Boomers Remember History

GOOD READ ABOUT KATRINA

2010-08-25T12:39:00.000-07:00

The best book I have read on Katrina and its aftermath was, The Great Deluge: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast by Douglas Brinkley. Brinkley includes a detailed history of what happened and delves into the reasons for so much confusion following Katrina.

IT'S BEEN FIVE YEARS SINCE KATRINA, YET THE WOUNDS REMAIN

2010-08-24T17:04:00.001-07:00

Five years ago, on August 29, 2005, one of the biggest tragedies in terms of total devastation ever to hit the United States took place in New Orleans and along the Gulf Coast of Mississippi.

This tragedy in New Orleans wasn’t by any means unexpected. Many warnings of just such a possibility had been discussed and published for years. But to millions of casual observers, as well as government officials, the hurricane and subsequent flooding appeared to come as a complete surprise. Despite warnings and official reports, local community, state, and national officials, and the city’s residents, were unprepared.

There had long been warnings that a hurricane that zeroed in on New Orleans could cause tremendous damage, loss of lives and homes, and disruption of public services, including law and order. This flood wouldn’t be the first to hit New Orleans, since major flooding had occurred on several previous occasions, including during and following hurricanes. The city sits in a giant basin, and water will always run to the bottom. In this case, thousands of people and their pets happened to live in that basin.

In 2002, The Times Picayune, New Orleans, published a 5-part series of articles, June 23-27, outlining the problems that a hurricane and flooding could bring to the area.

The articles reported on the probabilities of a major flood, and stated that many people would not be able to evacuate because of age, sickness, poverty, and lack of transportation to leave town. As for getting help from the outside following a flood, approaches by road would likely be impossible since roadways would wash out. According to the articles, thousands would become stranded, and most of them would be left homeless. Still, people were stunned as they watched the sickening aftermath on television.

As these Times-Picayune articles were being written in 2002, FEMA was studying evacuation procedures in case of a major storm, and rescue strategies to follow the expected storm. At the time the articles appeared, FEMA expected a preliminary report to be finished within months. At the time, FEMA director Joe Allbaugh stated to the Times Picayune, "Catastrophic disasters are best defined in that they totally outstrip local and state resources, which is why the federal government needs to play a role.” Yet the federal government failed to respond immediately.

We could all watch the drama and horror of the days following August 29, 2005, play out on our television sets. It took seeing it with our own eyes for most Americans to believe that such a catastrophe could happen in our own country.

Yet, in the aftermath, I heard complaints that the people there should have done more for themselves. For the ones left behind, those who lacked a home, money, food or water, utilities, and a roof to shelter them from scorching heat while they waited for help because there was no way to travel, what, exactly, could be expected?

The wounds still persist in New Orleans. Neighborhoods still remain devastated. Homes remain damaged and destroyed. Lives are still in limbo. Many of New Orleans’s former residents have not returned because there is nothing to return home to.

In my book, Looking Back, two essays appear that were written by Katrina survivors. Neither of them lived in New Orleans. One lived in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, which received flooding from the storm surge. Air Force Major Risa Riepma and her family had relocated to Mississippi from Arizona just six months earlier. She (expecting her third child) and her husband and two children were required to seek shelter at Keesler Medical Center, while her parents, who had followed her to Mississippi, fled to Florida to find a place to stay until it was safe to return.

They were lucky in that they only lost things: their homes and all their belongings. The Riepmas also lost their vehicles, one of which was parked in the parking lot of the hospital. Yet they were still alive, had income, and were left with hope and an appreciation for what really mattered.

Maria Russell and her husband, Dave, who lived in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, also evacuated their neighborhood. They returned home five days later to find their entire neighborhood wiped out. All that remained of their two-year-old home were the footings of the foundation. They lost everything except what they evacuated with. Again, they were left with what really mattered, themselves.

You can read their stories, along with 22 other poignant stories about major historic events that have impacted the authors’ lives, in Looking Back: Boomers Remember History.

ILLEGAL ALIENS OR TERRORISTS? WITH SHRINKING RESOURCES, JUST WHO SHOULD WE TARGET?

2010-05-11T11:25:00.000-07:00

It gets harder for me to understand government policies as I grow older. Is this a government by the people and for the people, or is it a government for those who hold the power and have the most money? I sometimes think it is only for the latter. And most of the time, it just doesn’t make sense.

I live in a state where the state's budget shortfall would scare any concerned citizen, where unemployment is rampant, where the housing market went bust, and where foreclosures on home loans continue to spiral upward. Instead of passing a budget and making hard choices to cut spending realistically or raise taxes, the state's leaders have chosen to try and pass an additional sales tax that will only hurt the already poor of the state who can barely afford to pay for necessities.

If the tax fails, supporters claim that teachers, firefighters and lawmen will be cut. Meanwhile, even while threatening to cut police protection, the state has passed a law that illegals are illegal, (really?) and people can be asked to provide proof of citizenship on the street, at home, or while driving. They probably won't be stopping people who are obviously white, even though any one of them might be an illegal immigrant from European background, plus any one of them might be a terrorist hell bent on destroying this country.

My concern is that with the budget cuts in law enforcement, less attention may be paid to preventing terrorists from entering this state and the country, but instead will focus on stopping those of Mexican descent to question them about their legality. Yes, illegal crossings into this country need to be stopped, but they need to be halted at the border by fences and law enforcement. Money needs to be allotted there, and then laws should be passed concerning what to do with those illegals already living in this country.

Most "illegals" who come here from Mexico are only seeking work so they can provide a living for their families. They're not interested in doing anything harmful to the place they seek refuge in. Most aren’t criminals intent on committing violent crimes, or drug runners. I do not condone anyone crossing our borders illegally, but a solution to the problem of what to do about them once they're here should be decided by the federal government--not at a state level by a state that claims to lack the necessary resources to enforce laws that protect the general public and prevent violent crimes.

We are all descended from immigrants to this country (except for Native Americans); many of our ancestors came illegally and later found ways to get legal status. Any number of our ancestors did exactly what illegal immigrants from Mexico are doing today--slipped into the country to seek the American dream and a better life. They managed to blend into society until they could manage to get legal citizenship. Most became contributors to society and upstanding citizens.

Intolerance towards one group of illegals only breeds suspicion, contempt and hatred on the parts of both them and us. Must we condone racial profiling in order to make sure that we get rid of illegal aliens from Mexico and Central America, or shouldn't we worry more about stopping the people who are entering this country legally and illegally each day and intend to do us all harm. Terrorists are our biggest threat, or has something changed recently that I don’t know?

I for one don't mind paying taxes in order to provide protection for our country and its freedoms, but I do resent seeing my tax dollars used in a discriminatory way to get rid of those who probably mean us no harm and may, some day, become upstanding citizens--teachers, doctors, lawyers, firemen, and police officers--if given half a chance. And yes, some of them survive with government aid, but shouldn’t studies be done to see just how much impact they actually have on limited government resources? Is it really as large as one terrorist who might kill and maim thousands, or at minimum, cause law enforcement to spend thousands to prevent their hideous acts while causing immeasurable fear among citizens?

So how will this latest uproar in this state play out in history? Several federal government and citizens' groups plan to sue the state to prevent this new law from becoming effective. Meanwhile, the governor is threatening to spend what little money she can commandeer from other budget sources to fight these lawsuits. So what will be cut next to pay for lawsuits?

Has society become too extreme to think clearly? Have personal prejudices blinded us to the real threats to our well-being? It's terrorists we need to target, then we can afford to worry about illegal families and what to do about them. We need to erect barriers that will prevent terrorists from entering the country. When those are in place, illegal entry should automatically cease. What has happened to common sense?

Book Review: Waiting for Snow in Havana

2010-02-13T12:20:00.000-08:00

I recently finished a book by a Cuban who as a child, was airlifted out of Cuba following the Revolution. Those of you who have read my book, “Looking Back” probably remember the story by Celeste Cañizares Dieppa, who was on one of the last airlifts from Havana to the United States at the age of fourteen in 1966. This book, “Waiting for Snow in Havana” by Carlos Eire, is about growing up the son of a judge, then having to evacuate Cuba at age eleven in 1962 with his older brother. He left behind both his parents to start a new life of freedom in the States, first in foster homes, then in the home of an uncle in Illinois until his mother could join them more than three years later.

This is a very warm, touching, detailed story of paradise lost followed by the tale of a marginal life in Chicago, and of never seeing his father alive again. I recommend it to those who enjoy reading about different cultures with a slant on history that is little understood today in this country. In the late fifties Cuba was almost like an extension of the United States because of its tourism and American business interests there, but possessing a unique culture of its own when Castro took over on January 1, 1959. He soon declared individually owned homes, land, and everything valuable to be “owned by the people” in what was to become a communist country in the midst of the Cold War, sending chills down the collective spine of the United States. After all, this country was within 90 miles of the United States, striking distance for communist missiles!

"Waiting for Snow in Havana" is a rich and very personal insider's story about what it is like to lose paradise and move to a very different climate and culture in search for the one thing that was deemed more important than both of those: to regain freedom.

History is Not Only About the Past

2009-11-27T13:08:00.000-08:00

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

2009-08-28T13:12:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-31T11:34:00.000-07:00

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?

2009-04-11T16:16:00.000-07:00

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

2009-01-22T13:37:00.000-08:00

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!

One for the History Books: The Presidential Election on 11-04-2008

2008-11-05T10:17:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, the world tuned in to watch history being made in the United States as the first African-American President was elected. Barack Obama, the son of a white American mother and a black man from Kenya became the President-elect against overwhelming odds, but to the joy of so many millions of Americans, both black and white and every other color, all of whom felt he was the right man for the job at the right time regardless of his race.

This was a presidential contest that stirred emotions and excited voters. Even my seven-year-old great-niece was enthusiastic and certain Obama would be elected. At seven, I didn't even know what an election was. The response to this election, as well as the significance of the first African-American being elected, is a tale that will go down in the history books!

Maybe you had to be there in the sixties to realize how monumental this election is. We saw cities burn, and people march and die just so African Americans could win the right to vote. We saw two presidents push an agenda for equal rights, including the right to vote, but the first, President John F. Kennedy, was assassinated before his dreams could become reality. His successor, President Lyndon B. Johnson, would finally be the one to shepherd the bill through Congress. We heard Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. give speeches urging non-violence as he led freedom marches that would draw attention to the lack of equality or voting rights for our black neighbors, but he wouldn’t live to see those rights happen because he was assassinated. We watched as another Kennedy, Bobby, ran for president with the message of equality plus ending the war in Vietnam, but he, too, was assassinated before his dreams could be realized.

It has been a long, hard struggle for those passionate for change from the beginning, and for those of us who saw our own views about the struggle for basic civil rights evolve. We watched as blacks embraced their right to vote and elected some qualified blacks to office, and as Jesse Jackson, another black civil rights leader, attempted his run for President, to no avail. He wept openly at last night's victory speech, maybe in sorrow that he couldn't have been elected, but more likely because he realized fully the depth of emotion behind and significance of Obama's election.

So now it has finally happened. The right man came along who could stir up the passion of Americans once again, and offer hope for a better world. He was elected President of all of us, even those who perhaps refused to vote for him because he was too black, although he was half-white and raised by white grandparents from Kansas, and of those with idealogical differences. Perhaps his greatest qualification for President, besides being extremely intelligent and seemingly imbued with integrity plus empathy for others, is that he was raised in the multi-cultural society of Hawaii, where every race manages to co-exist in harmony. Still, he would have been one of only a few African Americans living in Hawaii in the sixties, except for those military men and their families who happened to be stationed on the island of Oahu.

We lived in Hawaii in the sixties, and the lessons it offered in racial harmony were not lost on me, a girl who had been raised in a segregated South. Perhaps the lessons of equality also were not lost on Obama as one of a small minority of blacks, but in a society tolerant of “differences.” And yes, there was an undercurrent of racism even in Hawaii in the sixties, but it rarely bubbled to the surface then. Obama was surely aware of it, even there.

And for those of us Americans who have lived through the past eight years of the Bush administration and watched in horror as our country became morally and fiscally bankrupt, Obama’s election is a promise and hope for a new day. I for one realized, and expressed my beliefs even as Bush was running for president, that he would bankrupt our country because of his lack of basic understanding of the economy and the struggles of small business owners and middle class taxpayers. It was discussed among friends who feared the same outcome. I also realized early on that the Bush brand of “Christianity” was not even remotely related to the Christian beliefs I was raised with. As a child of the South I was taught to respect others, to treat everyone equally, to live a life that would make my parents and God proud, and that we should all live by the Ten Commandments. We took seriously the words of God’s Commandments.

The painful sting of the 2000 election for our family was that we, along with millions of other Americans, had our access blocked to the voting booth. Our right to vote was challenged in Court, then the right was restored by a Judge immediately before the election, but we were 1500 miles away and weren’t given time to apply for and receive our absentee ballot, then get it in on time. We also couldn't travel that far on such short notice. It hurt not to be able to exercise our right to vote, so we know how others feel who have their access blocked for any reason.

During the past eight years, we’ve seem civil rights eroded as the Bushies attempted to gather more power in the name of “protecting us from terrorism.” I could write about the Bush fight (or failure) against terrorism, but it has all been rehashed many times on news channels and in news magazines and papers. There’s no point in rehashing it again.

Some of us feared that an honest election would never again take place in the United States, as more evidence was revealed of vote tampering in the 2000 and 2004 elections. I watched in horror as a man explained in a documentary film how he had been contracted to design a program for the Diebold voting machines that would change election results, and claimed that his program was used in Florida in 2000 and in Ohio in 2004 to help Republicans win. Why his information has never received wide exposure is unknown, but I expect that we might hear more about it when the new administration takes office.

