lacked a voice at all. He continued the legacy of his brothers to fight poverty, only his stage was to be as a Senator for almost half a century.

And two centuries before, John Adams continuously sacrificed for his country. Underpaid, and often without a word of thanks, he forfeited precious time with his beloved wife, Abigail, and his children to try and forge a nation from the wilds that were America during the last half of the eighteenth century. So much has changed since John Adams served in the Continental Congress, and then represented the newly formed United States in a quest for recognition and for funds to ensure its continuation, and finally served as its second President. One has to wonder what John Adams would think about our country today?

Two leaders, two centuries apart, yet these two New Englanders both spent most of their lives fighting for justice and freedom for the United States of America.

Pete Seeger Turns 90

On May 3rd, 2009, Pete Seeger, legendary folksinger, songwriter, folklorist, environmentalist,
antiwar activist, and civil rights champion celebrated his 90^th birthday. To those who lived through the turbulent 60s, Pete Seeger was either a folk hero or a left-wing troublemaker, depending on your age and political beliefs at the time. To most of the young, though, he was a charismatic entertainer who could inspire large crowds to sing along on sea chanteys, protest songs, and traditional tunes like Clementine, She’ll Be Comin’ Around the Mountain, and I’ve Been Working on the Railroad.

A huge birthday party in Madison Square Garden was celebrated on May 3^rd as a sold-out crowd of 18,000 snapped up tickets to attend the benefit affair to honor Pete and raise money for the environmental group Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, Inc.

Pete followed Woody Guthrie into the folk music world to champion laborers and try to bring publicity to the inequalities rampant in America. He served a stint in the army during World War II. Then he became one of the many Americans in the entertainment industry who were dragged before Senator McCarthy’s witch hunt for communists during the House Un-American Activities Committee hearings in the mid-50s. As a result of refusing to name names, he was banned from appearing on radio and television for several years.

That didn’t stop him from turning up at college campuses, and at antiwar and civil rights rallies across the country during the Vietnam War to lend his voice to the cry for an end to America’s involvement in the fighting, and for equal rights for blacks and minorities. The rebirth of American folk music during the late 50s and early 60s was due in part to his performances at colleges throughout his blacklisting period on radio and TV. By 1994, he won the nation’s highest artistic honor, the Presidential Medal of the Arts. In 2000, the Library of Congress named him one of America’s Living Legends.

His first appearance on national network television occurred in 1967 on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour when he chose to sing Waist Deep in the Big Muddy. The establishment saw the song as a dig at our President for having ramped up the Vietnam War. Actually, the song had been written about a 1942 military maneuver by a Captain who foolishly led his troops across a deep muddy river until he finally disappeared from sight and only his helmet was left floating. Although the song was not about the Vietnam War, the words, “and the big fool says to push on,” was thought by many to be written specifically for President Lyndon Johnson, who had sold himself as a presidential candidate interested in bringing peace to Vietnam, but then following his election in 1964, expanded the war, committing more and more young draftees to fight and die in the war that grew less and less winnable.

Seeger’s performance was cut from that program by CBS, and later was permitted to air. Then executives began to prescreen the program’s shows to censor them, which led to the Smothers’ brothers crying foul. The issue of censorship of entertainment programs became a rallying point for citizens concerned about the loss of freedom of speech.

Some of the songs Pete made famous by singing and/or writing them became anthems of the civil rights movement, such as Turn, Turn, Turn, If I Had a Hammer, and his rewritten words to the song We Will Overcome, which became We Shall Overcome. Among the many songs made popular by Seeger, either written and/or performed by him, are Guantanamera, This Land is Your Land, and Where Have All the Flowers Gone.

Later Pete Seeger was largely in the forefront of efforts to save the Hudson River from the pollution that was destroying it. At 90, he is revered by millions for his contributions to music as well as for using his melodic voice as a powerful tool to speak out against injustice. He continues to speak out and sing for freedom, equality, and environmental activism. In addition, he remains a huge influence on young musicians who follow his lead as singers/songwriters with a message. He has truly played a strong lead in the history of the baby boomer era.

