NEW YEARS 2024

I was aware at a young age of the myriad of social revolutions taking place in our country in the early 1960’s.

Feminism, an offshoot of Women’s rights was emerging as a stimulus for an entire new workforce: It might seem ridiculous in this day and age, but even the idea of getting out of the kitchen and considering alternatives such as college and work was a stretch for young women. The traditional image of a 1950’s housewife was threatened and other pursuits were something not fully accepted by many in 1960. My mother, who went back to school after 3 kids (I was about 5 years old),ultimately attained her, college degree, masters and a doctorate. She had certainly been raised herself in an environment stacked against her.

The very controversial issue of abortion was something I didn’t see as initially integral to the feminist movement. But I was very young and I am specifically describing my memories. Regardless, that issue is a hotbed that will continue to whittle away at people’s abilities to work together on other important issues.

My mother became a beacon for the people that knew her for her self- determination as a women to do what she thought was right and not be ignored. I witnessed the inspiration she gave to other aspiring woman and saw first-hand, in and out of her classroom, how she demanded a sense of responsibility for the things we say and do. She would say “everyone has an opinion but if it’s based on ignorance, it isn’t worth the same.”

I don’t even know if I agreed with that at the time, but the fact that she challenged her students to become aware of the issues of the day, that it was a responsibility on all of us, I imagined her a leader in her own right.

Civil Rights: In my lifetime, there arose a desperate show of solidarity by like-minded people, and like a wave washing over us, it eventually brought us forth from a country of segregation, to an America where each cultures could live together side by side. The process was full integration. I like the word, mingling. I was very young but remember as my country grappled with the change, that for me now looking back, was and is inevitable and appropriate. Segregation was relenting its grip through no choice of its own. Cases were being argued in courtrooms against and for it. It was being fought in our streets as well. It often felt confusing, because there were extremist views on both sides of every issue.

One difference was perhaps the lack of an internet. Which added components to our interactions as a people in ways no one could have foreseen.

In retrospect, it was a very difficult time for America during my childhood. Even at the young age of 6, I now still can recall the expressions of shock and desperation on the faces of people on the streets of the city, when young John Kennedy had the back of his head blown away on national TV. I was in fifth grade when Martin Luther King was shot. That same year someone shot young Bobbie Kennedy. These figures who were dominating our attention in the news, just days earlier, trying to make a change in the world, were snuffed out like a cigarette, leaving a burning stench across America.

Vietnam: America seemed to stumble into and out of this conflict. I don’t belittle the significance or feign to know what should have been done by our government. I only know that we tend to make the same mistakes over too many times leaving young men to die. I wrote a petition along with a Classmate, John, in 6th grade 1969, against the war and return of our soldiers. Together, John and I stood on 86th st with a little table and had pages filled with signatures which we sent to Washington. A Russian couple who did not speak English well had signed it, and came to my family’s apartment that evening to ask us to remove their names which we did.

I like to think that our petition played a big part in ending the war ( jez kiddin’), but later

Heroes coming home from war to a an unexpectedly unappreciative America, so it must have seemed, a country that had changed while they were away, was an awful thing to watch at any age. Struggling to understand how our government appeared often clueless was also difficult to endure.

America is clearly still grappling with civil rights issues. It is even having to deal with the way it has responded to the social issues which often led to unintended dependence and apathy. This isn’t a political piece, but these things shaped my life view as much, if not more, than anything else. If I yearn for the America that lives in my nostalgic mind it is for things I thought we stood for and our commitment to recognize when we need to change. We can’t go back, and for many reasons like the issues stated above. Going forward I pray for a country willing to be self-examining, and not so self-deprecating to itself in the process. Showing respect for the effort of doing things right isn’t a bad thing. People make all sorts of mistakes in the name and intent of getting things right and yes, we sometimes make things so much worse. But we are in the same boat together metaphorically and my hope for the new year is that somehow, we all find a way to work together to keep our country a democracy, That we can finally stop looking for a fight and instead come together because we have some serious things going on and we can probably agree on more than less if we try. Happy New Year