Or maybe we won’t. Maybe it’s time for the nation to join together as a team and let bygones be bygones. Still, none of us should become complacent about the possibilities of vote-rigging in future elections, especially with the spread of electronic voting machines. We must all educate ourselves about how elections work and the ways our votes can be stolen or manipulated. Hopefully our voting problems will be solved before the 2012 election. After all, every democratic country in the world does a better job of managing their elections better than we do, and one goal in the next four years should be to ensure that all Americans have free and equal access to vote.

Mainly, this is a time for healing, for renewing faith in our government. This is also a moment to reflect on how far this country has come in the past 40 years, since that historic election in 1968 when the country was being torn apart by racism and the Vietnam war, and a democratic convention was the scene of terrible violence and police brutality.

In reference to an advertising slogan made popular in the sixties, we have indeed come a long way, baby!

This Election is About Our Nation's Survival

2008-10-11T14:47:00.000-07:00

Are we currently in a recession or a depression? That question remains to be answered as we watch the stock market's mostly downward spiral.

Will the housing market right itself? Another question without an easy answer. For those who bought their home a decade ago and who plan to live in it for another decade, they may not see the huge financial gains made in mid-decade, but they will probably come out ahead. For those who bought in 2003-2006, their home's value may take a long time to reach the level they paid. That is a sad outcome for those who weren't paying attention to the news, but was forseeable for those who were aware of the economic climate and likely outcome.

The stock market fall and the declining housing market were both predictable, and it didn't take a financial whiz to realize it. We have been spending like there was no tomorrow. Now, we will all be paying the price because of lack of loan sources, lowering limits on existing credit cards, and an economy that will affect small businesses as well as large as they face the fact that without a source of money, they must layoff employees and some even close their doors.

The era of greed is over! The upcoming era may be about surviving through some very tough times.

This isn't written to scare you, but everyone that can, must start taking financial responsibility for their financial decisions. And I realize that there are some people who are already hurting too much to be able to help themselves. We must all become sensitive to the families and individuals who are in desperate straits and need our's and our government's help. But we also have to realize that the government, our government, is now in financial straits, and we may all need to step up to the plate and be willing to pay more in taxes. If we don't, we may find the eventual cost is too steep to ever pay. China basically owns us now. We, the greatest, most successful example of a democracy, the most powerful country in the history of the world, could soon be on our knees begging for mercy.

This election is important. The financial policies of the current administration have been disastrous for our nation, and we must NOT elect representatives and a president who will continue those same or similar policies. We need a really intelligent person to run this country, one who has chosen a running mate that offers more than cutesy, folksy or simplistic declarations. After all, that person will be only a heartbeat away from the presidency. And that's why we also need a president who has the best chance of living through his term. This is not ageism on my part. It's just plain old common sense!

While some of you may not believe that things can get worse than they are now - believe me, they can and will if a wise choice is not made in this election. This is not an election where we can afford to elect a candidate based upon emotions. This election is about our nation's very survival.

How Will the 2008 Election Impact History?

2008-09-13T14:38:00.001-07:00

As the election of 2008 approaches, it becomes apparent that this will be a campaign filled with unprecedented fear-mongering and hateful lies. So how do we, as voters, separate the truth from lies?

Well, we can all watch every speech by Obama and McCain that is televised so we’ll know what, exactly, each one says. But watching every speech takes enormous amounts of time and it requires undivided attention so that we don’t simply catch a few words or phrases here and there. And as a matter of fact, so far, we in this household have watched all the speeches. We feel we owe it to ourselves and the future of this country to make sure we vote for the most honest, most competent, most ethical and moral candidate, so that’s why we’ve spent so much time in front of the television this campaign.

We’re constantly receiving emails from people trying to enlighten us on their own political biases. Why, we don’t know, because most of our acquaintances know that we take our responsibilities as citizens seriously, and never believe anything we receive by email until we’ve followed up and checked out the facts. Most times, we find these emails to be false, or to be based on part of a statement made by a candidate that leaves out the most important words in the statement. Maybe our acquaintances are simply checking to see if we’re awake?

Political ads are the worst source of truthful information, so we might as well all hit our mute buttons during these ads because, unless the candidates are talking about the issues (the economy, the war in Iraq, energy prices, etc.), we’re not listening. I want to know what the candidate, if elected president, will do about the issues that involve us, concern us, and affect our future, and I want the truth!

So how can you know what’s true and what’s not without spending hours in front of the TV? There is a nonpartisan Web site that checks email rumors and TV commercials to find out which are true or false. You can find it at www.factcheck.com. And of course, you can also find reports on urban legends at www.snopes.com., which checked out 31 emails about Obama and Clinton and found that only two were completely accurate. Most were flat-out lies.

In an article on factcheck.org, Lori Robertson reports that David Emery, who checks rumors and facts pertaining to the election as author of About.com's Urban Legends page, notes a decidedly anti-Democrat tilt to the bulk of the e-mail chatter. Does this mean that Republicans are meaner, their numbers are larger, or they have more leisure time to spew out hateful, divisive messages? Or does it mean that Democrats are less passionate, or they have less time to send out emails? Emery also says that less than one-tenth of what's circulating out there at any given time turns out to be 100% true. “A substantially larger portion – maybe around half of all the emails or a little more – contain a mixture of facts and falsehoods."

If you are truly concerned about the future of the United States, realize that your vote does count and that this election will make history, no matter which way it turns out. Either we'll have a black president (albeit he's one-half white and was raised by his white family) for the first time ever, or we'll have a woman vice-president, also for the first time. Also consider the positions of the candidates and how their platforms stack up with or against the Bush administration. Will they continue the policies of the past eight years, or will they represent real change from the past eight years? And consider how their decisions might impact the future of the world. Whatever the newly elected president's policies or decisions, they will also go down in history someday.

We all have the opportunity to influence history with our vote.

Is the Cold War that Influenced a Generation, Back?

2008-08-16T17:32:00.000-07:00

Growing up in the late ‘40s and ‘50s, the Cold War created a constant sense of danger in our young lives. It was our boogie-man under the bed. Everywhere there were daily reminders—from air raid sirens that blasted at noon each day to the “duck and cover” drills at school. Nuclear annihilation was a constant fear as conflicts between the United States and U.S.S.R. threatened to escalate into a full-scale war. And that would mean one country or the other would use “the Bomb” in order to win.

We children didn’t know if we would live to see adulthood. Heck, we didn’t even know if we would make it until tomorrow! Fear and anxiety among those of us whose families discussed the news of the day was palpable as we said our prayers each night and climbed into bed.

Even if the Cold War wasn’t discussed at home, social studies classes in school reminded us of the threat.

As some of us reached adulthood during those years and later in the ‘60s and ‘70s, the concept of “zero population growth” took hold as we wondered what kind of future we could actually offer our children. We couldn’t promise them a peaceful existence, nor could we even guarantee a future. That was only one result of the Cold War.

The Boomer generation become a very conflicted group of young people: those who thought it might be possible to achieve lasting peace by becoming social activists; and those who ignored the dark cloud and lived as though the tomorrows were an endless canvas upon which they could paint their ideal life. Even with contrasting opinions, most young adults realized that the world situation was serious and become more involved in politics than any previous generation.

In the late ‘80s, a huge sigh of relief was breathed as our enemy in the Cold War, the U.S.S.R., started to disintegrate. Would world peace finally become a reality?

We hoped so, but the one constant in the history of the world is change, and unfortunately, what goes around almost always comes around again. Fast forward 20 years, and once again Russia is trying to assert its power by invading a smaller country that declared its independence from Russia only two decades ago.

How did this happen? Did Russia decide the time was ripe to strike while the United States was distracted by two wars and its President was in China enjoying the Olympics? Is it that Russia wants to assure its access to the oil fields in Georgia? After all, while they were rebuilding their power, the United States had started making inroads into their previous territory by providing military help and training to Georgian soldiers. Was the United States there because of the oil?

It does appear that oil is the commodity over which future wars will be fought.

But now we have to ask ourselves, is the Cold War starting up again? It would certainly appear to be a possibility. It seems that there will always be something to fight about as long as there are people on this earth—just as there has always been. We can only pray that our children and grandchildren won’t have to live with the constant, crippling fear that defined our lives.

Stories that Define the Boomer Generation

2008-05-28T13:53:00.000-07:00

Memories of the past. That’s what I prefer to call recent history. The word history conjures up painful sessions of learning boring dates, names, and useless information that couldn’t possibly have been of importance to me.

Now that I’m an adult I realize just how valuable knowledge of our country’s and the world’s history is. In fact as a civilized society, we cannot proceed with courage and conviction without knowing what has happened in the past. So history is extremely important to our very survival.

Since my school days, there’s been one important change in how I relate to history, and that is because I have now lived through several decades of lots of important stuff. All of a sudden, since this is the Baby Boomer era we’re talking about, HISTORY IS HOT!

In my anthology, Looking Back: Boomers Remember History from the ‘40s to the Present, 20 writers (including myself) share stories of growing up through the greatest, most triumphant and most terrifying of times.

As children, we faced the polio epidemic, which forced our parents to keep us at home to avoid crowds so that we didn’t become victims of a horrifying disease that could cripple us, or worse yet, force us to live in an iron lung for the rest of our lives. Today a woman who had been in an iron lung for nearly 60 years and whose story was mentioned in Looking Back, died due to a power outage that shut down the machine that had kept her alive for all these years. Dianne Odell managed to finish high school, attend some college, and write a children’s book—all while encased inside the iron monster. Luckily for most of us, a vaccine was discovered in the early ‘50s that prevented polio so that we, as children, could once again enjoy swimming, movies, and the other joyous activities of summer.

We also lived in fear of the Cold War, Communism, and the BOMB. One writer poignantly recalls living in constant fear and vowing that she would do something about it when she grew up. And she did, which you can read about in the book.

Our world changed as integration and civil and voting rights for black citizens became a pressing issue, finally lifting them out of their second-class status that had existed since the end of the Civil War. I was there when Little Rock Central High became the first Southern high school to be integrated, and when President Eisenhower sent in the 101st Airborne Division to protect the rights of nine black students and ensure security amid swirling threats of violence and mob protests. But mine isn’t the only story of those times. Two other classmates also write about their memories of that frightening time.

Then President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. That November day in 1963 stunned and shocked our nation and destroyed any illusions of security we might have felt. Next came the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, civil rights leader, and a few weeks later, the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, brother of John F. Kennedy and a candidate, himself, in the upcoming presidential election. We all had to wonder what was to become of our beloved country and us?

The major tragedy of those times was the Vietnam War and the tremendous anger and violent protests it generated among the Boomers. Suddenly our streets were filled with young and old protestors and hippies who voiced their opposition to a war that was decimating the numbers of boys and young men. Some protests were peaceful, but many violent, radical groups were also at work during the war. We could never be sure whether our society could withstand the onslaught of opposition by angry young Americans. Many young people marched and others dropped out of society, choosing communal living and drugs to numb their pain. The ‘60s and early ‘70s were both sad and exciting times to live through.

To have been alive to witness history being made during those decades presented an opportunity to those of us who were young to seriously contemplate how we each might make a difference in the world. And even those of us who sat on the sidelines were affected in lasting ways that will remain forever etched in our minds.

Yes, history is hot when you can picture the past vividly through the lenses of those who lived through it. And that’s what Looking Back offers readers: 24 terrific, poignant and very personal stories by those who lived through the Boomer era and truly know what happened then. Read the book and you’ll understand the events and moments that defined the Boomer generation. And maybe you'll understand why.

Will the Current Recession Make History?

2008-05-15T16:39:00.000-07:00

Folks like me have experienced the ups and downs of the economy over several decades, but a recession is always a shock when it hits the middle class. Certainly I can’t know the horrors of surviving the Great Depression during the ‘30s, but my parents and grandparents suffered terribly and survived the worst economy the United States has ever experienced. It affected their entire lives.

Will we see the same type of depression happen in our lifetimes? Unfortunately, none of us can know how the current recession and raging inflation will end. Will the economy get worse before it gets better? And how much worse must it get before everyone in the middle class is affected by the blows. Certainly those Boomers who planned to use their increasing home values to fund their retirements will have to postpone retiring to the leisurely life. Most will have to work into old age, that is, if they can find a job.

Last night on the news, a story featured middle class women who have been forced by the downturn in the economy to live in their cars. And this was in wealthy Santa Barbara, California! One woman had been a notary public with lots of business when houses were selling and her services were needed to notarize financial documents. Then with the economy on the skids, she lost her job, and with it her home.

She’s 67 years old and has a teenage daughter who had to go live with her friends. Meanwhile, the woman draws a social security check and has a part-time job paying $8.00 per hour, which means she earns about $1400 per month. Still, it’s not enough to rent even a small studio apartment. You see, the average rent for a tiny one-room apartment in that part of California is $1600 per month. That’s why the woman is forced to live in her car. Each night, she has to store some of her belongings under her car so there’s room for her and her two dogs in the back of her SUV.

This is a woman who should be enjoying her retirement today instead of scrambling for a place to live and enough to eat. What does that say about the United States and Americans? And for any racists who read this and seek to brush her story aside because you think she might have been an illegal alien or a minority, no, she was caucasian. Race has nothing to do with the status of the homeless in America.

Santa Barbara is one of the few communities that recognizes the homeless problem and has set aside some parking lots for those who must live in their cars. One of those lots is restricted at night to women who call their cars, home. And they have to be out before 7 AM before businesses need the parking spaces. These people are lucky—at least they’ve been able to hang onto their cars. But what about the many others who are left with nothing but the clothes on their backs? So will this be a recession that makes history?