What Defines the Boomer Generation?

Looking back at the Boomers’ history of our nation, it is easy to categorize it as a time of selfishness by young people who rebelled against their parents and the establishment. A lot of them experimented with drugs, many ran away from home to “experience” life, others marched in defiance of the draft and against a war that seemed both futile and unjustified.

But to believe that rebelliousness defined the Boomer era is to ignore the fact that many of their parents enabled their behavior. Why? Simply because it was time for change in our Country. Everyone knew it deep in their hearts. Even those who bemoaned the obvious had to admit that times were changing, and there was little anyone could do to stop it. Very few Americans escaped the impact.

In 1976, the nation celebrated 200 years of freedom. For those 200 years, our Constitution framed our legal system while our ancestors’ religious beliefs and lifestyles defined how we, too, should conduct our lives. But for a generation born following World War II, what did freedom mean if not the freedom to "pursue happiness" in its own way?

Prior to World War II, we were a mostly rural nation made up of immigrants from across the continent, and difficult times kept our ancestors’ focus on surviving. By the time World War II had ended, technology exploded, changing our collective lives in more ways than could have possibly been foreseen.

Suddenly, superhighways began to crisscross our country, drawing more citizens into the big cities, then to the suburbs sprouting outside them. Cars changed the focus of our lives from home and hearth and simply surviving to new shopping centers, theaters, resorts, restaurants, and other fun and interesting activities. New technology-based jobs lured rural residents to the center of all that activity. Technology even changed the lives of those who remained on farms and ranches as they learned new ways to grow crops faster, and raise bigger and more profitable cattle, all of which freed up time for more leisure activities.

But even those changes failed to have the impact of “the pill”! Not too many years ago, business owners hesitated to hire women because they knew their female employees would probably get married, become pregnant and leave. Certainly it was difficult for any woman to plan her career and move up the corporate ladder. Suddenly with the “pill,” women could plan their pregnancies to fit their career and family needs. There was still the problem of balancing work and family, but women worked the problems out in their own way. Some opted out of motherhood while others found creative ways to juggle their two chosen commitments.

Television speeds rebellion

Since this country was founded, there have always been people who rebelled against the establishment. In the early days, some moved West in hopes of finding a more open society where they could found their own communities with like-minded people. Others set up their own version of communes or religious sects where they were free to practice their choice of lifestyles. The Mormons are just one such religious society which founded its own home in Utah. There were and still are many, many less well-known groups scattered across the country.

Following World War II, national and local laws restricted what many perceived as their freedom to live, worship, enjoy life, so the time was ripe for certain groups to challenge the status quo. That the Boomer generation was so large made its reputation for rebelliousness appear much larger than life. Television, a new technology that spread news and images immediately around the world, only magnified and accelerated the sense of urgency among the young to change the world.

The Boomer generation grew up amid a sense of doom as their parents failed to address the problems that faced the world. The Cold War was foremost in the minds of those youngsters who sought to change the world, and the Vietnam War was a reality that killed and maimed thousands of their generation.

Read the stories of survivors of the Boomer era in the book, Looking Back: Boomers Remember History from the ‘40s to the Present. There you’ll find personal, touching stories written by people who served and fought in Vietnam, to those who lost their homes to Hurricane Katrina. You’ll also learn how the forces of change, such as integration of schools in the South, affected students who were there. And you’ll see why the assassination of a President, and soon after, the assassination of two leading civil rights figures terrified our nation’s citizens.

Twenty-four emotional stories told by people who were there, who witnessed history as it happened, make the book, Looking Back a living testament to the strength and integrity of both the Boomer and their parents’ generation.

A Moment in Time

There are moments in time that are just that, a blip on the hands of time. Then there are those moments in time that make history, and sometimes even change the course of history.

