LiViNg PeAcE

As I wrote in my previous entry, Martin Luther King, Jr. was an activist during the sixties. He participated in many activities that involved peace. Some of these activities include the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the march on Washington, and the “Bloody Sunday.” He helped with the foundation of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. With this conference he flew to many cities, like Washington, where he gave his famous “I Have A Dream” speech. Even though not many people agreed with the Civil Right Movement, with this speech King persuaded many people and “raised public conciousness.” This speech stablished himself as “one of the greatest orators in U.S history. During these years he tried his best to stop segregation and racial discrimination, therefore, he was the youngest person to receive a Nobel Peace Prize. All of his accomplisments were reached by non-violent means, such as civil disobedience.King was the leader in the Montgomery Bus Boycott, where he and other African Americans lasted 385 days without using the public buses. During this period, King’s house was bombed and he was arrested. This led him to court, where he won the case and caused the racial segregation present on all Montgomery public buses to get to an end.

He accomplished many other things, but I chose him because was another person who participated in the anti-war movement against the Vietnam War. He gave the “Beyond Vietnam: A Time To Break Silence” speech. His strongest argument was that America was spending enormous amounts of money on the war, while they could spend it on the War On Poverty. He believed that “A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense that on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.” He was hated by many white segregationinsts, however. Even with enmities, King kept going with his struggle to make a better world. One day, Martin went to Mephis, were he was to give a speech. Here, he recieved many threats from white segragationists. His response, which would be his last speech, was:

 And then I got to Memphis. And some began to say the threats, or talk about the threats that were out. What would happen to me from some of our sick white brothers? Well, I don’t know what will happen now. We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn’t matter with me now. Because I’ve been to the mountaintop. And I don’t mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. And I’m happy, tonight. I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.

Later that week, Martin Luther KIng, Jr. was assasinated by James Earl Ray at 6:01. After his death, president Jimmy Carter awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977.

                                                         “I Have A Dream!”

This is the time period I am most passionate about. Yes, you probably have heard bad things about it, but in this period many rebellions took place and peace activists started really acting. In this time period we can see people like John Lennon, Martin Luther King Jr., Andy Warhol, Elvis Presley, Jimi Hendrix, Paul McCartney, Dr. Seuss, among many others. It was in 1963 where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his “I Have a Dream” speech. Even though many great thing were done throughout the sixties, many people consider this era to be ¨one of irresponsible excess and flamboyance.¨ This decade got the name of the swinging sixties because of ¨libertine attitudes¨ developed throughout it. In this decade, different groups, ranging from friendly to religious, started using drugs to achieve levels in which they felt what they thought was peace. As Paul Kantner said, “If you can remember anything about the sixties, you weren’t really there.” This decade was new, radical, and exiting, which spread onto 1970s and beyond. This period however, was difficult to the government because people were protesting against many things,  that many times made them change things they didn’t want to. One of most conflictive events was the Vietnam War. People were highly opposed so there were many riots, strikes and other forms of activism. It was also hard because many times, guards and police men had to be sent to control the angry mobs. Unfortunately, not only great achievements were reached by the freedom of speech showed during this period. The assassinations of some important people were also events that marked this era, like that of John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., and Malcolm X among others. Even though these things are highly remembered about the sixties, what really marked the era was the anti-war movement. This consisted of sit-ins, protests and resistances against anything involved with the Vietnam War. An example of this is when the peace activists started to burn their tickets that would get them to Vietnam. They also burnt flyers and anything that showed agreement with the war. At first, these groups started as very small and consisted mainly of highly religious people. As time went along, these groups became larger and larger. The numerous crowds would make it easier for the activists to be heard, but also to get hurt. An example of this is the Kent State shootings. Activists were protesting against the war. Just to be sure, guards were sent to maintain peacefulness. Everything was going well that weekend, but on Monday, many other people joined the protest. It turned violent. Four students ended up dead and nine others were injured. “This event caused disbelief and shock throughout the country and became a staple of anti-Vietnam demonstrations.”

This is my favorite decade because people said and did what they thought was right. Even though many times they tried to be stopped they kept on fighting for a better place, a world without war. Peace was a main factor on this decade and even though not-so-peaceful events came with it, the people tried to be heard, and for me at least, they were. It is also my favorite because people started experimenting new things such as the modern art brought by Andy Warhol. These changes created a great impact all over the world giving a way to new ways of living.