Thousands, and maybe millions of Americans are homeless. Millions are jobless. Millions lack basic health insurance. What will happen to them? Will those Americans who say that everyone has a responsibility to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps finally realize that some people don’t even own boots, nor do they have hope to ever own a pair? Will those Americans finally vote for candidates who offer a realistic solution for the jobless, homeless, insurance-less families, or do they still believe that poverty is each person’s own problem, and certainly not theirs?

The only thing that can prevent the recession from growing deeper and becoming a major historical event is if elected officials face up to the problem and bring unnecessary government spending under control, all while offering a helping hand to those who find themselves in dire straits through no fault of their own. We are our brothers' keepers, although there seem to be a large number of Americans who no longer see it that way!

We live in a unique place in history, when our government is waging war in a foreign land for questionable reasons. There were no terrorists in Iraq until Saddam was brought down, so while some in our country feel smug because they (we) “saved the Iraqi people from the brutality of Saddam’s regime,” the fact is that most Iraqis hate our country because now their homeland is overrun with terrorists and insurgents. Thousands of Iraqis have been killed as well as thousands of our own soldiers.

No, this war was not fought for Iraq’s benefit. Instead, it is making American war profiteers, oil companies, oil speculators, and some of our top elected leaders, rich while America sinks deeper into debt. And all of this is happening while taxes for the wealthy are being cut. Supposedly, cutting taxes for the wealthy has a trickle down effect. I would ask the homeless, jobless, and insurance-less, and even those still in the middle class if any of that trickle down effect has reached them lately?

America’s middle class is paying all of the costs. The question is how long will our citizens willingly accept the status quo before they vote to replace those in charge?

The recession is not simply a problem for people who are having a hard time getting by. When the middle class falls, and it eventually will if there’s no serious commitment to make changes, America’s system of democracy will fold. You see, our unique middle class is what makes our system of government a democracy. In fuedal societies, there are only rich and poor. There is no middle ground. And if our middle class falls, this recession with accompanying inflation will surely become a historic event that will be long remembered for the folly of our leaders who misused their power.

It's up to all of us to hold our leaders accountable. It is within our power to control history.

Politics Will Determine Our Future

2008-04-29T13:10:00.000-07:00

This is a long post, but I hope you will stay with it.

Since it is a political season with the upcoming elections taking place in six months, it is important that voters understand how their vote will affect their own interests, but also how it will influence the history of our country, and our planet.

I often wonder what would have happened if Senator Goldwater had won the 1964 presidential election. Would the United States have bombed Vietnam into oblivion, like Goldwater’s political enemies wanted us to believe? Or would the war have ended sooner, with fewer American lives lost? Would anything have changed?

And then there was 1968, when Richard Nixon was elected president. What if Hubert Humphrey had won that election? Would our lives have turned out any different? Certainly, the Watergate scandal wouldn’t have taken place. Still, I have to wonder about the enormous secrets that our government kept from us during the sixties, and how some of the worst finally became public in the early seventies. Would the shame have been any different?

For so many years I felt disenfranchised from the election process. We moved a lot because of my husband’s military career, and sometimes we landed in the middle of a conservative community, while the next move might put us in a more liberal setting. And I didn’t have a voice. My voting opportunities were limited because of not being able to register to vote in many of the places we lived. Things are different now, but then, military spouses were discouraged from becoming part of the communities where they lived. Yet, those communities were where I went to school and worked.

While then, it was confusing to be pulled politically in two different directions, I learned a lot and have been truly blessed to have had so conflicting influences on my life and political views.

What I can’t really comprehend is how this election seems to be attracting voters who hold extremist views. I believe that a person can only hold extremist ideas if they haven’t been exposed to the thoughts, ideas, and lifestyles of a variety of people—conservatives and liberals, rich and poor, educated and not. Maybe knowing the concerns and feelings of both sides gives me a more middle-of-the-road attitude. Still, the far right wing of the Republican party, which seems to have seized control of that party, would probably believe that I’m a wild-eyed liberal because I respect the views of liberals. And the far-left liberals would likely think that I’m a rabid conservative because, basically, I respect conservative values.

I’ve decided to lay out my views for readers, because my feeling is that MOST AMERICANS are caught somewhere in the middle, just as I am. I was raised in a conservative family and still hold conservative values, but unlike many of today's conservatives, ours was a family that believed it was our moral duty to help those less fortunate than us, no matter what their color, religion, or political beliefs. Today, it's impossible for me to buy into the extremist ideals held by those now in control of the Republican Party.

In the first place, as I see it, the conservative view that everyone has personal responsibility for their own and their family’s lives is morally wrong. I realize that it is impossible for people living in poverty to pull themselves up by the bootstraps, because many, many Americans don’t even own a pair of boots. Yes, sometimes someone does overcome overwhelming odds to become successful. Yet, how can the average person who is underpaid, under housed, and undernourished be expected to lift themselves out of poverty without help—a little boost up, or just plain luck? You see, I’ve known these people in places like Hawaii, California, Arizona, Washington, Texas, and Arkansas, and some are my friends.

I believe that it is the moral responsibility for the wealthy to help those who are less well-off. But experience tells me that many won’t. I’ve known these people in Hawaii, California, Arizona, Washington, Texas, and Arkansas, and some are my friends. The only way some will help those less fortunate is by being taxed. And yeah, they don’t like that—but we no longer live in a socially responsible society where all individuals voluntarily help the less fortunate.

There was a time when rich and poor lived in the same communities—sometimes side by side—so helping a neighbor in need was hard to ignore. But now, the rich segregate themselves behind iron gates so they don’t have to ever come face-to-face with a family that is struggling to get by. And the wealthy certainly don’t make it a habit to drive through the communities where homeless people roam the streets. "See no pain, feel no pain" seems to be the current mantra of the wealthy and upwardly mobile.

And some politicians live the lives of the rich and powerful, so don't have a clue what the real world is like. Just today I heard Senator McCain say he wants a healthcare system that will give each person $2500, or a couple or family $5000 to buy insurance on the open market. It sounds commendable, but there are several problems with his plan.

1. First and foremost, $5000 will not begin to pay the cost of health insurance for the average family.

2. Many people who lack health insurance, don’t have it because they can’t get it at any cost. Anyone with a pre-existing condition is refused insurance coverage, period. McCain’s plan doesn’t address this situation.

3. Those who retire before sixty-five face having no healthcare coverage until they turn sixty-five and get Medicare. Of those who had coverage when they worked, most lose it when they retire. And this happens during a period when chronic health problems typically crop up. I can’t even begin to enumerate the number of people I know personally who discovered they had serious illnesses immediately after they retired—long before Medicare kicked in—and long before they thought they might be stricken with diseases like cancer, heart disease, Parkinson’s, diabetes.

4. McCain's plan will only help insurance companies make more money with less state regulation, since he wants health insurance companies to be able to sell cross state lines! Gee, a politician doing something to help his rich business friends? Surely not!

Letting the profit-oriented marketplace become the dumping ground for everyone who needs healthcare will never work because it is profit-oriented. Private companies will never grant healthcare coverage to those who have pre-existing conditions, or are at risk for serious illnesses. So a government-based healthcare plan seems to be the only solution. And for those who claim that government-based healthcare will not work, let me tell you what it’s like.

For all the years we were in the military, and even following retirement, government healthcare was the only type of medical care we ever had. And for the most part, it was extremely good. In fact, since we are now getting healthcare on the open market, we’re finding that private physicians are much less caring, and in many cases, not as skilled. But we do have coverage now—the same as all people over sixty-five. And if we could find healthcare professionals as good as those military doctors we once had, we would have no complaints whatsoever.

Because of the reasons stated above about my having been exposed to, and friends with, people of every race, economic class, and educational level, and a few other reasons, I now hold a broader view of subjects like politics and healthcare than when I was younger. I do believe that society owes all its members basic healthcare, help in securing a good education, and social programs that aid those in need. And now I realize that who I vote for in the presidential race will have a lasting impact on society, including whether we all can live a humane existence, or whether some of us will suffer further deprivation because our tax dollars are used to wage war and wreak destruction in far-off countries instead of providing much-needed services to our young, poor and elderly.

For too many years since I reached adulthood, war profiteers have grown wealthier as our government awarded them billion-dollar contracts, while the young, poor, and less educated of our citizens have lost their lives fighting senseless battles. History was being made then, and it’s being made even now, as you read this. And it’s not always just or good. It’s up to each of us to vote our conscience, and not just for our own selfish concerns. We must remember that elections impact not only you and me, but millions of Americans, and indeed, the billions who inhabit our planet.

And yet, in spite of my beliefs about voting for a person that I think can best rule the country, I have faith that whoever gets elected, it is God’s will, and the world will evolve as God intends.

WHY YOU AND I MUST KNOW HISTORY

2008-04-09T12:51:00.000-07:00

"History is knowledge." This is a phrase I wouldn’t have understood back when I was in school because I could not see how history related to my life. Knowing who the signers of the Declaration of Independence were would give me knowledge? Knowing what year the Civil War started and ended was important to me and my life? Why?

What I didn’t understand then was that knowing history WOULD give me knowledge, and power. The dates wars started and ended were not important, in and of themselves. But knowing history put the dates in context, and that was what was important. What was going on in the world when a war started? Why was it fought? Who were the good people and who were the bad? Those were the facts I really needed to learn.

As I remember History 101, it was all about names and dates, and stories that proved the United States government was always on the right side—but was that true? Were our leaders on the right side when they shoved Native Americans off their land so the white man could claim the treasures buried there? Were they right to choose to fight Communism in South Vietnam? Are they right now to initiate a war in Iraq based on the lie that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and that they were harboring terrorists?

That, dear friends, is why history is knowledge. Knowing that our government leaders should always be questioned can come only from knowing history. They’re not perfect—and neither are we—no one is! But those of us who lived through the Vietnam War, then followed the news and studied government reports following the war, have learned this lesson. Those of us who lost loved ones in the war, learned the lesson the hard way.

From recent history, I can only discern that many of our citizens have not studied history thoroughly, and history teachers are failing to teach all of the facts about history. Okay, teachers do have a lot of information to cover, and they often teach from books that don’t cover everything. But I feel it is their responsibility to learn the facts and teach them, even though their textbooks may be lacking. Do they read newspapers? Do they read historical books outside the textbook they’re teaching from? Do they even watch the news or documentaries on television?

Well pardon me, but I believe there is a responsibility to future leaders and voters of America to be taught the facts behind history. We all bring our own beliefs to our jobs, be it teaching, as a journalist, or as a parent, but every one who impacts the young in any way has a responsibility to learn the true facts and teach or write them. Not our truth, which may lack depth or be lopsided, but the TRUE and COMPLETE FACTS.

The future of our country depends on those youngsters now learning about the history of their country knowing what really happened. They, like us, can’t make rational decisions on things like: how will this new legislation affect my life in the long run? Which candidate will work to improve the lives of all Americans? Which one will bow to special interests, like the war profiteers, or big business? Will bowing to them negatively affect my own family’s lifestyle, our dreams, my retirement?

We must know what has happened in the past to understand what will happen again in the future, because history does repeat itself. The economy? It’s all been played out before. The war? Well we’ve certainly been there before—and not too long ago!

Unless we all make it our mission to read, watch the news, and study the history we don’t remember or never learned, we have no one to blame but ourselves when the American dream turns, instead, into a nightmare.

Where Were You in the '60s?

2008-03-31T11:17:00.000-07:00

As the ‘60s wound to a devastating close, 1968 turned into a counterculture clash against the establishment. The 1968 democratic convention was without a popular peace candidate or leader since Robert Kennedy had been killed, and those in the counterculture did not support Lyndon Johnson’s vice president in his bid for the nomination since he was a hawk on the war. Still, the young, including those under 21 and too young to vote, wanted their voices heard in the election since it was their generation being drafted and forced to fight in Vietnam. So many of them were being killed, or maimed, or losing their minds and souls after witnessing so much violence and devastation in a land far from home.

The differences between the generations came from many issues, but none more divisive than the draft. Many young men who couldn’t afford a college education and the draft deferment it offered, or who had already graduated from college, were moving to Canada to escape being drafted. Those who had already served a tour in Vietnam and didn’t want to return to the killing fields, and those who disagreed with our government’s war policies and inequalities, often deserted from the military and sought political asylum in Canada.

Government officials and the press cursed the young men who tried to avoid the draft or deserted, while their own sons enjoyed the privilege of dodging the draft without question or comment. Some young men having parents or friends with political influence, and who were already graduated from college, used that influence to get into the National Guard or Reserves, which seldom saw service in Vietnam. This was how George W. Bush and others in the current administration escaped service in Vietnam.

To say the war was an unequal opportunity, in many cases dividing the rich from the poor, would be an understatement. While most of the rich and influential sat at home enjoying life as they had always known it, the mostly poor and black young men of our country were forced to fight in the rice paddies and jungles far from home.

As the democratic convention started in Chicago in 1968, thousands of young people who resisted the war had gathered around the convention center for a massive demonstration. However, the police in Chicago were ready for them and used bayonets, tear gas, and other force to attack the demonstrators. At least one demonstrator was reported killed and hundreds were injured, including press members, medical workers, and police.

Hubert Humphrey became the Democratic nominee for president that year, while Richard Nixon was the Republican nominee. Both were disliked by many, if not most, of the voting public, but especially by the young. The decade ended with Nixon being elected president, which eventually lead to challenges to the Constitution and one of the nation’s biggest political scandals—and to the determination of the Republican Party to further challenge the Constitution in the future, and to take steps to enforce its control over the politics of the country.

