51 years ago today. Tricky Dick let the National Guard murder four protestors at Kent State. The photos of that day wrenched the world.
Folks like me had worked to make college students and adults aware of the travesty that we were effecting in Viet Nam. How our elected officials were doing nothing to correct the situation.
And, then, at a peaceful demonstration- totally unlike the insurrection on 6 January at the Capital or the nightly events in December in Portland, Oregon, National Guard members- the same age as the protestors- shot and killed four folks who stood up against the war.
This was the impetus for our being able to shut down EVERY engineering school in the US. (Other delegates shut down most of the liberal arts programs across the USA.)
What makes that different from shutting down conventional colleges? Engineers were the most conservative and the most apathetic group among college students. But, even they knew this affront needed quick action. And, it happened by Friday- four days later. Across the USA.
(I also negotiated with administrators how grades/exams/graduation would be handled as a result. Another factor that would keep the engineering students active in this demonstration.)
Tin soldiers and Nixon’s coming
We’re finally on our own
This summer I hear the drumming
Four dead in Ohio
Gotta get down to it
Soldiers are cutting us down
Should have been done long ago
What if you knew her
And found her dead on the ground?
How can you run when you know?
Gotta get down to it
Soldiers are cutting us down
Should have been done long ago
What if you knew her
And found her dead on the ground
How can you run when you know?
Tin soldiers and Nixon’s coming
We’re finally on our own
This summer I hear the drumming
Four dead in Ohio
Four dead in Ohio (four dead)
Four dead in Ohio (four)
Four dead in Ohio
Four dead in Ohio (how many more?)
Four dead in Ohio (why?)
Four dead in Ohio (oh)
Four dead in Ohio (oh)
Four dead in Ohio (why?)
Four dead in Ohio (why?)
Four dead in Ohio (why?)
Four dead in Ohio
There have been other photos that led to major changes.
Kim Phuc, the naked girl photographed via TriX pan (high speeed Black and White film), fleeing the napalm attack on her home. 8 June 1972.
The Chinese student who stood up to the tanks at Tiananmen Square. 5 June 1989.
The problem now is the photos that arrest our attention are all of black and minority members of our society being targeted for mayhem by our local police.
We don’t need new songs.
We need training for our police.
We need to educate our GOP stalwarts that it is NOT legal to run over protestors. (You do know the law passed by Donald acolyte Ron DeSantis of Florida- plus Texas, North Carolina, and Tennessee)- which is what Donald’s minions did to counterprotestors in Charlottesville.
We need to stop folks from whitewashing the actions of the homegrown terrorists who murdered US Capital Police at the “People’s House”.
It starts with us- now.
Fifty plus years of government sponsored violence is way too long a period to accept.
This is powerful.
I have a few friends in the police department who would love more diversity and mental health training… and to be able to have mental health staff who ARE trained on their teams.
We need to teach our children kindness and compassion so that we can break this pattern and make the world a better place.
Dr Renee Cohn Jones recently posted..May The Fourth Be With You: Star Wars
Well said, Dr. Cohn. thank you for adding a vital component to the discusson!
I didn’t know that Kent State led to school shutdowns (am I reading that right?) I was a baby so I didn’t know about the aftermath. I have seen the other pictures — it just reminds us of how important the media can be — if they tell the story. We don’t always get that now…
Dominique Walton Brooks recently posted..Sandwich Sides – Which Sides to Choose with Your Sandwich
That’s also because we no longer have the photojournalists that used to abound at news sites. Another side of the retrenchment in journalism.
I totally agree with you, 50+ years is way too long for government or any kind of on going violence.
I look forward to a new “world order” beginning soon.
Yes I remember Kent State well. Enough said.
Et, voila.
I feel that the gift of Covid-19 is that everything is laid open now. There is no whitewashing anything anymore. We see all the flaws, the hatred – bared boned honesty. I feel the racial differences. I like it to go away and not to feel it again. But how?
I’m not sure it’s COVID-19. But, I can see your correlation, Lily!
I was not aware of the Kent State event.. so thanks for bringing it to my attention and yes, for driving home the point that half a century is too long to let atrocities like this continue..
Glad to let you learn something new, Vidya.