Reply #28: I was only like 14. [View All]

[cyclezealot]

I was politically aware at 7..Remember watching Eisenhower/Stevenson debates when most kids were out trick or treating. Never a kid...But, I was a kid.
I recall Adlai Stevenson being hit on the head when JFK died..My grandfather adored Adlai Stevenson..So did I..
I recalled the hatred towards Eleanor Roosevelt,as told by my grandfather, by the hated nasty Republicans. I was aware of the deaths of the Civil Rights workers in the South. The legacy of Joe McCarthy..The Red baiting of Nixon in California when he ran for Congress...The reb baiting of organizations such as the Christain Anti Communist League.. The death of Medgar Evers.
Surprised when JFK shot..Depressed yes. Surprised. No.
Recall my mom got off work early.Thinking I was sobbing.
More dazed.She was surprised.
Other martyred progressives we need remember..Late Congressman Allard Lowenstein,(NY), an early Paul Wellstone. ANd a surprise.
Swedish Prime Minister Olaf Palme..A real peace maker.
DemBones..Good to have a conversation with you..
Is a difference between innocence and hope..
Listning to our hero figures, gives us inspiration..reason to contine the struggle.
THink Howard ZInn gave a similar reply when one high school student- lucky enough to have access to "The People's History" asked why hope when being cynical seems the order of the day...