While many young people were actively involved in the counterculture movement, or in the hippie movement back to the land, or in the civil rights movement, others of us were passively watching on the sidelines. In my case, I never participated in a demonstration, but I slowly but surely began to believe in the cause of the counterculture, as did those in the older generation of my family whose guidance, intelligence, and belief in God had always influenced me. They read, and they studied issues, just as I did, and they, like I, came to believe that things were no longer right in the United States of America.

My own beliefs came from a different place than most others under 30. Being the wife of a military (by choice) man, I was informed in 1964 that I couldn’t actively take part in the political campaign of a presidential nominee. Since we had orders to leave a few days before Election Day, I was not allowed to vote by absentee ballot, so I wasn’t allowed to vote in that election. Then by 1968, we lived on a military base and I was told that since I was not a resident of the State where we were stationed, I couldn’t vote. I was a citizen of the U.S., and my family had been here since before the Revolutionary War, yet I was denied the right to vote. Still, I had every right to become angry about the political situation, just as every citizen did. After all, my husband was actively serving his country!

Would my one vote have made any difference? NO! But, like many others in this country then, and now, I didn’t even have a voice. Maybe all of our votes together would have somehow made a difference.

The ‘60s changed my perceptions of my country and its leaders. My conservative background kept me from actively participating, but the drama of that decade changed the way I looked at politics and its influence on all of our lives. Our democracy was being threatened then, and it is even more under threat now, and it is up to every one of us to stay vigilant so that the forces that shaped the ‘60s never exist again. Still, I’m afraid that those very forces exist today, yet the avenues to protest them or control them have been closed by a media owned by only 6 major media giants, and controlled by our current government.

If steps are pursued to bring the Internet under the control of those few voices, and that attempt is progressing as I write this, I fear that we individual citizens will have all lost our voices. Without the sound of every voice of every citizen, there is no democracy!

Remember that Communism succeeded for so long because the press was limited and allowed only the government’s voice to be heard. Hitler and the Nazis were successful because only their voice and message was allowed to be heard. The only way for any evil empire to succeed is by limiting the type of news (the message) that its people are exposed to.

What can we, as individuals, do? I don’t have any answers. As a journalist, I am skilled at asking questions, and I’m capable of seeing what is wrong with our society, but the problems are so complex now that I don’t have any solutions to offer. Speak out, and you’re branded as a traitor. Question the status quo, and you’re branded as a troublemaker. Well, I’m neither a traitor nor a troublemaker, but I do care that our country continues as a free democracy, and that our Constitution is upheld and respected. Democracy has never been more threatened than it is right now.

I can offer only two suggestions:

1. Each and every one of us should READ the Constitution so that we understand what it says. It’s important that we all know what our forefathers wrote so we can ensure the continuance of the democracy that they fought so hard to establish.

2. Read the book, 1984, by George Orwell. In it you will find the playbook for the way our own lives are being manipulated today, right here in America. Scary? You bet!

God Bless America!

Anti-war Movement, More Assassinations, the Counterculture, and the “Make Love, Not War” Generation

2008-03-26T10:50:00.000-07:00

The boomers would become known as the “Make Love, Not War” generation as the ‘60s evolved from frightening nuclear crises and an assassination, to active involvement by boomers, then to dropping-out of society.

To say all boomers became involved in changing society would not be true. Many followed the paths of their more complacent parents, and showed mild to no interest in the rapidly changing political climate. Many others scorned the protestors. But a large number were frightened, stunned, embarrassed by the status quo, and then driven to take an active role in changing the world. While this movement looked huge as it was shown on television, no one knows the actual number of boomers and others who became involved in the counterculture and anti-war movement, or how involved they were.

Still, this movement helped end a terrible, destructive war that should never have been entered into. From the beginning of U.S. involvement, President Eisenhower had stated that French involvement in the conflict was hopeless. Yet, that didn’t stop him from sending aid to the French, including money and military advisors. That finally led to thousands of young American soldiers fighting and dying in the jungles and rice paddies. Why? How? The first two Americans died in July, 1959 in an attack 20 miles north of Saigon.

As protests continued and grew in size and scope, it became politically imperative for some politicians to represent their cause. Robert F. Kennedy, younger brother of President John F. Kennedy who had served as Attorney General under both Kennedy and Johnson, and then elected a senator from New York, decided to run as an anti-war presidential candidate in 1968. As he celebrated his victory in the California democratic primary before heading to the democratic convention in Chicago, he was shot by assassin Sirhan B. Sirhan. The next day, he died, and with him the hopes of millions who counted on him to be the president who would bring peace to the country.

But two months before Kennedy’s death, Dr. Martin Luther King was shot and killed in Memphis, Tennessee where he had gone to support striking sanitation workers. His assassination stunned the nation and demoralized those fighting in the civil rights movement, most of who were also involved in the anti-war movement. Dr. King had called the United States “the greatest purveyor of violence in the world,” as he spoke out against U.S. policy in Vietnam and suggested a merger of the anti-war and civil rights movement. Yet, he preached non-violence, and was the leading spokesman for the civil rights movement.

The boomer generation involved in marching for the rights of those less fortunate, including young men drafted into the military and forced to fight an unpopular war, watched as their hopes and dreams were buried along with their two leaders. Is it any wonder that many were angry and confused, and subsequently turned to drugs to numb their pain?

Communal living and turning their backs on society seemed the only answer to their pain. Participating in society seemed hopeless, so why continue to support it?

The ‘60s – Racism, Poverty, and Assassinations

2008-03-05T14:49:00.000-08:00

The ‘60s were the most tumultuous in recent history—and possibly in all of history. Certainly, none of us expected the decade to become a defining period in our lives. The emotional experience of living through the ‘60s remains like a fresh wound forever etched upon my mind—as if it happened only yesterday.

As the ‘60s dawned, we were already faced with the possibility of nuclear annihilation because of the Cold War. Children were afraid that they might not grow up. Young people worried about what they could do to improve relationships between countries. Newlyweds were concerned about bringing babies into a world so frightening. And around all this turmoil swirled growing concerns about civil rights for blacks.

The boomers were ready to become involved in the political and social climate of the country because the future didn’t look at all promising. Most were brought up in middle class households with televisions that brought the world into their living rooms. They were raised with plenty of material possessions, yet they could see that others in their own country were doing without even basic necessities or rights. And a young, energetic presidential hopeful, John F. Kennedy, inspired them to “Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country.”

Music became a rallying call for the young. After all, music was important to this first generation raised with rock ‘n’ roll. Rebelliousness had already become evident in the ‘50s, as some music concerned parents because of its suggestive lyrics and dance moves. And some youngsters were inspired to join the jazz and folk scene in New York and San Francisco.

Musicians began to explore writing and performing songs that inspired social change, and the folk revival was born. Suddenly songs had a message about freedom, justice, love for one another, and as the Vietnam War heated up, against war. Freedom marches were held throughout the South to help black citizens register to vote, and to realize that their participation in the process would ensure power. White youngsters went South to help organize civil rights marches, and as a result, some were tortured and murdered by racists who resisted change.

The Vietnam War was heating up during the early ‘60s, but little attention was paid to it at first. Meanwhile, in 1961, a group of Cubans who had relocated to the U.S. after Castro took over their homeland, tried to invade Cuba to free their country from Castro’s rule. Known as the “Bay of Pigs,” this failure led to even further Cold War crises. In October, 1962, Russia tried to supply Cuba with long-range missiles, which created the Cuban Missile Crisis and almost started a nuclear war. A blockade of ships carrying the missiles was enforced by President John F. Kennedy, and eventually they reversed course and headed back to Russia.

Most civilians were aware of the crisis and concerned about the outcome, but few were as terrified as military families, who had been directed to evacuate to underground bomb shelters. I was one of those who chose to stay put, knowing that there could not be a positive outcome to any nuclear attack, and that being in a shelter would only prolong the suffering. Luckily, that crisis passed, but it was the most frightening moment during the Cold War.

Then in November, 1963, President Kennedy was assassinated while riding in a motorcade through Dallas. One man was charged with the assassination, but conspiracy theories abound to this day. It seemed impossible that a man as inconsequential as Lee Harvey Oswald would be capable of creating so terrible a blow to the morale of the U.S.

Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in as President on the flight of Kennedy’s body back to D.C., and soon he had escalated the war in Vietnam. He seemed to sincerely want to get a civil rights bill passed to ensure equality among all races, and to get legislation passed that would help all poor and elderly citizens. He finally pushed through the civil rights legislation, and he launched a War on Poverty. During his term in office, the Medicare Bill was passed, ensuring health care coverage for all Americans over sixty-five years.

Johnson was never as popular as Kennedy had been because he was seen as an interloper without the charm or sophistication of Kennedy. But Johnson was doomed mostly because of his support of the war in Vietnam.

WHAT THE PRESS IS SAYING ABOUT "LOOKING BACK"

2008-01-27T10:41:00.000-08:00

The following review appeared in “Escapees Magazine,” January, 2008

“There is a quotation, often attributed to the Chinese: ‘May you live in interesting times.’ It is said that this may be a curse; I leave it to each person to determine whether it is a curse or not. But no one can deny that the years since 1940 have been very interesting, indeed. Time seems to have flown by, but that time was filled with extraordinary historical events. This period of history is so aptly presented in Kay Kennedy’s latest book, Looking Back: Boomers Remember History from the ‘40s to the Present.

This thoughtful book had me remembering many things from my own lifetime, from the usual, ‘Where were you when Kennedy was shot?’ question to long suppressed memories of hiding under my third-grade desk in practice for a bombing attack. The human consequences of historic moments are vividly recalled (author’s note: by 20 contributors) in this extraordinary book. We are defined by the events of our lives, and each of these writers presents their memories in wonderful, sometimes heartbreaking, detail.

Kay precedes each section of the book with an overview of the highlights of a past decade and a final brief chapter on the future.

I found this book very enjoyable. It was fun remembering personal recollections that I share with others. Even more interesting was experiencing stories of past events that I would have no possibility of experiencing such as a soldier’s memory of a Vietnam battle.”

To read an excerpt or order a copy of the book, "Looking Back," click on link on right.

THE '40s - THE NOBLE WAR YEARS

2008-01-23T12:30:00.000-08:00

The chapters on the ‘50s and ‘60s from my book, Looking Back: Boomers Remember History from the '40s to the Present, have been covered in previous posts, so this time I will talk about the ‘40s. This was the decade that drastically changed the world, and it was the beginning of tremendous population growth as “baby boomers” fueled enormous changes in society.

In 1941, the United States joined the war against Japan when it was attacked at Pearl Harbor. Only days later, we also went to war against Germany, helping defend our allies in Europe and beyond. Thus we were thrust into World War II, and most able-bodied men left their homes and families to fight in either the Pacific or in Europe.

Most women stayed home, but a few went to war as nurses and support personnel. Those who stayed home rushed to fill the jobs left behind—especially those that were crucial to the war effort. Ships, airplanes, ammunition, uniforms, and numerous other commodities were vital to winning the war, and those industries had to be sustained. The working wife and mother became, for the first time, commonplace throughout the United States.

When you remember that America had just pulled out of the Great Depression of the ‘30s, when thousands of homeless people starved and froze to death because of lack of jobs, food, and shelter, it’s easy to understand the economic changes that engulfed the country during the war. Suddenly industry was humming as all of America's citizens rallied behind the war effort. Victory gardens were planted to help grow food for families. War bonds were sold to help raise money to fight the war. And rationing was also introduced to American consumers as gas, rubber, some foodstuffs, and other goods were in short supply.

(In the book: "Looking Back", Faye Crawford recalls the War years as a child growing up in Washington State. She remembers savings stamps and some of the shortages faced by her family, as well as her family members who served in the war.)

Laverne M. Brown remembers her parents volunteering to help watch for Japanese planes slipping across our coast from the watch tower in their small Oregon coastal town. Even with watch towers up and down the West coast, a Japanese submarine shelled a military depot at Fort Stevens, Oregon in June, 1942, and in September, 1942, a Japanese warplane bombed Mt. Emily, Oregon and ignited a forest fire. Incendiary bombs were also dropped near Brookings, Oregon.)

When the war ended the country was united in welcoming back its returning war heroes. American society was optimistic about the future and nothing seemed impossible. The war had served as a catalyst for new inventions, including technological advances that would change the world.

And when all those men returned home from the war, they married and started families. With optimism rampant throughout the country, the birth rate quickly expanded into the baby boom. New neighborhoods were built to hold these new families, and suddenly suburbs sprang up across the countryside. New shopping centers were built to service the ‘burbs, and people left the cities in droves to make their home in the new neighborhoods. Living outside of cities meant cars had to be purchased to commute to jobs in town and to drive children to school. New roads had to be built to move all that new traffic.

(In "Looking Back" Nola Rae Lewis recalls the G.I. Bill and its meaning to her after her husband-to-be returned from World War II. They met in college, which her husband attended on the G.I. Bill, and together they later purchased their home with a G.I. home loan guarantee.)

The ‘40s was a great decade with many high points, but it also heralded the start of the Cold War, a polio epidemic, UFO sightings, and various technological advances, social changes, and political scandals. I’ll cover those in the next posting. Meanwhile, you can read about the ‘40s and every decade since by ordering the book, Looking Back: Boomers Remember History from the ‘40s to the Present. Just click on the link below the book image to read an excerpt and to order.

Politics and the Media: How the media manipulates politics

2008-01-16T09:38:00.000-08:00

As history streams by, we’re all in a position to observe the two major forces that shape history today: politics and the media. To understand how politics is shaped by the media, we all need to understand just what the media is and how it has changed in the past few years. To do that, we need to recognize the difference between legitimate news sources, and what is only perceived to be “the media.”

