Civil rights. Woman’s rights. Assassinations. War. Protests. Music. Peace. Love. Real talk. Tree-hugging. Spirituality. Alternative medicine. You-are-what-you-eat.
Baby Boomers.
A collective who created a most drastic change, in one short decade.
We mobilized, raised our voices, got shot for doing so, became outcastes for envisioning a better world. Beautiful leaders, like Martin Luther King, Jr., Robert Kennedy, and Malcolm X were gunned down for standing up for what was right. A tired, working woman was arrested for sitting down on a bus. Elementary school children were terrorized for wanting an education. Four students at Kent State were killed on campus for protesting a war. Gloria Steinem endured the hatred of a nation for getting women a seat at the Big-Boy’s table. Regular folks struggled to assimilate immigrant values with the America we were born to.
Amid the destruction, came wonder and change.
The un-shaming of our bodies via woman burning our bras. Some of the most meaningful lyrics ever written were sung to us. Earth-centered religion made a comeback. Cycles were broken. We raised our kids to be seen and heard, stopped violence within the home, explained 9-11. The outliers who were ostracized for seeking change, sometimes by our own family, are caretaking those same aging parents.
And now it seems we’ve come full circle.
The changes begun in the 60s have led to the Big Shift we’re seeing today. The pandemic. The division among us. Unnecessary meanness. The disintegration of family. The Me-Me attitude.
Sometimes I wonder if it was worth it.
But then I remember. People say they want change, but change is scary and it’s surely ugly, and sometimes we forget to factor that in when we’re dreaming of things being different.
Here’s to the Boomers who saw an ideal and went for it. We may not get to see the results in this lifetime. Still, with the way the world is crashing and burning, we most assuredly set “Better” in motion. I bow to those who caught the vision and had the courage to fight through ugly and see it through.
The Photo: In the comfort of my home, beneath my shirt, you will find freewheeling boobs. What you will not find is a nipple ring, as it would get caught in my belt buckle. Kidding aside, it’s time to raise our voices again and get out the vote.