If I had a Hammer---Reflections on Peter Paul, and Mary in Santa Barbara and the Current California Scene

I have a great deal of respect for those who were politically active during the Sixties, and who remain so today. And I have always enjoyed the music, the culture, and the ideas of that period - so much so that I've made it my career specialty as a historian, even though I wasn't born until the end of the 1970s.

However, I do think that sometimes a focus on the Sixties can lead us to miss what young people are doing today. We are out in the streets protesting - at Washington DC this last weekend, as with many of the anti-Iraq War protests, college students comprised a large contingent.

But what many more of my peers are doing is voting. This post from December 2006 at Daily Kos demonstrates clearly the effect of young voters:

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/12/11/954/69938

One thing it doesn't mention is that young voters provided the margin of victory in key US Senate races last year, including Montana, Virginia, and Missouri. Young voters also nearly put Harold Ford in the Senate in Tennessee. Many have also argued that were it not for a large turnout from young voters Kerry might not have won states such as Wisconsin and Minnesota in 2004.

It is worth noting that the Sixties method of protest was unique to that time - it wasn't how political activism was done in the 1930s and 1940s, for example. It worked very well in that time and place, and we all welcome its continuing positive influence on the present. But there are other ways to affect progressive change, and today's young people are doing that. It may not look and sound like the Sixties. Nor does it have to. We share the same goals, and that is what matters.

I have been wondering the same thing myself. We have raised a generation of narcissists.

I also am sad that young women take their right to choose to have an abortion for granted and are not willing to make much effort to protect that right that is being eroded so well by the religious right.

Its us old babes, who are through menopause who are keeping the fight going.

C'mon, young folks.......think beyond instant gratification!

Brava Hannah!

I'm so glad you caught the feeling of inspiration and integrity present at our Evening for Peace. I had the privilege of spending some time with Peter Yarrow and Noel (Paul) Stookey while they were here in Santa Barbara. What amazing people. Down-to-earth, intelligent and compassionate. They are also just as committed to our children, to justice and to peace that they were in 1963 -- when, as the most popular singing group in the country, they sang at the March on Washington with Martin Luther King.
Being around them, I was struck by how commitment isn't just a choice. It's a way of living. Peter and Paul are themseleves on stage. So it is easy for them to continue the same commitment off stage. And to see the joy they had in performing together as well as the joy the gave the audience as we sang along with them, was a real gift.
In regard, to young people and their commitment to peace and justice, I would like to point out that a significant number of people aged 15-30 do care very much about these issues. As a foundation, we work to create a world free of nuclear weapons. One of the ways we believe to get there is to inspire a new generation of peace leaders.
In August, more than 100 of these young leaders, from all around the country, came to our sixth Think Outside the Bomb conference. There, we sought to empower them with information about nuclear and peace issues, give them guidance from experienced speakers and practical help on how to start peace groups in their own areas.
This is only part of our education and advocacy with young people. In another significant area of work, we address the University of California's involvement with nuclear weapons. Many people do not know that the University of California manages the laboratories that design and build nuclear bombs. Through our UC Nuclear Free program, we work with UC students, staff and alumni to urge the University of California to stop providing legitimacy to such destructive technology and research.
When we work with young people on projects like these, we have a sense of enormous potential. We believe there is hope to change the world. We believe the young people on our planet will be key players in the process.
Peace is an essential. Every family needs it. Every business. Every church. Every farm. Every child and every parent. It is the foundation of culture and civilized life. Young people know this truth in their hearts -- just as we, of older generations, do. I agree with Hannah, now is the time, in the words of Archbishop Desmond Tutu to "make it happen."

Steven Crandell,
Director of Public Affairs,
Nuclear Age Peace Foundation

As a child of the 60's I turn out for as many local demonstrations as I can in hopes that Assemblywoman Jacks will be one of the featured speakers. She can bring the heat and the light.

There are quite a few hip-hoppers speaking out about social injustice. The gold chained rapper stereotype is a little obsolete. Things aren't that bad among the young--fortunately.

The 60's wasn't so golden. Remember that "great silent majority?" Not everybody back then had long hair-- there were an awful lot of straights. The big difference is that the media was much more liberal than it is now. Progressive themes got play.

If all of us flower children had devoted our lives to the vision the way you have, Ms. Jackson, we might be a lot closer to it than we are today. You continue to be an inspiration.

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