We’re in the middle of a political campaign, even though the election is still 10 months away, and already, it is getting ugly out there. Never has the opportunity for spreading rumors and outright lies been so easy. But before we talk about today’s problems, it’s important to know about dirty tricks during the 2000 election that could have changed the course of history.

First of all, let me say that I have always registered when possible as an Independent because I’ve always believed in voting for the best person for president, no matter what their party: someone who is honest, who has led a life of integrity up until this moment in time, who basically shares the same values as I. I’ve voted both Republican and Democrat, depending on who was running for office, and a few times, I refused to cast a vote because I didn’t believe I should have to select between the lesser of two evils. Bad is bad, and that’s not a choice. However, in retrospect, I can see that sometimes lies and dirty tricks shape the image we voters have of the candidates, and can influence our choices. Sometimes we make serious mistakes because rival candidates and the media have influenced us. So how can voters today recognize the truth?

As I write about the way media shapes politics, I will use examples without names. That is simply because if I use the real names, some people will skim this article and pick out words or phrases as confirmation of the lies. I fear that simply repeating the rumor or lie could destroy a candidate if I also use his or her name. That isn’t my purpose. I only want to show you how your beliefs are being shaped and challenged without you even realizing that they are.

In the following story, only, I will tell how a real rumor that spread in the 2000 election took hold. I’m telling about it because it is relevant to some things that are already happening in 2008. I will refrain from using the candidate’s name because the rumor was a vicious lie that hurt some innocent people (including a young child), and possibly changed history.

A particular candidate was doing very well in caucuses and primaries until he reached South Carolina. Then suddenly, something called a “push poll” destroyed his chances in that State and other Southern states. The rumor made the candidate in question appear immoral, and it also fired up racists in that state and across the country.

At that time, a push poll asked a question about a candidate, and I’ll have to paraphrase here since I don’t remember the exact wording: Would you be more likely to vote for ***** ****** knowing he adopted a love child he had fathered in *********, or would you be less likely?

First of all, how would a person be supposed to honestly answer that? But you see, it wasn’t really a question that pollsters expected an answer to. The question was meant only to incite moral judgment about the candidate! The child was non-white and had been adopted by the candidate and his wife after his wife found her and another child in a third world country and was told they would die if they didn’t get medical help that wasn’t available there. So the candidate’s wife brought the children home to the United States for necessary medical care, then later she and the candidate adopted the little girl.

So a humane effort by a candidate and his wife was twisted into an ugly rumor that hurt their family and destroyed the candidate’s chances in the 2000 election. Not only that, but when the little girl got older, she Googled her adoptive dad’s name and discovered this nasty rumor still alive out there in cyberspace!

And that’s one of the dangers of the favorite source of information for today’s young people. Lies live on forever on the Web. How can lies and rumors get spread so viciously, so widely, and without challenge, you may be asking? Read on.

The Anatomy of a Lie
Political lies take root several ways, and for various reasons. They start with rabid enemies who will go to extremes to spread untrue stories, and then get spread through non-legitimate outlets (You Tube, My Space, blogs etc) and then re-circulated through television and radio stations that are owned by special interest groups or a single owner with an agenda. Often they then get picked up by the legitimate media because it is anxious to break the “news” first, even though it might not be true and has to be corrected later. And many in the legitimate media don’t ever bother to correct their mistakes! Excuses include: there’s too much news happening to take the time; people have forgotten anyway; let someone else do it.

Here’s a look at the many ways lies become news and we the public are manipulated:

Push Polls
The science of polling has grown exponentially in the past few years as more and more candidates and those already in public office have come to rely on them to reveal the pulse of the electorate. And so has the opportunity to use them for evil instead of the legitimate reasons they were first designed for. And so were born “Push Polls.”

The phrase “push poll” simply means a poll designed to push an emotional response rather than legitimately gauge the pulse of the electorate. Voters should realize that they are being “pushed” if a pollster calls asking a loaded question like: “Would you be more likely to vote for Candidate A if you knew he was a homosexual, or would you be less likely to vote for him?” The suggested “character flaw” can be about anything that will incite those who are prejudiced.

Push polls are a dangerous tool in the arsenal of political consultants and marketing companies that want to create a dangerous or dishonest picture of a particular candidate in the minds of electorate. Just imagine the number of people who won’t bother to further research the candidate through biographies and articles in legitimate (non-biased) magazines and newspapers, but will instead call everyone they know and say, “Did you know Candidate A is a homosexual? I just heard that. Oh no, it’s true or this guy (or woman) wouldn’t have said it!” And then when it is repeated over and over, suddenly it takes on a legitimacy even though it has no basis in truth. I personally know a woman who says (and believes), “They wouldn’t have said it on TV if it wasn’t true.”

Sometimes it’s hard to know when something is a rumor or not, but push polls are designed to start and spread rumors. Push Polls border on being illegal, but although authorities have their suspicions about who commissioned the push poll on the above candidate, they cannot prove it.

The Internet
Just last night, someone mentioned to me an incident concerning a current candidate for president that was seen on television, so she was sure it must be true. However, I remember when this particular story first made the news, then was later retracted when found to be untrue. How did it get traction? The Internet was the source!

The media for the under-35 voter today is the Internet, but most viewers of You Tube and various blog sites don’t realize that it may not be true because they "see it with their own eyes." Editing videos is one of the easiest things to do for those who have learned how to use sophisticated editing programs. They can cut and paste, and splice in pieces of tape until they design the message that they want you to see.

This type of editing has been done to audio tapes since the beginning, and now it’s used for videos. Those who watch them and believe everything in them are being manipulated by sometimes evil forces. Those forces count on these naive, honest, manipulated viewers to help spread what they believe is the “truth.” However, before the Internet or even television, history is full of evil people like Hitler and Stalin who manipulated entire populations of people, including convincing innocent people to help spread their evil messages. Not everyone is honest—no matter how much we wish they were.

The horror of these erroneous tapes today is that often the so-called legitimate media picks them up and runs them on their news programs. How does this happen? I honestly don’t know. There was a time when the media could be depended upon to only present news that could be verified, but in today’s “hurry-up” world, they often sacrifice integrity so their news source can be the first to report something. There’s no attempt to verify it first.

I can’t tell you how horrified I was when I realized a major news station was getting some of its “news” from popular blogs. They present these clips and credit the blog where it originated—never mind that there’s no way of quickly verifying the truthfulness of the information.

Here is a clue about whether a news piece is factual or not: if it doesn’t come from the pen or mouth of a legitimate journalist who has gathered and verified the news, then had an editor check the sources, IT IS NOT NEWS. It might be opinion, or personal thoughts, or an idealistic editorial, or downright slander, but IT IS NOT NEWS!

The Media
Time was when there were three major sources of news in the United States: NBC, ABC, and CBS. Then the media grew and the Internet created a world-wide outlet for information. When that happened, we all believed that we would have more choices. However, that’s not how things have turned out. Today, we have CNN and FOX plus the public stations like PBS and LINK, and various other media outlets. The only thing is, aside from the public broadcasting stations that have to answer to those who donate funds so they can stay on the air, these other new media sources are mostly owned or influenced by a single owner or a like-minded special interest group with an agenda.

So where can you get news that you can trust today? For the most part that is still: NBC, ABC, and CBS—not that they all always get it right. Unless a broadcasting company is answerable to shareholders that reflect a broad cross-section of citizens, or it is public and must present a wide-range of opinions that reflect its public mandate, then it will only reflect the single-owner or special interest agenda. That means that we cannot expect to receive verified news from trained, legitimate journalists if we only watch one of these self-serving broadcasting stations. It is easy to determine whether they are legitimate or not by briefly watching their shows. Do their stories seem to favor only one candidate or political party while ridiculing the other(s)? Do the on-air personalities take on a preachy tone or joke about the news stories they are presenting? Do most of their stories tend to be sensational, almost unbelievable? Any of the above are red flags that should signal that their news is neither honest, balanced, or legitimate.

Another problem is that media is being purchased and controlled at an alarming rate by a few media giants. While almost all radio stations and newspapers were once independently owned and reflected the communities they served, now almost all radio stations and newspapers throughout the country are owned or controlled by only a few people. You can travel from New York City to San Diego, and from Seattle to Miami, and hear the same newscasts and read the same stories in almost every newspaper. If that doesn’t scare you, it should. The fewer media outlets that serve the people, the less free is our press.

Free press was a right guaranteed in the Constitution, but the fewer news sources the public has access to means that we’re all receiving only the news that a media conglomerate deems important. The editorial slant of one or a few media giants is all we receive. And since media giants are “big business,” editorial opinions that favor big business are the only views we will get. Democracy cannot be guaranteed unless all viewpoints of all citizens are represented, young and old, rich and poor.

What binds Americans?
I have a theory that few Americans among us are truly politically far right- or left-wing, but instead reside comfortably in the middle. I believe that we each have mostly either conservative or liberal tendencies, but sometimes side with the opposite wing on certain issues. We are all so different, yet we are still basically the same because we’ve been brought up in a free society—in a country that values differences of opinion and honest, open dialogue about those differences.

Yet if our media continues to consolidate, it will more and more compromise our beliefs and choices. We could all be manipulated into thinking alike, the ideal situation for a dictatorship to take root and flourish. Eventually, we would see fewer choices. When that happens, this will no longer be a free nation—a democracy that is a shining example to the rest of the world.

Democracy will disappear as truth dissolves into lies that manipulate us to hate those who are different; to ignore the rights of those who think differently. And this very moment, the forces of today’s media are shaping our political choices.

We must all be alert to the changes in the way we receive our news, and we must learn how to separate the truth from a rumor or lie. I personally pledge to refuse to be blindly manipulated by rumors or lies that have been shaped and spread by push polls, the Internet, or the media. We all have a duty to search out every source of information on each candidate running for president so that we can discover and understand the real story behind every rumor. It’s imperative to our very survival! Our future as a democracy depends on it!

PERMISSION TO REPRINT: Articles from this blog, "Looking Back" may be reprinted in your own print or electronic media, but please include the following paragraph: "Reprinted from "Boomers Remember History" blog. Article by Kay Kennedy, author of Looking Back: Boomers Remember History from the '40s to the Present; author's Website: http://www.kennedyk.com/.

HISTORY JUST KEEPS ON HAPPENING

2008-01-10T11:35:00.000-08:00

Another year down the tube already. My, how time flies, and history keeps on happening all the while time whizzes by. As 2008 begins, will this be a great year that we’ll all look back on fondly, or will some catastrophe wipe the good memories of the year from our minds?

Whatever happens, this will be a major year in politics. For the first time we have a woman and a black man as candidates for the presidency who actually stand a chance of being elected. Of course, they have to survive the State caucuses and primaries, then the Democratic convention first. The best thing happening is that we have candidates in both parties who offer us real choices, for a change.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of 1968, when politics was in turmoil. We lost civil rights leader Martin Luther King and democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy that year to assassins. As the Democrats headed for their convention in Chicago that year, a lot of young people had lost hope for decency in politics because their dreams of someone in the White House who would end the war had been shattered by assassin, Sirhan Sirhan. Remember, young people under 21 couldn’t vote then, so their only chance to even be heard was to demonstrate outside the convention hall. They could be drafted and die in Vietnam fighting a war they didn't believe in, but they couldn't vote against the leaders who were willing to eagerly send other parents' children off to war while helping their own children avoid the draft. There was a lot at stake for those young protestors!

The convention would get ugly as Chicago’s police attacked demonstrators in the streets. A lot of young Americans, like me, refused to go to the polls that year because we thought our choice was limited to the lesser of two evils. Those of us who lived through the turmoil of the late ‘60s remember what it was like to lose both faith and hope that the world could be a better place. Maybe we still have a different set of expectations for our political leaders than those of you who weren’t yet born, or for those who really weren’t paying attention in 1968. And yes, there were many complacent voters back then.

I’m not a political pundit, nor am I an avid student of politics, but I believe that this year, trustworthiness will be the leading characteristic voters will be looking for. Which Republican or Democratic candidate can be trusted to lead our country in a new direction? Which one will keep the promises made in the heat of the campaign? Which one really cares about the plight of the lower and middle economic class, the category most Americans fit into?

I have studied the reputations and backgrounds of candidates already and narrowed my choices. I only hope everyone reading this will take this campaign seriously enough to go behind the headlines and sound bites on television so that they can learn the real story. Too many of us are too busy to even watch the evening news, and instead turn to late night shows or parodies of politics for information. Folks, these TV personalities have their favorites, but their choices should not necessarily be yours. Think about that! Mostly, though, their political comments are jokes. They’re meant as jokes—not to be taken seriously.

And TV channel flippers who happen to hear a loudmouth screaming some obscenity about a specific candidate shouldn’t accept that as fact, either. What I’m saying is that each of us has a responsibility to study issues and read a variety of newspapers and magazines to get our information. I’ve taken it a step further by reading the various biographies of all the candidates because I have the time and enough interest to make sure I don’t live to regret my vote. Plus, I'm a speed reader.

I have a feeling this will be one of the most important votes I’ll cast in my lifetime and I want it to count this time. I hope you do, too!

Boomers’ History is Hot!

2007-12-13T13:02:00.000-08:00

When I began writing Looking Back, who knew there would be another book coming out about the same time on the history of the boomers? I started writing my book because I suddenly realized one day that very little has been written about that era, and that history needed to be chronicled by people who had lived through it. My goal was to create a history book that readers would enjoy. There’s nothing boring about Looking Back!