On the 20th of January, we all witnessed a moment in time that definitely made history. For the first time, an African American was sworn in as President of the United States. Who would ever have believed this could happen a little less than 150 years ago, when most black people in this country were still slaves? A war was being fought over slavery so that all African Americans, and in fact, all Americans could become free. In fact, who would have believed it even after the Civil War was over. Even though all Americans were supposedly created equal, blacks still could not vote. Neither could women of any color! We might have all been free, but that still didn’t mean we were free to help choose our destinies.

Even 50 years ago, how many of us ever thought we would see the day when a black man could be elected President? Fifty years ago I was attending the first white high school in the South to become integrated. I can’t imagine that any of the Little Rock nine could fathom such a leap in their lifetimes. Yet here we are, 50 years later, not only electing a black to run our country, but electing a black man over a white man who had been a war hero. That speaks volumes about how far this country has advanced!

This election has made me more proud to be an American than anything that I can recall in my lifetime. Not only have we elected a black man, but we have elected someone who had to work hard to get where he is. There was no silver spoon handed to him when he was born, unlike the previous president and many others before him.

Our new president is intelligent, principled, compassionate, and committed to improving the lives of all Americans. He’s a loving husband and father who appears to really know his children and their needs, unlike many of today’s fathers who opt out of a close, personal relationship with their kids.

So does race matter anymore. I know some people to whom it matters a great deal. They proudly announce that they would never vote for a black, no matter how smart, or his qualifications or how honorable his intentions. I have to say that I feel sorry for them. Many of these are the same people (mostly male) who would also never vote for a woman. They keep their minds as closed and prejudiced as they’ve always been, denying that the world has changed. They refuse to acknowledge that both women and blacks can be better educated than they. Their forefathers were the men who refused to allow women to vote before 1920, when women were finally granted a say in who should lead our communities, states and nation. White male superiority still reigns among those men raised in that climate.

The right of blacks to vote took a long time to be granted, as complicated voting laws and poll taxes prevented many from exercising their right to vote. Finally in the 1960s, full voting rights were granted to every American citizen after poll taxes were eliminated and voting laws were simplified.

I still can’t picture a color-blind society, where any intelligent, principled, qualified man or woman, no matter their color or religion, can become President. Hopefully, voters will become more thoughtful about why they vote for a particular candidate, and stop letting color or sex get in the way.

Barack Obama has one other endowment besides intelligence, experience, and high principles. He can inspire people, including young voters who have never been known to vote in large numbers in the past. He’s passionate, and that comes across in his speeches. Without the hope that he inspired for a nation weary from a terrible economy and two wars, I have to wonder if he might have prevailed this time?

It’s very unlikely that he will be a perfect president. No one is perfect. And already, the Republicans are fighting him on his solution for the economy. They want the same old thing the previous administration championed—lower taxes for businesses. In case no one noticed, that didn’t work!

While I agree that some tax incentives should be offered to small businesses to encourage them to hire, such as offering a $5000 tax credit to any small business (under 100 employees) for each new, full-time employee that it hires. The government’s help with paying for new employees can be a huge incentive for small business owners who might not think they can afford to expand.

Why don’t I believe that the same incentive should be offered to big companies? Because small business has fueled the job growth in this country since the 1980s, and that is where continued growth lies. Large companies tend to be inefficient and less responsive to the market, as proven by automakers that have faced huge losses all while paying their top executives huge (unwarranted, under the circumstances) salaries. And if the same break was offered to large companies, they would likely rehire people they’ve laid off, claiming the tax credit as a way of letting taxpayers help fund their continued follies. If we really want to encourage job growth, tax credits have proven their worth in the past and could be effective again. And again, small businesses offer our greatest hope for the future.

People voted for change, and with the same old Republican guard in place in Congress, citizens need to make their voices heard in Washington to ensure that change takes place. Tell them that you know their way has not worked. Give the new President a chance by supporting his ideas, and make sure your representative in Congress knows that you want change and you want it now. I know that our economy, and indeed, our democracy may not last much longer unless drastic measures are taken, and the sooner the better!