What would our country (the United States) be like if we hadn’t lost JFK, Martin, Bobby, Malcolm & Lennon? Would we have true equality? Would we see less of a gap between the upper class and everyone else? I feel that our country would be much more well adjusted if we didn’t have so many senseless losses of great leaders and progressives in the 20th century. Instead we are much like the angsty teenager of the world whose father and mother were lost in a tragic accident. We have lost focus as a nation and seem apathetic to the needs of others around the world. We are needy and self-centered and only care about what we can acquire as a commercialistic democracy.
Our leaders are consumer whores who will sell the soul of our great nation for a little oil and a pat on the back from big daddy. When tragedy strikes our shores those who are supposed to protect us are nowhere to be found and the disenfranchised amoung us are left to fend for themselves.
Someday we will come back to the ideals of JFK and Martin Luther King Jr. Eventually we will have to reconcile our wicked ways and come back to the peaceful thoughts of John Lennon. Not that we will go back to being hippies (although some of us wish that we could) – but we could learn a few lessons from the sixties. We should have seen this coming, but we never see history repeating until we are already in the midst of the repetition.
If King were only alive today or Bobby Kennedy or Malcolm X. Yes, Malcolm was radical in his ways, but he had the right idea. Empowerment of the lower and middle classes in this country is the only way to truly change our course. When the disenfranchised stand up and start speaking out we will finally see a change. When the black, brown, red and poor start to organzie we will see a shift.
Two weekends ago the “Millions More Movement” gathering, which celebrated the ten year anniversary of the Million Man March, showed us a glimmer of hope. With the coming together minority citizens, hopefully bonds were formed and plans begun. With these crowds returning to their communities to organize this could be the start of something fantastic. The rise of the weak against the strong. The poor against the rich. Not in a confontational manner but in a way that shows the abilities of people to become more together.
I hope the establishment is shaking in their cowboy boots. Not for fear of danger, but of the rise of the working class. The movement of people toward better lives. The movement of people toward safety. The movement of people toward what is rightly theirs in a democracy such as ours.
A movement of great proportions that will change the future of this nation and help us grow out of this angsty teenage stage and into a mature – fully functioning – well adjusted – globally and locally conscious adult. On that day we will be complete and America will be great again. We can only hope to see it happen in our lifetime.
So what are you going to do to make this happen?
Peace,
Hippiegrrl