Then Tom Brokaw’s new book titled Boom came out this month, which I’ve already read. It’s a good book, as would be expected from one of America’s top journalists, and thanks to his celebrity status, specials on the '60s now are being featured on almost every network channel. Before I read Boom, I got the impression he was covering basically the same information I had covered in Looking Back, and it’s true that some of it did overlap. However, there are two distinct differences in our books, besides his being twice as long.

Brokaw’s book focuses only on the ‘60s. He covers in depth the civil rights movement, the counterculture, and the hippies who traveled to San Francisco for the “summer of love.” I would definitely recommend his book to anyone who wants a nostalgic look back at the turbulent ‘60s because the decade is covered in detail.

Meanwhile, Looking Back covers every decade since the ‘40s and all the ways that America has been impacted by the baby boom. One chapter on the ‘50s tells about the integration crisis in Little Rock, and a chapter is devoted to the ‘60s and the civil rights movement, counterculture, hippies and the “summer of love.”

Brokaw interviewed dozens of people for their take on the ‘60s. He talked to both famous and ordinary people who were affected by the Vietnam War and the cultural war at home, recording their memories. I loved reading about some of the roles these people played in bringing about changes, and about those who were left scratching their heads and wondering what was happening.

Looking Back, on the other hand, uses actual stories written by ordinary people who lived through the ‘60s and other decades. These essays are emotional and sometimes raw as the writers remember how they felt at the beginning of the civil rights movement in Little Rock as students in the first integrated public school in the South. Some writers recall the emotional moments of serving in the military while others shudder at memories of the Cold War. There are several essays that talk about the assassinations and cultural changes that took place during that ‘60s. During later decades, some writers remember how 9/11 changed the their lives and others recall the shock and horror of returning home following Hurricane Katrina to discover their homes and everything they had owned and cherished had been destroyed by the fury of that single memorable mega-storm.

So would I recommend Brokaw’s book Boom to readers? Absolutely! It provides an in-depth look at the defining decade of the boomer era. But for a look at all of the decades that boomers have lived through and impacted, as well as been affected by, Looking Back covers the drama of it all in warm, touching, emotionally revealing stories by the people who were there. We witnessed it, and some of us even took part in the cultural revolution that swept America during the ‘60s. To not read about the decades that led up to the ‘60s is akin to eating a hamburger without the bun. And the technological advances that amaze and sometimes confound us today, plus the social concerns that were raised during the ‘60s still affect Americans and will continue to impact the world in the future. Current and future problems facing us are also covered in Looking Back.

Buy both books for a broad historical perspective on the history of the boomer generation. Believe me, it will be an educational experience and your life will be richer for having read them both!

To order Looking Back or to read an excerpt, click on book link on right.

The Tumultuous Sixties

2007-11-27T13:07:00.000-08:00

The ‘60s was such a complex decade that it will definitely take more than this article to explain it. So I’m only tackling a small portion of it this time.

The ‘50s ended with Cuba turning to communism under the leadership of Fidel Castro, the revolutionary who ousted President Juan Batista. In my book Looking Back, Celeste Cañizares Dieppa recalls her childhood playing with the Batista children, then the day men in long beards took over the country. She remembers the hardships they faced as her father was jailed and her mother continuously interrogated. Life became a struggle to survive until they finally were allowed to emigrate to the United States.

The ‘50s closed with rock ‘n’ roll music firmly entrenched as the music of choice for young people. No longer was the safe, predictable easy-listening or big band music of their parents enough to keep the Boomer generation content. They wanted music that expressed their rebellious yearnings. In addition to rock music, old folk music was making a comeback as young people discovered the songs and learned to pick guitars. then gravitated to folk music centers in the Village in New York City and San Francisco. They would soon change to protest songs as the '60s emerged as the decade of social activism and society drop-outs.

Also in the late ‘50s, the Russians launched Sputnik, which started the space race between the United States and Russia. Before the end of the '60s, an American astronaut would walk on the moon!

The ‘60s started as such a hopeful decade. The economy was booming and we had a new, young president who inspired great expectations, including the promise to put an American on the moon before the end of the decade. John F. Kennedy’s years in office are remembered as Camelot, with a photogenic wife and their two young children introducing much-welcomed youthfulness to the dignified old White House. The country embraced the First Family and everything they represented: vitality; hopefulness; unselfish service to the country; activism. Kennedy’s Peace Corps offered an exciting opportunity for young Americans to give of themselves to others who were in need. Many joined the Peace Corps to build homes, dig wells, and educate people in underdeveloped countries. We who were young then had the world by the horns, and nothing could hold us back.

Camelot ended suddenly on a day in November, 1963 when a loner and loser named Lee Harvey Oswald shot and killed Kennedy as his motorcade traveled through downtown Dallas. The nation was horrified! That was the defining moment in a lot of young lives. Suddenly, all that had been safe, good, and possible in our lives was turned into a tragedy beyond our comprehension. After that one despicable act, no longer would we ever believe in fairy tales, nor would a great number ever trust our government to tell the truth.

Amidst the general optimism during the early ‘60s before Kennedy’s death, young people feared the Cold War and the nuclear bomb that could destroy us all. They were determined to try and change the world so that no other generation would have to live with the threat of annihilation triggered by a crazed leader in our country, Russia, or anywhere else in our world. Our greatest fear almost became a reality in October, 1962 during the Cuban Missile Crisis. A nuclear disaster was narrowly averted when Russia finally responded to President Kennedy’s demands that they pull their missiles out of Cuba.

Two other significant historic events during the early ‘60s ensured that that our world would never be the same. 1) Birth control pills were made available, giving young women reproductive choices. 2) The civil rights movement for blacks was born and was to become a rallying cry that would lead to angry protests around the country.

1) Birth control ensured that young women’s lives would change. If they wanted to delay child-bearing, for the first time ever they had a choice. Birth control meant that women could concentrate on building careers if they chose, or stay home and raise children. Women had been in the workforce in large numbers since World War II when they were called upon to pick up the tools of industry to keep our country humming. But they were never given the same opportunities that men were given because they were expected to quit after a couple of years to have children.

Women didn’t receive the same pay as men for the same jobs because they weren’t considered providers for their families—that was a man’s job. Never mind the women who were sole providers because of the death of their spouse or a divorce. Divorce was still a dirty word, and those women who were divorced were often looked down upon by their male bosses as having somehow been the ones at fault for their position.

Big business has always had a particular interest in women’s reproductive rights because as long as women remained shackled to home and the hearth, wages during their short foray into the working world could be kept low. Profits for big businesses overrode women’s rights and still drive the arguments against planned parenthood today. Once the burden of unexpected pregnancies was lifted, women could demand equal pay and rights in the workplace, increasing wage costs.

Married couples could delay childbearing until they were psychologically ready and financially capable of supporting children, but birth control also changed the sexual attitudes of young, unmarried women and teenagers. With no fear of pregnancy, they could engage in a promiscuous lifestyle—and did! Suddenly, sexual activity on movie screens and in real life ratcheted up.

2), The civil rights movement pricked the conscience of young people who had watched on their television screens as Central High School in Little Rock was integrated, and in Alabama, Rosa Parks refused to move to the back of a bus, where blacks were expected to ride. It also heralded a crisis of conscience when the young people trying to help with voter registration and integration in the South were beaten and killed. Black residents in large cities across the country soon began rioting, demanding change.

At the same time that this was going on, the plight of poor whites and elderly people across the country was being made public as President Lyndon Johnson declared a war on poverty and tried to get legislation passed to ensure that all of America’s citizens were provided with equal opportunities, and given a boost up the economic ladder.

The unfortunate legacy of President Johnson is that he also escalated the war in Vietnam after his administration lied to the American people about the Gulf of Tonkin incident. His place in history was regretfully diminished during this period as his administration self-destructed amidst the increasing fury of voters who were against the war in Vietnam.

Next time I’ll write about the anti-war movement, the counterculture, and the “make love, not war” generation, all part of the landscape that plunged our country into a tumultuous period that still haunts our society today.

CHRISTMAS IS QUICKLY APPROACHING,

2007-11-06T13:14:00.000-08:00

and what better gift for your friends and family than a book that offers an emotional stroll down memory lane?

The Book: LOOKING BACK: BOOMERS REMEMBER HISTORY makes a wonderful Christmas gift for those on your list who are reaching “that certain age” when the past begins to look better all the time. Or for your children and grandchildren, who need to know the story of the amazing moments their parents and grandparents lived through.

History is not boring—especially the history of the Boomers! Oh yeah, the way we were taught it in school could positively make me snore. But this history book is different! It is written by those of us who were there—who witnessed it all as it happened.

We watched the amazing drama unfold on the tiny black and white screens of that new invention, the television. Some of us even participated in various events that made the news back then. What exciting times we had, and how sorrowful some of it was as we wondered if the world would survive until we reached adulthood.

For a personal journey into the past that will bring back memories of assassinations, riots, an unpopular war, and a government that seemed to be coming apart at the seams, Looking Back provides a unique firsthand glimpse at the times. The book also recalls the polio scare that forced our parents to keep us at home to avoid becoming one of those children confined to iron lungs or wheelchairs. Fortunately, a remarkable new vaccine was discovered to prevent the disabling and deadly disease, freeing us to once again enjoy childhood activities like going to public swimming pools and Saturday matinees.

Also recalled are drive-in movies—those theaters under the stars where almost all of us went with our families and on dates. Lacking shopping malls then, the drive-in movies were our social scene. And of course, the end of segregation is covered by three of us who attended Central High School during the integration crisis in 1957/58, by one who recalls the shame of segregation during those years, and by one Vietnam War veteran whose first experience with integration happened when he joined the military in the '60s.

Looking Back is receiving great reviews for the way history was treated in the book—not as a dry, boring subject--but as more than two dozen interesting stories interwoven to reveal the emotions behind history. It’s not a book that readers have to read from front cover to back. Instead, readers can pick and choose among the stories at any one sitting, a great convenience for those who don't have much time to read.

The beautifully designed book is available as paperback for $17.95 (plus shipping and handling). It can be ordered online from http://www.booklocker.com/books/3056.html, with delivery within 10 days. Or order directly from me for $22.00 (covers shipping and handling). Send check to: Kay Kennedy, P. O. Box 4566, Cottonwood, AZ 86326. Delivery should be within 10 days, but I’ll notify you if it might take longer.

Another great gift for those budding writers on your gift list is a copy of my book, Portable Writing, available for $16.95 (plus shipping and handling) online at http://www.booklocker.com/books/2461.html. You can also order copies of Portable Writing directly from me by sending a check for $21.00 (includes shipping and handling) to my Cottonwood address, above.

The Integration Crisis at Central High - continued

2007-10-11T10:53:00.000-07:00

Occasionally some of us become a part of history against our wishes, while others willingly choose to participate in it. That may be the only way to view the integration crisis at Central High—those who chose to attend that year to secure their place in history, and those who would have preferred to finish the school year cloaked in anonymity.

I cannot know the motivation behind, or speak for the black students who chose to be part of that particular moment in history, but I do know they and their parents had a choice. Perhaps it was the guarantee of a paid college education? Or maybe it was simply the opportunity to play a role in one of this country's first and most significant civil rights struggles that prompted their participation. Whatever the motivation or reasons behind their decision to integrate Central that year, it had to happen sometime. Although we white students might not have agreed then, the time was right for black students to stand up and fight for rights that had been denied for way too long. And rather than looking back with shame that the struggle happened at all and was broadcast around the world, perhaps we should consider it as society’s shining hour that it was achieved with very little or no bloodshed. Not every civil rights struggle would go that smoothly.

I don’t know if there has ever been dialogue between the Central High black and white students since they reached adulthood and became able to view the events with the perspective of time. I moved away at 21 and have had little contact with anyone from Central since then. I do know that I would love to hear their stories—even include some of them in my blog if they were willing.

At that time and place in history, emotions ruled each of our reactions to the crisis. Fear, anxiety, anger, and the fact that we were typical self-centered teenagers probably kept us from embracing the role we white students played in the future of our nation’s race relations. But that is history now. People—especially teenagers—don’t always react to events in a dignified manner. Yet most of us were dignified enough to show up everyday, walk up those steps, and quietly go about getting our education regardless of what went on outside the building, and possibly even inside it at times.

As the year passed by, we kids continued to adjust to the changing situation. I believe that we behaved as well as could be expected of kids who had been brought up in a society where everything had been defined in terms of black and white. Most of us had never known anything but segregation. We didn’t invent it, and most of us realized it wasn’t right, but it was all we had ever known. The adjustment was traumatic, but we accepted integration because it was the law of the land.

Things finally settled down at school that year as the National Guard was nationalized and returned to the school to guard the black students. Television viewers and newspaper readers eventually became bored with the story. Troublemakers finally tired of standing on the corner waving signs and shouting after most of the media deserted them for more exciting stories. We made it through that year and more than 600 students managed to graduate in May.

The high schools in Little Rock closed in the fall of 1958 to prevent another troubling repeat of the previous year, and Central’s students became pawns in a political struggle as they scrambled to enter schools elsewhere so they could complete their education. Because government officials had a point to prove and didn’t care enough about education to provide Little Rock’s students with a public high school to attend, or to transport them out of town to another school, some dropped out. Childhood friends were separated as students sought their education wherever they could find it.

Central’s national championship football team was split up and destroyed that year, and students in line for scholarships had them snatched away. It was even more devastating to the graduating seniors than it had been to the seniors in 1957/58. No longer would they be graduating from one of the top academic schools in the country. They were truly “lost,” often graduating from out of town schools where they had few friends, or from hastily organized, small church affiliated high schools.

Schools finally reopened in the fall of 1959, so that what was left of the class of ’60 was able to regroup and graduate from Central. But it would not be the same.

Central in 1957/58 was the beginning of the civil rights movement. When the ‘60s dawned, cities around the country faced their own moral crises as they were forced by law to bus students to achieve racial equity. Citizens all over the nation were suddenly forced to reveal the dark underside of their personal prejudices when it came to race, poverty, and ensuring civil rights for everyone. Far-flung racial strife proved that racism wasn’t a “Little Rock” or “Southern” issue. Instead, racial disparity was a nationwide problem that would take years to remedy and caused divisions that have never completely healed.

Given a choice at the time, I would rather not have been a part of the 1957 crisis at Central High, but it had a positive effect on the remainder of my life. It made me realize that none of us can be complacent when it comes to ensuring that we treat all of our fellow humans as equals. The experience made me more thoughtful, more tolerant, and a more compassionate citizen than I might have been without the struggles that year.

Our being told to ignore the previous 200 years of history and embrace integration was somewhat similar to being raised on a South Pacific island and suddenly plopped down and forced to live in Iceland. They’re both islands, but the differences are profound. The sudden switch from absolute segregation to integration in 1957 was both dramatic and traumatic, and the situation required major adjustments. Most of us survived it intact. I cannot say that I regret having been a part of it.

REMEMBERING THE '50s - The Little Rock Integration Crisis

2007-09-30T12:07:00.000-07:00

Since the integration crisis at Little Rock Central High has been in the news so much recently, I decided to cover that era today. I was there that September morning 50 years ago. I was one of the 2000 or so white students who suddenly had our world turned upside down by a decision to make our school an “example” in the South. We weren’t asked our opinion, because we were just kids. But we were forced to face the grown-up horrors of racist protesters and constant bomb threats against our school, no matter that we were just kids.

The decade of the ‘50s and the integration crisis is covered thoroughly in my book, Looking Back, but I’ll attempt to help blog readers understand what it was like to be the center of media attention when, as students, all we wanted to do was enjoy our high school days like every other high school kid in America.

First of all, I knew in my heart that the Brown vs. Board of Education Supreme Court Ruling was right in trying to equalize education for white and black students. And we all realized it would happen sometime, but I guess we hoped it would happen first somewhere else. Perhaps a grade school, or a school in a smaller town that would lack facilities for protestors and the media to gather. Just somewhere else besides our school. We weren’t prepared for it. And we weren’t offered a choice.

That first day, the governor decided to call in the National Guard to keep order, but instead they showed up to keep the black students from entering the school. That was the first mistake in a long list of political maneuvers that created a bully pulpit for the extremists on both sides of the argument. It only grew worse from that point on.

The media made a nuisance of itself trying to find stories that didn’t exist, and probably was most responsible for stirring up unrest among protestors, most of them adults and many of them not even from the State of Arkansas. They were mostly the same troublemakers who always stand ready to demonstrate their ignorance, shouting out their opinions in hopes of getting their 15 minutes of fame on television screens or in the newspaper. That’s what drove news coverage during those turbulent days, and still does today.

I can’t say the black students didn’t suffer discrimination when they finally were admitted into school with the backing of the 101st Airborne Division of the U.S. Army. There may have been shoves and insults hurled their way. But I can honestly say that I never saw any acts of violence, and I don’t know how they could have been threatened or harmed when they were each surrounded by guards every time I saw them. Still, I can understand deep emotional wounds from not feeling welcome.

I do admit that most of us didn’t talk with them or make them feel welcome, but it had nothing to do with intolerance or racism. It had everything to do with our being afraid of violence against ourselves if we so much as smiled at them or spoke to them. Who might see us and seek retaliation? Fear motivated most of us to simply ignore them as if they didn't exist.

And it wasn't some sort of conspiracy to ignore them. You see, we kids didn’t discuss the situation back then. We had been taught to be respectful, to obey the rules and to keep our feelings to ourselves. So we didn’t know who was racist and who wasn’t, or even if there were racists among the students. Statistics tell me that it’s likely there were, but there was no way of knowing back then. And yes, we had armed guards standing every few feet down the hall, but that didn’t make us white students feel any safer. Instead, their rifles and bayonets terrified most of us. We went about the business of getting our education, hoping we would wake up one morning and find the problems had all gone away.

I’ll continue this story in my next post here.

CONTEST HAS 2 WINNERS!

2007-09-27T10:15:00.000-07:00

There were two winners to the history quiz, Rev. Barry Zavah and Michelle London. Michelle entered the contest after seeing it mentioned at writersweekly.com and was the first one from that location with the correct answers. I was pleased to see so many readers answer the quiz correctly, and so quickly!

Watch this site for announcements of future contests. Maybe you'll win next time.

Remembering the '60s

2007-09-26T15:08:00.000-07:00

History is a funny thing. One day you’re young and have no concept of the meaning of “history.” Then one day you wake up and realize you are history (and I mean that in the kindest way).

While you’ve been living your life, important events have been taking place that will someday be written about in the past tense for future generations to read. And suddenly one day you realize that day is now!

The other day I heard an “old” song that once had so much meaning to the baby boomer generation, titled (I think) “Put a Little Love in Your Heart.” The song was about how the world would be a better place if we all helped look after our fellow man with love in our hearts.

Wow, what a concept! What has happened to that ideal? Where did all the love go? Are those who believed in that concept now dead and gone, or have their hearts been hardened by the daily routine of their lives, or the arrogance of all the elected officials who failed to consider love of their fellow man as a viable alternative to war?

As I wrote in Looking Back, the late ‘40s and early ‘50s were the age of innocence, but I don’t recall that we were thinking much about helping our fellow men. Life was good, and the times were relatively safe and prosperous. I doubt that it entered the minds of those of us born in the ‘40s until called to our attentention later, that there were people who were downtrodden, who lacked civil rights or enough money to feed themselves or their kids. We were doing okay, so why shouldn’t the rest of America do just as well? Our attitudes were based more on lack of knowledge (naiveté) than arrogance.

Sometime in the mid-to-late ‘50s, a few began to drop out of society. They became “beatniks” who hung out in coffee houses in places like San Francisco and the Village in New York City, and who wrote and sang songs of angst. Did they have a cause—a higher purpose for their actions? Or were they simply a little too preoccupied with their own belly button? I don’t know. Growing up in Little Rock, Arkansas, I knew little about these early rebels.

I didn’t realize that as a typical teenager who embraced rock ‘n’ roll (the devil’s) music, I like many others of my peers were actually beginning to display subtle acts of rebellion against our parent’s generation and their safe, complacent lifestyles. That rock ‘n’ roll generation laid the groundwork for the hippie generation—those youngsters who would come of age throughout the ‘60s and on into the early ‘70s and realize that the world their parents had brought them up in wasn’t as perfect as it seemed.

The ‘60s were many things to Americans. To the young, they were exciting times when they could become free spirits and experiment with lifestyle choices that would have turned their parents’ hair gray. It was a time of inclusion and “love.” How charming it was to watch a barefoot hippie dressed in ragged and dirty clothes on the sidewalks of San Francisco walk up to a businessman dressed in a suit and hand him a flower and utter the word, “Peace.” The innocence of those young people as they attempted to change society was an eye-opening experience for those of us who witnessed it, and frightening to those who worried about how these “dead-beat drop-outs” would someday run our country.

Parents watched obedient youngsters change from respectful to rebellious—determined to turn society on its head. The youngsters were fed up with the injustice that pervaded society. At the same time, they were seduced by the sexual freedom offered by the birth control pill, and by street drugs that could numb their minds while unleashing emotions that were previously unknown to them.

Not everything about those years was wonderful, and I often wonder what happened to the young people so full of hope who shouted “make love, not war.” Did love for fellow man turn to fear while witnessing a President, a civil rights leader, and a Presidential candidate get assassinated during the decade of the ‘60s? Did love turn to contempt as they watched government officials hell-bent on remaking the rest of the world in our own image? Or did love simply die because it was hard to maintain the level of trust for mankind that was required for that kind of universal love?

The book Looking Back doesn’t attempt to answer any of those questions, but it does look at the ‘60s and remembers why the decade will be remembered fondly by some, and disgustedly by others. It was and is history, and is chronicled by those who lived through it, who had their own individual, personal part in, and reactions to the times.

This book is history as it should be remembered. It is not written by history textbook writers who think it is only important that basic, dry facts be included. Instead it is written by people who lived it, who had strong emotions about it, and who managed to survive the decade of the ‘60s, and those following it.

Every American should have a vested interest in the history of our extraordinary country, including recent events from the ‘40s to today. Hopefully, this personal approach to telling about history will prompt more Americans to read about it and enjoy the amazing journey back into time.

We Have a Winner!

2007-09-24T14:45:00.000-07:00

The winning answers to the quiz were sent today by Rev. Barry Zavah, one of the contributor's to the book, at 13:49 Eastern Daylight Time (10:49 Pacific Daylight Time). I'm sorry everyone couldn't win, especially those others who submitted the correct answers. Watch this blog for announcements of future contests and maybe you'll win next time!

The correct answers to the quiz are:
1 - E
2 - E This is the one that was missed most often. The Constitution, First Amendment (part of the Bill of Rights) states: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free excerise thereof;..." Thomas Jefferson first used the term "wall of separation."
3 - D
4 - B

Thanks to everyone for entering!

2007-09-20T16:19:00.000-07:00

Here's a good reason to read a good history book!

If you’ve never thought you would willingly pick up a history book, or encourage your kids to study history, here’s something that should shock you.

According to a study conducted in 2005, for the second year in a row at America’s “elite” universities and colleges, students have failed to rise above a “D plus” on basic knowledge tests about civics and American history.

It’s not that history is unimportant. It's very important! If Americans can’t even answer basic questions about this country’s past, how can they understand how to vote in elections, or what this country’s principles consist of? And I have to agree that the way history is taught in school makes it a b-o-r-i-n-g subject.

However, with a college education costing as much as $40,000 per year, shouldn’t we expect that students will acquire basic knowledge in history? Shouldn’t we even expect them to learn some of it in middle and high school? Or is it asking too much of our education system to provide even minimal history lessons? And shouldn't history lessons be more interesting than memorizing dates and names?

If you’ve ever needed a good reason to read a history book with your kids, this is it. And if you want a good, interesting, intelligent book that the entire family will enjoy (yes, I said enjoy), then the book I’ve just written should fill the bill. When I wrote the book, I had already seen a study that claimed young adults were graduating without basic knowledge of history. And I had seen evidence, since some of the young, otherwise intelligent people I have known couldn’t remember hearing about important events that have happened even in their lifetimes!

One day I realized that history needed to be put in a format that would entertain as well as inform so that students and adults would actually enjoy learning. So, I gathered a group of people to help me tell the story of the history we have lived through.

The ’40s to today have been some of the most amazing times in history. We’ve seen everything from racism to rockets, from counterculture to conservatism, from a Cold War to terrorists attacking our country on our own soil. We who have written this book have a lot of history under our belts, since we’ve witnessed most of it via television. Some of us were even present at the scene as it was happening.

Looking Back: Boomers Remember History from the ’40s to the Present is presented in a friendly, readable format that is anything but boring. Oh, the facts are there, and were double- and triple-checked for accuracy, but instead of emphasizing dates and names, it reveals the tragedy of the bad times as well as the triumphs of the amazing moments. It puts a human face to events, and shares the emotions of ordinary citizens living through extraordinary times.

We must all understand the role history plays in our nation’s amazing moments as well as recognize and understand its mistakes. And everyone needs to learn our country's heritage, or else it will be forgotten. And that will be a sad day for the future of our great nation!

2007-09-20T16:12:00.000-07:00

Contest - First one to answer 4 questions correctly wins!

Here’s a contest that everyone can enter to win a free autographed copy of “Looking Back: Boomers Remember History from the ’40s to the Present.” These are four of the questions asked on the test on which the average score of college seniors was 53.2 percent. The first person to send the correct answers to me at portable.writer@yahoo.com will win. If you want to further test your skills on history and civics, you’ll find the 60-multiple choice questions given to students at Intercollegiate Studies Institute Web site: http://www.isi.org/. Good luck!

1) Which of the following are the unalienable rights referred to in the Declaration of Independence?
A. Life, liberty, and property
B. Honor, liberty, and peace
C. Liberty, health, and community
D. Life, respect, and equal protection
E. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness

2) The phrase that in America there should be a “wall of separation” between church and state appears in:
A. George Washington’s Farewell Address.
B. The Mayflower Compact.
C. the Constitution.
D. the Declaration of Independence.
E. Thomas Jefferson’s letters.

3) In his “I Have a Dream” speech, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.:
A. argued for the abolition of slavery.
B. advocated black separatism.
C. morally defended affirmative action.
D. expressed his hopes for racial justice and brotherhood.
E. proposed that several of America’s founding ideas were discriminatory

4) The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (1964) was significant because it:
A. ended the war in Korea.
B. gave President Johnson the authority to expand the scope of the Vietnam War.
C. was an attempt to take foreign policy power away from the President.
D. allowed China to become a member of the United Nations.
E. allowed for oil exploration in Southeast Asia.

NEW RELEASE - "LOOKING BACK" OUT TODAY!

2007-09-03T13:27:00.000-07:00

The book, Looking Back is now available for sale.

LOOKING BACK: Boomers Remember History from the '40s to the Present has been a long journey, but today it was finally released and can be ordered directly from the publisher. For those who prefer to order through Amazon.com and Barnes&Noble.com, it will take anywhere from a few days to longer to be listed there, but I can assure you that ordering through Booklocker is safe since I've ordered books from them for a couple of years now and have never encountered any problems.

Looking Back is a poignant recollection of history as seen through the eyes of those who lived it, and in addition to the timeline and personal memories that I include throughout the book, it also includes 22 essays and 2 poems by contributors who recall the events that defined the lives and times of the boomer generation. There are stories of assassinations, riots, war, the counter-culture, suffering, loss, fear, and great expectations, and run the gamut from one writer who remembers the Confederacy as a backdrop to later civil rights struggles that would take place in the '50s and '60s. Other writers remember everything from World War II, segregation, the Vietnam War, September 11, 2001, Hurricane Katrina, and many other moments that made history. This book is told from a personal perspective, so history comes alive through these words by people who were there - who witnessed it all.

Order your copy of Looking Back by clicking on the link below the book cover image on the right side of the screen, or go to http://www.booklocker.com/books/3056.html to read an excerpt and to order. The book is 6x9 inches and 216 pages in length, paperback. Unfortunately, the cover photo to the right is distorted and I haven't figured out how to make it proportional!

I'm sure you will enjoy reading about this emotional era in history as much as I enjoyed compiling the book!

LOOKING BACK due out soon!

2007-08-22T14:57:00.000-07:00

After waiting for what seems like a lifetime, the first copy of the book, Looking Back, is on its way to me to approve its release. Yippee!

Never one to sit by idly waiting for time to pass, I've already started on a sequel, tentatively titled: Looking Back at the Way We Were. This will be a more nostalgic look at the history of the boomer's era--the way we lived before technology changed society. It will also include essays by individuals about the way their families lived, with references to the history of the times. So for those of you who were disappointed not to have had your stories included in the original version, here's your chance to participate. Email me at portable.writer@yahoo.com to get a copy of the guidelines for the book.

A brochure for the book about to be released is available for anyone who wants a copy. Send an email to the above address, include your address, or tell me whether you want it sent to you via email.

And to everyone who participated in the Looking Back: Boomers Remember History project, a big heartfelt THANK YOU! Without your stories, it might have been just another boring history book. Now it's anything but boring!!!

Update on LOOKING BACK

2007-08-03T14:29:00.000-07:00

Here's an update on the book, Looking Back. The book has been formatted, approved by me, and is ready to be printed. The cover, which is absolutely beautiful by the way, has been approved by me. So now, it's just a matter of waiting for it to be printed and get into my hands.

For those who are anxiously awaiting it's release, it shouldn't be long now depending on how many jobs the printer has going. Watch for the notice here, and I'll email those who have requested an immediate heads up.

This was without a doubt the most exciting book I've worked on. I learned so much that I didn't know, or knew too little about before researching the book. Some of my opinions were changed by facts uncovered during my research. And some were reinforced. We've lived through some terrible, tragic, and exciting moments since the '40s, and our lives have changed tremendously over the years (and not only from growing older). I write about drive-in movies, which was my generation's favorite way to watch a flick. I recall the horrors of the polio epidemic, when parents didn't allow their children to go swimming in public pools, or anywhere among crowds!

There are those memories and so many more that readers will eagerly recall. Younger readers will learn so much about their parents' and grandparents' generation, and actions that paved their way and changed the world, sometimes for the better, sometimes not. Still, the experiences recalled in the book made an impact on society that will last for a long time.

Stories by 24 contributors help make this book a must-read for anyone who loves history, or anyone who hates it and wants a reason to love it. This is history as seen and lived by the book's contributors and me. We were there and we survived wars, assassinations, the counterculture, and politics. It's been an exciting ride!

LOOKING BACK: Essays and Contributors

2007-07-23T15:53:00.000-07:00

Looking Back reveals history as seen through the eyes of those who lived it. It is a personal journey into history that tells about both the amazing and tragic moments that have defined our lives since the '40s.

So readers could actually view history through the eyes of those who were there, I invited friends, family, and several other writers to submit their stories for the book. The book is written by 19 individuals, plus myself, and includes 22 essays and two poems in addition to the running timeline and commentary on historic events. Below are brief glimpses into a few of the wonderful stories that readers will find in Looking Back, due out this month (July).

Three writers tell about World War II and how it affected their families. One talks about it from the perspective of a child, which she was at the time. Another recalls the lookout towers along the coast of Oregon, where her family stood watch to see that Japanese planes didn't stray across the coastline. One writer recalls meeting the love of her life in college following the war, and how the GI Bill helped pay for her husband's college education, then helped them purchase their first home.

One writer recalls the wonder of train travel as a child before the Interstate highway system was built. Another tells about her childhood in Cuba after Castro took control. She recalls the hardships her family faced before they were finally allowed to leave the country and come to the U.S.

Two writers (as well as I) recall the integration crisis at Little Rock Central High in 1957 as nine black students became the first to integrate a school in the South. We each remember, in our own way, how it was back then to attend school amid turmoil created by racist protestors and the media. For the first time, the perspective of three white students is expressed in this book.

One writer recalls being constantly fearful of the future as a child of the '60s and vowing that if she lived to be a "grown-up," she would do something. She remembers finally meeting some of the Russians who so frightened her as a child, and celebrates being able to do something significant for society at the dawn of the new millenium. She also contributed two poems to the book, one a poignant story about visiting The Vietnam Wall with her children, and the other about visiting a missile silo in North Dakota.

One writer's story recalls that history seemed to overlap family celebrations, first on her parent's 50th wedding anniversary on 11/22/63 when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. The second was on 9/11/2001, her birthday, and now she remembers those who lost their lives in that terrible tragedy each year. Others also recall 9/11. One contributor tells how the tragedy changed her life and values.

Two people tell about losing everything in Hurricane Katrina. One, a military mother of two and pregnant at the time, recalls sheltering at the military hospital with her family and sleeping on the damp floor. She tells what sustained her family. Another remembers being notified by phone that her home was gone after she and her husband had evacuated 600 miles away. She recalls the generosity of a saleslady who handed her a bag full of free cosmetics and told her, "Just because you lost it all doesn't mean you can't still look good."

One Air Force Sergeant remembers being on hand in the Philippines as POWs were returned home following brutal imprisonment in North Vietnam. His experience as part of that operation forever changed his life and his outlook on his job. Another Air Force Sergeant recalls his hair-raising trip into Saigon during the war.

Several of the stories in the book recall a variety of different events, while others recall specific challenges and moments. All of the essays and poems are wonderfully revealing of the emotions and confusion that surrounded the times and their lives.

The book's contents were written as our legacy to future generations. The stories and poems display the generosity, resilience, and "can-do" attitude that have always driven and sustained the wonderful people who call this country home.

LOOKING BACK TO GET UPDATE BEFORE IT GOES TO PRESS

2007-06-29T15:49:00.000-07:00

As I sent the book Looking Back to the editor, I expected to be finished with it except for making the changes she suggested. Instead, one important, historical news item after another has filled the airwaves during the past week, and some of them seem to be important to the book's promise to cover history from the '40s to the present.

For instance, yesterday the Supreme Court turned back the clock on racial integration. So in the year of the 50th anniversary of school desegregation in Little Rock, racial diversity is no longer a goal of our society. Apparently, neither is equal education for all, because that will certainly change as many parents rush to move their children to new, segregated schools.

I wouldn't have expected to be bothered by this ruling. After all, it wasn't unexpected. Why does it disturb me?

Well, 50 years ago this September, I was one of the 2000 white students at Little Rock Central High who had our lives turned into a media frenzy by the forced integration of our school when nine black students were admitted. We lived a year filled with fear, pain, and humiliation as we watched on TV nightly as mobs of racist bigots, with the help of an over-zealous mob of photographers and reporters, turned what would probably have been a non-event, or at least a less dramatic moment in history, into a media circus.

We faced almost daily bomb threats, and had to nervously stand around outside while all lockers in the building were searched for explosives. We lived in fear that our school would suddenly be bombed, or closed down by politicians trying to placate their most vocal voters. Our parents were frightened out of their minds as they sent us off to school each day to face, what? No one knew for sure.

We students had no voice in what was happening. We were merely victims of a Court ruling and were suddenly picked out of a lottery of faceless young people to become guinea pigs for that first experiment in integration in the South. We were forced to grow up—to prove that we were more adult than the racists who waved signs and shouted in front of the school each day. And yes, we were scared. Yet, more than 600 seniors managed to graduate that year, along with one black student.

Students the next year weren’t so lucky. Schools were closed down and some dropped out. Others were forced to live with relatives out of town or else their parents had to pay for them to attend private schools.

That is the price we paid. Now, after all these years, we find that it was all for nothing. A Supreme Court that is out of touch with the real world, real lives, of people in this country, both black and white, has decided that racial diversity doesn’t matter. So, if parents want their kids to live in an all-white (or black, or Asian, or Hispanic) community and not have exposure to others of different races, they can move to segregated neighborhoods where they never have to rub shoulders with someone different from them.

Unfortunately, that’s not the real world. Well, yes it is in some exclusive gated communities like where Supreme Court Justices live, but do the rest of us really want things to be like they were back before integration? Personally, I think my life has been richer for knowing people of all races. How would I have survived moving to Honolulu in 1964, where white faces were few and far between? What would I have done when I was sent to a black home as an interior designer? Refuse to go in? Walk in and say, “Hi, oh I see you’re black. Too bad. Goodbye”?

Right now, I’m thinking this is the scariest thing our Supreme Court has ever done—even more frightening than the 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education was to those of us in the South at the time. Maybe I’m over-reacting, but I worry about more race riots and violence, more hatred and less respect and understanding of others. I hope I’m wrong.

The sad thing is, I can see the point of parents who don’t want their children bused out of their own neighborhood. It has to be hard to put a child on a bus early each morning and not have her or him come home until late. But, as I write in the book, no ethical question is either black or white. There are all shades of gray when these types of problems face us. I feel with this decision, the Supreme Court has created a situation that will haunt us all for a long time.

And I’m mad about having gone through all I went through at Central High, only to find out 50 years later that it was all for nothing. I'm mad about the sacrifices we made, and for what? What had been accomplished has been erased by this decision, and justice has not been served by the “Justices.” If they’re concerned at all about the future, they should realize we’re a nation where the Caucasian race will soon be a minority. Isn’t it important that we be exposed to other cultures, other races, before we become the minority?

You can read all about Central High in 1957 in the book, Looking Back, when it is released in July (or possibly, August). In it are essays by two other students who were there that year. In all, 22 exceptionally expressive essays and poems on a wide variety of historic events provide personal insight into the times that shaped Boomers’ lives, and the lives of all of us.

I’ll list the essays as soon as the book comes out so readers can get a sense of the moments contributors felt affected their lives. They're all wonderful!

New Book: LOOKING BACK

2007-06-10T08:56:00.000-07:00

LOOKING BACK:
Boomers remember history from the '40s to the present
History as seen through the eyes of those who lived it!

History was the most boring subject I studied in school because I couldn’t understand how it related to me. I hadn’t been to any of the places history books spoke about, and memorization of dates and names was meaningless to me.

Then I realized one day that my generation had lived through some of the most exciting, and at times appalling and frightening moments in history. I also came to realize that the one important element missing in all history and civics lessons is the personal perspective of those who actually witnessed those historic events. Were they bothered by a specific moment in time? What was its emotional impact? Did it change their life in any way?

To document their view of history since World War II, a group of writers and extraordinary Americans recount their memories of pivotal moments since 1940 along with their personal thoughts about what happened. And I attempt to provide an overview of events along with a basic timeline, and offer my own comments about the incidents that I witnessed firsthand, or that most affected me. My personal recollections include the integration of Little Rock Central High, 1957, where I was a student at the time.

We were there. We witnessed history as it happened, and we sometimes suffered anxiety over tragedies like assassinations, wars, political wrongdoing, riots, and civil unrest that, at times, threatened our democracy. We also shared moments of sheer joy as we watched the first man walk on the moon. We observed (and some of us participated in) the counter-culture that rocked our safe, orderly existence. Then on 9/11, we were shattered by a terrorist attack on our own soil that revealed our nation’s weaknesses and vulnerability.

History is anything but boring. It is an exciting, living document! We Americans are in danger of forgetting our past if we don’t all take responsibility for passing on the legacy of this country's wonderful history and our shared heritage of courage, honor, and bravery.

My new book, titled: Looking Back: Boomers remember history from the '40s to the present - History as seen through the eyes of those who lived it! will be available this summer. Look for information on its release and availability on this blog, or contact me at portable.writer@yahoo.com.

This book will be an important contribution to our nation's collection of historical documents because it will be told from a personal perspective, emphasizing human emotions and consequences for every historic moment that we’ve survived. I hope everyone will buy a copy for your family and share it with your children, grandchildren, and schools.

Coming Soon: "Looking Back"

2007-06-04T18:33:00.000-07:00

My new book, "Looking Back: Boomers Remember History from the '40s to the Present" should be available in July 2007. It presents "history as seen through the eyes of those who lived it" and includes essays and poems that offer a rare, personal perspective on an era that changed society.

Covered in the book are pivotal historic moments from World War II through Hurricane Katrina. Seventeen essays and two poems recall the triumphs and tragedies that affected the boomers' generation, and reveal the individual emotions attached to those times. This book doesn't just contain the cold, hard facts expected to be found in a textbook. And it doesn't document historical moments but leave out the emotional impact of those moments on individuals. Instead, for the first time history readers will discover not only what happened, but how real people's lives were touched. There's even a final chapter that talks about challenges Americans will face in the future.

From World War II through the innocence of the late '40s and early '50s, to the shattering terrorist attack on our shores on 9/11, readers will discover a unique opportunity to walk in the footsteps of history.

Watch for an announcement about the availability of Looking Back on this blog, or at my website: www.kennedyk.com.